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Sammy front axle upgrades

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Sammy front axle upgrades
« on: September 20, 2011, 10:07:23 AM »
Went last night bought a sammy t case and front axle for 75 bucks k dont sound to bad right? Well the t case needs rebuilt but I knew that so no big deal but the front axle housing is bent on one side I cant fix it and gusset it but I am wanting to put the axle in my tracker with the mouting like a ott kicker on the case and thinking radius arms up front but I have heard of people using kick rear axles with sammy knuckles to make front axles wider than the sammy where can you get axle shafts for this swap. And I dont know if it is true but heard of people doing this and using dana 44 knuckles but I cant find nothing to confirm this. What do you guys recommend for a better front axle I wanting to run 34 inch ltbs for tires and toy axles r out of the question. Give me some ideas thanks


my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel

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Offline Skyhiranger

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2011, 10:47:45 AM »
Toy axles.  Seriously.
By the time you make some oddball front axle using a trackick rear and have a custom housing and custom axle shafts made (which if you happen to break one you will have to have another one custom made.....custom=$$$).  Moser can make custom axle shafts and last time I checked (been several years ago though) they were one of the cheapest places to have custom stuff made.  You are better off just putting toys in and being able to find readily available replacement parts, if you ever need to.
Just my .02.
Tracker and Sidekick parts for sale.....PM me with your wants/needs.

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2011, 11:14:48 AM »
Skyhiranger is right, unless you have access to a full machine shop that can perform all the custom work you will need to put new outers on the axle and re-spline the axle shafts as required it is going to cost way more then finding a heavier duty axle in the first place.

In order to do this conversion you will need to do a few things.  First you will need a set of Dana 44 outers, so find a Dana 44 front axle.  Then cut the outers off, have a shop measure and mount them on your Kick rear housing.  You will need to cut down the axle tube on one side and make a longer tube on the second, since you are changing to an off-set front housing instead of a center rear.  Once this is done take your side gears and Dana 44 front axle shaft to a shop and have them cut down the axle shafts and re-spline them to fit your new differential.

The easiest way to use a Samurai front axle is to just put a set of wheel spacers on one to make it wide enough.  But even with the chromoly shafts 34" tires are at the upper end, depending on your driving style.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2011, 02:18:16 PM »
I was asking I heard and was wondering just sounded good cause I got a pile of 44s laying around but they are all to wide and I was told the danas drag a lot of power to spin.  And the over all weight sucks. So all and all part the sammy axle find something bigger I cant find stock toy axles around here less than 800 bucks for a bone stock 4.10.geared ones which is a pile more money gearing and getting alloy axles buying another locker then doing the same to the rear didnt sound cheap thats why I asked moser used to make ,y rear axles for housings we cut down and they was fairly cheap never tried them for front axles never crossed my mind I friend of mine is running a dana 30 from a jeep in the front of his trackick they cut tubes out and moved the diff to the pass side which sucked I did most of it it has a tracker rear axle with 4.88s and it lives ok with 36 irocks with a 8v and 4.24 t case gears but really sucks in high range driving to and from the trails I am a welder by trade and have a junk yard around 2000 treasures sitting around I was wondering if any of this was a common swap if not I am open to suggestions i come from a full size truck to trackers and love the small size of the tracker if there is something better enlighten me please everyone around hear thinks toy axles r lined with gold





« Last Edit: September 20, 2011, 02:45:56 PM by ridgerat4x4 »
my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2011, 05:59:27 PM »
Sorry for the confusion I called my buddy and he said something about they was also using some kind of jeep truck dana 44 any body know what years. I thought he said they was using the danna 44 knuckles but I got my info mixed up he was talking bout flat top knuckles for high steer that was my fault but it was on here I read about the trackick rear with sammy knuckles I think gvit has it in greece or somewhere over sees sorry to much info got my notes wrong sorry but any info or pics of the waggy axle thanks and sorry for my wrong info
my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2011, 06:02:53 PM »
It is not that Toy axles are lined with gold, it's that they are a really good swap for our application.  As you said the Dana 44 is a large and heavy axle, more axle then you really need with the 1.6L and under 35" tires.  The Toyota is lighter weight, a lot of aftermarket support and already has the drop on the correct side.

What you are probably thinking of is the Big Suzana axles that Trail Tough used to make, which are exactly as you described originally.  They used them on the orange Suzuki with duallies on each corner.  They don't make them anymore, but you might call Brent at Trail Tough and ask him about them.  I found this on an article about the machine:

Quote
The axles are both Big Suz-Anas, an appropriate name for a hybrid axle that incorporates Suzuki Sidekick centersections and Dana 44 outer knuckles. The two are joined by 2-1/2-inch DOM, 3/16-inch tubing. The diffs are fitted with ARB air lockers, Sidekick 5.63:1 ring-and-pinions, and 27-spline Dana 35 side couplers. Warn chrome-moly axles were re-splined to match. Wrapped around Samurai rotors, hubs, and spindles are Suzuki Swift cable E-brake calipers that can be operated independently to control brake steering.

Read more: http://www.4wdandsportutility.com/features/02094wd_suzuki_samurai_eight_tires/index.html#ixzz1YXolPJK2


The axle shafts are going to be the biggest issue, the rest you should be able to do in your shop.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2011, 06:45:53 PM »
Thank you drone I might not be going crazy I swore I seen them axles somewhere. I wanna try and keep the 1.6 but I really want a 35 to 36 inch tire I was going to use 33 or 34 inch tires to try and save the sammy axle but will the 1.6 pull a tire that big on the street and maybe run 55mph or so with a dana 44 in the front I got a toyota ifs rear axle I could use. I was guessing the sammy t case most likely behind a trackick 2wd tranny would help with the high range reduction just trying to run with my buddys they all run 35s mostly on heeps I figured that as funds allow I would try to do the ott kicker set up or my just a 4 to 1 gear set in the samurai t case might be enough the tracker is at the moment 2wd i have a 2.5 v6 and 2.0 put back just in case lol
my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel

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Offline Skyhiranger

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2011, 06:49:16 PM »
just trying to run with my buddys they all run 35s mostly on heeps

A straight axled trackick on 33s will keep up and probably out do most jeeps on 35s. 
I routinely show up jeeps on 35s+ with my samurai on 33s.
Tracker and Sidekick parts for sale.....PM me with your wants/needs.

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2011, 06:57:11 PM »
Alot of trails we run are rutted pretty bad so the bigger tires sound good but with the bigger dana 44 diff I am going to lose some ground clearance guess I need to drag a tape measure out and find out how much we normaly dont drive far but I have been cheating with my 98 tracker its only got 30inch tires and I gotta to bypass the rough parts
my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2011, 09:36:39 AM »
With the 1.6 you should be able to run at 55mph without a problem.  A buddy has a Ford 9" rear and Dana 44 front with 5.38 gears and a 5.8:1 t-case on his Samurai with a 16v engine, he has no power issues.  The only problem is being limited to 65 due to gearing.

Are you doing primarily mud and dirt?  How much rock crawling are you doing?  I am wondering if you might be able to get away with running lighter running gear depending on your driving/wheeling style.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline ridgerat4x4

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Re: Sammy front axle upgrades
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2011, 01:16:18 PM »
A lot of dirt but some steep climbs and rocks we try to avoid mud unless we cant but mostly some city driving I will haul it on long hauls 55mph is the max speed limit around here like to be able to run to and from the local trails.  I was thinking toyota rear axle and was hoping somebody had heard about the dana 44 out of a jeep wagoneer being close to the right hub measurment I wanting to us dual cases and the rockcrawler gears seam to be cheaper for the sammy case I would love to have a toy front axle I just dont see the bang for the buck using them but I could be wrong I was looking at trail tough and they alloy sammy axles said 35 inch and under but that must be for a lighter weight samurai not a trackick lol
« Last Edit: September 21, 2011, 01:20:14 PM by ridgerat4x4 »
my crazy junk ,77 M35a2 duece and half,86 dodge long bed on 2.5 tons (under construction), 98 tracker, 91 dodge diesel