Suzuki Steve's '97 4-door Sidekick Build (the real build thread)

Looks great Steve, one of the quickest builds on here! Nice execution, I'd love to hear your impression after the first trip out. I've always liked those 4 door Sidekicks. :cool:
 
I cant make it tonight, im still not registered, i guess its a law to have at least 4.5" of vertical height on your front bumper. so i couldnt get it registered today :/ and yeah i just took the bumper off, gonna have to figure something out with it. plus its way overdue for a repaint.

And two of my buddies bands are playing tonight and i already committed to them.
 
looks great, it looks like maybe your rear tire will rub your tube bumper at full stuff?

*edit p.s. you need to update your avatar now
 
Great run last night Steve. I really enjoyed meeting all of you guys. Your rig seemed to work really well. That trail was a lot of fun with all the snow.
Nate
 
yup. I HIGHLY recommend this kit. It did great on the road, dirt trails at speed, and crawling. A great all-around rig. The front still sits higher than I"d like, and the sliders still dented my rocker panels, so I'm going to have to beef them up.

Here are a few highlights from last night.

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It did a lot better than expected. I'm getting a noise from the rear end when I coast. I'm thinking the pinion nut has come loose a bit.
 
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sixstringsteve said:
yup. I HIGHLY recommend this kit. It did great on the road, dirt trails at speed, and crawling. A great all-around rig. The front still sits higher than I"d like, and the sliders still dented my rocker panels, so I'm going to have to beef them up.
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That's great news to me. I suppose it will only get better as the springs get more miles on them.


It did a lot better than expected. I'm getting a noise from the rear end when I coast. I'm thinking the pinion nut has come loose a bit..
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Based on what I've heard from some of the guys on Zukiworld, I wondered if you were going to be surprised at the capabilities of your Trailslayer Sidekick.

As for the noise, I wonder if that is because your locker is not fully disengaged???

Also, I'm not thrilled with the sliders. I'm going to have to beef them up and weld them on I think. I'm not happy that my door now catches when it closes.
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Whose sliders are those? I thought I saw a set of the tube sliders that match your bumpers in one of the first slides, but I don't see the tubes in your pics? I am looking at building some imitation of the Sliderz steps made by Zukination. They look pretty cool to me, but they are made from square tube, instead of the tube based ones from TrailTough. I'm not sure if they will match the tube front and rear bumpers, but I really want some substantial rocker protection. With 33's I think I'll be rubbing on them quite a bit.

Thanks for all the info and inspiration. I'll be starting a built thread here pretty soon. (Hopefully, in time for Moab this year.) :confused:

Gil
 
Lookin good Steve. Really surprises me how much I actually like it. Having a supercharged Tacoma still brings much to be desired as far as power, I can only image what it would be like with the little squirrels you got in that thing. We saw a semi built white tracker tonight and my wife laughed at it asking what that thing was. I informed her these things were becoming all the rage.
 
meach4x4 said:
As for the noise, I wonder if that is because your locker is not fully disengaged???
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Nah, it's more than that. In fact, my locker is locked on. I haven't wired it yet, so it's definitely 100% engaged.


meach4x4 said:
Whose sliders are those?
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They're trail tough sliders. I thought they were bent, but it turns out they're fine.

meach4x4 said:
Thanks for all the info and inspiration. I'll be starting a built thread here pretty soon. (Hopefully, in time for Moab this year.) :confused:
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Haha, good luck, that's a tight frame. But after my axles were built, it only took me two weeks to do everything else. Good luck, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the kit.
 
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lewis said:
Lookin good Steve. Really surprises me how much I actually like it. Having a supercharged Tacoma still brings much to be desired as far as power, I can only image what it would be like with the little squirrels you got in that thing. We saw a semi built white tracker tonight and my wife laughed at it asking what that thing was. I informed her these things were becoming all the rage.
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Thanks. It looks even better in person. A lot of people couldn't see the vision, but I knew it'd turn out good. Everyone that's seen it in person has liked it. If your taco doesn't have power then you'd hate this thing. I'm still waiting on my reduction box, so I can't hit higher than 55 mph right now. I sure hope it shows up in the next month, or I'll be driving to hole in the rock in 4lo. I wonder if that's bad...

I don't know if trackers are becoming all the rage, but I sure like 'em. A lot more creature comforts than the samis, but still lightweight. Their big weakness is gearing, but I think the undertaker should fix those issues.
 
Ya my Sami when I had it before I geared it, 4 low was a joke. I couldnt imagine these being much different.

Then I threw in 5:14s in the T case, and 5:12 kick thirds, and detriots, and man was it low! big difference!
 
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