The Wheel Deal

Tires and wheels are a big deal for any vehicle but even more so for a Suzuki Samurai.  Sammi's came stock with 205/70/15's.  Over the ensuing years, all manner of giant tires have been fitted onto the Zuks.  The largest size tire that can comfortably be used on a stock Zuk without any lift is a 215/75/15.  Anything larger than that is going to rub on the wheel wells up front.  Our Idaho Zuk has wheels that rub and we're gonna have to do something about that this summer.

Stock tires are OK for general highway usage and they can be used with caution and prudence in Class I runs.  Highway tires have little sidewall strength--they don't really need sidewall strength.  We've learned up in Idaho that highway tires can get eaten alive by the sharp rocks of back country roads there.  It's not a pretty sight.  So, even though we've been on three short runs here so far, we've been keenly aware of the need to get some better tires.

Our first goal was to get a second spare tire for SuziQ.  Sam from Dewey (AKA: yjzuk @ ZOA) helped used get our first extra spare wheel.  We met him at ZOR February 5th and picked up a hood prop road and a white spoke wheel.  We took the wheel to various tire shops and really couldn't find much of a deal anyplace.  We finally washed ashore at D&N Tire in Camp Verde and got a scruffy spare mounted for $20.  We felt considerably more comfortable traveling with two spares.  We've modified our personal rigging to fit well with the second spare.

Our next quest was to begin to set the stage for better tires.  First we needed some more wheels.  We went onto the ZOA members-only forum and posted a note about our desire for wheels.  As chance would have it, one of ZOA's founding members Bobby from Anthem (AKA: zukicidal @ ZOA) sold us five wheels with casings on them for $20.  It was sad but great to see the last remnant of Bobby's famous rig in his awesome garage. THANKS, Bobby! One of the casings is bad for sure but the others might make OK spares.  We've already have one of them checked out and it became out 2nd spare for SuziQ.  The wheel matches SuziQ's pattern.  So, Sam's wheel and the D&N tire and now a 3rd stringer spare.

Meanwhile, we started "doing the math" and realized we still needed two more wheels before we went tire shopping for a second set of six wheels and tires.  Once again we turned to the ZOA Forum and posted a note.  Right away Steve from Surprise (AKA: gassports @ ZOA) replied and said he had four wheels and tires for $150.  Well, by great and happy coincidence, it turned out they were the exact size and tread type that we were looking for in the first place!  We went down the same day (February 20) and bought them.  It was great visiting with Steve about his Zuk.  THANKS, STEVE! Now, we will take two of Bobby's tires over to Big O and have them checked out.  They might make spare and they might not.  And then we will try to get one or both of the other wheels and tires to Steve so he can have another spare for his rig.  The big wheels keep on spinnin' as The Steve Miller Band once said.

If and when we get two spares checked out in the 215/75/15 size, we will swap out the highway tires and stack them in our shed.  We won't put them back on until we're towing SuziQ to Idaho.  That will keep the extra wear off the A/T tires and help us get a little better tow gas mileage, too.

We are finally getting close to getting our "wheel deal" figgered out thanks to Sam, Bobby and Steve.  It's been a fun process and we've learned a lot.  Cheers, jp

Backlog of Blog Posts

Gee, I reviewed the blog this morning and realized I have been totally remiss in posting about our various Zuki projects. I know I photographed them but I've plumb forgot to post them here. I will attempt to summarize them.

The Shimmy

SuziQ had a slight shimmy at speeds between 42-48 mph. I thought it was a wheel balance issue so I spent a lot of time trying to find a "wheel deal" for balancing. No such luck. Prices ranged from $7.50 to $12 a wheel. One day I decided to rotate the tires myself. It's an easy chore if you have 2 jacks or some jackstands or, in my case, a juniper log. Once I rotated the tires and checked the lug torque, the shimmy disappeared. One wheel's lug nuts were not tightened to specs. Well, that took care of that problem and it didn't cost anything.

Stuck Seats

One of the first things we do is get rid of the back seat. While pulling out the back seat, I decided to pull out the front ones, too, and thoroughly clean their tracks. After lathering them up with white lithium grease, they sure do slide back and forth a whole lot easier! Cost for this job was $4.

Door panels

All Zuki owners know how decrepit the door panels can get. SuziQ's panels were just the fiberboard. We toyed with the idea of buying chrome diamond plate panels but my wife, Susun, said, "Heck, let's paint 'em black and see how they look." They actually look surprisingly good and they're "keepers." Cost was $12 for the tools to remove the door handle and panel clips; $3 for some "Jesus clips;" and $3 for some spray paint. While we had the panels off, we used the white lithium grease to lube all the window regulators and various handle and lock parts.

Prop Rod

One of the Zukis of Arizona members sold us a prop rod for $10. It took a few weeks to make a connection to get it but it was worth the wait. Sam from Dewey told us about a great run on the Backside of Mingus and we did it February 11. Click here to read about that run.

Front brakes

I was planning on simply turning the rotors when I did the brakes.  The least cost I could find for turning them was $15 each.  One day I was in a Checker BS-ing with the Manager and he said, "Heck, buy new rotors, they are only $30 a pop."  I thought that was a good idea since I could do the brake job right away without waiting for somebody to turn the rotors.  So, my neighbor Gary and I popped that job out in less than 90 minutes on Saturday morning.  The total cost was $100, including a couple of new tools to make the job easier.

Towing baseplate

Somebody welded some shade tree method of towing onto SuziQ.  It wouldn't fit our Blue Ox tow bar.  I went to various places and got frightful quotes on the cost of adapting the vehicle so it could be used with our Blue Ox bar.  One day I stumbled on a whole Roadmaster tow rig--the kind that retails for around $1000.  I got the whole setup, including a step down receiver adapter for $125!  It cost $100 to get a welder to attach the baseplate to the Zuki.  That's cheap for getting it adapted to tow.

Spare tires

While I was buying that tow rig above, the seller told me the spare tire was flat.  Opps!  Big O re-beaded it and checked it in the water tank and it was leak free.  They didn't charge anything either.  Meanwhile, we went to Camper World in Mesa and bought a nice white spare tire cover for $25.  We don't go anywhere without 2 spare tires so my quest continued.  Sam from Dewey sold us a spoke wheel for $15.  I got a tire guy to give me $10 for the tire on Sam's wheel and then he only charged me $20 to purchase and mount a decent spare on the rim.  Meanwhile, on February 13th, a Zukis of Arizona stalwart (zukicidal) sold us five rims for $20 in Anthem.  One of those rims is a perfect match for SuziQ's rim style.  Amazingly, it has a stock 205/70/15 tire on it.  Heck, I thought "why not" and took it over to Big O.  Bog O once again re-beaded it and checked it and it's fine.  So, now we actually have 3 decent spare tires.

Radiator

The antifreeze in SuziQ was worthless.  Luckily, I added some fresh mix before our major cold snap here.  Otherwise, we would have busted the block.  Meanwhile, there was a lot of sludge in the overflow bottle.  That worried me.  We wound up flushing the radiator twice and it appears to be in real good shape.  Since the temp gauge didn't work, we bought a new sender, thermostat and gasket and installed them while we were messing with the flush.  Total cost for fluid and parts was $30.  I bought a new fan belt but haven't put it on yet.

Misc.

We've replaced the wipers ($12) and put on some cheap seat covers ($18).  We've fixed misc. little loose things here and there inside the vehicle. ($0).  We made a bunch of spare keys ($10) and have one hidden under the vehicle.  Meanwhile, we stamped our PO Box & Zip Code into the key set we use most.  We made a home grown battery retainer out of baling twine and a zip tie.  It works great and is rock solid.  We swapped out the PCV ($9).

Oil

We haven't swapped out the oil yet.  The seller did it two days before we bought it.  It's a cheap-o filter and I suppose the oil was bulk oil, too.  We did buy three Purolator Pure One 10241's down at a Sears automotive in Mesa.  We also picked up a case of decent quality 10-30 oil.  I reckon we better change the oil here pretty soon.

MPG

We continue to check the mpg of SuziQ.  We've had as high as 30.8 and as low as 25.  The average is right around that which we first experienced the day we bought it--27 mpg.

Road Trip Gear Rig

We've done a lot of work messing with our personal gear that we use on back country road trips.  Perhaps the most interesting thing was using two of the back seat bracket mounting bolts as retainers for our tool box.  Well, it's not really a tool box--it's a plastic tub.  We drilled out two holes and used some fender washers and bolted the box to the floor of the truck bed.  It can't shift around now.  Since we have a four ton floor jack in that box, the jack WOULD be shifting around a lot otherwise.  We plan to do the same thing to the second spare tire but will need to buy a different length bolt one of these days.  Hopefully, I will do a complete detailed post on how everything fits and what we carry back there.

2nd set of tires

Right now we are in the process of thinking about buying some high dollar BFG KM2 tires to use as when we get back up to Idaho.  The stock tires are fine for here but won't work up there.  The cost of the tires has given us sticker shock (at least $800!) so we're still just thinking about it.  We need two more wheels so we can have four new tires and two spare tires.

What's next?

As you know, we don't like traveling back roads without a fresh timing belt, alternator, fuel pump, radiator hoses and fan belt.  However, we've decided to hold off on those until we get back up to Idaho in May.  All my tools are up there and I have a much better, cleaner working space in the garage there.  That's when we will do all the other stuff and also the back brakes and fresh gear oil, repack from bearings, etc.  Hoepfully, everything will hold together until then.

Well, I think that catches us up with what we've been doing on SuziQ.  Have a great day & Cheers, jp

Fuel Filter II

I last swapped a fuel filter up in Idaho Falls in September. You can click here to read all about that episode. Today was "the day" to swap one out for SuziQ. As I said in the post below about the Air Filter, I could win money betting that a stock Zuki would need a new fuel filter. It seems since they are out of sight, they are equally out of mind. Frankly, it's very annoying but it's reality when dealing with old stock Zukis.

I got a decent deal on a NAPA Gold filter. It's actually a WIX. The price was about $6.50 before tax. As noted in the slide show above, it seems that fuel filters are getting smaller and smaller as the years go by. Maybe that's how they maintain their price point--just shrink the filter. (Click here if you can't load the slideshow.)

Here's the good news and the bad news about today's episode. Good News: I got the new filter in place. Bad News: I destroyed my digital camera in the process. So, even though the filter cost was about seven bucks "out the door," the job cost me Big Bucks!

The nice thing about working on Zukis is that they keep you real honest and humble. They have a way of showing you just how stupid you really are. You might get to thinking how smart you are but a Zuki will never let you down--it will always find a way to point out your own shortcomings to you. That's just one of many reasons why I love the little buggers so danged much. THEY ROCK!

Well, anyway, I actually thought my way through a lot of stuff beforehand this time around and I didn't get covered with too much gas. The camera got the bulk of the free flowing fossil fuel. Also, I had a real "DUH" kind of moment today. Next time around I am going to clamp the incoming line. Gee, what a novel idea, eh? If I had a dunce cap, I would put it on now while I write this post and feel right smart proud of myself.

I am determined to get a LOT better at swapping fuel filters. Some day in the not too distant future, I wanna be able to swap one without getting spewed with gas or destroying my camera. Man, if I ever do, I'm gonna throw one helluva party!

Cheers, jp

PS--Since this post was written, we've learned a lot more about the right way to mess with fuel filters. Harbor Freight sells a fuel line removal tool as well as the right type of fuel line clamps.  We are definitely going to use those for now on.  Meanwhile, we learned on the Off Road forum about trick.  You put in a 6 mm stud in the frame nut.  Then you don't have to fiddle around trying to get the tiny 6mm bolt to thread into that small nut.  You simply slide on the filter flange and then throw on a lock washer and a nut.  I suppose I would double nut it just for grins.  Once we adopt these techniques, it would seem that swapping a fuel filter will be real casual.  But I'm gonna keep my camera out of the picture just in case!

Air filter

I almost always win money with this bet--"If you just bought a stock Zuki, I'll betcha yer air filter needs replaced."  Only one of the 5 running Zukis we've bought defied this bet.  I suspect the seller swapped out that filter to keep me from seeing things he wished I wouldn't know about.

Any used Zuki air filter can tell you a lot about an engine.  Luckily, the Zuki we just bought apparently hasn't been abused but it still needed a new air filter.  I'm guessing the last filter change was at least 20000 or more miles ago.  I like to change 'em at least once a year and, preferably twice.  If we've been driving in heavy, fine dust then I might swap out the air filter right after such a trip.  Engines need to breath clean air just like we do.

Normally, I'd pick up whatever's on the rack at Auto Zone, Checker or Wally World (AZ/C/WW).  This time around none of those three had a Zuki air filter in stock.  The Auto Zone guy even said they were no longer stock the item and it had to be ordered.  Well, I figured I could get one from NAPA.  Sure enough, I wuz right!  Surprise!  It was cheaper than they normally have been at AZ/C/WW.  The pre-tax price was $8.77.

It's an Altrom 360-3502 and it replaced a Carquest 88235.  The Korean Altrom is clearly built beefier than the USA Carquest model.  I like the metal rings on both top and bottom of the filter.  I did a little research on Altrom.  You can click here for their website.  It looks like they are based in Auburn, WA, and do biz with parts manufacturers 'round the globe.  Until today, I'd never heard of them.  You can access their Samurai parts catalog on their website.  I'm gonna do some checking into their reputation and report back what I find.

PS--If the slide show won't load, click here to see the pix one-by-one.

SuziQ

We got this one a couple days after Christmas 2010.  Picked it up in Maricopa, Arizona, for $2000.  It's a good bone stock rig.  We put it right out on the freeway and drove clean through the heart of Phoenix afternoon rush hour that day.  It ticked right nice at 60-65 mph the whole way.  It bogged down up by Sunset Point--I think the carb needs a high altitude adjustment but we still got 27 mpg for the 134 miles from Maricopa to Rimrock.

Phase One Completed

We've owned the Zuki barely two weeks and we consider the 14 projects completed so far to be the end of Phase One for this vehicle.  Now it's time to drive it and evaluate whether we want to keep it for the long run.  Chances are we will at least keep it into and possibly through next summer before making a final decision as to whether it becomes a permanent member of the household. (Click here to read about the Zuki's purchase in Springville, Utah.)

We might undertake a Phase Two this fall and we might not.  There's only one minor project left--checking the rating of the antifreeze and refilling if necessary with fresh fluid.  Since the Zuki will overwinter here, we don't want to return home to a cracked block!

What would be involved in Phase Two?  Here's how Phase 2 would go:

A) Pull radiator. Take to radiator shop for total R&R
B) Buy new upper and lower radiator hoses.
C) Pull fan and fan clutch.
D) Replace alternator
E)Pull timing belt cover, Inspect belt, replace if necessary
F) Re-establish timing marks on crank pulley
G) Check torque on crank pulley bolts
H)Reassemble all of the above
I)Use new fan belt
J)Replace valve cover gasket
K)Check time and adjust as necessary
L)Check distributor cap and rotor and replace if necessary
M)Steam clean and detail engine compartment
N)Swap out old brake fluid with new fluid.
O)Fine tune carburetor mixture

Right now, I've invested a lot of time and money in this Zuki and feel like taking a break.  There's a lot of other non-automotive projects on our plate that need and deserve attention.  It's time to step back from teh Zuki and move on to other area of our lives.

So how much money do we actually have invested in this Zuki?

OK, let's do an approximate tally:

Cost of the Vehicle:  $1950
RT Gas to P/U Zuki  $100
Title & registration  $90
Battery & related  $70
Shocks  $140 (before $33 rebate)
Front bearings  $100
Gear Oil  $38
Instrument Cluster  $25
Gas to get cluster  $10
Broken air cleaner post $8
EGR Valve supplies   $4
Bike rack  $8
Tailpipe  $82
Specialty tools $30
Cleaning supplies $10
Oil change $25
Fuel filter  $6
Misc. $5
Total Parts & Labor  $528
Vehicle & Title         2040
Gas                           100
Total                       $2668

Note, this total reflects actual receipt of the rebate for the shock.  This may or may not happen.
The actual vehicle-related total is slightly under our target of $2500 coming in at $2478.  The remainder of the investment is the gas to go get it and the state fees for title and registration.

We're going to back off and take a break before we put any more money into it.  As we've learned from over 11 years of Zuki ownership, you CAN get your money back out of them if you are careful and prudent in how you manage the various repairs and improvements.  That's why the $2500 level is a good place to take a break.

In the meantime, there's a lot we can do without spending another dime--we've already bought the wheel polish and the car wax and a great car buffer from Harbor Freight.  That money is already reflected in teh total above.  Heck, just waxing  and polishing the beast will take quite a bit of time!

Well, that's it for now with the Zuki.  Future posts will be about gas mileage and performance and so forth.
Thanks for reading--have a great day & CHEERS!  jm

Project #14--Four new shock absorbers

I've changed shocks on a Zuki before.  It's not too big of a deal but you have to be able to get into the wheel wells and the vehicle has to be elevated.  Meanwhile, it really helps to have air tools, too.  The only time I swapped shocks in a Zuki was in Gilbert, Arizona maybe 6-7 years ago.  Some guy started a business with the idea of renting out service bays to "do-it-yourselfers."  He had all the tools and he was an ace mechanic himself.  So, he collected fees for renting the bay and the lift and then fees for various tools and then fees for himself if he was needed.  it was a pretty good business model actually.  He called it The Gearhead Garage.  I went there a lot and gave him a lot of money and got a lot done on that particular Zuki.

One project was the shocks.  Even though they look like a pretty straight forward type of a job--there's a lot that can go wrong because of the inherent corrosion that takes place under any given set of wheels wells.  Nuts can be frozen, stems can be slightly bent.  it can get to be a real knock down, drag out tussle with shocks.  That's what happened on my previous shock project.  Luckily, the owner of The Gearhead Garage was able to save my bacon and together we successfully swapped out the shocks.  But I learned my lesson.
I realized just how much time and energy it took for me to do that job and how vital were the roles of the various specialized tools, especially air tools.

So, when I realized the shocks on this Zuki were most likely 23 years old, I thought, "Hum....I wonder how we're going to do the shocks?"  As noted below, we took the Zuki out to Sears with our little $15 coupon in hand for a free brake inspection.  Not only was the brake inspection a smokin' deal in and of itself, but the Service Writer casually mentioned I could get a screamin' deal on shocks, too.  How screamin'? I asked.

Well, the Monroe shock company is running some weird special called "Shocktober," wherein you buy 3 shocks and get one free.  (The free one is actually via a rebate.)  Sears priced out a shock job at $139, including sales tax--that's the out the door price.  So, I did the math and realized the net cost for me would be $106 and the rebate.  Then I priced out the same shocks at the cheapest place I could find them--Amazon dot com.  They are $21 each there with free shipping so that $84. (Local sources of the same shock were equal to or higher than the Sears unit price.) OK, the MAXIMUM I could save by doing this job myself would then be $22, or roughly $5.50 per shock.

Would it be worth it to wrassle those shocks off and on for a mere $5.50 per wheel?  I figure each shock would have probably taken me close to an hour, barring unforeseen problems.  Uh...I don't think so!  So, I was delighted to pay the Sears Guys my money yesterday.  It was a pleasant experience, the Zuki rides noticeably better and life is good!  THANKS, Sears!

PS--The Monroe company must have a somewhat warped sense of humor.  They are promoting their shocks right now in the context of Saving Squirrels.   No kidding.  Click here to see it and believe it!