This Episode of our build series was tough to film! With all the people blaring music, using language TH-cam doesn't like and no co-piolet... I had to either cut footage, talk over it or not video at all lol. But it was important to me to share the first time this Samurai hit dirt! Since this trip, I bought a new transmission and have huge list of things to finish. The next trip should be a longer format trip video like I normally do. But since this was the first time offroad with the samurai... I felt compelled to share what I had! I hope you enjoy this little peak into my 2 days at KOH! Now I need to start editing the first Rock-lander route video 😁
This has been such an awesome project! I am going to be up in Waller later this month to visit family. Do you ever do meet & greets? I would love to see the Sammy in person!
Blah blah lol... Nate, stop being so self conscious bro we came to your channel years ago for this guy and his creations... actually, I came after you from BLEEPIN because I loved your ability to put your imagination into the metal and make it live... not for high-end production wheeling movies or scripted highly thought-out dialog(even though you're damn good at that too)... just Nate and his skills blowing my mind. This zuke IS NOT UGLY it's badass... I feel like some back to the roots Nate is in order. Relax... be happy man, don't let any of these trolls make you explain yourself.
I just want you to know that me and many other subscribers really appreciate your effort to double down and get this thing running so you could take it to hammers, even if it was only for a couple days. I hope you’re happy with the overall results because you really should be, this thing is rad and works so well. I think it’s important to say too that most of your subscribers are not here for the cinematic drone footage (although it’s appreciated and such a cool addition) I, for one, watch because I like learning, appreciate the tech and you build vehicles that I’m into. So thanks for all your effort! ✌🏼
Thank you! And dude... I've only heard of this happening lol. This is the first time I've encountered it live. It sucked 🤦♂️ but it could have been worse.
These are the videos I love. Not some huge video endeavor but just a guy and his love for offroad in the raw. Keep up the great content Nate. It’s what brought most of us here.
I used a Blue Sea Systems battery cut off switch (one of the rotary ones) for my winch, never had any problems. I put mine in because I got spooked about big unfused cables and fires, but it would work just as well for a runaway.
When you started this build I was not to stoked about it. It’s weird and ugly blah blah. After watching it preform, Nate you are a genius. That thing is so stable and looks like once you fix all the kinks it’s unstoppable. It’s the new moon rover.
Nate love your channel. It’s the best blend for me between fabrication and wheeling. Heads up but did you see the liquid dripping underneath? Look at the video around 9:13. I’m sure you saw it already and maybe it’s water from washing it but figured I’d point it out just in case you didn’t see it!
Cali is the car capital of the world. From KOH to the Long Beach Grand Prix. The best lower rider shows I’ve ever seen to the LA auto show. It’s just endless.
Dude this thing is so Rad!!! The Mog’s are legit. I remember back when I started off roading you saw Mog’s on all the high end rigs. Excellent work man.
I love the portals. Question: what is the disadvantage of IFS/IRS axles? Is it cost or strength? Are there portals for a full size pickup? (Alaska trip planned)
Hotdamn! ! ! I have been there with you on this build and salute your hundreds of decisions, manual transmission aside. Can't wait till it gets 42 or 43s. Unfortunately, you just made thousands of Samari owners feel inadequate ;) This build show how powerful this saying is: "Plan thrice, measure twice, build once."
I love this build. Blueberry is a good trail. Both my cousins know that trail well. Next time you're out there, I'm sure they'd love to go. They hit Johnson Valley several times a year. They're just down the road.
Those Unimog axles are impressive. Keep the center of gravity low and it'll just walk up anything. Now that you know what bugs need to be fixed you can make the Samurai even better.
Only on 39’s he says. Jeez Nate. This thing took on rocks that were straight up and down and as tall as the tire and just went over them with no bounce, drama and minimal slip. That thing IS point and shoot. It’ll only get better I’m sure. Thanks for posting!
Great video, and I totally get that statement of “I didn’t want to film, I just wanted to be a human” coming from a reality tv show and having a TH-cam channel… that is one of the realist things I’ve heard. Even my wife pesters me sometimes about “shouldn’t you be filming this,” it’s like leave me alone and let me just enjoy this without a camera 🤣🤣🤣
It’s gotta be tough compiling all this footage while rendezvousing with all your buds and then actually tuning all your hard work. Awesome video and can’t wait to see what’s next!
Been following the entire build. Super nice job Nate. This thing is wicked cool! Can't wait to see more of it. You're gonna ROCK at Matt's off road games.
What an assume build!! my suggestion for the winch would be an Anderson connector between the winch and the battery,You can just unplug it.That is still being used for emergency disconnects on electric forklifts. It's amazing how the body stays so level even during extreme articulation . Good job!!
The fact that you saved a chassis that I watched get built on TV when I was younger is great. Would be a dream to get to own something that both Ian and Jesse combs worked on. Also 2nd and reverse being like that is normal for the ax15. Especially reverse it’s non synchronized.
Shake down runs on epic rocks is fun. I got done building my jeep played around the farm a bit drove from Oregon to the Rubicon trail for the first trail I hit. really happy i had no issues and had a blast.
In truth a great shake down test of the hundreds of ideas that's time had come. As for the winch a power isolation is a great idea as an after thought. You got lucky in disengaging the winch into freespool under load. On all the witches great video
That thing looks like a beast. Can you do a lesson learned video and talk about your initial choices, what you needed to change, what worked, etc? I would be particularly interested to hear about the suspension design, what numbers you targeted and how you feel it turned out.
Had the same winch issue. Actually bent my bumper. Lesson learned. Andersen plugs on all winch installs. Matt will be impressed as hell with the Samurai. I sure am. It's professional level. And the. Some.
I know rear steer is cool and I believe you already bought the axle for it. But I really like seeing this thing do what it can with how it is now. Its much more relatable too being that most people dont have rear steer. Either way, love this build cant wait to see more! Just hope we get to see it in its current state a little before you change it. Awesome video man
I do have the parts but I'm not sure when rear steer will happen. I plan on working out the rest of the gremlins and enjoying it a little first 👍. But we will see!
Nate I am absolutely loving this build! The exact same thing happened to me with an Amazon wireless winch solinoid, I went to the warn version and it was good for a few years then did the same thing! I went back to wired after that
Those cummins solenoids have two sets of windings, pull open and hold open. They power the pull open windings to get it to switch on, then the hold open to hold it on. I dunno if that has anything to do with the issue, but it was my first thought when you talked about it. Love the build!
Yes sir! That's how I have it hooked up. The momentary locker switch is just to get it to engage, then it is held in place by a constant power. It worked great in the shop, but I have a feeling the front locker will kick back a little bit in certain scenarios. The lower amps when in the hold position might not be enough for this application without some mechanical assistance 🤔. More testing is neccessary!
Mog axles are great. I have them on my jeep and everyone says I am cheating. The 4WS is going to be SWEET. Can't wait to see it run. Can we see a picture of the ram you are using to activate yor lockers. I will see if it's the same one i have on my rig. I also have a small air tank.
dude, thats awesome. i love it. im glad it worked as good as it did, and probably even better than you thought it did. when i first found your channel, i never even heard of TDI swapping vehicles, or any of that. but the amount of modifications you've done to the samurai, and your other vehicles, its just insane. i plan on picking up a TDI tomorrow for a future swap in my ranger. if i never watched your videos, i wouldnt be picking it up, or even think about doing a TDI swap. thanks for all the great content, and dont be afraid to take some time to relax and hang with your buddies, and dont get burnt out!
That's an awesome Samurai. I wish I would have had a chance to see it in person but I was busy racing. Looking forward to more videos on this rig! It made the trails look easy and having raced over 35 rock trails in the race I know those trails are definitely not easy
I freaking LOVE this "little" samurai you've built!!! 😍 what an ABSOLUTE UNIT!!! 😍😍😍 I've been saying this for years now but id really like to go to KOH. I need to make it a mission for next year and push hard to actually go next year lol. Thanks for the amazing videos and inspiration Nate, I always look forward to your uploads because I know they are always top-quality content that I will enjoy watching while I sip my morning coffee. ☺
The way you edit and film your videos makes it so much more enjoyable to watch especially and off road channel great job Nate the Sami is such a cool rig can’t wait to watch more videos on it
Congrats on an awesome build, it looks great, soooo smooth crawling it was almost unreal. You put the time and sweat into great to see it payed back with dividends.
Dude. I remember those days, too, lol. 35s was the average size for "serious wheeling" up here. Now a 39 is almost considered average up here 🤦♂️. It's wild.
I've seen a few Run away problems in vids over the years and a couple and some forum talk. Hours ago, so a couple margaritas. I tested my new synthetic line by removing a rooted tree ( figured I'd test it at home before I was on the Rubicon) Everything went well including using a wheel sling on a jeep as an anchor to turn a 90 with a snatch block. Tree came down, re spooled the line and the last couple bumps and the winch ran away. The 150A fuse didnt blow and the line welded it's self and broke 8" from the eye before I could disconnect the ground lead. I'm just glad it didn't do it while it was rigged up, The Jeep and my truck where already getting dragged while under my control. long story short, Im going to bring 75 A and 100A fuses to start with and install a manual switch.
Well as unfortunate as the winch situation is, you have shed light on a safety issue that is never though about. Having a high Amp inline cut off is almost as important as the fuse itself
I've considered this being a potential problem, but I never took it seriously. I would have guessed I would see a winch catching fire before doing this. It's definitely something I need to consider from now on...
This Episode of our build series was tough to film! With all the people blaring music, using language TH-cam doesn't like and no co-piolet... I had to either cut footage, talk over it or not video at all lol. But it was important to me to share the first time this Samurai hit dirt! Since this trip, I bought a new transmission and have huge list of things to finish. The next trip should be a longer format trip video like I normally do. But since this was the first time offroad with the samurai... I felt compelled to share what I had! I hope you enjoy this little peak into my 2 days at KOH! Now I need to start editing the first Rock-lander route video 😁
This has been such an awesome project! I am going to be up in Waller later this month to visit family. Do you ever do meet & greets? I would love to see the Sammy in person!
Hammers is definitely rated R when the sun goes down!!
Blah blah lol... Nate, stop being so self conscious bro we came to your channel years ago for this guy and his creations... actually, I came after you from BLEEPIN because I loved your ability to put your imagination into the metal and make it live... not for high-end production wheeling movies or scripted highly thought-out dialog(even though you're damn good at that too)... just Nate and his skills blowing my mind. This zuke IS NOT UGLY it's badass... I feel like some back to the roots Nate is in order. Relax... be happy man, don't let any of these trolls make you explain yourself.
I just want you to know that me and many other subscribers really appreciate your effort to double down and get this thing running so you could take it to hammers, even if it was only for a couple days. I hope you’re happy with the overall results because you really should be, this thing is rad and works so well. I think it’s important to say too that most of your subscribers are not here for the cinematic drone footage (although it’s appreciated and such a cool addition) I, for one, watch because I like learning, appreciate the tech and you build vehicles that I’m into. So thanks for all your effort! ✌🏼
Here for ya bro!
That's the coolest, chilliest, little crawler. Effortlessly gliding over the rocks like nothing I've seen. Congrats!
Thank you! This zuk is unlike anything I have ever driven. Such a fun little buggy 🙌
RIP Jessi Combs!
Man this rig is SO sick... I absolutely love your build of this Samurai. But also, new fear unlocked... winch runaway. lol
Thank you! And dude... I've only heard of this happening lol. This is the first time I've encountered it live. It sucked 🤦♂️ but it could have been worse.
Pretty wild to see a Ian and jessie combs vehicle. My childhood right here with those two!
Awesome to see this thing perform! Can't wait to hit a trail with you! See you soon!
These are the videos I love. Not some huge video endeavor but just a guy and his love for offroad in the raw. Keep up the great content Nate. It’s what brought most of us here.
For being only 39 inch read labels the clearance is nuts.
I used a Blue Sea Systems battery cut off switch (one of the rotary ones) for my winch, never had any problems.
I put mine in because I got spooked about big unfused cables and fires, but it would work just as well for a runaway.
When you started this build I was not to stoked about it. It’s weird and ugly blah blah. After watching it preform, Nate you are a genius. That thing is so stable and looks like once you fix all the kinks it’s unstoppable. It’s the new moon rover.
8:29 says it all, somehow not hitting that boulder...
The little diesel that could , LOL ! Awesome build Nate , keep up the good work !
Lol will do! Thanks bro 🤘
Definitely super cool to see all the build videos finally lead to this. Badass rig and I look forward to more content containing it!
All things considered - that's a win for a shake down run. Super difficult trails and overall the issues weren't that serious! Awesome job dude
Nate love your channel. It’s the best blend for me between fabrication and wheeling. Heads up but did you see the liquid dripping underneath? Look at the video around 9:13. I’m sure you saw it already and maybe it’s water from washing it but figured I’d point it out just in case you didn’t see it!
So glad to finally see your efforts on the dirt
Me too! It feels good to drive it instead of just look at it 🤣
Your "little shake down run" is everyone else's major event. HA HA! Such an awesome build.
Wow… when the lockers work.. that thing was floating. Pretty cool… you have got to be stoked.
Cali is the car capital of the world. From KOH to the Long Beach Grand Prix. The best lower rider shows I’ve ever seen to the LA auto show. It’s just endless.
Just watched coverage from last weekend’s Grand National Roadster Show @ Pomona Fairplex and was thinking the same thing!
Soo awesome! It even sounds like a Unimog with that little diesel clackin away!
The world loved this Suk when it was built on Ian and Jessi's show. Still loving it.
Dude this thing is so Rad!!! The Mog’s are legit. I remember back when I started off roading you saw Mog’s on all the high end rigs. Excellent work man.
The more episodes of this Sierra you showed, the more I was thinking, "This could be the ultimate rock crawler "
You haven't proven me wrong
Watching this thing crawl the rocks in person was pretty dope. Great job on the build bro 🤙
Congrats on another awesome build! You've got every right to be proud.
I love the portals.
Question: what is the disadvantage of IFS/IRS axles? Is it cost or strength? Are there portals for a full size pickup? (Alaska trip planned)
Hotdamn! ! !
I have been there with you on this build and salute your hundreds of decisions, manual transmission aside. Can't wait till it gets 42 or 43s.
Unfortunately, you just made thousands of Samari owners feel inadequate ;)
This build show how powerful this saying is: "Plan thrice, measure twice, build once."
I love this build.
Blueberry is a good trail.
Both my cousins know that trail well.
Next time you're out there, I'm sure they'd love to go. They hit Johnson Valley several times a year. They're just down the road.
Never really thought much about the Samurai until seeing this at the off road games. Amazing build!! Now I want one!
It’s trippy watching the axle shafts spin in the opposite direction of the tires 😵💫
Those Unimog axles are impressive. Keep the center of gravity low and it'll just walk up anything. Now that you know what bugs need to be fixed you can make the Samurai even better.
Only on 39’s he says.
Jeez Nate. This thing took on rocks that were straight up and down and as tall as the tire and just went over them with no bounce, drama and minimal slip.
That thing IS point and shoot.
It’ll only get better I’m sure.
Thanks for posting!
One of the coolest builds ever.
Man now im even more excited for the offroad games, i love this rig and cant wait to see it!!
Looks like it performs great! Your flow comment is dead on, it looks like it just points and goes. No drama!
Great video, and I totally get that statement of “I didn’t want to film, I just wanted to be a human” coming from a reality tv show and having a TH-cam channel… that is one of the realist things I’ve heard. Even my wife pesters me sometimes about “shouldn’t you be filming this,” it’s like leave me alone and let me just enjoy this without a camera 🤣🤣🤣
Dang it we missed to see you at KOH and to see the Masterpiece in person but we will have our Chance one day, Keep up the great Work!!
Bummer! I'm sure I will see you guys eventually 👊
Aww man, even just seeing a snippet of Jesse out doing what she loved. Really miss that awesome lady. Enjoyed the vid, great shakedown run.
It’s gotta be tough compiling all this footage while rendezvousing with all your buds and then actually tuning all your hard work. Awesome video and can’t wait to see what’s next!
Well done Nate!
Thanks!
Have a long term soft spot for Suzuki 4wds, Unimogs and Vw turbo diesels. What a combo. Love your work.
I like this type of video. Actual testing and wheeling. Great job on the rig. Looks sick, and seems to work very well..
Been following the entire build. Super nice job Nate. This thing is wicked cool! Can't wait to see more of it. You're gonna ROCK at Matt's off road games.
That thing is so smooth over the rocks, the stuff you are just crawling over is insane
What an assume build!! my suggestion for the winch would be an Anderson connector between the winch and the battery,You can just unplug it.That is still being used for emergency disconnects on electric forklifts.
It's amazing how the body stays so level even during extreme articulation . Good job!!
The fact that you saved a chassis that I watched get built on TV when I was younger is great. Would be a dream to get to own something that both Ian and Jesse combs worked on.
Also 2nd and reverse being like that is normal for the ax15. Especially reverse it’s non synchronized.
I feel sooooo fortunate to own this thing! It was my favorite rig on Xtreme, and it's a piece of off-road history as far as I'm concerned. 👍
@@DirtLifestyle it is a piece of off-road history!!
Shake down runs on epic rocks is fun. I got done building my jeep played around the farm a bit drove from Oregon to the Rubicon trail for the first trail I hit. really happy i had no issues and had a blast.
Nice ! Shake it down on the rocks! Love the portal axles! Rear steer on the way!
In truth a great shake down test of the hundreds of ideas that's time had come. As for the winch a power isolation is a great idea as an after thought. You got lucky in disengaging the winch into freespool under load. On all the witches great video
I felt the same way about it going into free spool. When I said it I wasn't even sure it would work. I'm so glad it did!
Sweet build! Look forward to seeing what you and Brad have cooking
Excoted for the rocklander route
Very Impressive shakedown run and vehicle, nicely done!
Seriously, such an awesome build. It is amazing how smoothly it glides over those rock or really boulders. It was effortless. Good save on the winch.
That thing works like magic. Very impressive!
Thanks, man. The TJ was really smooth, but nothing compared to this!
That thing looks like a beast.
Can you do a lesson learned video and talk about your initial choices, what you needed to change, what worked, etc? I would be particularly interested to hear about the suspension design, what numbers you targeted and how you feel it turned out.
Had the same winch issue. Actually bent my bumper. Lesson learned. Andersen plugs on all winch installs.
Matt will be impressed as hell with the Samurai. I sure am. It's professional level. And the. Some.
I could definitely see these bending bumpers! Winches are way too powerful to make mistakes, lol. I'm installing a cutoff switch for sure...
This thing works soo good! Impressive first shakedown
Dude, that thing is rocking so far!!!
Glad it was a successful shake down. It looks awesome on the rocks.
Thank you! Me too man.
Awesome shakedown. It’s gonna be a beast with 42s
That thing is a BEAST!
Nate, love ya bud, but we gotta stop buying components off of Amazon :)
Lol
I know rear steer is cool and I believe you already bought the axle for it. But I really like seeing this thing do what it can with how it is now. Its much more relatable too being that most people dont have rear steer. Either way, love this build cant wait to see more! Just hope we get to see it in its current state a little before you change it. Awesome video man
I do have the parts but I'm not sure when rear steer will happen. I plan on working out the rest of the gremlins and enjoying it a little first 👍. But we will see!
Great tribute to Jessie Combs & Ian Johnson!
Great episode as always man. The content with Brad will be awesome.
Much appreciated 🙌
Nate I am absolutely loving this build! The exact same thing happened to me with an Amazon wireless winch solinoid, I went to the warn version and it was good for a few years then did the same thing! I went back to wired after that
Been waiting to see this thing in action.. never been a big sammy fan, but this thing is just built so F'n badass. Grats on the awesome job man
It's good to see that thing on the rocks. Going from what was to what it is now, it's awesome
That was quick thinking on jamming that winch into free spool !
Awesome rig, when you get it sorted out it's going to be a blast to watch.
Comgrats on getting it done in time to go play. Looks like a helluva rig!
Thank you!
Amazing. That was a mind blowing demonstration of some rock crawling.
Dude!!! Great video!!! It looks like you where in your front room in your EZ boy!!!✌️
That thing looks/works soooo good! Good job Nate! 👍🏻❤️🇺🇸
Those cummins solenoids have two sets of windings, pull open and hold open. They power the pull open windings to get it to switch on, then the hold open to hold it on. I dunno if that has anything to do with the issue, but it was my first thought when you talked about it. Love the build!
Yes sir! That's how I have it hooked up. The momentary locker switch is just to get it to engage, then it is held in place by a constant power. It worked great in the shop, but I have a feeling the front locker will kick back a little bit in certain scenarios. The lower amps when in the hold position might not be enough for this application without some mechanical assistance 🤔. More testing is neccessary!
Mog axles are great. I have them on my jeep and everyone says I am cheating. The 4WS is going to be SWEET. Can't wait to see it run. Can we see a picture of the ram you are using to activate yor lockers. I will see if it's the same one i have on my rig. I also have a small air tank.
dude, thats awesome. i love it. im glad it worked as good as it did, and probably even better than you thought it did. when i first found your channel, i never even heard of TDI swapping vehicles, or any of that. but the amount of modifications you've done to the samurai, and your other vehicles, its just insane. i plan on picking up a TDI tomorrow for a future swap in my ranger. if i never watched your videos, i wouldnt be picking it up, or even think about doing a TDI swap.
thanks for all the great content, and dont be afraid to take some time to relax and hang with your buddies, and dont get burnt out!
Thank you for the kind words 🙏. Tdi swapped rangers work great! There are quite a few in the Tdi swapped trucks FB group 👍.
It will be awesome to see how much it's changed since sema. See ya in utah!
Awesome 🤩 can’t wait to see more 👋🇸🇪
That's an awesome Samurai. I wish I would have had a chance to see it in person but I was busy racing. Looking forward to more videos on this rig! It made the trails look easy and having raced over 35 rock trails in the race I know those trails are definitely not easy
Thanks dude! How did you do out there? Did you cross the finish line? That's a brutal race...
It sure turned out amazing Nate! Great work 💪
Thank you!
That samurai is insane, awsome work, still watching the play list, just subscribed, Godbless
I freaking LOVE this "little" samurai you've built!!! 😍 what an ABSOLUTE UNIT!!! 😍😍😍
I've been saying this for years now but id really like to go to KOH. I need to make it a mission for next year and push hard to actually go next year lol. Thanks for the amazing videos and inspiration Nate, I always look forward to your uploads because I know they are always top-quality content that I will enjoy watching while I sip my morning coffee. ☺
Looks great,works even better,nice job!
The way you edit and film your videos makes it so much more enjoyable to watch especially and off road channel great job Nate the Sami is such a cool rig can’t wait to watch more videos on it
The Suzuki came out amazing and I wonder if you can use an ox locker cable an shifter to keep the lockers locked
Congrats on an awesome build, it looks great, soooo smooth crawling it was almost unreal. You put the time and sweat into great to see it payed back with dividends.
Thank you! I'm excited for more "testing" 😁
OUT OF THE PARK BRO 👍
Nate says “We’re only 39s” and I’m remembering the days we did a shackle lift on my buddy’s samurai to fit 31s. 😂
Dude. I remember those days, too, lol. 35s was the average size for "serious wheeling" up here. Now a 39 is almost considered average up here 🤦♂️. It's wild.
Impressive.
Not bad not bad, pretty good pretty good.
That’s the sickest Samurai I’ve seen! Excellent job and enjoyed watchin the build so far!
🤙
I've seen a few Run away problems in vids over the years and a couple and some forum talk. Hours ago, so a couple margaritas. I tested my new synthetic line by removing a rooted tree ( figured I'd test it at home before I was on the Rubicon) Everything went well including using a wheel sling on a jeep as an anchor to turn a 90 with a snatch block. Tree came down, re spooled the line and the last couple bumps and the winch ran away. The 150A fuse didnt blow and the line welded it's self and broke 8" from the eye before I could disconnect the ground lead. I'm just glad it didn't do it while it was rigged up, The Jeep and my truck where already getting dragged while under my control. long story short, Im going to bring 75
A and 100A fuses to start with and install a manual switch.
Need to see this thing in the next flex, rocks and rollovers 24hr hell and back, what I sick rig.
Awesome as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along
The buggy is looking good nate. Been watching this buggy since its og days
That rig is awesome! I have always wanted a Samurai
That's a piece of art. When you switching to a steerable rear a le??? Amazed by the suspension flex. Well done...
That thing is sick
Well as unfortunate as the winch situation is, you have shed light on a safety issue that is never though about. Having a high Amp inline cut off is almost as important as the fuse itself
I've considered this being a potential problem, but I never took it seriously. I would have guessed I would see a winch catching fire before doing this. It's definitely something I need to consider from now on...