I'm interested in jumping.  I've seen a few of Mikes crazy shots. 

How do I dial in the weight and suspension?

I'm removing the rear seat and spare, but I know on a Samurai you need to add 100# to the rear for it to fly level at speed...

Should I remove the tail gate too?   I know it is semistructural...

I'm also trussing the Strut tower, reinforcing the pitman arm, replacing rear shocks, and dropping back in tire size from my 34's to 32 at's or 31" swampers.  Might even remove the body lift for a while

I have seen some videos on youtube with 2dr Kicks and it seems they fly well and will land on all 4 wheels if the launch was good... I say try it and find out... Oh... and let us know how it goes. Hehehe...
Kelly

You should look up rockstar 2.0  http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=19368.0

Depending on how serius you want.

On the occasions i've attempted orbit in my 2dr kick it seems to drop nose heavy. Jumping nose high (kicker style) lands the pretty flat. Sand dunes seem to be pretty good for discovering ones limmits.

I think I would move the battery to the rear and remount the spare into the bed so the tail gate is less stressed.
Steel diff housing. Stiff sway bars anda roll cage. A good harness arm straps maybe.
Beefier brakes if you land pointed twards something solid.

You could have your steering links bored using a taperd drill bit and a bench drill and ireplace your tie rods with beefeir units. You could replace rubber mounts, engine body, suspension, with polly eurothane or brass.  Just a couple thoughts.                                NMc

So you planning on flying the 4 door or the 2 door?  . I have jumped with mike in the original Orange Rig, the Rockstar, the Porn Star and the Rockstar 2.0, the biggest thing is how you hit the jump. He jumps them like you would jump a 4 wheeler....Get to the needed speed, hold it and just before launch...nail it. Front end heading towards the sky and a fairly smooth landing (MOST) every time.

The Rock Stars seem smoother, probably because of the much lighter weight and the motors being moved back to balance out the weight.

HTH, Take lots of Air pics,

Zig

Definitely take out the body lift and reinforce the frame mounts for the body. They bend right away.

Good Luck, Eric

yep have to agree on the body lift. I have been occasionally catching small air out in the desert here in socal and Eric was kind enough to point out that both my front body mounts are caved downward atleast hlf inch to 1 inch..  plates on the side would go a long way.

You could always try a surplus JATO rocket pack,  like that Darwin Award winner!  Slowing down and landing may be a bit of a problem.

RedBull in the tank!!!

Thanks for the comments, I didn't think of bending body mounts.  That makes sence with the extra little rubber bushing contact points no longer their. 

I also didn't consider reinstalling the sway bar, But I believe I will do that to.   

Anysuggestons on weight / shocks / front skid ~ landing plate.  I am thinking of keeping the Shrockworks bumper, it is an extra 100# but it will take a hit and deflect big heavy objects well.   

I'm slowly working on the steel front diff mod, but my local supply stock of front gear sets has temporarpy dried up.  Looks like I may have to down a running sammy for my gears. 



Pictures will come, not sure how exciting they will be.  I'm looking at flying the 2dr in competition May 9th in the URE 4xCross event.  Americanwheeler.com  I am # 107 and #122.  It is a 2-3 mile course / fastest time wins.  I am familure with the course, I've run it 2x per year for the last 10 years but it is not local to me (4.5 hrs one way)


I should be the lightest rig their unless I run a Sammy but engine swaps are not allowed in stock class, so I should have him covered ~ If I can keep it ou tof the trees. 

Ever tought of REALLY big tires and A LOT of helium gas?

  I am thinking of keeping the Shrockworks bumper, it is an extra 100# but it will take a hit and deflect big heavy objects well.   

It's all going to be about balance and the more weight you have on the front the more likely you are to land nose down then you're going to hit the bumper on landing and say "Gee, just as well I had it on there cause it took the hit good" whereas if you didn't have it you probably wouldn't have landed on the front anyway if you get my drift. If jumping is going to be your thing then get all the weight you can out of the front instead of worrying about the weight in rear that you are removing which is only going to make the front more nose heavy in relation to the rear.

It's kinda like the guys that build a big heavy cage around the rig and when they falll over say that it saved them but in reality they added a whole lot of weight up high increasing the CoG making it more unstable and likely to tip over while the guy without all that weight up high drove the same line with no issue.

Chicken and the egg but true enough. I would move to a tube bumper with the tall and long forward hoop. helps prevent sticking it and flipping forward.
Beefy shocks are good. Does anybody know if the cast lower control arms in Sidekick Sports are stronger or more impact resistant than the welded steel arms an early year kicks?

I don't know where the thresh hold lies between tire size and breakage. But the larger tires you can fit the more suiqsh and the wider platform for landing, but increase in size also amplifies loads on bearings and knukles.         I so want to see vids                                       NMc

I'm having troubles finding an in car camera and too late to place an order now.  Unfortunatly it looks like I'll be dependandt on the race producers footage.

I still may try to go for an in car cam but it will be rigged at best.

Check out a motorcycle shop. There are some cool little lipstick cams that take an SD card and are weatherproof that they mount on helmets, bars etc.