I've been looking to buy a Toyota 4x4 for awhile and just can't see myself buying one (over priced!) Anyway, I was looking at Suzuki's samurai. Does anybody have any opinions on these? Besides being slow

 

Short wheelbase, which I don't like. Cool little trucks, but I'd pay the extra coin for a Toyota.

 

had one no power put a mazda rotary in.was a blast but perfer a yota.

 

For wheeling yeah it's a cool truck if properly built......I had one on 33's it was fun like a big quad. But I hope you have a DD because a sam on 33's sucks on the road.

 

Yeah I have a DD. I was thinking since the sam is so small, I could actually tow it with my 2wd Toyota. Not sure though. I've just been looking at all other options.

Is there any other 4x4 small trucks/suv's anyone would suggest?

 

The easiest/cheapest to build would be a Jeep.

As for a Sami if you throw 6:1 gears in the transfercase and put some toyota axles on it with 5.29/5.71's and 35's you'll have a very capable rig but by the time you do that, you might as well have bought a yota.

 

there easy to recover

 

u can get 4wd toyota cheap just gotta no where to look and who to ask

 

ive heard of a lot of people here putting 22re's in them over toy axles and having a fun ride

i think they're pretty neat, but i've never owned one. the short wheelbase and lack of useful storage in one really turn me off. if i could afford one exclusively as a trail toy though, i would. they seem to fit anywhere

 

I had an 86 hardtop. It went a lot of places, was cheap on fuel, had little to no power (I had a header and a cam in it) the heater wasn't really adequate for where I live. Overall I enjoyed it but it was just not enough vehicle for me. I see you are thinking of it as a trail rig and for that they are great. Mine only had a set of 29" mud tires, no lift, and it went places that my buddies with their full size rigs with 33" tires couldn't go. Also because they are light and have no power it is pretty hard to break stuff on them.

 

^ Thats the response I like to hear! Yeah, just a trail rig. I don't mind the space because I drive a reg. cab shortbed truck. lol

 

hell no.

 

If your lookin at sammi's, and I'll get flamed for this, trackers are only a bit bigger and even cheaper than sammi's. Yes they are 4wheel independent but I have seen some with 31's and 32's that were pretty capable. Half the time tires cost more than the tracker.

 

if you can wheel it and make it how you'd want it then by all means get in there. Ive seen tons of old sj sammys, newer ifs sammys and they all have their upsides and downsides. In the end you will modify it to fit how you wheel no matter what. (most guys end up with more toy parts than suzuki parts) that has to say something

 

I guess I'll stick with Toyoters

 

I was actually looking at Sami's before I bought my Trekker.
There are some good parts places down in southern oregon for sami stuff.
Trail Tough in Medford: http://www.trailtough.com/
Hawk's Suzuki Parts Merlin Oregon: http://www.hawksuzukiparts.com/
I bought a transmission for a Suzuki Swift from him cheap...nice guy

 

And why didn't you go with a sami?

 

i love sammis. no hard top for me, they roll too easy. we have an 88' soft top with a calmini shackle flip kit and 5.5'' lift, 31x11.50 LTBs on 15x10 black D windows no other mods except a bracket keeping it locked in 4L since a common problem on them is a bushing wearing in tcase and it pops into N when switching tcase gear.

 

Spammer!!

 

Buy the yota.......or go here for your sami ?'s

Kickfix knows everything there is to know about the kicks.
http://www.suzuki-forums.com/