ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Justin250 on December 21, 2011, 01:51:15 PM
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Hey all, I'm 18, a senior in highschool and now that is is really getting colder i cant keep riding my wr250 in the cold/rain...so i decided to get a samurai or sidekick (my preferable choice is sidekick just since it looks nicer and plus I go crawling with my yota or my brothers jeep so my use would be more of a baja look on the sidekick and no straight axle dual transfer setup stuff) but i am a newbie and need your guys' help please
First off, where do all you guys search for your sidekicks/samurais? I have been looking on craigslist but no one has good sidekicks or samurai
I would want a 5spd 2 door sidekick for no more than $2700...as long as it runs at least....and no carburetor old confusing stuff as i am not that good with engines...
Do these sidekicks drive better than the samurai in terms of mpg and speed?
What does it mean if it is a jx or jlx sidekick and what does the IFS mean!?
If it is 16valve or 8valve what does this mean and what are the engines in terms of years for sidekicks/samurais? (EX: 80-92 samurai = 1.3l (i dont know but you guys get the setup)
I would want to put a nice exhaust/header setup but when i searched up the forums i get confused so quickly as you choose sizes and ugh!!!
help please, which setup is nice and what is a bigger tubing used more for? I want to get something close to my brothers jeep setup that has headers and is straight piped with a magnaflow exhaust...it drives and sounds really nice
What tire size is best to put on the sidekick anyways? i was aiming for nothing bigger than 31 as i dont want it to interfere with the gears or speed when i am driving and have to change the gears and then find that it says i am going 50 when i am going only 20mph...i know i would have to shave a lot on the fenders but how much exactly? and is 31x13.50 too much of a tire to put on it? is it better just 31x12.50?
Which car would you guys choose in terms of speed, mileage, reliability, and engines?
This would be my first suzuki and i want to be sure i know a bit about the cars when i buy one...
Help me out guys please and i am looking forward to posting pics of the car when i find a good one and showing the build process
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in terms of mileage, reliability, speed and engines go with a sidekick. to be straight on with 31s on a sidekick you may want to find some 5.62 axle gears but the more common 5.12 will be fine.
With the 16v versus the 8v find one that has the 16v mpfi motor as its the bigger of the two and has more power for what you might be doing and the 8v are gutless compaired to the 16v unless they have LOTS of upgrades.
When you get one I would definately recommend getting headers for the 16v, 2" sized exhaust piping, running seafoam through your gas tank(AWESOME fuel system cleaner). You can easily find cheap small lifts for these on ebay when you are ready to lift it.
As far as finding one you should try and find local 4x4 forums to ask others if anyone has seen one for sale. Here in utah we use ksl.com classifides to find ours and also rme4x4.com. Another great forum for you to check out is zukikrawlers.com as there are MANY people on there from all over and its visited fairly often.
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in terms of mileage, reliability, speed and engines go with a sidekick. to be straight on with 31s on a sidekick you may want to find some 5.62 axle gears but the more common 5.12 will be fine.
If you get a 2dr 4wd with the 3spd auto, a set of 31's and 5.12's are awesome on the trails, only slightly overgeared, but that helps with the automatic's liesurely way.
you would want 31-10.5's
jLX is the sport variant, I wouldnt consider it.
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Yep, as others have said, go for a Sidekick. Much more modern. I would just drive it stock or slightly modified.
I have a 1990 2-door that I use for a winter beater. I bought it for $500 around 5 years ago. Still runs great.
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Thanks for replying
So sidekick it is although i cant find one at all its so irritating!
you're so lucky you got yours for $500 wish i could get one like that
i need manual, i cant stand the automatics and 10.5 is way too skinny man at least 12.5 and if jlx is sport then what is jx?
mpfi motor is with the 16 valve which means what (mpfi?) and 2" is the one i was aiming for although i also saw 2.75 so that was why i was wonderign what are those used for and benefits = what?
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First off, where do all you guys search for your sidekicks/samurais? I have been looking on craigslist but no one has good sidekicks or samurai
Craigslist, local off road forums, other local classifieds (both online and paper). Ebay, if you want to pay a premium price for it.
Do these sidekicks drive better than the samurai in terms of mpg and speed?
Yes, the trackers and sidekicks (trackicks) drive better than the samurais, in my opinion. The trackicks have larger, more powerful engines and will run faster than most samurais. The MPG is comparable, between trackicks and samurais. Although, usually the trackicks will get slightly better MPG (1 or 2 MPG better, in my experience).
What does it mean if it is a jx or jlx sidekick and what does the IFS mean!?
Those are trim options. JX means it is a 4x4. A JLX package adds power windows and locks and maybe a few other options. There is also a JA....which means it is a 2wd.
The Sidekick Sport that was mentioned earlier, are the ones with the 1.8L engines. They were only made from 96-98. I would not buy one, mainly because there are lots of parts on it that are specific to it and used parts can be hard to find, since they were only made for 3 years.
IFS stands for Independent Front Suspension. The trackicks have an A-arm front suspension with coil springs and struts.
If it is 16valve or 8valve what does this mean and what are the engines in terms of years for sidekicks/samurais? (EX: 80-92 samurai = 1.3l (i dont know but you guys get the setup)
8V and 16V is in reference to how many valves are in the head of the engine.
89-93 2 door trackicks had the 1.6 8V engine with EFI (electronic fuel injection). Some 2 door 89 sidekicks had a 1.3 carbed engine (but they are pretty rare to find).
94 2 door trackicks could have either the 1.6 8V engine or the 1.6 16V engine (if it was made for a NY or CA market).
Two door 95 trackicks that were 4x4 had a 1.6 16v engine. Two door 95 trackicks that were 2wd had the 1.6 8V engine.
All 96-98 2 door trackicks had the 1.6 16V engine.
91 4 door trackicks had a 1.6 8V engine.
92-98 4 door trackicks had a 1.6 16V engine, except for the Sports that were made in 96-98, they got the 1.8 16V engine (regular trackicks were also made in 96-98 too).
From 99 and up there were some other engine choices...2.0, 2.5, 2.7 etc, in addition to the 1.6 16V. But I am not familiar enough with the trackicks in those years to be able to tell you what engines were available in what years.
I would want to put a nice exhaust/header setup but when i searched up the forums i get confused so quickly as you choose sizes and ugh!!!
Most any name brand header should be ok. Most run a 2" exhaust, when running a header. Personally, I don't think a header and bigger exhaust is worth the cost. If you are just going for sound, then knock yourself out.
What tire size is best to put on the sidekick anyways? i was aiming for nothing bigger than 31 as i dont want it to interfere with the gears or speed when i am driving and have to change the gears and then find that it says i am going 50 when i am going only 20mph...i know i would have to shave a lot on the fenders but how much exactly? and is 31x13.50 too much of a tire to put on it? is it better just 31x12.50?
Bigger tires will affect performance and MPG. It will accelerate slower and the MPG will likely drop. How much depends on how big of a tire you run and what type.
Which car would you guys choose in terms of speed, mileage, reliability, and engines?
I would take a trackick with a 1.6 16V over a samurai, if you are looking for mainly one to drive on the road. If you are looking for one to off road, more than drive on the road, then the samurai is the better choice, in my opinion.
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mpfi motor is with the 16 valve which means what (mpfi?) and 2" is the one i was aiming for although i also saw 2.75 so that was why i was wonderign what are those used for and benefits = what?
MPFI stands for Multi Port Fuel Injection. Basically the MPFI has an injector for each cylinder, whereas the 8V with the TBI (Throttle Body Injection) has a single injector that feeds all the cylinders.
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thank you!
and you said any name brand header is good but which size? would i just go 2" all around header to exhaust?
i get all the rest and i am not sure yet what tires i will be getting i really liked the bfgoodrich km2 tires although sizes??? not too huge and not too skinny either is what i am aiming for...
gotta check more forums to see what other sidekicks are for sale IF ANY...hopefully i can get one before january 9th as i start school then and it will be raining already i bet
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I don't know that you have any choice when it comes to header sizes for trackicks or samurais. I think they are all made from the same size tubing, or practically so.
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where are you located justin and maybe some of us can help you locate a sidekick?
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that would be great!
i'm in El Dorado Hills CA...anything near me or even San Fransisco would be fine with me as long as i could get some kind of sidekick mainly with the following
need to be fuel injected engine 16v
2dr
5spd
4wd
cosmetically dont care as body work is no problem for me...
im searching in the auctions as well but well see what i can find....if you guys see something out there for a good deal please let me know the sooner the better...
thanks again guys
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You will find that for each inch of width you will see a significant drop in mpg when you get up into the 31"+ tires, not too mention the rather large amount of fenderwell massaging that will be required.
I am running 31-10.5"s and they are borderline too wide without dropping another grand on 5.62 R&P's. With the rather ultra lightweight of the Suzuki's the 10.5's have plenty of flotation, and I can skitter along while the heeps and other large trucks sink to the frame+.
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You will find that for each inch of width you will see a significant drop in mpg when you get up into the 31"+ tires, not too mention the rather large amount of fenderwell massaging that will be required.
I am running 31-10.5"s and they are borderline too wide without dropping another grand on 5.62 R&P's. With the rather ultra lightweight of the Suzuki's the 10.5's have plenty of flotation, and I can skitter along while the heeps and other large trucks sink to the frame+.
Which is what makes these great off road.
Find a Tracker/Sidekick and USE it before jumping on modifications. Frequently they come with larger tires. USE it and see what is more important Large Tires, or other modifications. I would put rock sliders on before larger tires, and they are needed on smaller tires.
Kickers with automatics have lower gears, so if you go to larger tires you can go up to higher differential gears by using diff. gears from a manual trans (which are easy to find). When the trails get tough the going gets slow, and without lower Transfer Case gears you have to slip your clutch a lot to go really slow, an automatic will do that for you without toasting your clutch. The biggest thing you loose with an automatic is decompression on hills.
Find something and USE IT.
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The weak compression braking with a auto trans is no issue if you upgrade your brake rotors and calipers to 4dr units. I tried the Sidekick with new stock brakes and it was downright scarey in the mtns. The 2dr brakes are not much larger than what is on my polaris ATV!
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still nothing yet...
i wont be going past 31s and nor will this be a crawler, it will be my daily driver...
i understand with the mileage so i wont be going up to 12.5 width...ill keep you all informed if i find something...
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This is a set of procomp 31-10.5's on my DD Sidekick, more than wide enough.
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g96/talonxracer/IMG_1307.jpg)
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very nice sidekick....
what does dd stand for though?
and what rims are you running those procomps on? they look very nice and not skinny at all....
so far the only sidekick i found was an automatic 96 black 2 door 16v 1.6 fuel injected everything i wanted sxcept AUTOMATIC...i wish it was manual sooo badly
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dd is short for daily driver
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wow okay i feel dumb...
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very nice sidekick....
what does dd stand for though?
and what rims are you running those procomps on? they look very nice and not skinny at all....
so far the only sidekick i found was an automatic 96 black 2 door 16v 1.6 fuel injected everything i wanted sxcept AUTOMATIC...i wish it was manual sooo badly
The wheels are ProComp 15x8, 3.75"bs steelies.
I searched high and low looking for an automatic, had to settle on a 5spd and I will just have to swap the transmissions around is all. LOL do the same
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You "need" a manual transmission or just want one? The automatics, especially the 4 speed overdrive in the 96 and up is a nice find. You would be able to put bigger tires on with a simple gear swap to the gears from a manual and have almost stock like performance.
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i saw that one before but it is automatic and i need manual...automatic has too many problems and is just IMO not as nice as manual i have drove manual all my life and have tried automatic but just do not like it i cant stand it!
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I have rebuilt many a auto trans and if proper maintenance is performed(well above factory recommendations though) and trans fluid/filter replaced regularly it will outlast a manual in about 95% of cases. There are alot of issues IMHO with the 5spd, cable clutch, weak synchros and a weak clutch pedal and a lack of available gearing(that doesnt cost an arm and a leg).
The Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Trackers are not speedshifting canyon carvers or street racers,
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i know its not a fast supercharged car but still its decent...right?
i am debating now if a tacoma would be better but idk...i love the look of some sidekicks how they are made but would i be better with a tacoma modding it than with a sidekick? would a 1.6 16v fuel injected be a nice sidekick or would that too be very slow? the thing is with tacoma you can easily put 33's on it without gearing it (another big problem with the sidekicks and odometer reading wrong with 31's) and you have so many options (long travel, supercharge, suspension, fenders, bumpers, bars)
my uncle said he used to have a sidekick back in the day and he said he went everywhere with that thing, offroad, street, and it never let him down...he had 31x11.5 tires on it...anyone know would i be able to just get 31x10.5 and get a bigger rim to make the width bigger on em? he lifted it and did some other things to it...never had a problem with it...i need to get some picures from him of it back in the day to post up...
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I have 30X9.5's on mine and it does every thing i want it to.
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You should just get a Samurai many people invest tons of time an money then sell. Check out zuwaharri bbs many nice trucks for sale an for the record carburators are way simpler than fuel injection.
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i am probably going for the sidekick but still no luck with finding one...
with 31x10.5, swapping gears? how bad is the effect when i will be running 31x10.5 as i have not found any updates on gears such as 5.625...
so far my upgrades include:
31x10.5 tires
headers
2" body lift
shocks front/rear
bumpers fr/rear
for now i will get the following and then once i get the car then i will see what else i will do to it...
what do most people who race or go for i guess speed do to the 1.6 16v engines? is a supercharge available?
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with 31x10.5, swapping gears? how bad is the effect when i will be running 31x10.5 as i have not found any updates on gears such as 5.625...
What do you mean you haven't found any updates on gears such as 5.625? You mean you can't find any? I have some for sale.....$1000, complete in thirds, ready to bolt in.
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if you need gearing help always call on skyhiranger, he has all the sets for sale and ready for you 8)