I've been looking for a sammy to buy and I finally found one. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. The guy is asking $1200...1987 Suzuki Samurai 4x4. 6cyl, PB, 14in lift, Buick 3.8L V6 w/200R4, Army Green, 4WD works, has 33" super swampers.

He says its got a 3" body, 6" calmini SPOA, and then some kind of other lift to get the extra 5", and that it can clear 40s. No rust except on the hood, motor runs rough but runs, had to cut the floor a bit to fit the transmission, and it has no tag and needs a front bumper and the lights to be lowered for it to be street legal.

Anyone heard of a sammy getting 14" of lift, and is the 3.8L a good engine to swap in? I'm going to look at it and take pictures tomorrow, but whats the first thought that comes to everyones head about this? Also, I'm calling him in a bit, whats some more questions to ask?

no, it sound like one of those red neck creations that a young person wouldn't want any part of.  fi you have some good skills, a welder and a good set of tools then mabey but from what i have read(about trying to convert to 4X4 on the tracker) i wouldn't.  if you where trying to find one to wheel things to look for are:

rust, i don't know where thses rust sence i have never owned one.
4X4, i have never seen one but i hear they come as a 2X4 also
stock, you don't want one with 33 in swampers on stock axles, your asking for problems
clean, look for mud packed up under the rig where you woudn't clean much
mileage, not like these things dont' run for 250K, but the lower the mileage the better
lastly, if the truck looks beat, it probley is


Stu

That much lift coupled with 33" swampers and a price tag of only $1200 would scare me. The swampers account for half the price tag if in good shape...

Yeah I've decided to go look at it. And I am just learning all this, but I never planned on doing the 4x4 conversion myself, my dad was going to do most of the work, and hes very experienced.

The guy said theres only rust on the hood, and the 4x4 works good, and that its got no exhaust right now. He also said that about 5" of lift can be removed so that it fits the 33"s good.

If it is lifted that high, wouldn't he have to do something with the steering too? I don't really know much about lifting sammys.

There would have to be some kind of steering modification with that much lift.... Unless he sprang for a nice crossover kit or really knew what he was doing, I would expect a scary ghetto-fab Z-link setup...

With that much lift and that big of an engine, I would walk away and not look back.

There is a "6-inch rule" regarding the amount of lift a Samurai (& possibly any other truck of it's wheelbase) can take before becoming unweildy on the road (as opposed to offroad -- two different situations) and develop driveline problems.  Part of that rule has to do with, as you suggested in your last post, steering problems.  Those steering problems can be addressed by throwing money in the form of an Over-The-Top steering system at the truck, but you still have a high center of gravity giving you an unnerving baby-carriage ride.

Check out the "Six inch rule" at my FAQ page ( http://ackerdackerly.com/faqphpBB/index.php) by doing a search for "6 inch rule".

or directly at 6" rule at Northcoastoffroad.com

Thanks ack, your FAQ page is new to me and is going to be very helpful for dealing with my tracker as well.

If I bought it, I would definitly remove some of the lift, I don't want 14inches of lift at all.