You will probably be ok without a strut tower brace.  But it doesn't hurt to put one on.  Plus it gives you something to do.  

And I will always be looking for those little improvements at a time-waster.  But there's no such thing as wasting time if you're improving something...

Are those skid plate bolts the way they're designed by Calmini?  They look like they would get hung up very easily.

Yeah I wondered about that.  The bolts in the rear of the transmission skidplate are hidden in a recess in the plate, I wonder why they didn't design the rest of them that way.  I DID "layer" the skidplates so the front plate(s) overlap the plate behind it, and that plate overlaps the one behind it, etc...that way moving forward, if I were to slide over something, it would not catch the lip of the plate, it would slide over easily.  I agree, the skidplates are very practical, but the bolt location probabyl could have been designed better.  For "simple-minded" people like me, it's a real simple bolt-on plate system, though.  If I was more welder-savvy, I coulda done it better, but I'm not one to talk!

Got my tow bar all mounted up on Friday.  We decided to put on a whole crossbar in the front, and then mount the tow bar to that.  We also needed the tow bar brackets pushed forward a bit to clear the bottom of the aftermarket bumper, so we went with 2" square stock.  Welded it to the frame, and added a gusset at the bottom of the frame rails, too, I figured, to help tie everything in even more.  Also welded the spud in the frame for the Trail Tough front bumper.  The tow bar clears everything just right. 




Also, welded 2 large chain links to the bottom of the hitch on the back of the Trail Tough tube bumper to be legal for towing a small trailer, it needed safety chain loops.  Welded them on, and painted that area and everything on the front. 

Looks good, tows good.  I just need to quit fooling with this kinda stuff and USE the Tracker for once!!!

REPLACED front CV axles.  NAPA lifetime warranty.  Even if the boot tears, I will never have to pay for a replacement axle.  Not too bad when you have a friend at NAPA that discounts your stuff anyways .  I replaced since I had 1 torn boot, one that was starting to tear, and the other two were just as old...and the axles were priced right and warrantied and it was better to replace both axles than try to install a new boot, since I would have it off anyways, and didn't like the "cheap" fix of the clamp-on boot.  Although the ziploc bag and 2 zip ties made a nice boot two weeks ago when I drove it all weekend on trails for hunting...
And...they were fairly easy.  Driver's side especially...I took someone's suggestion and didn't have to remove the spindle.  Pass. side I had to since I still have regular axles.  The widening mod / Anvil housing will definitely make axle replacement much better

Drove it for the first time up the "four lane" a pretty damn good climb in CA going up highway 168 to the mountains.  It's one of the steepest I'm familiar with statewide.  Went up 4th gear pedal down, chugging along 50-55mph...I accidentally took my foot off so I had to downshift to 3rd once by mistake but it held up at 55 in 4th just fine.  Also, was concerned about going downhill after the trip...didn;t want to gain too much speed...but even in 4th it wasn't fast enough so I went to 5th and even then it wouldn't coast, if I took my foot off it would lose speed so I literally had to drive it down (vs. coasting) the whole way!  Weird.  All other cars I've been in I had to coast down in a lower gear

Got my 30" tires mounted, it's still at the alignment shop.  I wanted to use regular bolts and slot the holes, since a camber bolt is smaller and therefore weaker but they wanted to try them, then they said "holy sh*t our camber bolts DO look weak" heh so they're slotting the holes after all and I asked them to tack-weld the washers to the struts so they won't move, but still removable in the future for alignments.  LOOKS 100X better with JUST the SPARE mounted, instead of the stock 205 on a silver rim.  I found a fifth matching black rim, so I was able to use my existing 4 from the previous owner, looks like they're Pro Comp black rock crawler steel, 15x7, 3.75" BS.  I will be posting soon that I have (4) new condition all-terrains for sale, P235/75R15, they still have the rubber nubs on them, I put roughly 1,000 miles on them and have a record from PO of when she installed them last year

This post is pretty much dead now but here's where I'm sitting now:
got my Tracker back from the tire shop on Friday the 2nd.  Had 5 tires mounted and balanced, on the one new rim (which was an exact match to my set of four---Pro Comp black steel), and a proper alignment.  I wanted to slot the strut holes, they wanted to use camber bolts...I told them the camber bolt is technically smaller and thus weaker they said no, so I told them to do what wasbest...two days later they called me and told me that I was right, the camber bolts looked WAY too weak, they didn't want the liability of one breaking!  So they slotted the holes, top and bottom, of the strut, and I had them also tack-weld them in place, so they're not going anywhere.  It looks great, especially getting rid of the stock spare makes it look 10x better!

Mind you, this is still 3.75" BS.  No rubbing so far, but I haven't pushed it to its limits yet.  It's just been a hunting trail rig lately. 
It snowed like hell on us that weekend, but it drove just fine all the way home Sunday.


And with the new tires (30x9.50R15) and stock gears, 5.125:1, thiis how I was running at 55 and 65



Next, I finally fine-tuned my skidplate fix with a longer, more appropriate u-bolt.  Here's what I did to keep it from getting snagged and pulled down again:


This post is pretty much dead.  No news for awhile until after I do some other little things.  I also found one wreckingyard in town that had an 89 tintop sidekick with the front doors and rear hatch door...for my half-door project...still intact. 
OH ONE QUESTION FOR SOMEONE WHO MIGHT KNOW will a 4dr rear hatch door fit a 2dr tintop rear?  They look the same, measure up the same, but I'm not sure.  It's a 97 4dr sidekick sport (and it still has the 1.8L engine in it!) and mine's a 90 2dr, they look the same but I'm not sure.  I know the front doors are different, I'm just concerned with the rear hatch door.  Hope someone knows

I have just joined this site as I have purchased a 94 sidekick Hardtop and am one to gather as much info on a new toy as quick as possible. I must say you have made my life much easier. 98% of what you have done is pretty much my plans. With that said thanks for making my build a lot easier...

I have just joined this site as I have purchased a 94 sidekick Hardtop and am one to gather as much info on a new toy as quick as possible. I must say you have made my life much easier. 98% of what you have done is pretty much my plans. With that said thanks for making my build a lot easier...

Yes, I joined here shortly after I bought mine, and got a lot of help with it immediately, and a lot of suggestions.  Glad I can pass it on to the next person who's "starting out."  It all ended up really good and I'm satisfied with it for the most part, and drive it almost daily with no problems, it's a relatively rough ride but still comfortable

THIS IS NOT FAIR!!!! Your making me miss my old Kick  :'( Nice job on the tin top.... 

Zig

Thanks.  The next step is to find a 91+ t-case and install the 4:1.  Then, a locker in the rear...it will depend on a few things.  Supposedly KAM will have a rear setup for the Tracker/Sidekick trucks near the end of this year, so I'll wait and see.  Main thing is to do the transfer case.
I used the Tracker to pull out two trucks stuck in the lake on Wednesday and up until then, my transmission has been acting "questionable"...I think pulling out the F250 did it in, because the clutch seems to be slipping like crazy right now.  I'll see how far I can get on it...if I have to replace it I will plan on doing the transfer case very soon at the same time while I have the old one out.
updates in the future...

  Great looking ride!

Thought I would update this...
I've tinted the windows 5% on the three rears, front brow, and 35% on the front sides (don't want to draw TOO much attention from local law enforcement)    I feel like I can pick my nose in privacy now    but seriously, whenever I actually DO have the windows rolled up, it seems like it's much nicer inside.  Not so much glare compared to the clear windows before.  A/C is nice too  
Added some small doo-dads including a flashlight bracket above the driver's side door opening that bolted to the nuts welded in the roof where a grab handle was supposed to go.  I'm 6'1" tall and have learned to duck my head a little extra with those flashlights in the way.  With them mounted, it's that much less stuff rolling around inside the car.  Dash-mat, AVS window visors, hood visor, I have some ricer-taillights coming soon (they may look cheesy but I got the black ones since I'm chromophobic and the black matches all my bumpers and fender flares better).  Replaced some rear seat hardware from Hawk Suzuki so now my rear seats fold forward and STAY forward.
I think I'm going to make some one-off pedals out of a thick piece of aluminum diamond plate I have sitting around, and bolt them to the original pedals.  Seems like the OE pedals are a bit too small for my size 12 boots.  When it's raining my feet slip off  

Since I burnt my clutch in early June, the car has been sitting.  Once again, I've spent my entire summer NOT driving it!  Ironic.


What's happening (one SLOW step at a time):

new clutch KIT (not just the disc, but full kit, bearings and all).  I took the advice on here and up-sized to the 16v clutch, it's slightly larger, not much, but still it offers more grabbing surface area.
resurfaced flywheel
rear main bearing seal
re-seal oil pan
distributor o-rings (I will add RTV to the housing o-ring to really seal the hell outta it)
new valve cover gasket (since I pulled the valve cover)

replaced various missing bolts on the engine.  Long story, whoever installed the exhaust on this did a crappy job on a lot of things...including leaving two bolts out of the driver's side engine mount, and two more bolts missing on the header flange, when they installed the Thorley header.  These are things that a monkey would have noticed when installing a header.  They also welded part of the catalytic converter's heat shield directly to something that bolted to the transmission, so it had no "give" and the weld broke and rattled.  I was upset, but relieved when I found it was a crappy piece of metal rattling and not my CAT that I thought I was going to have to replace for the past month of driving.  The heat shield itself was ugly, too, it has 10 screws holding it on to the cat, and a bunch of boogerwelds...why you would need screws AND welds baffles me...
Also, instead of using a lock-washer or fiber lock-nut on something on the exhaust, this guy double-nutted it and welded the nuts to the bolt.  So I had to cut this particular piece off because it was a welded mess that wouldn't give.  
The guy then had the nerve to spraypaint his shop's name on the muffler.  If I did work like that on a customer's car, I wouldn't want to advertise MY name.  What a crock.

replaced the hard plastic front fender linings with a soft rubber liner.  It's got nylon webbing reinforcement similar to a truck mudflap.  VERY strong.  I was going to initially use vinyl construction base but it felt too weak and soft and I know it I was going fast enough and a rock was in my tire, if it flew out of the tread and hit that, it would probably shoot right through it, it's so soft.  This stuff is pretty damn durable.  It's called "PVC-90" if anyone is interested.  Hoping it will be quieter if a rock flies out of the tire.  And the old plastic ones were cracked and had broken at the bottom near the rear of the front fender, letting lots of debris in.  These new ones I made seal everything up tight now.  At the same time, incorporating mudflaps and flexy fender flares for both front and rear fenders (I will post pics of this later as it's still a WIP, almost got the fronts done, rears will be easier since I am not adding a fender liner).  Rear fender flares will extend past the rear quarter panel and drop down an additional 8" or so, supported by the mudflap and a small support I'll fab later.

new horn (triple-bell horn, who knows what it came off of, but when I had it on my truck before, it sure got people outta my way!).  It's going to be mounted under the driver's seat area, between the rocker bar and frame.  Will post pics of this too

fresh rebuilt transfer case with 4.24:1 gearset, courtesy of Trail Tough, and a twin stick shifter from Rock4x.  This is the biggest thing I am looking forward to.  Twin stick will give me 2LO and a true neutral for flat tows.  4:1 will be simply amazing for crawling along the trails this hunting season.

bumpin' stereo.  The Xplod deck and 5-1/4" rear speakers that came with the car are good, I upgraded the front 4" to Xplod 4" last year, it all sounds great, I can hear it on the freeway with the windows down at 70mph, but it completely lacks bass...so I stuck with the Xplod name brand and got a slimline amp (XM-1S), and a slimline 10" subwoofer in a box already set up (XS-LB10S) and will set it behind my rear seats, keeping it covered up with a blanket or something so it's not visible from the outside.  Probably hide the amp inside the rear quarters and mount it on some rubber blocks to isolate vibrations.

It will sound better inside, the fender stuff and mudflaps will keep it cleaner, the engine stuff will eliminate leaks (I hope), the clutch will improve drivability, and the gearing will take it anywhere I want it to.  

If I have time, I will round up the parts for my front sway bar disconnects.  I've already got them planned out, but just have to gather parts.  Might take a whole day of calling around and driving to pick up parts.  But, it'll be worth it to have them.

After hunting season it will get some black paint below the windows to cover up the flaking white, and an urban-camo theme overlay on the bottom half (like two-tone) to cover up where some previous owner stripped the old plastic strips off.  Those two things alone will make it look 10x better by covering the worst areas of paint on the car.


Then I will see about a rear locker.  I would love to go with the KAM kit but I don't know how much longer I shall have to wait to see it for sale...

IT RUNS!!!
...I must be doing SOMEthing right 
Filled my gearboxes with gear oil and changed the oil filter and put oil in the engine...no problems, started right up after sitting since June...not bad at all.  Drove it around and it is like a completely new car.  The clutch was acting up since I bought it.  I've gone from a burnt-up 7-7/8" clutch to a 8.5" new clutch kit and resurfaced flywheel, so yes, it did make a huge difference.  Now when I give it gas it actually GOES when I want it to instead of revving up and slipping.  Shifting up and down are both easier. 
I had screwed something up in the tranny shifter mechanism but I got it figured out after a few tries and taking it apart to look at it.  I had that little bushing upside down that the shifter ball slips down into.
I made my own redneck engineering piece of rubber to cover up the hole in the floor where the old transfer case shifter went...until I get the right boot in the truck.
The low gear is ridiculously low.  Almost too low (if there is such a thing).  Running 2nd gear in low range seems to be a good pace for "road hunting".
Twin stick is awesome.  Scott at Rock4x must have designed those just right, because when you put it in low gear, that shifter barely touches the plastic of the tranny hump console.  Talk about a tight fit!  And when in high gear it barely misses my trans shifter handle in reverse.

Here's a thought: someone mentioned to me that since the t-case has new gears, I should replace the fluid after 500-1,000 miles.  Kind of like breaking in an engine.  There's new gears meshing against each other and will have some initial wear patterns.  I thought it was a good idea but then I thought why hasn't anyone else running these gears mentioned anything about that?  And even the gear company, Trail Tough, never mentioned it.  I may just do it but wondering why it's not something anyone would have mentioned before.
Your thoughts?

Sure can't hurt anything. But your wallet.

Eh, gear oil is cheap.  15 bucks for another gallon is reasonable when asking for peace of mind.
Gettin geared up to go hunting/camping this weekend.  I was driving it on the freeway ranging from 65 to 70 mph today for about 15 minutes, and all is well so I'm happy.
I'm doing schoolwork right now (well, once I'm done with this post), and going to try to get my rear fender flares done tonight so I can keep the dirt off it, and post pics when that project is done.  And try to put my skidplates back up since there's no leaks presenting themselves anywhere.
Picked up a Dana 300 twin stick boot today, it looks like it will work great on my interior.  I'll post pics of this too when finished.

Hey this is Mike the guy that got your old skid plates about a year ago. I am looking at picking up a 90 tintop also but i think its 2 wheel drive but i can take all my 4x4 stuff off mine. If i get it i will bug you for some info on fixing it up.

hey good to hear from you mike, wondering when I was gonna see you on here.

I have been on here for awhile but dont post much