[22after]

So I took the jump and bought a 'totalled' 2013 Leaf with 37k miles, and a battery health of 89% and 247Gids at full charge and 89% SOH. Really gonna be a shame to scavenge this car, it's in really pristine condition except for the rear corners. Oh well.

I'm gonna try to swap in the Leaf motor and reconfigured 24kwh battery into my '87 Samurai Samurai. I'm hoping to bolt the motor directly to the 5-speed transmission and transfer case. I'll be using the transmission and transfer case out of a newer Geo Tracker instead of the Samurai units because that transfer case is gear to gear for the output and substantially noisier than the gear-chain-gear affair in the Tracker.

The weight of the Samurai as pictured is right at 2,300 lbs. I figure that the Leaf motor and Suzuki 1.3 gasser are roughly equal in weight. Adding in the Leaf battery I hope to have a working on/off roader with roughly 50 miles of range. Since the dunes I took the picture on are only 5 miles from my front doorstep that should be more than enough?
Any thoughts on mounting the motor to the trans?
Some people have suggested getting rid of the trans altogether and mounting the motor directly to the transfer case but that would probably (?) require regearing the case and maybe the front and rear differentials to get the motor to spin at the correct speed? That's why other people who have done this same swap have said "keep the transmission" and just leave it in 2nd".
Any thoughts on any of this?

 

[remy_martian]

@Bratitude has a Leaf motor coupler, so figuring out a hook-in to the transmission input shaft and an adapter plate is the biggest part of this.

Stuffing the battery into that tiny volume is also going to be challenging...on the dunes (looks like SW Oregon) I don't think you want nose-heavy and they'll need to be mounted very securely for times you bury the nose.

 

[22after]

I'm thinking there's plenty of room for the battery as I've removed the rear seats and that entire area behind the front seats is open. I'm hoping someone here has done this swap/conversion already and might be able to offer some insights?

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

There is an electric Sami on YouTube and the builder is also here but hasn't posted much. He is using a LEAF motor also. LEAF motor is compact and lightweight, perfect for your truck. It will have plenty of power don't even stress about it.

On my Land Cruiser I ran the motor output into a Blackbox doubler to get my 2.7:1 reduction but if I did it again I think I would try to repurpose the LEAF gearbox itself.

 

[Bratitude]

I have couplers and adapter plates for the leaf, so your covered there, just a matter of getting the bolt pattern for the geo bell-housing.
Depending on the final drive ratio of the transfer case to wheels, you maybe be able to get away without the transmission. but keeping the trans would make it much much simpler, and gives you multiple ratios to use. 1-2 for crawling, 3-5 for hwy

I am working on making a replacement gearset for the leaf gearbox, to do what @electriclandcrusier is thinking; using the leaf gearbox as a “transfer case” tho this is still always off

 

[22after]

This is what I'm thinking (subject to change at a moment's notice)... I'm thinking that I'm gonna use the input shaft/gear from the Leaf gearbox and have my machinist work up something that will mate with the Tracker input shaft? Maybe have the Leaf shaft without the gear actually welded (gulp) directly to the Tracker shaft? I would love to keep the Tracker transmission at this point.

 

[Bratitude]

Don’t weld input shafts. Bad idea.
Take the splines from the trackers clutch disk, machine the leaf splines and clutch splines down so you have a tight interference fit(only will fit if the coupler is heated and the clutch Splines are cooled, then mated via a press), once that is done, weld! tig or electron beam being the safest bet.

I made blank couplers for this exact purpose, as the leaf gearboxes are worth saving!

 

[22after]

Okay, now I'm confused. You say the Leaf gearboxes are worth saving, but I don't plan on using the gearbox as the reduction aspect won't work with the Tracker transfer case alone. Or will it? I would love to ditch the 5-speed but it sounds like getting the proper final drive ratio at the front and rear axles would be problematic with just the transfer case. But if I use the transmission in conjunction with the 5-speed it isn't an issue...
Or am I wrong? That's been known to happen in the past.

 

[Bratitude]

Okay, now I'm confused. You say the Leaf gearboxes are worth saving, but I don't plan on using the gearbox as the reduction aspect won't work with the Tracker transfer case alone. Or will it? I would love to ditch the 5-speed but it sounds like getting the proper final drive ratio at the front and rear axles would be problematic with just the transfer case. But if I use the transmission in conjunction with the 5-speed it isn't an issue...
Or am I wrong? That's been known to happen in the past.

I just don’t think destroying the leaf gearbox for the motor splines is worth it, so I made blank couplers for the leaf motor.

but that’s my biased opinion, as I sell the couplers.

 

[22after]

ah...I gotcha. But is the gearbox worth anything as a stand alone unit? I can't foresee using it in the future.

 

[remy_martian]

Yours has 37k on it, so I'd say it could be worth something. iirc, someone was looking for one in the classifieds here a while ago.

Worst case, donate it to Prof Kelly at Weber University (tax deductible). His kids need to learn on something and it means his budget would get stretched to do more of his public efforts on Youtube if he doesn't need to buy another gearbox for them to R&R.