Suzuki Club UK

Hi all, nice to be here, have just acquired my first sj410, been a few people previous playtoy at some point, pretty certain someone from here once upon a time As it had suzukiclub stickers on.

As much as its Mot'd, the lanes havent been kind to it so time for some TLC I think.!!

to the forum.

You got any pics, I'll probably recognise it

Hi mate please see Files attached.

Ah yes I know that one very well. It used to belong to my mate Adam aka Nylonadmiral on here. I built him the SJ that he replaced it with.

Scottie thank you for letting me know!! It seems I cant message him privately, was wondering how to do so?? I would like some more info about it if possible please....and if I've made a mistake buying it haha.

HI Seb18989

Yes, that's my old truck. Sold it I think almost 5 years ago now though.

What do you need to know, I might be able to help?

Just wanted to know how it all started what it was and what you done etc. I've already ripped out most of the wiring that was recently done as I wasnt happy with the install. Lots of things that's not been hooked up electrical wise and been retro fitted etc. Might be a daft question after all this time but why did you decide to get rid if you still have an sj??

I bought it looking similar to how you've got it. It was already traybacked, already had the badly done shackle reversal and had been poorly looked after. in general In fact, the whole thing was a bit of a shambles. I made the mistake of buying it on ebay without going to see it first. It was delivered on a car transporter - I'll never, ever do that again!
The first time I drove it, I made it about 3 miles before the engine seized. I'd been completely ripped off with it really.

I subsequently found the gearbox needed replacement, the props all bound up, the axles leaked from every possible orifice, the engine was a write off, the springs were flogged, the t-box wouldn't stay in gear, the bushes were flogged etc etc and the whole thing needed a complete overhaul. This all seemed odd as I had bought it with a 'fresh MOT', however, when I did a bit of digging I found that the previous owner had worked at a place that did MOTs so you can draw your own conclusions from that.
I had a 1.6 8v put in, replaced everything that was wrecked, fitted rebuilt Samurai axles and 413 diffs, replaced the gearbox & tbox, springs, bushes etc. With Scotties' help I sorted out all the driveline geometry so nothing bound up anymore. Took the body off and completely stripped and repainted the chassis and the cab. Replaced all the brakes, fitted rear discs etc etc. I spent a fair amount of money on it but when it was done it was great. I drove it around for a few years and whilst I used it for what it was built for, I always looked after it. If we'd been out laning I'd clean all the mud off, regrease all the UJs, clear any drain holes etc. and I often actually daily drove it to work.

The reason I decided to get rid of it was that although the trayback looked ace, it was totally impractical. The truck has no storage and it's quite hard to carry anything in it if you have a passenger. I wanted to do more, longer trips and be able to take camping stuff in it which didn't work very well. And like I say, daily driving it I wanted something where I could just throw the shopping in the back!
I'd also learned a lot about what makes a good truck over the years of owning it and I kind of wanted to start again with some of the suspension stuff. I wanted to go for something without the shackle reversal or the SPOA, but undoing the shackle reversal was not really worth the effort, and the whole kind of lifted/ridiculous look of the truck is part of it's character which I really liked so felt it was better to move on to something different and start again. I loved owning that thing though, I spent a small fortune on it and did many miles in it. It was a great truck!

I sold it to a guy who seemed to be genuinely a nice lad who wanted to use it and didn't really seem to mind about a lot of the drawbacks I pointed out to him. I was really sad to see it go but wanted to do something different. He then sold it on to someone else I think but I'm not 100% sure about that.

I can't really tell you about the electrical stuff as when I had it, it had the minimal loom required to run the engine and the lights, that was about it. After I sold it, it seems to have had a bunch of other lights and stuff fitted but that all came after my ownership. I vaguely recall the guy I sold it to telling me he had fitted a small winch but can't see that in your pics. The front end also looks different, does it maybe have some sort of mesh beneath the grill? I didn't fit that either.

I hope you can give it a new lease of life and keep it on the road a while longer. Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Here's a few pics of when I was straightening it all out after buying a lemon!

thank you so much for all the info, its great to see the history of it, dont think ive ever owned a vehicle to know who had it previous, especially someone who has had a passion for it as i also plan myself. the lights on the front and rear were added by previous owner in bristol who said only used it rarely for play days. it also was mot'd around 6 months ago but with 2 of the chassis to body mounts being snapped i very much doubt it was the most genuine...

i fully agree on the practical side of things and the height, as you say it being so high up is rediculous but thats why i love it, also i plan on taking the tray back off and modifying it so there is a storage compartment behind the fuel tank as its a bit wasted space, the rear lighting is being renewed with defender lights and rearranged.

im a welder by trade so should enjoy doing some of it lol, that bad mesh is coming off the front and i shall be making a bumper for it aswell. plus a paint job is also on the way, have already started repainting the chassis.

im new to offroading and laning so wanted something old and simple to work on. who needs sensors anyway.....

thank you for your info!!