Early wheeling was purely utilitarian and involved full-sized vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban for getting into the mountains for hunting. After leaving that world and striking out I found and purchased a bone-stock Samurai or my wife to use as inexpensive transportation to and from work. Well, it needed new tires and after the baby-sized super swamper tires were fitted, I was lost to a whole new adventure. Little did I know that only a few months later, we would be knee deep in everything Suzuki that we could find and doing as many four-wheel drive events as humanly possible. At that time, finding information on the still somewhat new internet for my new found passion was pretty difficult which drove my desire to create and build a website for Suzuki enthusiasts to gather and share information. 

Jason likes Jeeps! ...and pretty girls.

From Wisconsin with over 17 years of very active wheeling experience. My first vehicle was a 72 Dotsun pickup that was vastly modified to run 38-inch Gumbo mudders. Like most wheelers I went through a full-size phase before I moved on to a Suzuki Samurai that I stumbled onto completely by accident. I loved the vehicle very much but it was a little cold during the winters so I bought a 91 Geo Tracker as a winter vehicle. Over the winter it got modified and when spring came I started to wheel the Samurai again only to miss the feel of the tracker. The Samurai was sold and I focused on building trackers. I wheel in snow, sand, rocks, logs and the occasional mud. For this reason I build my vehicles for all different types of wheeling. Wheeling that requires driver skill and building my vehicle to match my current style of driving is what I love to do. I believe that the Internet is a powerful tool and is helping evolve the sport by leaps and bounds. Writing for Zukiworld lets me share my ideas and hopefully helps you with ideas on your next build.

Introduced into the world of off road motor sports in the early 90’s. A friend of mine, Scott, had a sweet 81 CJ5 on 33’s. We would take it on local trails and to camping areas just adventure around in the woods seeing what we could find.

Being a college student, I was strapped for funds and was trying to come up with any way to make some extra green for my 4x4 fund. The search for a cheep, well built 4x4 led us to attending off-roading events to see what we could find for sale.

Just before a weekend in the Smokey Mountains, a friend of mine wrecked her cute little Suzuki. Scott told me about it and I saw it as a quick way to make some money. The vehicle had minimal body damage and she was selling it cheep, so I decided to buy it to fix up. My original intention was to turn it to make some cash, but that quickly faded. She let me take her 89 Suzuki Sidekick JX to the mountains for the weekend to try it out. I was instantly hooked. This little 4x4 drove good on the road, comfortably set four college students and got great gas mileage. My only reservations after the first weekend, was how well this little Suzuki could perform off road. Cindy gave me permission to keep her Sidekick through the week and take it to a couple of local wheeling spots. Everyone on the trails was amazed at what this little navy blue, bone stock, Sidekick could do. Needless to say, I bought the Sidekick and sold my TransAm and my Nissan pickup to fix her up.

Since that spring day back in 1994, I have been slowly building and rebuilding my Sidekick into a street friendly, street legal, trail rig. My Suzuki has taken me all over the South Eastern United States and to places as far as Utah, Wisconsin and now to Florida.    I have spent over 250,000 miles behind the wheel of my Sidekick, both on and off road, and still love getting behind the wheel every time. If it’s a short trip to the beach, or a cross country adventure with good friends, there is just something incredible about adventuring in a Kick.