therealprotaco's 3rd Gen Towed Suzuki Samurai Crawler

The end is so close I can feel it. Radiator comes tomorrow and I’ll be able to fire her back up go for a test drive.

Power steering reservoir is temporarily mounted (and by temporary I mean until I find the time to build a tube front clip)......not ideal but the bracket and hose clamp provide enough flex for engine movement until I have more clearance to use a longer hose. It’s been filled with fluid for over 24 hours and pump primed by hand and it doesn’t have any leaks so far. No pressure yet though:



Sliders cut and rear wheel arch traced for cutting/bashing:



If all goes well, I’m going to try and take it out on Sunday!

 

A long Saturday of cutting fenders, welding in flip flops, and getting the new radiator and power steering installed.



All in all 3 of the fenders look OK from the outside and the first one we did where we thought we were going to tack weld did NOT. I ground down the uglier part of the welds on the 1st one and will get some edge trim for the three that don't have it yet.


Items left for this week before wheeling this weekend:

• Shim back of power steering pump bracket to get better pulley angle
• Figure out what to do about power steering reservoir hitting hood (probably just some silicone padding for the moment because the whole mount will be redesigned with the new shock hoops).
• See if I can figure out why the Zuk is running so rough now -- I think it is grounds but could be the fact that there is now a power steering pump to drive on that tiny motor.
• Edge trim for the 3 fenders that still need it.
• Brake line retainer brackets installed.
• Figure out air filter from 3" tube and parts store universal filter.
• E-Brake cable mounted (not necessarily hooked up).

Then after this weekend I can start working on my shock hoops in the front! I’m thinking paint the whole thing Tonka Truck yellow too.....

 

It's pretty much a race car now with the plastic tube and parts store cone filter......was the only way to get an air filter in there now that the fender is all bashed in. I can't wait to build my tube front clip!

 

Thing of beauty. Will burn this in and do the other side tomorrow!

 

That travel is ridiculous.

 

Those mock-up shocks are a little short. There will be about 8” of uptravel.

These are what’s really going in. 14” travel Bilstein 5125s. They are 20.99” collapsed and 35.04” extended. Will have a bump stop on top and limited by the leaf springs on the droop. The shock bodies go on top with these and they are much bigger.

 

Yeah.....the travel is alright.....

 

Who’s ready for the hangover run?



Also used the new tow setup to pick up my buddy’s “new” yota crawler for him!

 

Traded in the taco for a tundra? Makes sense with your setup. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Looks good man! Waiting for the LS swap...

 

Great shakedown run! Not much real crawling but a lot of “flexing” to cycle the suspension and make sure everything was working properly. Only issue is some power steering fluid coming from somewhere. I believe it is coming from the top of the reservoir so lowering the level a bit in the giant reservoir should fix that!

 

Boy she'll eat rocks!

 

Nice little upgrade! The stock seats were starting to jab me in the back from just being old. Figured I might as well get something nice so my back doesn’t hurt as much at the end of a long day!

 

Man Summit Racing is almost Amazon-esque in their shipping logistics. I ordered a hydro assist kit for my new (rebuilt and tapped) steering box yesterday and it is already out for delivery!

 

That's the model man. Our company is getting better but we are still six months from time to order lol. Zuk looks good man. Fond memories of rolling over one...

 

Haven't gotten a chance to install the hydro assist ram yet. I want to get a real toe adjustment first and not just a tape measure job in my driveway. That way I will know for sure that it is centered up correctly and won't have issues with spinning the tie rod for future toe adjustments.

I did get out to Butcher Jones yesterday for some wheeling. It has been closed for quite a while due to the huge brush fires this past summer and finally has one open entrance. It was pretty eerie when we got to an area that had been burned up but it is also incredible how quickly nature can rebound. Reminded me of the quote from Jurassic Park -- "Life will find a way."

 

Had the Samurai out at Elvis in Box Canyon this weekend. She did great!

 

Have you seen “dirt every day” by any chance? They built an awesome little Sammy. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen! Lol.

 

Sure has come a long way! Stretched the frame last weekend by 20" to get exactly a 100" wheelbase. It'll end up at 105" when I link the front though. Need that extra to clear the firewall with 40s. Decided to go all out and cut the back half of a wrecked tin top off to close the cab in. Needs a LOT of sheet metal welding but gotta do what you gotta do!

 

Are you gonna end up doing a truck like the dirt every day build!?