Here’s an off-road rig that can take the whole family on an off-road adventure!

This 1995 Suzuki Sidekick has been built with a Trail Tough Trail Slayer Kit and trussed Toyota Axles. According to Trail Tough:

Turn your 4 Door Suzuki Sidekick or GeoTracker into a serious off-road machine! 40” of articulation and great handling characteristics! We hate to admit it but these rigs are out-performing even the “bad boy” Samurai’s. Because this kit takes advantage of the superior strength of Toyota axles, your Sidekick, Tracker, or X-90 becomes an extremely durable, reliable TRAIL SLAYER!!!

The Toyota axles were fitted with 5.38 gears with a Detroit Locker in the front, and a spool in the rear. Power comes from a 1.6L 16 valve engine that’s backed by a 5-speed manual transmission. The transmission sends the power to a manual transfer case with 6.1 gears.

The Sidekick rides on 35-inch Mickey Thompson Baja Claws with OMF Performance Beadlocks.

A Warn winch sits in a custom front bumper that also has a stinger (the large hoop) to protect the Sidekick from tipping forward after a steep dismount.

The occupants are protected on the inside by a custom roll cage and 5-point crow harness’s.

This is a vehicle that’s meant to take the family out for a fun trip on the trail, get them back home safely, and even keep them cool with the A/C on.

Specifications:

• 1.6L 16 Valve Engine
• 5-Speed manual with Centerforce heavy duty clutch
• 6.1 Transfer case gears
• Toyota Axles w/ truss’s
• 5.38 Gears
• Detroit Locker up front & spool in the rear
• Trail Tough Trail Slayer Kit Front & Rear
• Dual rotors up front
• OMF Performance beadlocks
• Mickey Thompson 35-inch Baja Claws
• Warn winch
• Custom front Winch bumper w/ hooks
• Custom complete roll cage throughout the entire truck
• 5-Point crow harness’s all 5-seats
• Power steering
• A/C & heat

Photos:

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Looking for an economical family adventure vehicle that gets 20-25 MPG? This 1995 Suzuki Sidekick 4-door was built to be just that.

The vehicle was purchased for $3,700 with 70,000 miles on it. It was then lifted with Old Man Emu OME962 springs in the front, which are actually designed for the front of a 1999+ Grand Vitara. It has the same spring rate as the medium-duty front Sidekick LWB springs, but a 15mm taller ride height.

In back, the Grand Vitara uses a different rear coil, so the owner chose the Old Man Emu OME955 springs. Along with these springs, he used the N103S and N32 struts & shocks. After driving about 100 miles to settle the suspension, he took measurements again and found that the front sat at 33.0 inches and the rear was at 29.75 inches. He had anticipated that this would happen, and installed a pair of Daystar 3/4 inch coil spacers for a Jeep TJ (part number KJ09107BK) into the rear, which required absolutely no modifications. This brought the rear up to 33.5 inches, giving it the exact same stance as it had when it was stock, except that it was 3 inches taller front and rear.

How hard was it to install the lift?

The install could hardly be any easier.

Preparation:
Jack up the truck.
Unbolt the wheels.

Front:
Unbolt the tie rods.
Unclip the brake line retainers
Unbolt the struts.
Remove the front springs.
Slide out the passenger side CV slip connection.
Wrestle the new springs in place.
Reinsert the passenger side CV.
Install the new struts.
Clip back on the brake line retainers.
Reinstall the tie rods.

Rear:
Unbolt the shocks.
Remove the springs.
Slide the coil spacers over the bumpstops.
Install the new springs.
Install the new shocks.

Finish it up:
Reinstall the wheels.
Lower it to the ground and test drive.
Take it to an alignment shop to adjust the toe and center the steering wheel.

The springs will settle a little bit after a few days, correcting the front wheels’ slightly excessive positive camber. You really don’t need camber bolts; the OME struts have enough correction built in even for the taller springs. You also don’t need to worry about the CVs pulling out because the OME struts limit the downtravel before it becomes a problem.

Since this vehicle is primarily a daily driver, he didn’t want to mess around with a body lift, cutting the fenders, or regearing it just to run 31 or 32 inch tires. He installed a set of BFGoodrich 30×9.5×15 All Terrain tires on a set of Pro Comp’s wheels, 15×7 with 3.75 inch backspacing. Measuring again, the wheelwells sat at 34.5 inches in the front, and 35.0 inches in the back. This now had the Sidekick 4.50 inches taller than stock.

As far as the topic of lockers, the owner reports:

I’m also having some real 2nd thoughts about even installing a locker in back. In this long, deep, uphill rut, I spent a good 100 yards with 1 or more wheels high up in the air, and I didn’t need lockers to make progress. This is one thing I’ve really learned to appreciate about the automatic transmission: the “poor man’s limited-slip-diff” trick where you ride the brakes while applying throttle to transfer torque from the wheels in the air to the ones on the ground. I never would have believed how effective this could be, because I’ve always driven manual transmission vehicles in which this is much more difficult to succeed.

This picture, for example, was taken right after the vehicle’s weight transitioned from both rears and 1 front tire on the ground to both fronts and 1 rear on the ground. Even with such limited traction, I was able to drive right through it by applying just the right amount of braking force. Obviously, this isn’t as easy or as effective as having dual lockers and gobs of articulation, but it’s at least safe to say that everyone who saw my Sidekick on the trails was surprised and impressed by its capabilities.

Once the suspension was done, the Sidekick received a new ARB Bull Bar front bumper, and an IFS skid plate from Aftermarket4x4. He also added an All Road Basket Cargo Basket #9000-0350 to the roof that mounts perfectly on the Sidekick’s factory optional roof rails.

Modified vs stock

Parts:

Old Man Emu OME962 (ARB 2962) Springs (front)

Old Man Emu OME955 (ARB 2955) Springs (rear)

Daystar 3/4 inch coil spacers for a Jeep TJ PN KJ09107BK

ARB 3426020 Bull Bar

ARB Safari Snorkel SS800HF

Project Costs:

$3,700 for the truck with 70,000 miles.
$663 for the suspension.
$703 for the Bull Bar.
$212 for the roof rack.
$125 for the IFS skid plate.
————————————-
$5,403 total.

Upgraded:

The owner took this project a step further by adding a rear Lock-Right locker, snorkel, 30×10.50 Swamper Radial TSL’s, Shrockworks’ sliders, Aftermarket4x4’s IFS and gas tank skidplates, and a Warn M8000 winch.

This would make a great overlanding vehicle. Don’t get distracted by the limited wheel travel. Land Rovers are highly regarded, and they don’t flex any better. Go out, build one of these, and hit the Trans America Trail (TAT)!

 More Photos:

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If you’ve done much wheeling in the northwest, been to the Northwest Overland Rally, or been to Overland Expo West, then you’ve probably spotted this 1995 Suzuki Sidekick.

This great little expedition vehicle features:

• 2-Inch BDS lift springs
• OME shocks/struts
• Lockright rear locker
• Aftermarket 4×4 front skid plate
• Shrockworks front bumper
• WARN M8000 winch w/Custom Splice fairlead and Factor 55 thimble
• WARN WL LED spot lights
• WARN WXT-S halogen spots (rear)
• WARN Premium Hubs
• Calmini roof rails with Thule crossbars and BajaRack Mule Basket with ARB 1250 awning
• 15×7 steel wheels
• 235/75/15 Kumho KL71 Road Venture MT tires
• Vitara Safari Snorkel
• Hardtop
• ARB wiring kit for Fridge/Freezer (we remove the back seat to get it in)

The Trailer:

The trailer is a Dinoot trailer. The trailer was modified and lifted by flipping the axles (mounting the axles under the leaf springs instead of above them). Then 5 on 4.5 to 5 on 5.5 wheel adapters/spacers were used to mount the same tire and wheel combination that’s used on the Sidekick. This allows the spare tire to be used on either the Sidekick, or the trailer. Since the Dinoot now had larger tires, the fender flares were replaced with Bushwacker Pocket Style Fender Flares for the Wrangler TJ (1997-2006) with 4.25″ of coverage. The trailer was equipped with a Cascadia Vehicle Tents (also known as CVT) Mt. Bailey roof top tent (RTT).

More Photos:

(The Teal Terror was on display in the Warn Industries booth at Overland Expo 2016)

Owner:

Brian Olowiany

Vehicle:

1995 Suzuki Sidekick

Suspension: 

Calmini 3-Inch Modified

Old Man Emu Long Travel Struts

Doestch Tech long travel rear shocks with  Pro-Comp upper shock mounts

Body Lift: 

Masterkit1 3-Inch Body Lift

Engine: 

1.6L 16Valves of Fire Breathing Hamsters

Steering: 

Sky Manufacturing HD Idler Arm

Calmini Steering Stabilizer/Truss

Tie rod flip

Old Man Emu Jeep TJ Steering Stabilizer

Tires: 

Super Swamper LTB 34×10.50×15″

Rims: 

15×8 Custom built Eaton 32 bolt beadlock (can be run either beadlocked or standard mounted

Exhaust: 

Calmini 2-Inch Turbo Cat Back w/Magnaflow catalytic converter

Differentials: 

ARB Airlocker Front with 5.38 Ratio 

Lockrite Rear Locker with 5:38 Ratio

Driver CV on passenger side

Hubs: 

WARN Premium with Fuses

Transfer Case: 

4.24:1 Trail Tough Rock Monster Gears

Front Bumper: 

Shrockworks winch bumper with Milemarker E9000 winch Amsteel Synthetic winch line, aluminum hawse fairlead, XD heavy duty winch hook.

Rear Bumper: 

Custom built with 2-Inch receiver, and shackle tabs

Lighting: 

9004 HID conversion for headlights

H3 HID conversion kit for Hella 500’s

Intake: 

Safari Snorkel with drop-in K&N in OEM airbox

Undercarriage Protection: 

Calmini Front Skidplate

Tracker OEM T-Case Skid Plate

Interior:  

Full Heruliner coated (carpet removed)

Pioneer CD system

Mounted fire extinguisher

Mounted Maglite.

Other Accessories: 

Custom Hi-Lift/Shovel rack

ARB On-Board Compressor for Airlocker, Tools, Filling Tires

Optima Red Top with Spidertrax battery tie down

Cobra CB with Firestik II antenna.