Version 1.11 - 29 Apr 98
Edited by Scott Gomez suzuki@off-road.comWhy a SAMFAQ?
[Mike
Graham]
As of May 1997, I will be a
proud Sammy (“pet” name for Samurai) owner. Prior to
that event, I wanted to get info on possible upgrades etc. that I
can perform. Although the Sammy will primarily be a daily driver
for use while I’m doing a frame-off resto on my Land Cruiser,
it deserves far better than to suffer the ridicule of being
road-bound. My ’cruiser buddies are giving me some good
natured ribbing for buying a Sammy (’cuz it’s so small,
eh? With twig-like drive-shafts that bend in the breeze, etc. etc.
etc.), so it is a moral imperative that I build it up to the point
where it will blow their ’cruisers out of the water. Fair is
fair. 8-)
So I went looking for info.
“Where’s the FAQ?”, I asked. There wasn’t
one. This is a situation that cannot go on! A FAQ is needed, so
here it is.
You might be worried about the
fact that I know virtually nothing about the Samurai, and
don’t, in point of fact, even own one (yet), and yet here I
am providing an authoritative information source. Welcome to the
internet. 8-) The information within this tome is provided by
people who have real experience and knowledge. I’m just the
compiler of this FAQ. Think of me as a news anchorman. When was the
last time one of them was actually covering a cocaine war
somewhere?
As a final note, I should point
out that this document is off-road oriented; some of the
maintenance info will be pertinent to the pavement dweller, but the
document is directed at the seeker of the trail less
followed.Where to get
ithttp://www.off-road.com/suzuki/tech/samfaq.htm
Lawyer
Drivel
Here we go:
There is no guarantee, expressed or implied, that
this information is either useful, or accurate, or either. It is
merely the personal opinions of the applicable authors. Use it at
your own risk. We could be psychotic delusionals who delight in the
thought that other people are going to wreck their trucks trying to
follow our advice.
This collection of
information is copyrighted by Off-Road.com and
the various contributors. You can look at it, share it, collect it
and trade it with your friends, but you can’t try to sell it,
or make money off of it without our express permission.Future Plans
This FAQ is in its infancy, and much more work needs to be
done.Release
History
1.10 24 Jan 98 New content
added
1.00 01 Sep 97 First public
release.
0.01a. 00/00/00 This is as beta as
it gets, folks! There will be a pre-release available to Samurai
wizards for their perusal, so any obvious errors can get ironed out
before it gets released to the general public. I’m not sure
when this is going to happen, as I’d really rather be out in
the shed working on my Sammy than sitting here basking in the
radiation my monitor is throwing at me.
Sharing the
blame
The following have
contributed (officially, or unofficially):
Vast amounts of information were pilfered from the Samurai
page on Off-Road.com.
At the beginning of
each section (where applicable) there is a list of contributors and
sources in square brackets.
Much, much,
much info was provided by the troglodytes on the suzuki4x4 mailing
list, who crawled, blinking, out from under their trucks and into
the sunlight long enough to bathe in the radiation emitted from
their sundry computers, and enlighten us.What can you do to help?
Ask questions! Mail questions to suzuki@off-road.com, and we’ll pass them on to
the experts and get the resultant question/answer combo added to
the FAQ, if merited.
Is a
Samurai?
Years were Samurais imported to the US?
Other names refer to the Samurai?
Are the biggest tires I can run?
Mods should I make to improve general trail-worthiness if I only
have $1000 to spend?
Tough
are Sammies?
Do I get more power out of my 1300cc engine?
Do you get the @#$& valve cover off?
Do I relocate my breathers?
Do I get the slop out of my steering?
Do I re-center my steering wheel?
Does my
Samurai hesitate when I accelerate?
Does my shift lever wobble around?
Is my shift lever stuck?
Is my t-case selector popping out of position (or stuck)?
Is my fuel pump leaking oil?
Should I put a locker in the rear axle before the
front?
Mike
Graham]
When I asked this question, I
got several different answers to this one. Here they are:
Jonathan Hall says: “Lock right, s/o, diff
gears.”
Noel VanHook says:
“Rock Lobster and tires.”
James
Hiers says: “Rocklobster transfer case and
lockrite.”
I’m going to
amalgamate these answers and come up with a different one.
I’m going to say that for general trail running the best
$1000 spent to keep you moving is going to be spent on a lockrite
and tires. A rocklobster is a great thing to have if you’re
playing on steep rocks, but a locker and tires is the best $1000
you’re going to spend for general trail use. If you’re
building a rock-crawler, then the rocklobster and s/o just might be
your best route, but never underestimate the value of good
tires. Oh yeah, I’d put that locker on the front. Now, if
you’re planning on putting big tires on it (like
30s; see the section on tire sizes) then you may well be better off
going with Noel VanHook’s suggestion of tires and a
rocklobster, because the increased tire size is going to reduce
your torque, which the rocklobster will compensate for, both on and
off road.
Mike Graham]
Whether the
engine is fuel injected or not, it can benefit from:
K&N air filter ($50)
MSD Ignition system
Tri-Y exhaust header
2" Free-flowing exhaust
Performance camshaft
The favorite seems to be the header and 2"exhaust. Almost everybody asked put that in their top 3 mods to
make to a 1300.
If the engine in question
is carbureted, then look into replacing the stock carb with a
Weber.
Mike
Graham]
When the crank is turned by way
of the crank pulley center bolt (using a 17mm socket) to the TDC
point (the white notch on the crank pulley is lined up with the
“0” on the ignition timing marks), then the intake
valve rocker on cylinder #4 will be enough out of the way that you
can raise the front of the cover (after removing the bolts, of
course) and roll the cover to the right to sneak the back left
corner out from under the vacuum advance on the distributor.
Getting it back on is just a real drag in the dirt.
This is going to sound excessive, but I honestly
find it easier to pull the distributor. Really. Firstly, use a
scriber to make a mark on the dist body and the mount, so that you
can easily realign it. Once you have the crank at TDC you just
remove the distributor hold-down bolt, and the whole unit slides up
and out. Even if you don’t want to actually pull the dist,
you can just turn it clockwise a few degrees to move the vacuum
advance out of the way, and you will find that life is
much, much easier. This is far easier than
screwing around trying to get the cover off with the distributor in
place. When the cover has been replaced and bolted down, just turn
the distributor body back so that the marks line up again, and
tighten the hold-down bolt. I usually check my ignition timing
afterwards, but you can get away with not doing it if you line your
marks up correctly. If you later decide to permanently change your
ignition timing, just sand off the old marks, set the new timing,
and make new marks.
Mike Graham, with
info from Thom Batty]
Get yourself 15' or
so of plastic tubing with an inner diameter of ½". Using a
pair of vise-grips, remove the cap from each breather, attach the
end of the hose and fasten with a hose clamp. Using zip-ties, run
the hoses to the engine compartment (leaving enough slack near the
axle for axle travel) and cut off the extra hose. You can end the
hose in one of two ways; either spend the money on some inline
filters (fuel filters or whatever) and top the hoses with that, or
just end the hoses in an arch like the top of a candy cane; if the
open end of the “candy cane” runs down about 8" or so,
you won’t need to worry about water getting in. Higher is
better. If you run a snorkel, then just plumb the hose into the
snorkel so that it uses the same air supply.
Larry
Harris]
There is a lock nut and
adjusting screw on top of the steering box. The proper way to
adjust it is with the preload method. You will need a spring scale
to measure the starting torque of the worm shaft (the one with the
rubber piece that goes to the steering shaft) it should be between
1.58 - 2.63 kg when adjusted properly.
There have been many that just turn in on the screw a little
to remove the free play. Be careful with this method, but it
does work. Do not over-tighten the
screw. Make a small adjustment and cycle the wheel
from stop to stop and make sure it still has free travel with no
hard spots.
Larry
Harris]
The steering wheel can not be
re-centered unless you remove the wheel or the u-joint on the
steering shaft. The only adjustment we have is for toe.
To remove the wheel, pull off the horn button and
remove the nut holding the wheel in place. Then pull the wheel free
(a puller is not required), reposition it and fasten it back
down.
Gary Munck]
The secondary
throttle plate is operated by vacuum, there is a little hole that
is the port for this vacuum.
The flat spot
you are feeling is caused when the secondary either does not open
or opens and then closes partially as the vacuum drops in the
manifold. I hope this clears up the mystery.
On most carbs it is necessary to move the opening of this port
out into the air flow. There is a small tube available that can fix
the problem in the majority of Samurais.
For more information see:http://www.off-road.com/suzuki/tech/tb4-06.htm
Mike
Graham]
Because the locating pin
that’s supposed to hold it in the proper position has broken
off and things got way out of whack. See 4.2 immediately above.
What is actually happening is the toe of the
shifter is caught somewhere it isn’t supposed to be, and
can’t get back. The solution is to remove the entire shifter
assembly.
Now look into the gearbox. There
are metal bars running front to back. There are notches in the bars
that should line up to form a channel from side to side. If they
don’t, then get a big screwdriver and poke them around until
they do. The channel will line up with the notch in the reverse
gear spring.
Once the channel is lined up,
just reinstall the shifter.
Off-Road.com]
Because the
"sheet" (as Suzuki names it, it a piece that guides the transfer
case shifter) in the transfer case has worn out. Order a new one
and replace it.
Off-Road.com]
[How to
replace it yourself]
It's shot. And
it'll leak a lot of oil, so keep a close eye on the engine
oil level until you get it replaced.
Don
Schultz]
There are a couple of
compelling reasons for installing your first locking type
differential in the rear axle first:
1)
Much of a vehicle's weight transfers to the rear wheels when
driving up steep hills. This places most of the burden for climbing
traction on the rear wheels. The shorter the wheel base, the more
pronounced the effect. Under extreme conditions you can't afford to
lose any traction on a back tire, even in 4wd. A good driver, with
a suitably equipped 2wd and locking rear axle, can go places
thought only accessible by 4wd.
2) If you
are like most recreational 4x4 drivers, you spend more time in 2wd
on the street than in 4wd off-road. With a locker in the rear your
vehicle benefits from the added traction in both on and off-road
service.
Note: Please don't misunderstand.
I like and own front wheel drive vehicles but... there's a myth
floating around that front wheel drive vehicles climb better than
rear wheel drive vehicles. This is only because the rear wheel
drive vehicles that were tested lacked positive traction (a locker)
to both wheels. The same laws of physics apply to towing. That's
one reason why rear wheel drive vehicles in general are used to
pull heavier loads than front wheel drives.
Bottom line for 4x4'ers... two lockers are better than one,
but if you must choose, stick it in your rear!
Mike Graham. Currently, it’s Scott Gomez,
Editor of the Suzuki pages on Off-Road.com. Updates, additions and
corrections to the FAQ should be sent to: suzuki@off-road.com. Various questions were answered
by all sorts of people, often via the suzuki4x4 mailing list hosted
at Off-road.com. The authors of various answers are listed in
square brackets at the beginning of the section they provided.
Off-Road.com, Inc., a Hawaii Corporation and its
Internet site at “www.off-road.com”
is not affiliated in any way with K-III Communications Corp, McMullen
Argus Publishing, Inc.
or the “in-print” magazine titled
“Off-Road”.
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