Recently bought an '88 Samurai
I've always loved Samurais and I've been looking for awhile to flat-tow behind a bus I'm building out and each time I found one that I liked, it'd be sold within a few days of me finding it, so when I saw this I jumped on it and moved fast...probably faster than I should have.
Anyways, it's mine now and, overall, I really like it, but I want to do a few things to it: lower 3" or so and maybe some smaller tires on on it. I go on forest roads, but I don't do anything extreme. I might also want to gear it a bit differently...
It gets absolutely terrible MPG. The odometer is broken, so this is just an estimate, but I filled it with 10.1 gallons, drove it ~43mi and the fuel gauge is already at 50%, which means it's getting ~8.6mpg. It has a bunch of aftermarket stuff on it... here's what I think may be pertinent:
- 5.12 Gears Front & Rear
- Rebuilt Transfer Case with 4.16 Gears and Twisted T Shift Shaft Kit Installed
- Heavy Duty Shift Kit Installed in Transmission
- 2,200 Miles on Rebuilt 1.3L with Sidewinder CV Carburetor
- Centerforce Clutch
I build stuff, but I've never messed around with vehicles. Any help would be appreciated.
Is the carburetor (sold by Trail Tough) just the wrong kind of carb or is it just running too rich and need to be tuned? What else can I do to get improved MPG?
The rear leaf shackle seems to be extended more than it should? Can I lower it w/o buying new leaf springs?