I have ran some searches on this site and cant seem to find the answer I am looking for.

So I will ask in this thread, I have just purchased a 87 Samurai. (carburated)

I would like to know what is the best tire size/wheel offset and lift? (With best ride quality)

I am a hunter not a rock crawler but I do get in some tough places. I will also need to drive on the frwy to get to where I need to go. (So running hwy speeds is a must)

I would like to run a nice set of tires like some 31" or 33"x12.50".

Until I do a motor swap what gears/rearend should I use or tranfer case change?

I am building the bumpers for it now then I will do the fender flares then on to some rock sliders. Then on to the lift and maybe some engine mods to get some more HP until the engine swap.

Motor swap will come but since this little 1.3L only has 4000 miles on it I want to get some use out of it before i do a 1.6L engine swap.

Any help would be appreciated.

Boy, you sounded like I did years ago.  before there were side by sides, quads were the thing to buy for hunting.  I had a quad but it was not enough and I had to trailer it from spot to spot.  So here you are.

You need a lift for 31s.  I would not go bigger than that as to go to 33s it takes alot more to get them too fit.

Im sure there are other opinions, but Ill give you mine.  I think that 31s is the best bet for hunting, road driving and offroad mix.  However, to get a good ride, thats the hard part.  I just built a "hunting samurai" for a buddy and did a spring over with stock springs. Used the stock shocks with the stock mounts, driveline spacers, and a dropped pitman arm. I put 31 alterrain with 7 inch wide wheels 3 or 3.5 backspacing. It road a little better than stock becuase the tires were a little bigger.  We put a removable tow bar to flat to it behind motor home.  We put a 4 to 1 transfercase in it. the gearing was about stock in high range for the road, and you can pick up the 4 to 1s for cheap and most crawlers upgrade to the 6 to 1s.  no need to regear your diffs.

to make it ride better you may shop for aftermarket springs, but with out redoing the spring mounts you will probably not be happy with the stock length springs.

I think that rock sliders are the most important armor you can put on.  really thats the only part of the body that is vulnerable to damage.

So theres my opinion, I hope that helps. I think you can to the rght place for help.  let us know your progress.

So a SPOA is the best way to go? I was thinking of using the 3" OME lift as I have been told its the best lift/ride out there. However i see that I may need at least a 2" body lift as well, unless I put the Bushwacker fender flares cause I will have to cut the fender wells for clearence.

Tipover you also stated that I would need 3-3.5" wheel spacers? Using a 7" wheel as you said how wide of tires are you talking about?

The goal behind this lift was to be able to do it just once. I still have not figured out what motor swap I am wanting to do but have narrowed down to two. one is the 1.6L 16 valve and the other would be a diesel swap like a 1.9TDI.

This rig is going to be for a daily driver, playing around, scouting for game and coyote hunting.

Thanks for response.

yes I believe SPOA is the best way to go.  yes the OME ride a alittle better, but wont fit 31 in tires.  7 inch wide wheels for 31x10.5.  I was talking about back spacing.  3 to 3.5" is standard back spacing on wheels.  no spacers.  I have cut my fenders on the front of mine and it still looks like stock. I did this just to clear the amount of articulation that it has.

With 33s you will have to get 2.5" back spacing to keep the tires from hitting frame.  I moved my springs inboard 3" per side with shackle reversal to clear my frame without using 2.5" backspaced wheels. But to fit 33s I had to move the front axle forward about 2 inches to clear the fire wall.  I had to do alot to get 33s to fit will lots of articulation.

I'm not one to do body lifts on sammys, I feel if you want to more lift then lift the suspension more.  not sure how far you want to go, check out trailtough.com for options. SPOA is the foundation for almost all the lifts out there, so that will not be a wasted effort.

I did the 1.6 TBI on mine.  love it.  I also have a 16v in a kick that I enjoy.

Check out my ride in the "show us your ride" topic.  I have done alot of work to make that ride good with years of trial and error to make it to my tastes.

Hope that helps.

I am currently using the Calmini 5.5" reverse shackle lift.  I do not recommend it if you are looking for a good ride.  It does, however, fit my 31" tires very well, except for slight rubbing on the fire wall when the tire is completely stuffed in and turning. 

I also have the Petroworks 4.89:1 low range transfer case which I beleive is great gearing for the 31" tires on the road as well as a great low range.  And I highly recommend getting the 2 low option, when coupled with a rear locker and agressive tires, you will find thats all you need to get through many spots where a stock truck would need 4 wheel drive.  Since you can shift into 2 low without getting out to lock the hubs its quick and convenient when you just need the occasional extra traction on those mild to moderate trails.

   

Are you going to be doing a lot of climbing or going through snow when on the hunting trips?  A stock Tracker with some rocker protection, as tipover mentioned, with some aggressive 235/75 R15 tires will go a lot of places.  Toss on a winch, lockers and a t-case cradle and there isn't much you can't make it through.

For a light lift a set of OME springs with 30" tires and a 4:1 transfer case will get you even more without requiring much work. 

For 31" tires I agree that a SPOA is the way to go.  If you want a softer ride look at a YJ spring lift, or at the least go with the RUF (Rear Up Front) conversion.  I ended up going with a Coil setup in the rear, still running the RUF with a spring over up front.  The coil suspension is a huge leap forward compared to the stock springs in back.  Better control and a much softer ride.  It can be done in a shop without to much trouble as long as you have someone who can weld and cut metal. 

http://zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/sj-410-rear-4-link-build/

So I have been thinkin about the SPOA lifts and thought the JeepEater lift from RR would probably give me the best of both worlds, best ride/larger tires and better articulation. However I have been told that most lifts higher than OME starts getting sketchy on the hwy at hwy speeds? What can you fellas tell me about that?

"tipover" nice set up!! body lifts are not my cup of tea either, just repeating what was told to me by Rocky Road.

Drone637 going thru snow around here is usually a must when hunting. Climbimg large hills that are real rocky and some of the worst are steep hils with malpias which is basically volcanic rock sticking up out of the ground, not loose but very sharp. Are you going to put the coils in the front as well? Nice little write up by the way!! I am a machist and fabricator, so welding and machining is not a problem.

So how bout this, if I stayed with 30" would you all stay with the OME lift?

I think that it would be cheaper to get spoa if you can do it yourself and have a good foundation for experimenting for the ride quality.  I drive mine at 65 mph.  but anything with that short of a wheel base may be schetchy to some...

OEM is better ride than stock, but thats not saying much.

Do a search on venders and their kits before you buy. 

The OME lift is the easiest, as it doesn't require a lot of changes to your ride.  You don't need extended brake lines, or a Z-Bar or high-steer kit.  So if your looking to just bolt on a couple extra inches of lift and go I highly recommend them.

As tipover said though, the SPOA is nice and can be done cheaper.  But it is going to require a bit more work.  I recommend the base Sky Manufacturing lift, as it gives you everything you need for a proper SPOA lift.  The wrap around spring pads, extended brake lines and half of the High Steer kit.

Another thing you can do to improve your ride is to get a good pair of shocks.  Get a pair from a car instead of the light truck shocks they will try to give you at the auto parts store.  So they aren't quite so stiff.

Sky's kit is a great deal.  check it out.  400.00 bucks done right. 

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=92

If later you want to do a RUF or YJ your set.

Thanks for the tips fellas, I will be looking into that company. I had the day off work yesterday and was working on the sammy. I have finally got the back bumper fit and mounting brackets welded on and back on the sammy.

 I need some new lights now and started working on the rock sliders and trying to figure out how to mount them, cause where I wanted to mount them it looks like they may be in the way of mounting the YJ spring mounts?

I will have to work something else out.

You guys have been a great help, if you have any other insight please let me know.

Thanks

You could go rear springs up front. (remove the overload spring) 2" lift spring in the rear. you can run 30" tires with 1" wheel spacers. I can guarentee the ride to be very nice. SPUA

Other options with this can be new longer shocks, 3" drop pitman,new longer brake lines, longer shackles. Depending on how much flex you want.

You could go rear springs up front. (remove the overload spring) 2" lift spring in the rear. you can run 30" tires with 1" wheel spacers. I can guarentee the ride to be very nice. SPUA

Other options with this can be new longer shocks, 3" drop pitman,new longer brake lines, longer shackles. Depending on how much flex you want.

Since you did the SPUA what did you use in the back?

The best ride and capability for your Sami would be spring over with YJ springs and 33x12.50/15s on 15x8" wheels. That will take care of everything suspension related. If you plan on using it on road as well, use 4.16:1 t-case gears with a hybrid rear axle and either 4.30s or 4.62s in the axles. That will keep the engine happy at freeway speeds but still be very nice to drive offroad...

Quote from: tuxblacray on December 09, 2010, 03:44:33 PM

You could go rear springs up front. (remove the overload spring) 2" lift spring in the rear. you can run 30" tires with 1" wheel spacers. I can guarentee the ride to be very nice. SPUA

Other options with this can be new longer shocks, 3" drop pitman,new longer brake lines, longer shackles. Depending on how much flex you want.

Since you did the SPUA what did you use in the back?

Looks like he just got 2" taller spings in back, I came across some name brand 3" lift springs, so I put it on a daily driver.  It rode pretty good SPUA.  the problem is when they sagged, the springs were too long and ths shackles eventually leaned all the way back then the spring started to hit the frame.  I threw them away.  I really dont like most lift kits that justreplace the springs.  they half to make the sping longer because of the arch so they fit the factory maounts. so when they flaten out, they really cant cuz there too long.

Thats the reason i recommend the spoa, and if more is needed, adding a yj , cj or RUF kit that moves the mounting points for the longer springs.