Never ending Samurai build...

[DirtMonkey]

:dblthumb: I dig it! Your front suspension numbers are very similar to my current draft. I'm concerned with ride height and relying on only N2 pressure to set ride height. You have the samurai engine and similar weight as mine, I'm curious, what is your distance between shock mounting (eye to eye )on your 14" air shocks? It looks like it sets at a good stance... Are you happy with the stability? Thanks!

 

[clemsonjeep]

Good job thumb.gif you goin to fall crawl?

No...but we are going to Harlan Oct. 27-30.

:dblthumb: I dig it! Your front suspension numbers are very similar to my current draft. I'm concerned with ride height and relying on only N2 pressure to set ride height. You have the samurai engine and similar weight as mine, I'm curious, what is your distance between shock mounting (eye to eye )on your 14" air shocks? It looks like it sets at a good stance... Are you happy with the stability? Thanks!

I can measure that for you later, but on the front I've got 5" of shaft showing so that should make the mounting points something like 26.5" apart. Stability is great so far. The part I was worried about the most was how it would act on really steep climbs...I didn't want to rely on the suck down to keep it under control. I was very happy to see that it was very calm in those situations and only used the suck down to see how things changed.

As we all know driving on pavement will really make things act strange...especially with lockers. In 2wd and in rear wheel drive it drives just fine, but throw it in 4wd and turn sharp...and it unloads a little. Off road I didn't really get it into any situations where I can remember it unloading. I'll have to get it out some more and report back.

 

[DirtMonkey]

Just went back and see now the 5" of shaft at ride height. I had planed around 4 or 5 inches. I wont have as much up travel...I have not modified the frame for up clearance. I know I should, but not wanting to get into that on this go around. I expect to use a suckdown winch on steep climbs, but dont want sidehill roll...we shall see....I like the way yours sits, the ride height looks perfect.

 

[clemsonjeep]

Got a trip to Harlan coming up next weekend so I've been working on tying up some loose ends. I'd ordered limit straps a while back and never got around to putting them on. I got the front ones on today but will wait to do the rears on Monday because I have some new 5wt oil coming for those shocks. I was dumb a while back and swapped to 10wt oil...hadn't done enough reading to understand what that would change but now I know that wasn't the right thing to do for my application and as light as my rig is. I also ordered a new light bar for the front bumper since it got redone and the old 7.5" double row wasn't gonna work.

The light I chose was a u-Box brand that I got from Amazon simply because it was the same price as on eBay and the shipping is much quicker. It showed up today and it looks pretty good...for the price of course.

Then I got busy doing entirely too much work to save some parts to use on my new bumper. Before I tubed out the rear of my rig the tubing stopped just before the door opening. I bought some of the billet steel tube caps from somewhere and still had them laying around from when I cut them off. So I chucked them up in my mini lathe (yeah I know...MINI lathe). The first one went pretty well, but the second one flew off at me twice when the tool grabbed too hard. It's amazing the dumbassery a cheap bastard will go through...haha

 

[clemsonjeep]

Well...it's upgrade time I suppose...

Loose studs

 

[mckeddie]

6 shooters or 60's? I've been debating on a set of 6 shooters for mine.

 

[untchabl]

Don't have to worry about Ryan ever going to tons molaugh

 

[easleycrawler]

Don't have to worry about Ryan ever going to tons molaugh

That's right.

 

[smbroady82]

6 shooters or 60's? I've been debating on a set of 6 shooters for mine.

You wouldn't regret it. We witnessed another factory Toyota knuckle come apart the other weekend. That is a bad break down, you get to tear down and completely reassemble one whole side of the axle..in the woods.. if you happen to be carrying a spare knuckle around with you. When it happened to me the high steer arm ended up going through the rotor (fun day).

 

[easleycrawler]

6 shooters or 60's? I've been debating on a set of 6 shooters for mine.

I ain't going to let the cat out of the bag, but he's definitely not going 60's or 6 shooters. I'm running 6 shooters on mine.

 

[Jacksonwolf39]

I ain't going to let the cat out of the bag, but he's definitely not going 60's or 6 shooters. I'm running 6 shooters on mine.

That sucks. Awhile back when my brother was looking for a rig, we looked at a 4Runner that was pretty built. It had mini truck diff. And Dana 44 outer ****. Was kinda cool

 

[smbroady82]

That sucks. Awhile back when my brother was looking for a rig, we looked at a 4Runner that was pretty built. It had mini truck diff. And Dana 44 outer ****. Was kinda cool

Why you gotta cuss man?

;)

 

[zukimaster]

Of all the Toyota problems I had, I never had mine to come loose, I would put a torque wrench on them every couple rides and check them. But everything else fell apart. :****:

 

[clemsonjeep]

Of all the Toyota problems I had, I never had mine to come loose, I would put a torque wrench on them every couple rides and check them. But everything else fell apart. :****:

That's always been me. I've put a torque wrench on them before just about every ride with them set to 90ftlbs. After riding around in the truck all day yesterday I got to think about what might have happened a lot. The only thing I can figure is that's the side that I just had to swap out since I went to full hydro and sold all of my previous high steer setup. Since then I've had it to Harlan once and to a local park once. I imagine I could have slipped up and not gotten them torqued completely prior to the Harlan ride and then I know I didn't check them before the local ride. Being that they all are loose and I'm assuming the holes in the knuckle are wallowed out pretty bad I think that explanation fits the best.

Slipped up one time...and that's all it took. Other than that I've been riding on the 4 stud arms with ARP's for over 8 years now. Over half of that time my rig has had 39" tires on it and although I rarely get stupid with it, I've also never really been one to back down easily either.

In any case...new parts are necessary!

 

[simpletoy]

Just throwing it out there I have some six shooters I would sell with arp studs and trail gears heavy duty wiper seal and HD rings if interested


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[mckeddie]

Just throwing it out there I have some six shooters I would sell with arp studs and trail gears heavy duty wiper seal and HD rings if interested


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If he isnt, I am. Pm me a price.

 

[clemsonjeep]

If he isnt, I am. Pm me a price.

I chose to go a different route...they're yours if you want them!

 

[clemsonjeep]

So this use to be my front upper link truss...and it use to be straight.

So I stopped by the local scrap yard and picked up entirely too much 3/16 plate.

I started turning it into my new truss/link mount.

Cut and drilled link tabs this evening. I think they'll work out well. Gotta cut the other pair and then work on gusseting them as well as the front and back of the truss. I've got roughly 3 3/8" adjustment which gives me 66%, 90%, and 113%. With the old setup I was around 88% if I remember right. It seemed to work pretty well, but I wished I was able to mess around with it just to see what changed.

I got some parts ordered today to repair my knuckle stud situation. Hopefully those parts will show up this week, but something tells me thats just me wishing. Another quick project I've got on my mind is to redo my rear upper shock mounts so I can get a little more up travel at ride height. They currently sit with around 4" showing and I think I'd like to get them to around 5-5.5". From screwing around with them that only means a difference of around 15psi so it shouldnt be a deal killer and itll really improve ride quality on access roads.

 

[clemsonjeep]

Got some more time in the shop finally. I've got the four link tabs tacked in place and cut out the front and back plates for the truss. The front plate is fully burned in and I should get the rear in tomorrow. As I was finishing up I decided to take apart that loose passenger side knuckle.

Wouldn't you know there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Turns out I must have just not tightened them up at all when I reinstalled that arm last time. So I put it back together with fresh loctite and torqued them down. Too bad I've already got the upgrade parts on the way.

Anyone need a set of yota knuckles with high steer arms and ARP studs?

 

[KyTrash]

Nice Work.

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Re: Re: Never ending Samurai build...

Got some more time in the shop finally. I've got the four link tabs tacked in place and cut out the front and back plates for the truss. The front plate is fully burned in and I should get the rear in tomorrow. As I was finishing up I decided to take apart that loose passenger side knuckle.

Wouldn't you know there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Turns out I must have just not tightened them up at all when I reinstalled that arm last time. So I put it back together with fresh loctite and torqued them down. Too bad I've already got the upgrade parts on the way.

Anyone need a set of yota knuckles with high steer arms and ARP studs?

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm13/clemsonjeep/Samurai/IMG_20170311_184906465_zpsr3ntgqmm.jpg[IMG/IMG]
[/quote]
Im guessing your planning to brace the tabs some too?

Looking good so far, but i think this thing needs some 9s like all the cool kids.

 

[clemsonjeep]

Im guessing your planning to brace the tabs some too?

Looking good so far, but i think this thing needs some 9s like all the cool kids.

Yeah they'll have gussets between the tabs, as well as on either side. I've got the middle three cut out and tacked in already, but I need to get back out there and work on the two for the far left and right sides. My problem is I get wrapped up in the idea I should make them look better, but I think I've decided to build it to work and forget about making them fancy looking.

To tell the truth, if I ever did upgrade (probably never happen) axles from Toyota axles I would definitely be going with 9's. I really like what Jethro has done with his custom housings in his build thread over on Pirate. At this point the only thing I wish I had more of is steering and that's not enough to make me want to change.

 

[clemsonjeep]

I like it when new parts start piling up...well at least until I realize that means I need to get my butt in gear. In any case I'm really looking forward to these upgrades. These showed up from FROR yesterday...

One of the biggest issues I've got with my current setup is the 3spd auto I'm running really doesn't cooperate with a boosted setup. Being that it's vacuum modulated and there's no option for a manual valve body I just can't get it to shift from 1st to 2nd when I need to on a climb unless I let out and get back into it. The only thing I haven't tried involved removing the modulator and setting it up so it's basically locked in the full vacuum position which should cause the transmission to shift as soon as I bump it up out of the 1st gear position. Again...I got ahead of myself and started gathering parts to upgrade. This was mostly because I came across some really good deals I couldn't pass up. I picked up the transmission which is a 4 speed 03-72LE out of a 2003 Chevy Tracker with 67,500 miles from a salvage yard in Charlotte on "clearance" for $48 out the door. Then I found a flex plate and the spacers it requires locally for $30. The flexplate for the 3spd is different than the one for the 4spd and for the 1.6 8v you need the flex plate from a 16v motor rather than the 1.8 or 2.0's that the same transmission is found behind since the later model motors went to an 8 bolt pattern vs. the 6 bolt of the 1.6 8v and 16v.

I've had this Winters shifter on my shelf for going on 3 years now and kept refusing to put it on the 3 speed for several reasons. First of all it was a leaky sumbitch, second I wasn't looking forward to modifying the cable mounting brackets and getting the adjustments set up right. The shifter I've got is for a TH350 and the 3 speed is a TH180 so they're similar, but definitely different. So I got in touch with RADesigns who makes the shifter setups for the AW4's, A340's, etc and he set me up with the parts to install in my Winters shifter to control this 4 speed without needing the ECU. It's a very slick setup and will give me the control of shifts I've been wanting. I also had to call WOD up and get the correct shift gate and install kit. That showed up today...and the kit from RADesigns will be here tomorrow.

 

[kickdeez]

I like the keyed steering arms. Looks like it has the potential to work better/be stronger than a 6-shooter setup. Did you have FROR machine your knuckles, or did you do it yourself?

 

[sleepsontoilet]

I'm curious since it's an Aisin, if you could just bolt an AW4 tail housing to it and swap to the 6 bolt round for an Atlas or 300?

 

[clemsonjeep]

I like the keyed steering arms. Looks like it has the potential to work better/be stronger than a 6-shooter setup. Did you have FROR machine your knuckles, or did you do it yourself?

Everything I know about shear and stress tells me that this setup is superior to the 6 shooters, but I'd imagine that both are plenty strong. The thing I really like about these is that they drill the arms for the ram you're using so there's no longer a need for steering stops...the ram bottoms out like it should. Since I thought my knuckle was trashed I went ahead an bought a pair of used knuckles from FROR and had them machine them before shipping them to me.

 

[clemsonjeep]

I'm curious since it's an Aisin, if you could just bolt an AW4 tail housing to it and swap to the 6 bolt round for an Atlas or 300?

I don't think that would work due to the outputs being different between the 03-72LE and the AW4...at least that's what I think I remember reading. However, I could go pickup an AW4 and swap the bellhousings and then I could indeed run an Atlas or 300. The same goes for the Toyota guys. They could run the bellhousing from an A340 on an AW4 if they would rather use an Atlas or 300.

 

[clemsonjeep]

The RADesigns parts showed up today at lunch so I took a few minutes and got them installed on the Winters shifter. Really nice parts and incredibly fast service too.

Shift solenoid wiring for reference:

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Re: Re: Never ending Samurai build...

I don't think that would work due to the outputs being different between the 03-72LE and the AW4...at least that's what I think I remember reading. However, I could go pickup an AW4 and swap the bellhousings and then I could indeed run an Atlas or 300. The same goes for the Toyota guys. They could run the bellhousing from an A340 on an AW4 if they would rather use an Atlas or 300.

The 4spd is adaptable to toyota cases, which is is best feature, imo.

 

[clemsonjeep]

Got the 3spd pulled this afternoon and the 4spd mocked up. This was the first time I've removed the tcase since I built the rig too...Might look at moving it slightly to tuck it up in the chassis a little more. The output on the trans will dictate that though. I won't be redoing the motor mounts either...Ha.

Had to open up the trans tunnel a little more since this trans is roughly 3.5" longer than the 3spd.