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New Sami... what to do?

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New Sami... what to do?
« on: January 06, 2010, 07:08:25 AM »
I purchased my first sami a couple of months ago and am trying to figure out what to do next... The 88.5 was lifted via SPOA but I'm not sure if it was a storebought system or a home built. The springs appear to me to be bending in the wrong direction as if they are undersized or worn out?..The shock mounts have been relocated (welded to the axles) and there is a driveshaft spacer as well as a dropped pitman arm indicating to me that someone might have known what they were doing. Should the springs be in a "smiling" orientation or is "frowning" OK? Also, I primarily drive in deep mud and water... should I add lockers, spools or a combination. If I unlock the hubs until I need 4X4, what's the big deal with steering with either in the front? If I spool the rear, is the sami light enough to not hurt anything? Again, I'm just getting started and would appreciate any input. I trailer the thing to hunting camp and drive on the street very little. Thanks.   

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Offline Drone637

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Re: New Sami... what to do?
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2010, 11:07:15 AM »
The springs sagging, especially in the front, is pretty standard for Sammy's with a SPOA conversion.  On my SJ-410 I picked up an extra set of leaves and added an additional second number 2 (the long one) leaf to the pack, that gave it the extra strength needed to keep a neutral, or flat, pack without affecting the ride to much.

If this is primarily an off-pavement rig I would drop a spool in the back and a Lock-Rite up front.  It's a simple combination that will allow you to pretty much go anywhere and the lock-rite will allow you to steer without to much of an issue.  Plus if you are in 2wd the locker will act just like an open diff for steering where as a spool up front will still cause problems unless you have one of your hubs unlocked.  I'm not a big fan of putting spools in vehicles that see a lot of pavement, it causes a lot more stress on the rear axles.  If you plan on driving on pavement a bit I would recommend a Lock-Rite front and rear.

Remember to run your vent lines for the axles up under the hood.  Otherwise you will have to replace your gear oil after every run, instead of after every other run.

For gearing what size tires are you running?  Trail Tough has a sale on Transfer Case gears so you might want to check them out at http://www.trailtough.com and look at the options available.  They also have Chromo axles front and rear if you decide you want to upgrade to some stronger hardware.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2010, 10:44:57 PM by Drone637 »
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

Re: New Sami... what to do?
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2010, 11:41:39 AM »
Thanks Drone for your input... I didn't even think about the vents.