Samurai, tracker or sidekick?

[huntsonora]

I'm leaning towards buying a Samurai to use as a hunting rig. Of the 3 listed what would you do and why?

I have a friend that has a samurai and it will go just about anywhere. I like how compact these vehicles are and want one of these instead of a side by side UTV

[BorntoVenture]

I would lean towards a Sammy just because there are usually many more parts available, but of course that all depends on your location. They may not be as plentiful as they are here.

[Root Moose]

Having had a Samurai and Sidekick in the past, if it were me I'd lean towards a flattie or CJ5 if that is the size of vehicle you are looking for.

Samurai parts and supplies are getting rare. You can buy anything you want for a Jeep. Suzukis are made of three ply tin foil, early Jeeps were made with real steel. The front end on a Sidekick/Tracker is lame.

$0.02

[hillbillyjake]

i've got a couple buddies who beat the guts out of there trackers. fo the 3 i know of one failed front end. that's when he gto the front wheels offf the ground about 2' and then landed at full throttle. not really the tracker's fault. granted they are not the best built int eh world but not the worst either. around here parts are super cheap and plentiful. the real common down fall i have seen in common with all them have been rust. alot of this has to do with living in the rust belt and lack of maintenance, btu they sem to be more suceptable than other trucks of the same age.

of teh 3 the tracker would get my vote. my $.02

[mhiscox]

Having had a Samurai and Sidekick in the past, if it were me I'd lean towards a flattie or CJ5 if that is the size of vehicle you are looking for.

Ditto. I have a Samurai and it has many fine points. However, when just driving from Point A to Point B, it's hard to escape the feeling that you are in a tiny, not-very-modern cartoon car ill-suited to heavy traffic.

My two cents would be if you were thinking about towing the Samurai and then using it for short distances around the hunting site . . . great, have at it. But if you were implying you would be driving substantial distances in the Sami, you might look for something more substantial.

In addition to which, it's hard to find an unmolested Samurai any more. Lots of large-tire trail runners available, but many fewer near stock that would be safe (relatively) in normal use.

[barlowrs]

Very first offroading I can remember as a child was when my dad took me out in his samurai. I remember the big trucks used to laugh at it becuase it was so small and not a "ford or chevy" (grew up in redneck amermica). However, their laughing soon stoppend when he could get down every trail they could, as well as TURN AROUND (several point turn) in the middle of trails they couldnt even fit down. The thing is tiny, but that is one of its advantages, and quite capable.

Later he retired the sammy and got a sidekick. It was a nice rig too, but the samuari seemed to be better to me (could just be becuase I was younger during the sammy days.)

[huntsonora]

Thanks for all of the replies so far! I would not use whatever I decide to buy on anything but a ranch or dirt road. It would literally be in place of a side by side UTV. My buddy guides out of one in Nevada and Arizona and he said when it's really cold nobody will use their UTV and he can use his samurai just fine because the cab is enclosed and it has heat.

I saw an older article called the "rhino killer" or something along those lines and they put up a mildly built samurai against a yamaha rhino and it did everything the rhino could do. I won't spend $10k on one of those

I would tow or trailer whatever I decide to buy and go from there. I guided some sheep hunts here in Colorado last year and the ride up the trail on my quad was miserable with 2 people on it and even in September it's damn cold at 12,000 feet

[mhiscox]

Thanks for all of the replies so far! I would not use whatever I decide to buy on anything but a ranch or dirt road. It would literally be in place of a side by side UTV. My buddy guides out of one in Nevada and Arizona and he said when it's really cold nobody will use their UTV and he can use his samurai just fine because the cab is enclosed and it has heat.

Well, as a UTV competitor, then the Sami sounds just fine. A Sidekick/Tracker is quite a bit more sophisticated, but will do the job, too, and chances of finding an air-conditioned one are much greater than finding an air-conditioned Samurai, if that was the least bit important. When moving real slow, the Sami's non-assisted steering can be a PITA; that'd be a point for a Sidekick, or you can add power steering from a Sidekick to a Sami. It's also worth noting that one of the most popular upgrades to a Samurai is to install the engine from the Sidekick, which suggests you might as well start with a Sidekick.

I'd consider both and pick the one you find that's built up closest to what you want. Not to hard to find a deal on one of the heavily built Samis around, but I don't know whether giant tires and a lot of lift would be features. Sounds like they could be.

[strider3700]

I had a 4dr tracker. I sold it when the family started to outgrow it. It was starting to get serious rust issues in the rocker panels. ok maybe thats not true. There was no rocker panels left thanks to the rust. other then that I can't complain. It was a simple reliable 4x4 that got in the mid to high 20's mileage wise the entire time I owned it. Maintenance was cheap if I bothered to do it. The aftermarket was effectively non existent though

[gwhipp]

I have a lifted and modified '89 Sidekick for sale if you are interested. The only reason I am selling it is that I bought a new truck.