After several trips to Johnson Valley and Montrose Colorado to be a spotter in the Warn Rockcrawling Championships for my friend Mike Papola , I was at a crossroads. I wanted to return to these trials and run them in my rig. Although I knew my Scout could conquer those trails, I was also sure its sheet metal would get absolutely destroyed in the process. While I'm totally comfortable with dents and damage (and my Scout had collected its fair share), I didn't have the heart to inflict severe damage on my old friend. I finally decided that a change was needed after following two of my good buddies in Samurais through the Barrett Lake Trail. While they went through squeezes without a care, I barely fit, sometimes contacting both fenders, both quarter panels, and the windshield frame simultaneously. The Scout was just too portly for where I wanted to go.

My Scout on its final wheeling trip on the Barret Lake trail.

Although I had liked Samurais for years, I had never considered them for myself for two reasons: 1) insufficient room for my family of four and all their gear; and 2) I always thought my Scout's 100 inch wheelbase was nearly ideal for good all around wheeling. I finally got a taste of how capable a 95-100 inch Sami could be when I witnessed two custom Sami hybrids in action. The first stretched Sami I saw belongs to Jason Coker, who recently moved to my area. Jason's Sami is an absolutely trick home-fabbed long wheelbase (LWB) flatbed with Toyota axles. The overall look is similar to a scaled down FJ-45. When I first saw his rig the lights came on, and I knew this was the direction I wanted to go. A few months later I saw the Snipe from Badlands OHV Park wheeling in Montrose. This custom LWB has a buggy rear half with Dana 44's and was very impressive on the trail. I now had full blown LWB fever.

Jason's custom Sami flatbed features an EFI 1600, Toyota axles, 3-link coil rear suspension and 36" TSL radials.

The Snipe getting ready to head for the 2000 Warn Rockcrawling Championships in Montrose, Colorado. The Snipe features a custom tube rear sub-frame, Dana 44 axles, and 38" Swamper SX's.

After returning from Montrose, I told my wife how I thought Jason's rig and the Snipe were "the way to go"- she frowned. Initially I thought the frown was because I wanted to start another project, but she was really bummed because the vehicles I was basing my project on didn't have enough seats for everybody. She was right (again), but I knew there had to be a way to get that wheelbase as well as a backseat.

Everything came together after I explained my dilemma to my good friend Bob Dresser. Later that day he sent me a bunch of links to LWB Samurai sites. Obviously, up until this point I was totally unaware that such a beast existed, yet alone from the factory. My search for the perfect combination was over, now I just had to find one! This turned out to be harder than I originally anticipated. I looked on the net and made numerous phone calls, but had no luck after several months of intensive searching. Then, about a day after I officially gave up, I saw an ad posted on the net. The car was located in the Pacific Northwest, but fortunately so is my beloved father in law (who is also a wheeler). Grandpa John was in route the next weekend and called on the cell phone to report a clean bill of health. The search was over.

Sure its dorky, but it was also well taken care of and has all the basic numbers to be a good starting point.

The little red LWB exceeded my expectations. The wheelbase measured in at 95 inches, very close to my 100 inch target. I also realized that the wheelbase would grow slightly with the planned modifications so this will get even better. The LWB had way more room than I had expected. The rear legroom was actually significantly better than it was in my Scout. The bed area is even long enough for me to sleep in if I slide the front seats forward, and I'm not exactly petite at 6'1" and 210 lbs! If all of this wasn't enough, the car was in extremely nice condition considering its age and location.

Look at all the room! Two adults, two kids, two dogs and surplus space behind the backseat.

Since that time, I have spent untold hours with the tape measure, the spreadsheet, and exchanging ideas with other Sami owners carefully planning every detail of Project Samyota. I have developed a unique plan that includes everything from standard mods to parts that are currently unavailable. While my rig is an LWB, just about everything planned will also work on a regular Sami.

Upon completion, Project Samyota will be capable enough to handle any trail in the country, tough enough to spend a weekend at the Hammers without major carnage, have enough room for a multi-day Rubicon trip with the family, and be highway drivable. Sound impossible? Stay tuned...you may be surprised.