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

[sixstringsteve]

I can't believe premium got you another 4 mpg, that's crazy.

I finished painting the housings at lunch today. UPS dropped off my front 4.56 v6 third ,and tonight I pick up my elocker third from sixstates. That means I can re-assemble my housings tonight if there's time.

I need to make sure I remember to jb weld a magnet inside the diffs before I close them back up... I have a feeling I'm going to forget to do that.

 

[iamsparticus]

No the electric did not save us money it ended up being the exact same. Becausem of the gas company screwing us, even with the furnace off the gas bill was 40 bucks! I called twice for them to come check the meter because i think they just had us on one of those spread the bill out plans, but they never gave me money back so we just turned it back on and payed the 120 buck bill a month

 

[sixstringsteve]

sad story. I've often wondered if a gas or electric heater would cost more.

 

[iamsparticus]

The electric would of been better but im afraid our house just sucks to bad on insulation, but im moving this month to a new house which finally has a garage and better everything else. Anyway sorry for the distraction, Steve do you plan on any kind of exo or internal cage?

 

[sixstringsteve]

No, no cages. It's my daily driver, and I didn't build it for hardcore trails/obstacles. I'll be wimping out and taking the easy line most of the time. I built it more to get me to cool camping spots and view some awesome scenery, and still have fun on some mellow trails.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Housings with the paint dried.

I spent a lot of time in the garage tonight, but it doesn't feel like I got a lot done. My knuckles were old and caked with grimy oil/grease/dirt. I don't have a blasting cabinet, and it's too cold to sandblast outside, so I just had to suck it up and clean them up with a wire brush and lots of brake cleaner.

Then I primered and painted the knuckles. And that's all I got done tonight. So I'm sure I"ll still be working on the axles on Saturday. I want to do it right, so I won't be rushing anything. It's not like I have my coils anyway, so getting the axles under the truck asap isn't a priority.

Next up: install stud eliminator kit in front diff, install third, and start work on my 5th stud mod. I haven't done that one before, so it'll be slow going/learning for the first time, but then I'll have the axle back together soon.

 

[STAG]

For the future I have a blasting cabinet and live in Pleasant Grove and would always be glad to help.

 

[sixstringsteve]

thanks for the offer chocflip, I may be hitting you up. I'd like to blast my hub dials and a handful of other parts. PM sent.

 

[THSDragoon]

Thanks for the offer Seth. Did the electric heater actually save you money that winter?

Af canyon isn't hard-core at all. Most of the trails can be done in stock rigs with sliders. But it's always a good time up there. Very beautiful scenery, mineral basin has some fun spots (bypassable) that a stocker couldn't get through, and it's just good to get out and see nature. 5-mile pass is fun to crawl, but the scenery isn't anything spectacular, and Moab is too far away for a quick getaway. I wish there were more places like AF canyon. I wonder if there are more places to wheel/camp in the unintas.

there are quite a few places to camp and picnic up there. my family usually goes up there in the summer for sunday dutch oven dinners. to be honest though, my mom is very skittish about wheeling, so i dont know too much about the back roads up there. but if beautiful forests and small hidden ponds/lakes is what your looking for, the Uintahs is exactly your place.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Not much to update.

Thanks to Eric coming over, a lot more gets done when two people are working on it.

Front axle now has the third, diff stud eliminator, and knuckles installed.

Rear axle is 50% done with the elocker conversion.

I decided not to do the 5th stud mod. I have arp's in the knuckles, and since I"ll only be on 33's with an open diff, I'm sure it'll be plenty strong.

Here's my schedule this week for those who were wanting to come watch certain parts:

- Monday - Work on front axle
- Tuesday - Finish front axle, work on rear axle
- Thursday - Finish rear axle, paint links
- Friday - IFS gets cut off and the fun begins. Hopefully my coils get shipped soon.
- Saturday - get as much of the kit installed as possible.

 

[Goose]

It looked like your doing a real nice job! that suspension should be real nice!
PS. they had us set up right at 5 mile, for the klondike. we didnt have any snow! lame!

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks for the kind words Goose. I'm definitely taking my time. Might as well do it right once, rather than tear the front end apart 7 different times for different reasons.

We were definitely in a different location than you guys for the klondike. We turned off of 72 right before Cedar Fort and headed north. They had a big blue poster that said "KLONDIKE -->" on it. It was a great location, tons better than maple dell. We had about 6" of snow, it was just right. I was looking for ya, but I didn't see any sleds with snowboards under them.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Not much to update. I'm on schedule. Front axle is complete except for the hubs. Tomorrow night I'll take 'em apart, clean them, paint them, then install them. And I should have time to get some work done on the rear axle.

I'm starting to get a little discouraged, these axles are taking too long to rebuild. It's probably a combination of how dirty my garage has gotten, and how cold it is outside. I think I need a little break...

 

[THSDragoon]

hey, look on the bright side, the sooner it's finished, the sooner you can go test it out; and go camping, fishing, hiking, etc.

 

[sixstringsteve]

true. I can feel Moab calling my name. I need to get down there soon.

 

[zukijames]

steve that was just me not moab but yeah get down here! did the rim last night

 

[sixstringsteve]

Now that I think of it, it probably was you calling me...

I wonder if my rig will be capable enough to do the rim, I've always wanted to do that trail.

 

[sixstringsteve]

well, my springs won't be here for at least another 2 weeks, so I'm going to need to find something to use in the mean-time...

 

[Chevycrew]

Ill bet if you post up the basic specs, someone on here will have some, or know where some are.

 

[sixstringsteve]

14-16" coils, 175lbs, no clue on diameter. Anyone got any they want to rent me for a few weeks?