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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: ToyYoda on December 17, 2007, 03:59:25 PM

Title: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: ToyYoda on December 17, 2007, 03:59:25 PM
Seen a guys rig (Sidekick) pic. from the UK that extened his a-arms longer & axles. Has anyone done this & what was the gain? Im getting ready to do this for more travel but thought I should ask here as Zukiworld has a few "customizers"
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: olija on December 17, 2007, 10:47:49 PM
Generally, the longer the arm, the more travel you get. Look at desert racing trucks, the A-arms pivot right in the middle of the vehicle and they have gobs of travel. Most of them are 2WD though so they don't have CV angles to deal with.
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: sidekicksrock on December 18, 2007, 07:10:00 AM
The guy is from La serena , Chile He posted that picture in another thread on this board http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=19881.0. He has promised to post some more pictures and info about the design. He also said that he basically used the Calmini design to extend the stock arms. This would indicate that he used a flat plate on the bottom and vertical bars on each side for reinforcement.
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: ToyYoda on December 18, 2007, 08:10:11 AM
Being as the veh. does not have a spindle I don't see how it can maintain correct camber let alone keep the struts from binding as it allows more travel. Would love to see some "up close" pic's of a "working system for cheap. (added flat plate onto lower a arms) ???
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: lil_Truck on December 18, 2007, 08:38:33 AM
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=12928.msg120394#msg120394

Here's a link to what he did.

Eric
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: Zukipilot on December 18, 2007, 09:53:23 AM
Check out the 'Rockstar' threads and articles. Mike did this on his Tracker and it is VERY strong (to hold up to his abuse, it has to be)

Also search for 'Orange Rig', I think the original build of the front end was posted under a thread with that in the title.

Zig
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: Rhinoman on December 18, 2007, 10:25:38 AM
I don't think Chilekick's intention was to gain more travel - the limiting factor is still the strut. What it does is make the track wider which gives more stability.
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: lil_Truck on December 18, 2007, 10:33:49 AM
Mike used his 3" Calimini lower control arm for his upper and built a new lower.  That got rid of the strut.

Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: ToyYoda on December 18, 2007, 01:02:07 PM
WOW. This is all very interesting. I think I'll take a stab at it. I liked some of what people have come up with & feell it's time for a desert truck fabricator to "kick down" some ideas to help out. They mod. IFS front ends that take a beating. I know a few of them & I.ll see what they say. Integrity,travel, lift, stance, & lowest poss. cost is what I will request. Building custom arms & coil over shocks will be big $"s.  So a pre-made 1/2" thick plate relocating the ball joint out of the stock arms is a start. &  a uni-ball or heim at the top of the strut is a guess but lets see.I'll post what I find out.
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: lil_Truck on December 18, 2007, 01:39:23 PM
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_050106/feature_hagen-newfrontend.htm

Here's a link to Mikes front end build
Title: Re: Sidekick longer A-arms, long travel?
Post by: ToyYoda on December 18, 2007, 05:15:14 PM
Unbelivable! That took some time, and looks very nice. Mike has taken the Sidekick front end to a new level. Im still going to try a less $ & time setup. Something between stock & Mikes.  Thanx for the link!