Silver, thanks for the kind words. I do have many other modifications, not listed. Feel free to PM me with any questions, if I don't have an answer, I probably know where the answer can be found.
I continue to modify my Zuki, mostly little stuff for comfort. I do have two lockers new in the box I want to install. That will call for complete disassembly of the axles. They will allow for a true 4 wheel drive.
I use my Zuki as a Daily Driver because I really enjoy tinkering with it. I hardly ever go camping without it in tow. Touring the city, forest trails or off road, it will do them all, with minimum fuel usage, air conditioned and with a heater. When flat towing, my truck does not know the Zuki is hitching a ride. One day, I may break something and wish I trailered my Zuki, but that has not happened yet. When it does, I may reconsider.
Sally took the incorrect speedo cable back to the Suzuki dealer and showed them a photo of the cable end that we need. They emailed the picture through to the Suzuki technical department and later this week Sally went back to collect a replacement cable.
BUT - I took the instrument panel off again last night and compared - even though it is a screw end, this latest cable is the wrong diameter screw end!
I can't believe how difficult it is for them to find the right speedo cable for this car.
Steve.
'07 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab diesel + '91 Shadow Cruiser - Sky Cruiser 1
'92 Suzuki Samurai 4x4 1.6
'09 Fiat Panda 1.2
'10 Citroen DS3 1.6 turbo
I recall Sleepy talking about it when he was out visiting you. We drove Sleepy & Mrs around in our 4-door Tracker when they were here visiting.
When we are ready to buy, I'll certainly PM you! These trucks are hard to find in near-mint condition.
Thanks for all the details you've outlined on your after-market upgrades!
Cheers,
Silver-
Janet and I have had the pleasure of touring in both of your vehicles... there is no way that we thought of them as off-road even though they certainly had that capability.
Waynes suki was very nice as we zipped around the San Fransisco area... and the surrounding countryside. Wayne is highly skilled in everything he does and it shows... I have run a lot of projects by him before attempting them myself.
Silver is as detail oriented as anyone that I've ever known... if he does it, it will be done correctly. I'll be watching for his next project.
Steve, I have really enjoyed your project... I'm having trouble getting the dirty grease from under my finger nails... and can smell the gasoline leak from here.
Thanks to all for the wonderful and entertaining memories that you evoke...
After our weekend playing in the mud we found it had knocked out one of the rear light clusters. Luckily we didn't get stopped on the way home, but this just reinforces the desire to have some way of towing the Suzuki.
I did say I would build an A frame, but browsing eBay I gave in to temptation:
OK, I know what you are thinking - "very useful little trailer, but doesn't help you with the Suzuki", but - undo 4 bolts (and with a lot of swearing and straining):
Yes, there is a tiny car transporter trailer under there. The previous owner used it to transport Minis and other small historic cars. I might add some re-inforcing, but I think it will do a nice job of transporting the Suzuki as it is hardly the heaviest car out there.
I didn't want a full-size car trailer because 1) they were expensive and 2) they are large and heavy and difficult for me to store.
That box on the back seems to weight a ton - we really struggled to remove it and slide it into the back garden through the narrow side gate:
It does seem useful though. I may re-engineer it into a drop-side with removable posts in each corner and detachable drop-side sections. That will be more useful as a trailer, and because it will come apart into multiple parts it will be much easier to fit / remove.
On the down-side I thought that with the box removed we would be able to tip the trailer onto an angle and squeeze it through the 5ft side gate into the back garden. However, even with the box off we found the trailer far too heavy to handle like this, so unfortunately we will have to keep this thing in the front garden
On the plus side, at least if we break something to the degree that the Suzuki can't be flat-towed home it is no longer a problem, as long as we can winch it onto the trailer.
I think I made a bit of a mistake with the trailer - though it will come in useful over time, but it will just take a bit more work on my part.
Went to look at the brakes that the seller said 'need fixing on one side' - turns out on closer inspection the whole brake drum, shoes, springs etc. are missing! I contacted the seller and he said yes it was like that when he bought it years ago. So now it will probably be easier for me to strip an axle off an old caravan or other trailer in the junk yard and fit that than try and find parts for an X year old no-brand (possibly home built) trailer. Doh!
So I have ordered one of these since I am so busy with the roof rebuild and won't have time to fabricate one myself: Clicky...
Later on I can change the tow hitch to a braked one (e.g. use the one off the trailer) and convert it into a fully braked towing frame.
I probably just do not understand what I am looking at, but I can't see how it connects to your Suzuki. If it connects by wrapping the chains or straps around the bumper, I probably would not use it. The Suzuki bumper is so poorly built, it is of little value for towing. The way it bolts to the Suzuki is very poor. Personally, I would not even consider towing my Suzuki by the factory bumper.
The tow bars I see used on the Suzuki have a bracket that goes under the bumper, and bolts to the frame. The tow bars connect to the brackets, not the bumper. That is assuming the factory bumper is used. When I first bought my Suzuki, it had a factory bumper and the tow brackets.
The fact is, flat towing without a tow brake on your Suzuki compared to using a trailer without the brakes presents a problem for each method, no brakes. If I could handle the added tongue weight, I would use the trailer without brakes before I would even consider flat towing the Suzuki by the factory bumper.
If you do not use a tow bar with the frame adapter, I suggest you install an aftermarket bumper, that can handle a tow bar. You must look closely at how the bumpers are mounted, factory or aftermarket.
You are right - I wouldn't consider towing any vehicle by wrapping some chain around the bumper - all you would end up doing is towing a bumper home!
I'm not sure how they intend it to mount to the vehicle to be towed, maybe attach to the axle, but my plan is to mount it to the tow points on the bottom either side of my winch bumper - I may need to do some adaption, but not a great deal - just have to get the MIG welder out for a few minutes. The winch bumper is strongly attached to the Suzuki's frame so I'm not too worried about that.
The thing is, I can spare half an hour or so to get this A-frame working, and then I have an option I can start using straight away, but there is considerably more work I need to do on the trailer to get that legal, and with the roof rebuild I just don't have time at the moment.
Note that I'm not really looking to use the Suzuki as a toad when camping, rather the other way around - if we want to go offroading 1) we don't have to rely on the Suzuki to get us home and 2) we can take the camper with us if we want to make a weekend of it without resorting to tents.
It appears you are on the right path. Do keep in mind, Sammis have a very thin frame, and require attention when welding to them. I fish plate every where I weld to my frame.
The cheap towing frame came today, so had a go fitting it tonight.
I couldn't work out how it attached until I read the instructions, but it is much clearer now, and looks like it will work OK without any real modification.
Here is it roughly fitted (all the bolts are loose at the moment which is why it may not look as straight as it should be:
On the end of each arm is a 20mm diameter welded vertical pin. Welded to the top of that is chain (facing towards the back of the towed vehicle). You but the vertical pin against the front of the axle and loop the chain over the axle, then pull it back underneath along the line of the arm:
It then attaches to a length of webbing strap attached to a ratchet you use to tighten it (I've not fitted the one on the left correctly, but this was just to see how they fitted rather than do it for real):
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