1988 samurai LWB build

[kris97ranger]

alright! progress somewhat ...

got the front bolted in (what a friggin pain...)

the drivers side went easy the passenger side i couldnt get the centering pin in (needed another hand to jack up the axle) so i took the spring off the truck bolted it to the axle then bolted everything back to the truck

once i was done that i took my 33s and threw them in my safe aka my poor neglected sj.. this thing keeps getting pushed further and forther back on my to do list

then i pulled the rear tires off and started taking the rear axle out then
threw a few of the grovved 38s on to see what it looked like

i think its lookin pretty bad ass. had to stop early today its 2.5 years with the gf today so i figured i should be home for when she comes home. more tommorow!! i hope

 

[BONES]

Yup she looks pretty bad ass for sure man!

I know what you mean about pushing back the next project further and further. My Rover and my 72 Baja Bug keep getting the same treatment, I feel bad about it but what can a guy do?

 

[kris97ranger]

Well that sj was supposed to be painted just after the may 24 then the samurai axles were going to go under it hut wih everything that happened that weekend all my $ including the bit i saved to paint the sj went into the samurai. Then like i said last week i blew a tire on the f150 and now i need tires for that (he remaining are at like 3/32nds) so now i have to drop $1500 on tires and another like $800 to finish the samurai b4 i even think about starting the sj

 

[BONES]

Yup, I know man, I know, hang in there bud, it'll happen in due time!! That's the stuff that keeps slapping my motivation to the ground too.

Sucks when life kicks you to the curb over and over, but just think, now that your at the bottom, you can only go up from here!! Keep on keepin on man!!

 

[kris97ranger]

no work on it yesterday like i wanted.... my aunt came over to see my mom and when she left in the morning her car had problems "the brakes felt soft" so i pulled it in the driveway hit the brakes and i may as well of been sitting in the back seat. there was nothing. pop the hood no brake fluid at all. pull the rear drums off there is no shoe at all just the metal part of the show that used to be there....

so i spent all day putting new shoes, drums, wheel cylinders on. and unsiezing her adjusters. along with all that her e-brake was seized so i disconnected that so she could get home and go to a shop.

bled all the breaks over and over still no pedal. (better then b4 but that doesnt take much)

bled the master and couldnt get anything out of the front line. for like 20 minutes then finaly i got some brake fluid and re bled the wheels again. took it for a test drive....

honestly i dunno how she got here the steering is falling out of the car and the tranny is about to go. you have to hold it into drive otherwise all you get is neutral. but it was enough for her to get home and bring the car to a shop today. as i see it she needs a car its detroyed. 2003 kia spectra with like 140'000 on it. friggin garbage cars.. doesnt help that she ONLY gets express oil changes so its never been in a shop scince she got it and its a company car.

but all in all that took all day yesterday. and today was clean up the house day and help dad with his matco truck. he had a leaky transmission line.

the only samurai related news is that i got 2 quotes to set up my gears one place was $300 PER diff.... and they 3rd members are already out and i have all the set up kits and gears. seem a bit steep to me so i kept looking and got another quote for $40 an hour.

i figure thats the route im going like i said the diffs are out of the truck so ill be able to see what the pattern is like b4 i install them if i dont like it ill get someone else to do it. but at $40 an hour the guy would have to take 15 hours to do them and make it more expensive then the $600 i was quoted before.

 

[BONES]

$40 an hour isn't terrible at all as long as he knows what he's doing, I charge friends $30/hr. for stuff like that, less if they come help and free if they bring beer and food!! LOL!

Shouldn't take 15 hours either, it usually takes me an hour or so the take 2 drop outs all apart and clean up the parts and then no more than a couple hours to set up the gears on 1 carrier. This also includes finding the tools and a clean spot to assemble it all. I was at it for about 5 hours all together on the last set of Toy8" diffs I did. I wasn't in a hurry either and I seem to have a hard time wrenching and talking at the same time, lol.

 

[kris97ranger]

ok so i went and pulled the samurai rear axle out today and threw in the toyota rear.

all in all wasnt so bad i cut the opld perches off and got some 2x2 square tubing 1/4" wall. kinda overkill but it was in the scrap pile and just long enough so i used it.

i forgot the camera so no pics. pretty basic stuff though. cut them both 6" long the stock toyota ones were like 3-4" long. i went a bit longer cause i figure it could halp with axle wrap and thats how the last ones were done so i copied them. And the torch was outta gas so i had to cut a triangle out of the square tubing then ground the edges out until it was a nice circle shape.

made sure they fit and found the centers marked them and drilled the holes for the centering pins. tacked them to the tubes at 35 1/4" inside of perch to the inside of the other. (stock samurai spring width)

threw it all under and turns out one perch isnt level with the other. but its not a big deal i realized im probally going to have to reset the pinion angle anyways once i get the new transfercase in.

 

[kris97ranger]

ah yes and i forgot to mention that even without the drums on the axle the wheel mounting surface is just about level with the edge of my flares. so once i get rims on there and all things are gonna stick out quite i bit. plus im ditching the flares so i think the tires will be sticking out a good 7-8" per side makes me happy

 

[BONES]

Wicked, can't wait to see pics man!!!!

 

[kris97ranger]

ok so not much progress today. i picked up a combi kit for the rear axle and of course it was wrong and then both parts stores in town dont have them and want to order it in. so ill have to go to barrie tommorow yay 45 minutes outta my way for a $12 part....

heres the axle under the truck

my homemade perchs

this is the side i got the angle wrong on so i jacked up the truck so theres a bit of pressure on the axle from the springs and cut the tacs and the force fo the spring spun it to where it shoulda been. good enough for me. i still need to get the new transfercase in to be sure that i dont need to change my pinion angle b4 i burn it all in.

i also grabbed a spare yolk that zac had laying around for his mazda and threw it on my front pinion to see if i could use a regular toyota shaft on the landcruiser pinion. turns out you can the centering ring lines up nice and tight. but the bolt holes are off so i just turned it about 30 degrees and am going to drill new holes tommorow. i didnt have a drill today.

most people say to drill the new holes 45 degrees to put the new holes in but i figured in case i need to now i can add another bolt pattern in there if need be.

after all this i went back to grooving the 38s. i just about have the 3rd one done then its all good. thats all for today

not too exciting eh bones? lol considering i think your the only person paying attention to this

 

[kris97ranger]

oh yes and of course im talking to dad last night about how i had to make the perchs he tells me a much better way.... use 2x4 tubing mark the center on the 4" wide piece get a hole saw and drill a hole (whatever size the axle tube is) then when your done just split it along the center line. done 2 perches in like 5 minutes... not my way that took like an hour lol

 

[Bennybooster]

i'm watching..........im just a little quiet

 

[kris97ranger]

ok so this has alot to do with nothing in this thread lol.

i found these yesterday looking through a lmc catalogue for parts for my gfs '63 merc and thought they would be perfect for any of you guys who like to pull the doors off but hate dealing with the wires for the stereo.

 

[Ranger Kip]

ok so this has alot to do with nothing in this thread lol.

i found these yesterday looking through a lmc catalogue for parts for my gfs '63 merc and thought they would be perfect for any of you guys who like to pull the doors off but hate dealing with the wires for the stereo.

Or you can go my route and make 1 master plug for each door that combines all the plugs in the door and to the door

Much easier and quicker, also, you can do it for like $15

 

[kris97ranger]

yea when i had my ranger i just had the trailer plugs. but i didnt have power windows or any of that stuff. i dunno just thought it was kinda cool