zukijames' 86 sami

i guess i will put my rig on here (im pretty bored)

about 3 years ago i headed up to heber city with josh(toyotarockhead) and picked up a little zuk buggy

it had gears , lockers, yj spring swap, awesome 84 inch wheel base

I thought it was as built as i would ever need, i borrowed the money from my parents and remember telling them it was already built and i wouldnt have to spend any money on upgrade parts... hahaha

it was off road only and took some work to get it back on the road. i made some rear fenders installed tail/brake lights

0420091524a.jpg


0420091526.jpg



i wanted more flex and josh had some toyota rear springs so i threw them up front

went to snakes to test them out
5.jpg


this pic was right after my first flop! dang waynes world. tried once more in the rain and didnt make it. finally i made got to try again this summer and made it !
4-1.jpg




Then i went to moab with josh and goose
randompics663.jpg


randompics652.jpg


decided i needed more wheelbase before i went down there so i got some more yota rears and put them on all corners and swapped to yota axles

27.jpg


i loved the new stance but still wasn't long enough to keep up with goose and josh



second flop at the snakes! i had no hydro assist so to be able to turn i had my arb turned off.. started tipping tried to throttle out and the tire in the air spun(bad driving im just making excuses)


tricky recovery just me and my gf on the trail and my 2000lb rear suspension winch mounted up in the frame rails
james052.jpg


its never been a good camping rig

cantgetin.jpg




so i traded the yj swap for some old coil overs and radius arms and linked the front, the coils were so still that id did worse after linking it!

18-2.jpg


1-1.jpg
 
Last edited:

Goose

aToYoTa-fREak
Location
A.F. UT.
those are some sweet photos! you have come a long ways, in a short time!
4 years ago you didnt even know how to change your muffler bearings! hahahahaha!
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
Haha 3.5 years ago Josh had to come cut some u bolts off my stock Sami they had stretched and were causing hop just going down the road..

I was afraid I'd ruin the axle
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
okay back to the history class. I didnt know how to make the front suspension better and the rear hopped alot with the double shackles and toyota leafs

so i linked the rear

this is with the rear leafs..
james003-1.jpg


i didnt think about ya know washing it before building it and i was fighting dirt and mud the whole build!

after the rear links
101_1302.jpg


james020.jpg


james032-1.jpg


i melted my belly button when finishing up some welds on the lower link mounts!

IMG_0603.jpg



DSCI0012.jpg


i wheeled it a few times and decided to look for a job in moab

before moab josh came over and made me a bumper! and i put some triangulation over my head
rearflex3.jpg

also made a rear bumper with flaps to keep mike thurston off my back!
rearflex.jpg
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
josh came down so i thought i would show off and climb suicide hill. it was the first time either of us had seen it in person

sorry i forgot how to embed videos on here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBGD4EX7CNE

after that i thought i could do anything..

IMG_0680.jpg



was quickly reminded i couldn't
IMG_0676.jpg


that happend at about noon i was supposed to be to work at 3

me and josh were the only people out there and my rig was the only one!

hiked out tell we got cell service got my gf to come pick us up..

when turning around she backed off the road in a 2wd ranger and got stuck

finally we got austin (moab local) to come tip us back over he only had 2 seats. so me and josh walked back from the bfe gate to the middle of green day

was a long day got home at about 11:30




got tired of crunching my hood and getting stuff in my eyes, and my cab was getting to bent up from my tube doors to latch! so i had jeff stevens help me bend some

tube for a door bar and fenders( i never finished the fenders) also i cut off my some more sheet metal that went around the door area it was crunched !
IMG_0808.jpg

IMG_0809.jpg
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
borrowed jeffs tube notcher added some jungle gym
also bought a land rover, the stupid coil came out so i had to pull it up on my zuk to get it back in.. hells revenge in the snow was a blast
2e0307a9.jpg


had a blast living in moab loved it but every good thing has to come to an end( i missed my family and was throwing my life away)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAdKlKY8xOo&list=UUNCrDoU2QshxDk_PkGZ6Mow&index=12&feature=plcp


so i moved back at got a construction job and still tried to wheel as much as i could.. little moab and snakes dont seem near as cool after living in moab for a year

so i started let my gf get some seat time

she gets a little nervous when tires come off the ground (sorry for the crappy camera skills i was concerned trying to spot her) click to play video
 
Last edited:

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
i got some fj80 axles from panos and a lexus v8!

started cutting stuff up
96541f10.jpg

b2ab4d37.jpg

started putting it back together
6f86fe34.jpg


mocked up some suspension has had a few slight changes since thanks to some help from a few guys on here!
e3f3eef6.jpg

3265d835.jpg

759ee0fd.jpg


decided not to burn anything in until i got motor and tranny and cases mounted.

so i go the motor mounted last night
dab88e1e.jpg

8ebeefe4.jpg

c91b9f04.jpg


then put the hood and grill back on and started some tube work
5d9dd4b3.jpg

406597cf.jpg

bca166b8.jpg



i have to thank goose for the hours he's spent helping me, and for putting my cases together

josh for getting me into wheeling

panos for all the parts

seth at trailridge offroad for all the other parts

and most of all my girlfriend she's been there every hour of the build, its been slow at first i had a 22r mounted in there

also thanks jeff for the hood!

and my buddys sean and trevor for there help and there garage!

although today i think my gf had had enough
fc1a62c9.jpg
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
now im waiting for my front axle to show up and my adapter from v6 tranny to gear driven cases i still have alot to do but i really am trying to race at the dirt riot in moab during ejs!

thanks rme for all the help and great people!
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore

toyota rockhead

Active Member
Its looking good james! this thing will be a blast to drive once you get it all done!! i remember walking out of bfe and walking back into bfe haha it was fun i had a blast!! i also remember talking to your parents and saying that the sami was built and you wouldnt need to buy anymore parts haha :)
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
thanks for getting me into this man if it wasnt for you and wheeling i'd probably still be a little emo boy sitting in my closet listening to bright eyes lol
 

toyota rockhead

Active Member
Im glad i helped you get into it but neither of us would be into it if it wasnt for the guy that got me into this :) we have brian to thank for that. He's an awesome influence and one of the best guys i know :)
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
Thanks coco! Glad ya like it

And Josh I'm sure glad goose let ya drive his truck when you were 14 .. But if he hadn't we both would have houses now lol
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
Things are going slow.. I moved the rig up to Ogden so I can work on it after work and hopefully start making some progress..

My girlfriend picked up 33 feet of 2.25 od .480 wall seamless for some link material ..

She tied it down with one bungie cord
401345_227341687346190_100002110802970_527294_159395923_n.jpg


I got my r150f to gear driven cases adapter
885f29f6.jpg


Got it all bolted together
32614742.jpg


On it's way in
3e821292.jpg


Had to trim my floor somemore for the cases I clocked the cases 10 degrees and now I wish I wouldn't have! But I'll cross this bridges when I get to them
 

STAG

On my grind
Location
Pleasant Grove
hahaha the one bungie cord is awesome. and I'm rather impressed with how the lil zuk has done in all the videos. It's amazing how much people underestimate the benefit of light-weight buggies in crawling. Looks great; subscribed.

and wow thats a long new drivetrain.
 
Top