ok so I want to pick up alittle speed on the highway and have better gearing when going hunting and people have told me to do the 5.12 sidekick third swap in the axles of my 87 samurai. Is this difficult? Any info on this would be very much appreciated.

Second gearing question in a row. 

What size tires are you running and how much of a lift?  A 4.8 or 4:1 transfer case gear set might be better for your application depending.  Is it mainly road miles with some dirt roads mixed in?  What are the long term plans for the vehicle?

Swapping in a set of 5.12's isn't that hard depending on what you want to do.  If it's for light duty use I would just pick up a front end from a 89-95 5 speed 2-door tracker or 93-95 4-door, that is a direct swap in on your SJ.  Then get the front end from a 96-98 Tracker/Sidekick, that will be a direct swap into the rear.   The problem with this swap is you end up with the aluminum carriers, which can break under heavy wheeling conditions.  You also will be unable to install lockers.

A second way is to get 2 sets of front 5.12 gears and swap them into your existing carriers.  A bit more time consuming and you need some additional parts but can be done in the garage.  You will need to re-setup the gears though.  For spare parts you will need a Carrier Pin Retainer, http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/suzuki/samurai/differentials/carrier-pin-retaining-cans.html, and you will want to get the basic install kit at the very least, http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/suzuki/samurai/differentials/basic-ring-and-pinion-install-kit.html

A third method is to pick up a complete setup from an after-market company like Trail Tough, Hawk Suzuki or Low Range Off-Road.  You can read about their Tracker gear swap at http://zukiworld.com/month_070104/feature_trailtough_gearchange.htm

Not really true, the aluminum 3rd is not an issue in the Samurai, it's
only an issue in the Sidekick because of the mounting system, and
lockers are not a problem, the problem is a rear Samurai carrier in the
front of a Track/Kick, the axle stub shaft won't fit until the carrier is
machined to allow the shaft, OR you could swap your rear carrier from
the Samurai into the Sidekick 3rd and save the setup of the pinion

Did I miss anything? or am I mistaken on the fitment

Wild

I have a 3" spring under lift with 235's right now and for some reason with even a rebuilt motor and carb I have a hard time getting over 55 or even for the most part 50 on the highway. For right now this is going to be a daily driver going to school and minor hunting. I heard from someone that I can swap the sidekick 3rd into the front of the samuri with some sort of shim and that I couldnt do the rear so can I just take the ring and pinion and put them straight into my existing 3rd no problem?

I have a set of 4.625s in my samurai difs.

changing the dif gearing really takes the load off the drivetrain but it can be a challenging task if you are working alone.  I had a friend with me during the swap who had experience with rebuilding a Suzuki differential.  It was a real good idea to have him help me!

Another - less labor-intensive - way of improving your gearing is to swap out your transfer case gears.  Unfortunately, transfer case gear changes do not help with the extra loading at the differentials...  This is a subject of much debate but I offer up the transfer case option because it CAN solve the problem that you have!

I hope that this helps!

thank you ack now I just have to see I can find gears cheaply somewhere or if by maricle if someone will trade some maybe 4:16's for a 1.6L 8V head.

im going to go check out pic a part in orem on firday and check out their sidekicks since dan at lowrange today told me to check them out and see if I can get the 4.62's cheap, maybe I might just see if I can scrap my 1.6 8v head and get some credit with them. Dan also told me he might now a guy that can do the swap for me for cheap, I just dont have many tools right now and my landlord has been screaming at me for even my axle housing im swapping in sitting out in my carport. im just hoping that I can afford to do this soon and get rid of the itch.

Not really true, the aluminum 3rd is not an issue in the Samurai, it's
only an issue in the Sidekick because of the mounting system, and
lockers are not a problem, the problem is a rear Samurai carrier in the
front of a Track/Kick, the axle stub shaft won't fit until the carrier is
machined to allow the shaft, OR you could swap your rear carrier from
the Samurai into the Sidekick 3rd and save the setup of the pinion

Did I miss anything? or am I mistaken on the fitment

Wild

If you run the tracker carriers you can't put the standard Samurai lock-right in them.  We have looked at just dropping the Samurai carrier in the Tracker third member but that doesn't work properly either, the 5.12 gear is taller so you still need the retaining can.  My opinion is if your doing that much work you might as well spend a bit more and get the steel 3rd.

Quote from: wildgoody on October 11, 2010, 12:26:28 PM

Not really true, the aluminum 3rd is not an issue in the Samurai, it's
only an issue in the Sidekick because of the mounting system, and
lockers are not a problem, the problem is a rear Samurai carrier in the
front of a Track/Kick, the axle stub shaft won't fit until the carrier is
machined to allow the shaft, OR you could swap your rear carrier from
the Samurai into the Sidekick 3rd and save the setup of the pinion

Did I miss anything? or am I mistaken on the fitment

Wild

If you run the tracker carriers you can't put the standard Samurai lock-right in them.  We have looked at just dropping the Samurai carrier in the Tracker third member but that doesn't work properly either, the 5.12 gear is taller so you still need the retaining can.  My opinion is if your doing that much work you might as well spend a bit more and get the steel 3rd.

Ok since im a newbie im alittle confused. Can I used my sami 3rds for this and just put the 4.62's in them and keep my front lockers or what? I will be trying to find someone local to do this for me but I want to learn abit of whats going on before its done and the options that are available so whoever I find doesnt rip me off and feed me a bunch of bullshit. I am a dumbass when it comes to this sorry guys, thank you for all your help though I really appreciate it.

You can run a samurai locker in a trackick carrier.  It is not recommended, since there is only 1 crosspin in a trackick front carrier.
You can run a samurai carrier in a trackick aluminum third.  You have to have the passengers side of the carrier reamed out so the trackick axleshaft will fit in/through it.

The 2 common methods for running trackick gears in a samurai are....
1)  use the complete trackick thirds in the samurai axle housings.  The front is a bolt in.  The rear can be a bolt in, if you find a later model trackick front third that has 26 spline sidegears.  Otherwise, you have to swap the samurai sidegears into the trackick third.
2)  take the trackick gears out and put the ring gear on the samurai carrier and the pinion gear in the samurai steel third and use the samurai steel third.  This is the preferred method if you are going to off road in a lot of rocks and/or beat on it pretty hard.  Samurai and trackick pinion bearings and carrier bearings are interchangable.....so you can use either the trackick or samurai ones (I prefer the trackick ones, since they generally don't have many miles on them, since they come from the front axle housings).  Whatever bearings you use, just keep the races matched up with them....once bearings have been ran the bearing and race is considered a "matched set" and should not be mixed with other bearings or races.