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The "General"

Discussion in 'Subaru Sambar' started by Ohkei Dohkei, Jun 11, 2019.

  1. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    Had another shakedown run this weekend. Sambar is doing great! Hauled 1,000 lbs of seed and fertilizer with no issues. I did add a gun holder in the bed, but I'm not sure if it is going to be the best route. It's probably weather dependent. If it doesn't get muddy it should work well. Also got the correct county on the license tag ;)
     

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    dan360 likes this.
  2. Dillon Nunes

    Dillon Nunes New Member

    Do you have a better picture of your cupholders? Ive been wanting to add some to mine, but haven't figured out a good way yet.
     
  3. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I don't. The truck is at my hunting camp, so I can't take any for you. Essentially, I just took two big stainless yeti type knockoff stainless tumblers and wrapped them in plastic wrap and then wrapped them in fiberglass and epoxy. After it cured, I pushed out the tumblers and removed the plastic wrap. I spray painted them a charcoal gray to match the interior and then used two screws each to mount them to the console. They fit both the 20 oz and 32 oz tumblers as well as koozie covered cans really well.
     
  4. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Ohkie, Love this thread of yours; The Sambar is the same truck I'm looking towards. Plus, your add ons (lift kit, bumpers, hitch mounts, winch, critter hoist, wheels) are where I want to go. Sounds like my situation might be somewhat similar to yours:
    - Using the truck to support my hunting habit and some reno projects (or the other way around).
    - The camp is 2 1/2 hours away on 80 km/h (50 mph) secondary highways (mostly bear).
    - I also hunt locally (<10 km/6 miles) on agricultural lands (deer and turkey).
    - I don't own a towing vehicle or trailer to move the minitruck so, I would like to drive to camp if I could. Highway driving is why I'm considering the Sambar over the Carry; Higher road speed, comfort and noise from what I've read..
    - The trails at the camp are basically logging/forest access roads. In the spring, they will get rough with wash outs and mucky when the ground thaws but generally are kept in good condition by the area users. If loggers come in, they repair them nicely to run their trucks. Many form part of the off-road trail system. This means that it's not hard off roading but trail riding. Will probably stick with aggressive lug road tires.
    - Some crawling may be needed back in the bush but again, they are overgrown logging access routes.
    - Might want to do some light trailering (smaller 4 wheeler).
    - Winter ice fishing; Trails are also groomed snowmobile trails but we can legally use them to access as far as the camp. Out on the lake is fine.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2019
    Ohkei Dohkei likes this.
  5. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    So, really enjoyed the how to's and photos on your mods on the General.
    Anyway, now on to the questions:
    - There was nothing in your mods about this but, did you consider putting new springs on as well? If no, why not? If yes, what size, 250's or 300's.
    - Is there any problem doing this on the Sambar based on your DOJ tripod joint failure with the lift kit? (What is DOJ by the way? Remember, I'm a newb.)
    - The lift kit from Michmintrucks is 2". How did it affect the camber of the wheels? In the pics it seems ok.
    - What is the ride like off road with the current set up? Rough at all or just typical 4 wheeling? (I finished hurting my back recently so was wondering.)
    Will think of more soon.
    Blessings.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2019
  6. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Can you post a pic of the front bush bar/winch setup with the LED light off? The light washed out some of the detail.
    Also,
    Some pictures of teh shock extensions.
    Enjoy the repurposing of the organically grown protien matter.
    Blessings,
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2019
  7. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    - I did not consider new springs. The existing springs seem to be fine. The ride is really good, particularly with a few hundred pounds in the bed. I didn't want to mess up a good thing.
    - The DOJ (double offset joint) https://www.bing.com/images/search?...&selectedindex=81&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=0,1,2,6
    is like a slip joint on a driveshaft, except that if it travels too far, the tripod joint comes out, tearing up the cv boot. The lift kit had my shocks at full extension when the truck was at rest. My mistake was that my first extensions were 2" and while it rode well, It allowed the short side axle shaft to pull the tripod out of the DOJ. I removed the extensions, but the constant clunking of the shocks hitting full extension and zero articulation drove me crazy, so I put back in a shorter extension 1" on the short shaft side and 1.5" on the long shaft side, and that was a good compromise. The correct thing to do would be to lengthen the axles about 3/4" and use 2" extensions, but I was out of time. I may do this in the off season next year.
    - Camber is off, but it can be adjusted. I didn't think it was worth my time as I am 90% dirt/mud road now. If you download the manual it shows how to adjust camber.
    - Off road is good as long as you're not in a hurry. It can beat you if you don't watch your speed.
    Only other thing is how amazingly quiet you can move around in the woods. All my hunting buddys are pretty jealous and also paranoid that I may sneak up on them at any time!
     
    dan360 likes this.
  8. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    Photo of push bar attached. I've since painted those silver bolts on the sides flat black. I took a photo of the extensions, but they must be on my home pc. All they are are 2 pieces of flat steel bar with 2 holes the right distance apart. I bolted them to the shocks and put a spot weld to keep them from rotating. then used the original shock mount bolt to mount it back to the a-arm.
     

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    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
    dan360 likes this.
  9. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I really would like the diff lock option. I know there are plenty of comments that these trucks don't need it, and I haven't yet, but they didn't make it an option if it wasn't handy..
     
  10. Maximal

    Maximal Active Member

    best thing would be to get a engine oil cooler, ive put 40,000km on mine in 2 years mostly highway at 120kmh and have wrist pin noise in cyl 1 likely from hot oil from mostly highway driving, even with 20w-50 in summer still got hot oil issues
     
  11. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    Or just get a 5x10 utility trailer and once you get your lift, you can open the doors after you load it.
     
  12. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Well, there are a couple issues first:
    1) Buy a minitruck
    2) Buy/install a hitch onto current vehicle
    3) Buy a 5x10 trailer to put behind the vehicle to tow the first truck with...
    4) Buy glorious mods for the new minitruck.
    5) Tell the children they can't go to school 'cause dad spent their education funds on cool mods for his minitruck. :eek:

    But Dad will have a nice cool mini truck. :D
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
  13. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Anyway, another question about the lift kit:
    Clearly I'm under a misunderstanding that the lift kit fits under the struts. https://www.michminitrucks.com/product-p/2b2sambar.htm If this is the case, then the length of the strut wouldn't change, it would just be farther from the vehicle mount. But then again, I'm asuming a coil over strut configuration. Am I wrong here? Again, I'm a Noob. As I type, it occurs to me that the shock and coil spring are separate and that the shock is the only thing preventing the over extension and DOJ issues caused by the raised spring. Hmmm...
    Will go looking for the suspension drawing in the manual...
    Already looked for lift kit threads and they are weak.

    I'll be real interested, if you do lengthen the drive shafts.
     
  14. Maximal

    Maximal Active Member

    yes, for the front of the lift kit its basically a spacer between the strut hat and strut tower. Sambar have plain McPherson struts on the front and the rear has independent coil spring and shock. you will need an alignment after a lift kit else you will have crazy positive camber otherwise. the only sketchy thing about lift kits on Sambar is the angle the CV axles will be run at, these things are already fairly bad for cooking CV axles. the solid/live rear axle w/ rear leaf spring trucks like Carry/Hijet are better suited for lift kits. to me its better to get a slight lift off of beefier tires/aftermarket rims
     
  15. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    School? Who needs Skool? :D Yeah, I'd definitely stick with some better road tires like the super diggers. They rode great on the highway. As for the lift, the front struts are fine, the back is where the problem is. It only spaces between the frame and the spring. I tested mine out before doing the lift and I did not have enough ground clearance for where I'm using it. And the gas tank is pretty vulnerable where it sits, so I needed larger tires and a lift. Your needs may vary.
     
  16. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Yeah, an edumacation really gits in da way of doin yer ting.
    Interesting gents. Thanks for your responses.
    And continuing on with raising a Sambar: Something I just noticed is that the Sambar has the front tires under the driver/passenger seat. Having watched some videos regarding this wheel location, they mention that there are clearance issues with larger/beefier tires. The reasoning was that sometimes it is necessary to trim body panels for clearance using larger tires. But with the wheel under seat configuration, the body panels are all steel (?). (Other trucks like the Carry have the wheels farther forward and the plastic front cowl and mud flaps are easily trimmed to accomodate the tires.
    Did either of you have to trim any body panels to get larger tires to fit?
     
  17. Maximal

    Maximal Active Member

    i still run the 145R12 LT on my wide rims, Bridgestone makes winter tires in that size and Yokohama makes SuperDigger. theyre a bit stretched on my wide rims but no issues. if you want crazy knobby ATV tires, i wouldnt be cutting metal. you would need to do a lift
     
  18. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I have some minor rubbing on my mudflaps even with the lift, but only when I turn a certain amount. It happens so rarely that I haven't worried about it yet, but I might trim a little in the future. I just stopped by the camp and took it for a spin. We have a front coming through and it's pretty wet and cooling off quick. That heated enclosed cab and defroster are pretty sweet compared to driving my ATV!
     
  19. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    Yeah. It hit the fan here yesrterday as well with +80 kph (50 mph) winds, rain and a hard temp drop. Snow on the ground this morning.
    Thanks for the feedback on the clearance, trimmig and tire sizes. I'm still looking for a Sambar but want to have lots of info before pulling the trigger.
    Not sure I want to go to the other side but there is a 2003 Hijet with 40k km for onder $8k I might just look at.
     
  20. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I wouldn't consider getting a hijet as going to the other side, if you drive it and like it, go for it. Here in the US, a 2003 wouldn't be an option as it would be off road only. I was looking for either a hijet jumbo or a high roof Sambar, and the winner was the one that showed up for auction first.
     
  21. Maximal

    Maximal Active Member

    2003 hijet would likely be efi, some prefer that, and 2005+ are legal here right away so you're set if you want it. Likely has abs and maybe traction control
     
  22. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    [QUOTE="I was looking for either a hijet jumbo or a high roof Sambar, and the winner was the one that showed up for auction first.[/QUOTE]

    Hahaha. Excellent. I will certainly keep that in mind.
    DS
     
  23. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    Things finally got muddy here. So far, so good!
     

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  24. DSlag

    DSlag Member

    :D
    Interested to hear how the shake down week at the hunt camp goes and how all the mods worked out.
    What's mud? We got 5" of snow in central Ontario overnight on Thursday. I've never hunted snow this early before.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2019
  25. Kody902

    Kody902 Member

    So I saw you saying you snapped joints and stuff out because you had extensions on the struts. If I buy the lift kit and just install that without doing anything to the struts, will it hurt anything like you did?
     
  26. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I extended my rear shocks 2" initially and that caused the issue. I didn't touch my struts other than to install the lift above them.
     
  27. Kody902

    Kody902 Member

    So as long as I do just the lift kit and not extend anything I should be safe? Would you recommend the one in this threat or a specific one?

    (If it helps i'm using it for roads, and the only real off roading is just moving things around my dad's property and potentially the trail to his camp, I only really want the extra 2" just to make sure the engine clears all the rocks)
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2019
  28. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I wouldn't recommend a kit that leaves your shocks fully extended at rest. It makes a loud clunk every bump and can't be good for your shocks. Not to mention without any articulation it doesn't take much of a change in grade for your rear tire to come off the ground and lose traction if you don't have diff lock.
     
  29. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    I might be in the market for fender flares...
     

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  30. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    The General continues to impress at the hunt camp. It brought in the first deer of the season, and carried a 2 man stand where nothing else would. A 4 wheeler would go there, but couldn't carry the stand. I continue to be impressed by this little beast!
     
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