Zukinni Samurai

Nov. 01, 2005 By ORC STAFF

Coming soon...

Join us as Glenn Wakefield takes us through his newest, grandest, and most mind-numbing project yet... The Zukinni.

The Zukinni as a little sprout: 2.5 weeks into the buildup

Regular Suzuki 4x4 Page visitors may know that Glenn made it into the Four Wheeler magazine Top Truck Challenge this year. Instead of taking his trusty old TONKA Samurai which has served him ohhh-so-well over the years... Glenn decided to discard that old "junkpile" and build up a new Suzuki which he felt could actually have a chance of winning an all out 4x4 competition against the other top nine 4x4's in North America as voted by Four Wheeler readership.

Follow along in this multi-part series as Glenn takes a stock '86 Samurai and, in one month, builds a monster Samurai. Glenn will have pictures which give some examples of the many frame, body, and interior modifications he made. Also check out the "trick" new missing link suspension that allowed him to measure a very respectable 1108 on Four Wheeler's RTI ramp (a score of 1000 is considered perfect). This is a suspension anyone with a welder can build at home with out having to deal with all the complexities, geometries, and trial-and-errors of a multi-link suspension.

Aftermath of the Top Truck Challenge - Turn on that Hot Water Shower!!

Some of the other interesting items we'll see are...

the new Premier Power Welder system designed especially for Samurais.
a snorkle and venting system which allowed him to drive through mud and water 4ft deep at the Top Truck Challenge.
a power steering setup from early 80s Toyotas.
twin dana 44s with disc brakes and a "bolt-on" master cylinder upgrade from an'81 Pontiac Firebird.
dash customization to fit various recessed guages and controls.
a new custom roll cage and swing-down tire carrier which doubles as an elevated workbench.
an on-board hot water shower.