What is the best year for the Sami? What benefits do the different years offer? Is one year better then the other?

I'm currently looking (everywhere) and thought I'd see if I should be looking for one year over another?

Thanks & sorry for this one.

Never apologize for a question...I'm interested to see the responses myself tbh.....I think the main thing you need to consider is use though, are u looking for a daily driver? trailer queen? weekend warrior??? That will be one main factor in determining "best year" plus...there are limited ones out there anyways....so good luck pinning down an exact year and finding that in a search!

Ha, I guess I'm chasing a ghost here. I'm looking for a way to get a new toy. With that said, the wife thinks I'm going to use this for my daily to save on gas over my truck. I'm hoping to find a nicely lifted hardtop, that I can take moderately wheeling 3-4 times a year. So, 80% of the time I'll be on the asphalt. I'd like 30"-31" tires on it? It would be a real bonus if someone put a nice gear set in the axles & transfer case. Eventually I'd like to do a 1.6 swap to make it easier to cruise at 65 mph.

What I'm not looking for (and no offence cuz they look awesome) is a full blown crawler that I can't even drive down to the store without climbing inbetween the roll cage & custom seats just to get in the darn thing.

So, I'm sure this "wish list" doesn't exactly exist, but at least it's a start. I see a LOT of 87s and the questionable 88 vs 88.5 ... where these the straight axle cars? I rarely see anything like a 90-94 .. ever.

The 87-88.5's were solid fronts, mine is an 87...I get about 20 mpg running 29's on stock suspension, with 1.3L, thorley headers, flowmaster exhaust... and can hit 75mph on a straight (takes a bit of time but doable) The car is very comfortable at 60 with this setup...  Never owned a hardtop myself...the reason you see more 87's, Suzuki sold more cars when they first came out, before it was published that they roll over too easily....once those reports published sales numbers went down fast, thats why its easier to source the older ones still...For 31'' tires, your going to need at minimum a 3'' lift, or 2'' suspension w/ a body lift...(IMHO ew..)  Only thing to caution you about...new gears typically means lower gears... meaning it will be harder to sustain that 65mph without being insane in the rpm range...

http://zukioffroad.com/samurai_history.htm

Found this ^ website that gives some detail about what was changed...

Basically, all samurais are the same between 86-95, with the big exception being fuel injection that started in 1990.  There were a few variations/options available during those years (2wds, tintops, different dash designs, softer springs, different wheels, 2 different 5th gear ratios).

All 86-95 samurais had solid/straight axles front and rear.

The 88 vs. 88.5 isn't really a big deal.  They just did a few design changes and some mechanical changes (a slightly weaker front carrier in 88.5s and up and a lower 5th gear ratio...which equates to about 300 more RPMs at 60MPH).  Nothing that really would make me say that I wouldn't buy one, just because of one of the changes.

If it were me, I would look for one with EFI (electronic fuel injection).  So that would be a 1990-95.  Problem is, 90-93 samurais aren't real common to run across.  And the 94-95s are even more rare to find.
The EFI samurais do have an issue with the ECM capacitors leaking and making the ECM inoperable.  But if you get the caps replaced, before the ECM dies, you shouldn't ever have to worry about it.  And most can be brought back to life, even after the caps leak and make the ECM stop working.

A tintop would be nice, if you want a little added security and don't care about it being a convertible.  Although, tintops aren't nearly as common as the convertibles.  And tintops weren't available during the 90-95 EFI years.
The good thing about samurais, is that stuff is easily swappable between most all years.  So if you find a tintop and want EFI, you can buy (if you can find it) an EFI setup and wiring harness and swap onto/into your tintop.  Another option is to swap in a 1.6 8V or 16V engine (all are fuel injected and have 80 or 95 HP respectively) out of an 89-98 tracker/sidekick.  They are very common swaps and there are lots of info and conversion parts out there.

Also, if you happen to find a 2wd, it is easily converted over to 4wd.....you need a tcase with shifter, complete front axle assembly, front driveshaft.  The thing to watch for is in 88.5 they changed to a larger driveshaft bolt pattern...so you need to make sure the tcase flange bolt pattern matches the driveshafts.  But the good thing is, if you happen to get a "large flange" (88.5-95) tcase, then the flanges can be drilled for the smaller 86-88 dshaft bolt pattern.  You can not drill the large pattern into a small flange tcase (at least, I don't recommend it).

Something that is common between all samurais.....rust.  They all rust (although southern states and cali ones aren't usually nearly as bad).  Usually the front floor boards, the inner fenderwells (front and rear), under the rear seat, are the most common places.

88 1/2 and on have better cooling / gearing in the tranny / and a better dash lay out. The front carrier weakness on the 88 1/2 is a myth. I've got an 86 and an 88 1/2 sitting on my bench right now if you'd like to examine them. ( Spartan conversions)
 In 90 efi was offered. Sky is correct, it's problematic.
The beauty of the Samurai design was its in herant simplicity. In the later years (90 and on) that was starting to fade.
JMHO. If I was searching for my first Zuke, I'd be looking for an un molested 88 1/2 to an 89.
 The 90 and on would be my second choice....
With all carburated Samurais you will eventually run into issues with the stock carburetor.
 This can be remedied with one of several good conversions. All of which are covered in great detail on this site...
Good luck and happy trails
...Boxcar...

I wouldn't necessarily call the carrier design change and strength a myth.  Both carriers use the same sized spider gears and crosspins.  The earlier carrier used 4 spider gears and 3 crosspins and the later design uses 2 spider gears and one crosspin.  The later carrier is not built any stronger than the earlier carrier, either.  Granted, I don't recall of ever hearing of someone breaking an actual carrier, but when you use less parts and the remaining parts aren't "beefed" up any, then it is inherently weaker.
Yes, there is an issue with the EFI ECMs (which accounts for about 99% of the problems with the EFI system, IMO).  But once the caps are replaced, they should never be an issue again.  I would take EFI over a carb any day.  And a matter of fact I have....I swapped EFI into my 87 offroad samurai....and with a good ECM, it has been flawless.
Some people don't like EFI, because of the "complexity" of it and "all the things that can go wrong and make it not run".  Which is fine...to each their own.  In my experience, EFI is more trouble-free and hassle-free than a carb.
Also, depending on what you plan on using the samurai for, the later lower tranny gearing may be good or bad.  I actually run an earlier tranny (with the higher 5th gear ratio...lower RPMs) in my 91 samurai that I drive on the road.

Wow, lots of good stuff there guys. I reallly apreciate all of the quick ref. lessons. Now that arms me some things to look for and think about. EFI doesn't bother me and I'm very close to the Rubicon so the altitude would make EFI a good thing. I drive "down" the hill to work so getting a good rollling start down the hill will let me hit 65-ish right off the bat.

Now I'm going to have to go over this site and re-read your info and make some notes. I'm currently looking at a cool crawler with most likely a SPOA and springs. It's running 36" tires (which surprises me) and wheels pretty darn good. So I was thinking that 33's on this thing would make it that much better. Lol.

I guess I'll ask & learn a bit more before laying out some good money for something I may not want. Thanks again to all of you guys that joined in here to help me. This is what this site is all about .. and I like it.

Just don't buy an 84 or earlier, that is an SJ-410 and while close it causes some compatibility issues when trying to upgrade it. 

Thanks for all the info. - I'll be looking for something 86 to 89? Several nice ones available this week. I just got my Tacoma back from the body shop with all new paint. Looks awesome and like it should be on a showroom floor. But I need to find a good little Sammy to play around in.

You guys are the best and so far I've got some good info to mull over and some good fun to look forward to.

I guess it depends entirely on your driving style and needs.
In defence of my 88-1/2 - 90 preference. IMHO simple is allways better off road...
 The 88-1/2 s better cooling is a huge issue if you like crawling. The lower 5th gearing and closer 2nd to 3rd spacing in the 88 1/2
allow for slightly taller tires before the need for re gearing. And if re geared a better hill pulling tranny. Yes even on the freeway.
The Carrier issue is as stated by SKY. And yes, he is correct. He nor I have never witnessed a problem with the 2 spider design
CAN YOU SAY DANA 44???
 I prefer the carburated versions of the Samurai for not just simplicity but cost as well . The carb needs no computer, injectors, fuel rails, electric high pressure fuel pump, or troublesome sensors. Which all fail , are expensive and above the technical ability of most back yard mechanics to diagnose or repair.. Without proper diagnostic equipment.
 If your carburetor gives you problems 50 miles out on a trail run , it is usually repairable in the field. Not so with EFI.
I will admit that my opinion is based on my environment. I wheel my Zuke. And I live in a small town 60 miles from the closest freeway.
 I don't have to ad hear to smog tests at all. Having sed this . I do drive my rig every day. On road. (it drives as well as any lifted utillity rig I have ever driven) I built it with that in mind.
My main focus was and is off road ability though.
 Good luck with your serch and happy trails....Boxcar...

Ahh....   Opinions they're like - well you know the saying....

I prefer the pre-88.5 Samurais as they have all-metal radiators.  The advantage there is the fact that they can be easily cleaned out.  Newer radiators have plastic tops and bottoms.

Then again, a newer fuel-injected Samurai (post 88, I think) can be fitted with a pre-88.5 radiator if you find one...

Just to clarify, the ONLY difference in gearing between the early and late trannys is the 5th gear ratio.  All other gears (1-4 and R) are identical.

Thanks guys. I'm currently looking at one 88 and a second choice of an 87 so everything said so far will apply to this one. The one I'm working on getting already has the 1.6 swap with the 6.15 to 1 transfer gearing and I think he's running 31s - with a 3" lift?? Thinking of going a bit higher and go from there.

There is a back road and tons of stop lights for me to get to work without hitting the hwy ... if needed. I am getting excited though about going wheeling again. The wife told me this weekend that she wished I could find my old Land Cruiser. Oh well. Maybe one of these would be a welcome ride.

I'll update you guys when I get it. With pics, maybe you can tell me what it's got.