A month ago I lost my job w/ Nortel Networks and had to post a few items on Equipment Exchange.  I am now pleased to announce that I am gainfully employed once again in a field that I know jack sh!t about.

This weekend my best friend and his wife came over and we were doing a little on line shopping for  4 wheelers.  Then after a few beers we went mudding in our trucks on my land.  Our wives want a four wheeler for each person which IS NOT FEASIBLE!!!!

My bud and I had a great solution.....Let's buy a pair of Sammy's instead.  I like the idea a bunch, but I have know idea what to look for in a used Sammy.  BTW, 2 grand is the max to spend......Let the suggestions Rip!!!!!!!!

Hey Jarhead!,
I have owned them, not a "great" 4x4 but a "good" little(Keyword here) truck. What I'd look for is rust around the body mounts, door hinges, brakes(front rotors), radiator seams (The top & bottom of them are plastic with the rest alum. and the joints can leak.) I drove one for 6+ years here in Michigan (Read:RUST-BELT) and other than it being underpowered (1300cc 4cyl) it was a reliable driver(For 120K miles).

Good Luck!
Tall Shadow

I agree -- look for rust in all those places.  Also, check the engine for serious oil leaks.  It seems that every Samurai engine leaks oil, it is just a matter of degree as to how bad it is.  Otherwise the mechanicals are pretty robust.  Samurais are very crude and primitive, but that makes it easy to work on them.  But the number one enemy is rust.  Good luck

Well You just asked about another of my hobby's
/passions. here is a link to a bbs for them,
good group of guys an a large knowledge base.

[url]http://tellico.off-road.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=offroadsuzuki&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0[/url]

The rust thing is a big part of it, check behind the fender flares that is the big spot along with the wheel wells. There are quite a few online vendors of parts and a good sized Zook community in Tx too. For 2K you should be able to get a mildly built one that is in nice shape. Look for a 90 or newer as they have fuel injection, (the older ones are a computer controlled carb that when it dies is a pain to fix.) they can be built into whatever you want.
any specific questions fire away. (I have 3+ in my yard, 1 rock crawler and 2 daily drivers)

[made link clickable - Paul]

Thanks for the help everyone.  Just did a search on auto-trader and saw some possibilities. If there is anyone in Texas (close to Dallas) who has one for sale, then let me know.

Jarhead