Hi all, long time lurker first time poster.

I recently purchased a 1998 4-door Suzuki Sidekick with the 1.6l 16v engine and a manual transmission, bone stock with 100,000 miles.

Basically what I'm looking to use it for is as a daily driver and for road tripping with the option to take it off road for expanded exploration opportunities. I will be exploring all over the U.S. as well as BC, Canada.

I have near zero practical automobile mechanic knowledge. While I'm interested in learning, I don't really have a good place where I could work. Ditto for off-roading. Zero experience. All that being said, a few questions.

1. Do I need a lift? Really I'm just concerned about being halfway across the states and running into situations where I really want to explore but am unable because of the vehicles limitations. Basically, I'm not looking at off-roading as an end, but a means to an end. To get me access to beautiful shit.

2. I would like to keep stability and weight as primary concerns. The stability is not bad at all as it is now, but would only want to do mods that make it better or stay the same, not worse. As far as weight, this is mainly a concern as I feel like she is very sluggish on hills, to the point of being a safety concern, so I don't want to weigh her down to much, which leads to...

3. What are some very basic ways to ensure the the engine is running optimally? I have some spark plugs and wires on order. Is there any suggestions you may have for me in this department?

4. Any advice on finding a mechanic to install parts I may be purchasing for upgrades. I'm currently in the Lower Mainland, BC, Canada if anybody has a recommendation.

5. Where to start? I mean, i think I would like a lift, I know I'm going to need some proper AT tires, but I'm afraid to choose something here before i've chosen a lift assuming i get one. I want to maximize engine performance and ultimately I'd like to do a lot to it over the years. So, assuming I'm upgrading incrementally over the years, whats the most important? I know I should be able to list this stuff in priority for myself, but I'm having a hard time and would be nice to correspond with someone about it as opposed to reading 5 year old posts.

Anyway, I know this is a lot to take in, well, it is for me anyway. haha. Any help for this confused fella would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome to the Zukiworld!

I think what I'd suggest is to start small, see what you like and don't like, and then mod from there. There are small 2" lifts either with coil spacers or springs that would allow a 30 inch A/T to be ran. This would probably get you just about anywhere you want to go, at first.

The handling on road won't suffer with small mods like that.

Good luck and I look forward to wheeling pictures! hint hint..

-Eric

Welcome from a fellow BC'er. I would suggest the following course of action:

1) Join BC Suzuki Club on facebook. There are tons of really helpful LOCAL guys that can show you the ropes and probably teach you some basic mechanical skills as you check your new vehicle over. There is also a guy named Shane Rathjen in Kamloops that sells a nice, complete spacer lift for $400. I'm not sure if it is designed for the 1st gen TrackKicks but you can look him up yourself and determine that.

2) No, you don't NEED a lift, but you will probably wish you had the extra clearance as soon as you hit any real trail. Even a 1.5" spacer lift and some 29" tires makes a huge difference in your ground clearance (and confidence)

3) Unfortunately a lift and bigger tires will affect your center of gravity by raising it up, but every single person you talk to will tell you that IT IS WORTH IT! You probably won't even notice the handling change, but you will notice your truck is way more capable off the pavement!

4) The other downside to running larger tires is that your gearing will suffer (lack of torque). With tires around 29" it is acceptable, but with 31's it's a slouch, and rock-crawling will be hard on your clutch and brakes. You can re-gear the axles to compensate for that, or get a set of crawler gears for the transfer case. But if you just want to go exploring all this talk of massive tires is overkill.

5) As far as your vehicle goes, just make sure all systems are good to go (reliable) before you head off into the backcountry. Check your coolant hoses for bulges or soft spots, that means they're ready to blow. Check your belts for cracks or chunks missing. Check your brake lines for the same. Check your brake piping (the rigid, steel lines along the framerail) for excessive, bubbly rust, meaning they might burst in a panic stop. Will the e-brake hold you to the side of a mountain if you stall and need to get started again? Adjust it til it will! Did you ask the previous owner when the timing belt and water pump was changed last? That is a small, but major component of the engine that will leave you stranded if not addressed in its proper timeframe. Another good idea if you're planning on keeping the rig for a long time is to change all the fluids, or at least in this order: axles, tranny, transfer case, steering, brakes. Then at least you know what you've got in there is fresh and clean, and you can take note of any abnormalities as you drain the old fluids as well. If the oil looks metallic or silvery, that's bad. You said you ordered spark plugs and wires, but what about the distributor cap and rotor? A new air filter wouldn't hurt either.

6) As far as modifications go, it sounds like you aren't initially planning on getting too carried away off road, but it is addicting so just be aware of that. I started small with my Sidekick, just a 1.5" spacer lift and 235/75/15 tires and it got me into lots of places. Later I added a body lift, 31's, a rear diff lock, and t-case gears and it was a beast off road. Just remember, the more extreme you go, the higher your dollars-per-km goes as well...there's no shame in parking somewhere and just stretching your legs and walking a bit.
It might not be a bad idea to put on an aftermarket front bumper to protect from animal strikes during your travels...it's alot less of a hassle than dealing with ICBC!


On 29's:


On 31's, locked and geared up:

There’s a few truths in building up off road toys. 

1 the bigger the tires, the more strain on the drive system (snap pop)
2 disregard for bodywork and throttle will get you a lot more places than fancy mechanical things
3 good driving can overcome a lot of obstacles. 
4 a stock sidekick like you have is a very capable off road vehicle that will be excellent for adventure and reliable too.  If you’re go wheeling to “go wheeling” then you may find you want more gizmos and capabilities, but for adventure, run it like it is. 
For us, we don’t really go wheeling.  But we do find ourselves in strange situations, many times alone.  So for us a smart way to adventure is to stay in 2wd.  Go ahead and get stuck, then use 4x to get out.  So, not very “extreme” but fun and a lot more off roady than a Subaru wagon or even a full size 4x4.  Just have fun and see what you need. 
5 lockers are a great way to flip your vehicle.

Ps, the best way to ensure reliability in any vehicle is to use your eyes and ears.   Daily drive it, become accustomed to what it feels like, and frequently look under hood, under body, check for anything that seems wrong like loose bolts and cracked hoses.  Aside from that read the maintenance manual!  I believe the engine you have is a timing belt engine and it’s recommended to change at around 60,000.  So, if the previous owner never did it, then it’s a pressing situation.  Aside from that they are super durable and don’t take a lot of care.  Btw, I did my timing belt in the driveway in about 4 hours the last 1.5 or so was in the dark.  It wasn’t too bad. 

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses! I have a lot to work with there. I think what I'll do for now is just work on the reliability, dialing in all the mechanics so as not to get stranded, take it around stock, and go from there. Seems like a good first step. Thanks again and if anyone else has any thoughts I'm all ears. Cheers!

IMO, a locker will get you in and out of more places than a lift and bigger tires. If you can't get the power to the ground, then ground clearance and big tires don't do you any good.
What some people don't like about the automatic lockers (Lock-Rights, Spartans) is that they can cause quirky handling characteristics on the highway and may increase tire wear. You can get an ARB air locker, which you can manually control when it locks and unlocks, but they are expensive, compared to an automatic locker. I would not recommend any type of locker in the front axle, because of the aluminum housing. Just a rear locker will impress you on where you will be able to go, compared to no locker at all (at least it did me, when I put my first locker in my first sidekick years ago).

As was said, you can get lower transfer case gears that will lessen the strain on the clutch and engine, when in low range. So if you plan on offroading in places where you really need low range, the lower transfer case gears will help. The aftermarket transfer case gears have a low range ratio of 4.24, compared to the stock low range of 1.82 (so a little more than 2 times lower/slower).

28-29" tires should clear everything without any lift and will give you a little more ground clearance over stock sized tires without turning the vehicle into a total dog. If you use aftermarket wheels, watch your backspacing. If you get ones with too little backspacing, it will cause the tires to stick out farther and rub the top of the rear fenders when the suspension compresses.

As far as making sure the engine is running optimally...new NGK plugs (properly gapped), new plug wires, valves adjusted, engine timing set to spec, clean air filter are all necessities, IMO.