Wheeling in Montana

[dognardo]

I was back in Montana last week to visit family, and went out with my best friend in his Sami... gotta say, it was an impressive little rig:

Toyota mini-truck axles
full spool in the rear and a detriot up front, 4:88 gears
6:1 t-case with a 20% underdrive in 2-hi
injected Geo Tracker motor
spring-over with my old stock YJ springs
35x12.50 BFG MTs
Here are some pics from our trip... it was about 34 degrees out, and flying down the highway at 70 (yes, it would actually do 70) was a frigid experience. And, to top it all of, on the trip back a shock mount on the front busted, and we nearly rolled it on the highway.

Mud, rocks, a four-banger wrapped out to 6 grand, and a near-death experience... all-in-all, a great trip!

http://www.tri-state4x4.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10229/normal_Road Trip 038-1.jpg

http://www.tri-state4x4.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10229/normal_Road Trip 040-2.jpg

http://www.tri-state4x4.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10229/normal_Road Trip 042-1.jpg

http://www.tri-state4x4.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10229/normal_Road Trip 044-1.jpg

http://www.tri-state4x4.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10229/normal_Road Trip 046-1.jpg

[XEON]

Oh wow. Very cool. That Sami looks very capable. Glad to hear you had fun.

[vegan joe]

thats a nice zuk

[badzook]

Nice to see some real mods done to a Sammy........... They're a blast to drive aren't they?????:bdance:

[ROCKREADYXJ]

GEO tracker motor Is that the 3 cylinder? talk about a weight saver. looks like you would be able to push that over a obstical if you got stuck. That looks like fun.

[vegan joe]

The 3 cylinder geo motors are ZERO tolerence motors if you beat on them the will blow up. They only came in geo metros, everyone use the 1.6L 8 valve or 1.6L 16 valve out of trackers,sunrunner,sidekick or grand victara.

[badzook]

vegan joe you are right. Most people use the 1.6L 8 valve or 1.6L 16 valve just because they are bolt in applications with little to no fabrication needed...

Some actually use the 2.0 L out of the late model Trackers with a conversion kit. They're all aluminum and very light.

Also, an common and easy conversion is to use the 4.3 Chevy Vortec or 1.9 L VW Diesel. Both aren't hard to do but add some weight to the package causing other problems....

I prefer the 1.6 ( 4cyl ) 8v with the head ported and polished. Install some headers and 2" exhaust with a torque cam and you're good to go. I run EFI on all my rigs so I use the Injector from the 1.6 and let the processor do the rest. It runs great. Has lots of Torque and gets like 28 MPG. That engine pulls real hard all the way up to 6k rpm.. It's a real screamer..Drop your gearing down 18 % highway 83% low range and you're good to go....
Best of all it passes all the smog tests, it's still street legal and a blast to drive... I can use it as a DD or wheel it...

[vegan joe]

i have the 16v and haven't found a cam for it, only for the 8v. i might be reading it wrong but haven't found one yet. i am getting a header from hawk for $214.00 instead of calamini's for $249. i am gunna run a 2.5in exaust and that's about as crazy as i can get. o and i run NGK v-power plugs with NGK performance wires. I wish mine had the 8v though cause things are cheaper and there's alot more.