Suzuki Samurai Custom Camper Build

[trackhead]

Did a fun loop on the east side of the lake today.

Took a break to stretch the legs.

Can't wait to finish the pop top snd sctually use this goofy thing on a trip. Testing it out up here has been great.

 

[Backroad Explorer]

Outstanding trackhead :exclaim:

 

[fjatheart]

Really nice work! Looks like fun with the family, that's what it's all about!

 

[trackhead]

Winters coming, so..............picked up some Tatou tracks today.

 

[Backroad Explorer]

ooohhh Tatou's I'm sooo jealous!!! Winter Pic's Please :Wow1:

 

[trackhead]

ooohhh Tatou's I'm sooo jealous!!! Winter Pic's Please :Wow1:

Will do. Need to figure out the mounting first. Then decide about locking the diff's or not, or if I can afford to (Lockrite, ARB, etc). Money is tight these days.

 

[Philp100]

Do the tatou's have more surface area than the Mattracks? I have a friend with the mattracks on his Suzuki and they will get you quite stuck in deep powder!

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[trackhead]

Do the tatou's have more surface area than the Mattracks? I have a friend with the mattracks on his Suzuki and they will get you quite stuck in deep powder!

They have 2400 square inches. My Samurai weighs 2480lbs with me in it. So about 1 pound per square inch. Other's have used the Tatou's on the Samurai for many things like grooming ski trails etc, and they do pretty well on established snowmobile trails.

My intent with them is to not plow through deep mountain snow, rather to be-bop down a snowmobile packed road with wife/kid for ski hut trips, etc.

 

[Philp100]

Should work well for that, Trackhead, I would love to see these in a side by side comparison. I was a lot less impressed with the mattracks than I thought I would be. They really eat up a lot of power.

 

[trackhead]

Should work well for that, Trackhead, I would love to see these in a side by side comparison. I was a lot less impressed with the mattracks than I thought I would be. They really eat up a lot of power.

Google Samurai Tatou Tracks. There's a guy with a few good videos of his rig performing reasonably well.

I owned a small Bombardier snowcat in the past, and I can tell you based on my experience, and watching this guys Samurai Tatou vids, that the Tatou's are pretty capable considering it's not an official snowcat.

 

[trackhead]

I'm getting lug adapters next week, then a locking rear differential. Should be up and running by early December.

Here's a pic of the rear track mount next to the vehicle. Pretty significant surface area that should be plenty for cruising down snomo trails.

 

[Ford Prefect]

I wonder about the power loss that this will cause, and also the loss of turning radius...

Any comments on both would be appreciated once you have had time to play with them.

Did you get the all seasons, or the winter? Also do you plan to drive this to the trails on the tracks, trailer the sami there or trailer the tracks there and change them at the trail head?

Cheers

 

[trackhead]

I wonder about the power loss that this will cause, and also the loss of turning radius...

Any comments on both would be appreciated once you have had time to play with them.

Did you get the all seasons, or the winter? Also do you plan to drive this to the trails on the tracks, trailer the sami there or trailer the tracks there and change them at the trail head?

Cheers

Power Loss: There is effectively about a 50% gear reduction because the drive sprocket is half the size of my 31" tires. There have been many Samurai's with these things that do pretty well. My old snowcat had a 100 cubic inch motor with full length 24" tracks and it basically did fine.

Turning Radius: Obviously it will be harder to turn because of the tracks, but most snomo trails don't exactly have sharp radius turns.

Driving to trailhead?: I don't have anything to tow it with, so if it's just the wife and I, I will drive it I guess. But more likely, I will put it on a trailer and have a friend tow it for ski trips. Ultimately though, it's mostly going to be used for grooming nordic ski trails at a regional park, and I will just leave it there all winter.

 

[trackhead]

Took all day to fabricate, drill, cut, and tap these buggers to get them to fit the 5 x 5.5 lug pattern. Got both rear tracks installed today. Now the crux, the front tracks to clear the manual hubs.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Yep, the neighbors are going to think you finally went around the bend.

In other words it looks awesome!

Thanks for the answers to my questions, very nice indeed.