Installation
and Review of Calmini's Sidekick Front Bumper
Editor: Eric Bewley
BAKERSFIELD, CA -As Suzuki Sidekicks become more and
more popular and their owners begin to traverse more advanced terrain exploring farther
into the backcountry, stronger and more capable components are needed. CALMINI
manufacturing from Bakersfield California has recognized and embraced the Sidekick
adventurer and is providing top-notch products for the Sidekick vehicle with their front
bumper being no exception. This bumper is a quality fabricated product. When ours arrived
UPS, we were immediately taken aback by the quality of the welding on this product.
Several inches of bead are visible with nary a hick-up in sight. The complex angles and
cuts suggest a sophisticated manufacturing process. Fit and finish were exceptional apart
from a couple areas of bare metal on the back side up in the crevices were coating is
difficult.
Installation of this quality bumper was easy and took about 2 hours
to complete. Light years ahead of the Competiton and stock components, the CALMINI bumper
is the best choice for Sidekick owners looking for more protection and function.
1. Assess your vehicle. We can see here that ZUKIWORLD's project Gina
Lee Definitely needs a bumper. This stock unit basically fell off during
disassembly.
2. Remove the bolts holding the stock bumper on. Here we are removing
CALMINI custom bumper mounts available for body lifted vehicles.
3. Remove 'roachy' bumper.
4. Install the new outside brackets with provided hardware.
5. Draw in the bolts but do not tighten. [leave movement for final
assembly.]
6. Install the middle lower bracket using the provided u-bolts. Again,
make sure to leave bolts loose for final assembly.
6a. continue
6b. One thing we did run into was a tight fit caused by factory a/c
hardware. All parts fit without modification but getting our hands in there was difficult.
7. Using the provided hardware for the outside brackets lift the bumper in
place and secure leaving all bolts loose.
7a. Use a floor jack to adjust the location of the bumper. The bumper
matches the body contour.
8. Attach the main bumper to the lower bracket already on the car using
the supplied hardware.
9. With all hardware in place, now begin tightening all of the bracket
bolts to secure the bumper in place.
10. Make sure to check your new bumper's bolts for tightness after you
have driven a distance. We recommend checking after the next fill up.
11. Here we see the final installed product with an XD9000i winch
installed.