I have a 1988 1.3 sammi, all stock but begging to put some money into it now...

1st- is there any slider brackets out there that i can order or use to move the seat further back, im 6'2" and its killing me.
2nd- i want to run 35's but want a regular bolt on lift... whats the best?
3rd- with running these tires, what gearing do i need to go down to... i want to run it on the street as well.


Any input will be much appreciated. thank you.

alright.
1) they dont make anything. it will have to be custom made
2) dont. even with toyota axles 35's are alot. stock samurai axles are good till 33's and you still have a high risk of breaking. also there isnt really a need to get a samurai that high in the air. they do great with just 31's there is no bolt in kits to run 35's
3)either you will have gearing for the trail or the street. even if you DID get 35's on it, it would need alot of gearing change to get it to drive on the street. say goodbye to 5th gear even on down hills. no more highway driving. probably atleast need 5.12's in the diffs and 6.5 case? maybe even 8:1 case...

these trucks are made to be light and nimble. massive tires and a bunch of lift are going to kill it for most wheeling.
if your going to be running big tires though look into a 1.6L swap to get some more power.

Just curious how much your willing to spend. I'm new to the samurai's and have zero experience with lifting em, but I would imagine it would cost a lot to reliably run 35's. Toyota axles, re gearing ea. axle, maybe modifying spring perches? That's on top of the obvious, suspension kit including new leafs and shocks, transfer case re gear, and someone to weld on new shock mounts all around. Maybe custom drive shafts or modifications? Steering upgrade , power steering and a motor swap to turn the 35's. And I'm sure there's more.

ok... that more of what i was thinking as far as the 35's go. thanks for the input.

what about a 5" bolt on with just 31's like you said? i could settle for that...

do you still feel i need to regear my transfer case or just diffs. only? if so what gearing would be prefered gearing?

On the seats - take the driver's out, flip it over, and look at the slider. With a cut off wheel you can make a couple more notches and slide the seat back far enough so you leg doesn't dig into the radio box. A smaller wheel like what's on the Sidekick or Swift GT will help so you leg doesn't get wedged between the wheel and door when using the clutch. I'm 5'17" and with these mods I am comfortable in a Samurai.

On the tires / lift - Don't go that big right out of the gate if ever. Try a two inch lift and some 30" tires... Add lockers and 'crawler' t-case and you'll have so much fun you won't know what to do with yourself.

Good luck, Eric

I wouldn't run 35's.. things seem to break...Unless you change axles, i run 33's on mine...  for your lift a quick spring over would be good..

i heard that spring overs are horrible cause the steering turns to crap... then u have to do a reverse shackle kit to help some with the steering... i wanna run 33's...

if anyone knows, tell me what all i need to do to perform at a decent level... like everything so i wont break much and put the motor in a struggle.

it would be much appreciated
thanks.

Heck, I don't run 35's on my Dmax!!! I had 34's on it (true dia) and took them off and run a narrow 33 now and it still has a mild lift.

Simple is to just do springs, lift shackles and do the t-case. 

It would probably be cheaper and more reliable to do Toyota axles. They are geared lower stock and are a lot stronger and have more options.

The toy axles are 6 lug though so figure which way first before you by wheels.

The only thing I would change on my rig is the springs....
After this pipeline job in WV, I'm thinking of Old Man Emu springs front & Rear.

Here is my 1987 Sammy's build sheet:
      Stock open axles
      5 " of shackle lift (No Over Axle)
      Longest Monroe shocks I could get for a Sammy (Welded a "Shock Extender" on fronts)
      One extra Main leaf all 4 corners (On the street, it's a little ruff)
      4.9 Transfer case Gears
      31x10.50x 15 Goodyear Wrangler Off Roads on stock rims
      STOCK 1.3 L w/ Weber Carb and Massaged Intake

It's NO ROCK CRAWLER, but It's a "Run What U Brung" Rig,
and I keep up to the rest on serious trail rides and still can drive it to get there.

CAPT

ISSUE # 1

You can move your seat back by modifing the seat bracket. Take a piece of .025 steel 2" wide by 14" long and mark the OEM seat bolt holes under the seat onthe steel. Drill these out.

Now, if you want to move the seat back 2" measure 2" forward from the 1st hole and lay this piece of steel on top of the seat bracket. Scribe the original bracket holes on to the steel and drill these out.

Bolt the steel to the seat and then the seat to the OEM bracket.

Now your seat sits 2" farther back and is safe and sturdy...... 

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ISSUE # 2

Here is a great bolt on kit to lift your Samurai....

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/samurai/suspension-kits/4-5-deluxe-weld-on-spring-over-axle-kit.html

Because you have a 1.3 with stock gears I would probally run 31's unless your ready to "Let The Mods Begin..." If you are then a little more info would be nice to help you with your Project...

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I love reading from some folks who don't have 35's  tell somebody else not to run them... LOL... I run them everyday. On the road  / of the road. Nothing broken so far but I'm older and maybe more sensible than in my youth.

I have a RUFF suspension and a gob more mods..... I will send you details if you want. I haven't made any axle or gearing changes but a 6:5:1 transfer case gears would be a plus and is on my hit list. This will give me 5th gear back.

I drive mostly local but have driven 100+ mi trips with no problem. I wheel  but don't rock crawel or nose dive into the unknown anymore.

I have been beefing mine up since it came home a year ago and eventually will have it at a point that neither myself or the Sammy will be to picky of the terrain because we will both be more than ready.

Good Luck with your choices... 

That link above is to a 4.5" weld on kit, nice kit but not bolt-on.

heres what i did every thing in sign im still 5x5.5 running 35's  with 6.5 to 1 t case and drive it daily to and from work and to the mountain oh and as for seats stock brackets and seats are garbage ditch and find something else i went to junk yard and pulled a seat of seats and bracket out of a 99 cougar drilled holes and bolted in (had to remove stock welded in bracket on floor first) but these will go back far enough so shaq could drive this thing

Well, you don't have try something to know what works after many others have tried.  I have run from stock to 36 tires on many many 4x4s and 2x4s. Kinda like being shot, you know its going to hurt before it happens so you don't need to try it.

Anyway, lets not argue, to each there own, but back to the point.

Moving the seat seems simple and I like the idea. But I would use something a little thicker than .025. More like .060 which is just a 1/16" but about 4 times as strong.

Shackles would be the cheapest/easiest lift for sure. Ad shocks and off you go.

There are a few how to's here on doing a spring over and some cheap kits.

Springs might be good and addresses the ride since what you are running now are 25 years old. Many kits there to.

When you go high you need to address the steering and shocks, wheel offsets or spacers.

I read a lot here to see what others are running, taking little steps might be a good way to start until you really know how far you want to go.

JMHO  

I posted the spring over link and did realive it needs some welding. I'm not real good at proofreading and forgot to mention it... Dang...

I have run 35 /36's on Jeeps, Ford F150's, Chevy C10's, Toyota Trucks, etc. with no problems. The bculver 11 asked a question  and I was trying to answer him appropriately. I am not trying to be argumentive and respect the decisions and views of others.

I totally understand where folks are coming from. Alot of how the vehicle performs depends on the driver and how the vehicle will be driven.

My Sammy is an around town driver and occasionally taken off road for play. I'm building it for just that purpose. I fully intend to upgrade axels if nesscessary to chrome moly 26 spline.

I am looking for a 6:5;1 transfer case / gears.

My goal is to stay Spua (like I am now). I am going to add an additional spring to the spring packs to bring it up 2" more.  I run 35's but the are only 9.5" wide and they are on aluminium rims. My wheel set up is lighter than the 30's on steel Cragar *'s that were on it previously.

I have a 1.6 8v in mine and that is the reason I said he may want to stay with 31's or a similar tire. I'm not sure how the 1.3 will tackle a bigger tire. I know some guys running 36's and bigger with the 1.3 but they are geared both at the axle and the transfercase to accomodate the change. 1 is running Zuk axles the other Toy axles.

Hope that helps clarify my answer better! I just wanted to offer options for the originator not ruffle any feathers! I respect the folks here to much for that. Many of you have helped me a ton with your postings and direct advice and I appreciate that greatly!
 

the spring over kit looks reliable... i like that, just gunna have to find a welding machine but thats ok. but i use my sammi alot in the hill country of texas and the stock susp. just doesnt cut it, my inside get tossed around if you know what i mean.

my question is that how well will just a spring over do as far as better ride quality considering its still the same suspention parts just on top of the axle?

Can i use better springs and shocks that allow more travel? What would be good?

Thanks for everyones input, this has helped a lot.

p.s.     if anyone has a pic or video of how they mounted there seat sliders for more leg room it would be nice or even a link.
its hard for me to understand when someone tells me, if i see it i can understand it easily.

thanks a lot!!!