[Guest]

My buddy is thinking of selling his Sidekick. for 2 grand, 95000 miles. And, I am thinking of buying it. Should I or just say no and wait on a sammy? How hard are the Sidekicks to lift? Or are there any lifts kits available? Would like to run 30s. Are most of the parts inter change able? What about gears? Lots of questions for one post, but, better then a million posts.
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Guest]

Wait for a sammi.

They are a bit more upgradable, and have a meaner look....if you can call that a mean look....

 

[794]

if you only want to run 30"s a Kick might be for you. More on road comfort and good trail ability with a locker and 4-6" lift. Calmin and Rocky Road Outfitters carry stuff, check them out.

 

[2868]

Already replied to your PM.... if you only want 30's, the cheapest way is RRO's coil spacers and either some wheel spacers or backspaced rims.

I'm stopping at 2.25" of suspension lift and 31's, myself.

 

[13337]

In reply to:

I'm stopping at 2.25" of suspension lift and 31's, myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah yeah thats what we all say ! LOL

 

[daxe]

Sorry to hijack this post somewhat but this is a relevant question.

Hey Casper:

I see you are running 30x9.5 on your rig and using .25 wheel spacers. Is this just to keep the tires off the body when turning or is there not enough clearance overall?

I just finished cobbing together some old trackers and kicks to make myself a street vehicle (4x4 in winter, convertible in summer) and I plan to swap over a set of 30x9.5 bridgestone duelers on std backspace steel wheels from my sami for the winter. I dont want to lift/trim at all if its not completely necessary, but I could go with the coil spring spacers from RRO if needed for a little extra height and wheel spacers if I have to. A tiny amount of rubbing at full lock is OK if its the body or inner fender, I can BFH or trim to get that to work.

For Chris Brown: A Sidekick/Tracker might be for you based on your intended purposes. Here's how I see it:

PLace a percentage on Street and Offroad use/importance. If your more heavily weighted on street driving, then get a Tracker or Sidekick. Its larger inside, rides and handles alot better and has more power in stock form. You can build it for very mild offroading without spending a fortune but making it into a serious offroad runner will cost you a lot of $

If your percentages slant towards offroading, then go for a samurai. They are very capable offroad without any mods and are cheap and easy to mod into a pretty serious wheelin truck. On the street they ride like crap unless you spend a lot of $ on new suspension, have a real lack of power, especially if you increase tire size, handle relatively poorly and have a real serious lack of space inside unless you never carry anything but yourself.

I have ended up with one of each. I started with a sami that I tried to build simultaneously into a nice street truck and a nice offroad truck. I finally realized I couldn't do both on the same truck to my satisfaction, so I got a trackick together to use on the road and retired the sami to offroading duty with a planned larger buildup over the winter.

That's how I see it.

~daxe

 

[2868]

Well, I PLAN on stopping @ 2.25"

Only becasue i'm not a fan of body lifts. That, and 99% of my driving is on the freeway.

The wheel spacers are to reduce the rubbing against the frame at full lock. I've played in the rocks, and they don't rub anywhere else. But, I also have the benefit of the Sidekick Sport springs.

Something else to keep in mind, however, is the rim width. I have the factory alloys, which are 6.5" wide, whereas the steel wheels for the Track/Kick and Sammy are only 6" wide. Never got around to measuring my backspacing, though.

I've seen 31's on a stock Kick... there is some rubbing, but I have emailed pictures of what needs to be trimmed. I, personally, wouldn't reccomend this to anyone.

 

[daxe]

Thanks for the info, Casper. The wheels and tires I plan to go with are the ones you can see in the little avatar pic on my blue samurai. They are 15x7 USWheel Chrome spokes. I dont plan on doing any rock crawling with the Tracker at all, its for the road. (but I know me! I'll be trying to see what it does anyways...)

I'll let everyone know how it turns out. If it wasnt freezing cold and dark and snowy outside I'd go swap them right now but my floor jack crapped out, too. Maybe this weekend.

thanks again

~daxe

 

[1100]

I do agree that Sidekick's are becoming great off-road vehicles and lots more vendors are beginning to make more products for them all the time so go ahead and get it. I have lifted several Trackers and would recommend the Calmini 3" suspension lift over any other lift kit I have seen on the market. The last Tracker I lifted had the 3" suspension lift and the 31" tires rubbed badly with 15X8 wheels 3 1/2" backspacing. A 3" Calmini body lift was added and no more rubbing, but the tire is close to the fender. 32" tires may be squeesed on there, but I think it would rub a bit when turning and stuffing the tire. To run 30" tires on the stock wheels I highly recommend the 3 inch Calmini suspension lift. It is a little more than the cheezy replacement coil lifts. If you did want to save alot of money and drop in a set of taller coils just find a set off of a 4-door model and you will get 1 1/2-2 inches of lift then add a 1" coil spacer above the springs and you have 2 1/2-3 inches of lift. I have sets of these springs for $100 if you need them and the spacers are available at most auto parts stores or I have them as well.

Sean DeVinney
[email protected]

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys. Well, I have also found a 91 Geo Tracker for 800, mite go for that one since I would have more money for mods!

I have seen Calminis 3 inch lift and I like it. With the 3 inch lift, could I run 30s with out rubbing? And, should I get the reduction gears for the xfercase? And, what kind of rims could I run? (Dont really care for the stockers).
Thanks,
Chris

 

[2868]

Sean, you say you have the spring spacers as well? I couldn't see them on your site.... how tall, and how much for a set of 4?

Also, on your site I saw the install of the 16v 1.6.... you state that the 16v had 122hp. Stock, they're only 95hp. The 1.8's had 120, and the 2.0's had 125.