Samurai Transformation

[InsideLine209]

Starting the build on my bone stock Sami. Startin with YJ's and Toy axles, plan on keepin it streetable for a while. Ive heard people like shackle reversals for wheelin but what about for hwy drivin?

[Gittinit]

A shackle reversal will give you a better ride and handeling charastics.

When your tire hits an obistacle such as a rock, or bump in the road your tire will move rearward with a shackle reversal.

With the shackle at the front of the spring the tire is pushed forward into the obsticle, as the suspension compreses. This causes a much abrupt shock to transfer through the vehicle, and more feedback to the steering wheel.

[Rocksurfer]

I never did a reversal on my Sammi's but some club members of mine have. Beyond what Gittinit told you doing the reversal also is supposed to create a better approach angle since the shackles are not hanging down in the front. In most of the Sammi's applications I don't see the reversal helping that, in fact it may make it worse. The ones I've seen have a tower that hangs down even further than a shackle would have.

I drove my Sammi's dd and they were just fine, of course since I never did one I wouldn't know if there is a big difference in what Gittinit says.

[InsideLine209]

I just recently heard that a reversal causes leafs to bind while crawling and are better on a dd than a crawler. It was a friends opinion to stick with the standard shackle lay out but I know everyone has different beliefs....Does anyone have a detailed link or any pointers on swappin a 22RE into the little Sammi?

[*** YELLER ***]

wow look at all the usefull information here and still   


whats it about   

[karen19]

Starting the build on my bone stock Sami. Startin with YJ's and Toy axles, plan on keepin it streetable for a while. Ive heard people like shackle reversals for wheelin but what about for hwy drivin?

Many people like watching a transformation especially if it is for warriors that have a great weapon.



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swords

[Joe S.]

I've never been a fan of the out the box S/R kits for the reason stated above. Calmini's kit is the worst as it sticks the spring's mounting point WAY down! However those kits are for stock sami springs.

Couple things to consider about using YJs in S/R configuratin:
1) YJ springs are about 9" longer than stock sami front springs. That is why most of your YJ conversion kits use a missing link type shackle up front. If you do S/R you will have to extend the frame out about 4.5"-5" for the tire placement to be correct. More if you want to extend the wheelbase some.
2) With a S/R, like mentioned, when you hit a bump, the axle moves rearward... But that means when you flex it out, the axle will move forward, making it absolutely necessary to have a long travel front driveshaft which is pricey. You could possibly make a square driveshaft for the front cheap, but it all depends on if you can deal with the noise.

I see a definate advantage to using a S/R that is built to maximize approach angle. We wheeled in katemcy a while back with the landcruiser guys. We had 2 zuks, both with YJ springs using Sky Mfg.'S kit. One had 33s and one had 38s. Don't get me wrong it is a great kit, but the springs hang down so far that the zuk with 33s ended up hitting them on everything he tried straight on and by the end of the trip had destroyed one spring AND his tcase as a result. Had he had a S/R that brought the springs up frame level he would have had about an extra 4" of room to work with.

Hope this helps.