To me the sheet metal on the Sidekicks and 89-98 Trackers seems thin.  My question is what does this affect? How does it hold up in an accident comparted to a vehicle with heavier sheet metal?  I notice that the 99+ vehicles have heavier metal.

hmm, well think of it this way, Tin foil sheet getting poked with your finger, what happens? it caves in...

Suzuki going 40 mph gets T-boned by a GMC 1500 pickup, hmm with thin sheet metal, I'd say make some reinforcements on your vehicle.

Get some diamond plate and screw it onto the rocker panels and onto the lower part of your door(s). Adds some style and a little bit of protection.

I doubt the sheet metal is going to do much for you in an accident.  I think it'll depend more on the reinforcements inside the sheetmetal and the design of the vehicle.  I'm pretty sure I've read that our ('90) Trackers don't do well in head on or front corner hits because they crumple pretty deep into the passenger area.  I haven't read anything on a side hit, but again, I think it'd depend on the design/strength of the supports inside the door.

FWIW, my 1955 Chevy pickup took a T-bone hit at ~40 MPH hit from a full sized station wagon.  Fortunately, I was alone and the hit was into the passenger side.  There was about an 8 or 10 inch footwell between the door and the main floorboard that was gone after the hit (I think the frame stopped it.  The sheetmetal (pretty thick stuff as I recall) was torn open and the gas tank (behind the seats) was dented  The truck was shoved sideways about 30 feet into someone's yard where the driver's side hit a small tree.  As it came up over the curb, the rear wheel was bent almost 90 degrees.  I wasn't able to get it out of gear so the driveline stopped short when that rear wheel spun into the frame; that sent the trans & engine forward, pushing the fan through the radiator.  Long story short, it was a hell of a mess, but I walked away with just a bump on my head (no seatbelts, so I went airborne and came down facing the driver's door).  Anyway, had someone been in the passenger seat, I think they'd have been hurt pretty seriously.  So, FWIW, I guess I'm saying I still think the door reinforcement (which probably didn't exist in '55) would be the determining factor in how well a vehicle can take a hit, not the sheetmetal.

Well, I don't know, The rear of my
Kick ate a Ford T-Bird that had to be
towed away, and all I got was a bent
exhaust pipe  

Wild

I don't know that Diamond rockers would have helped much on this one.    

 What happened, a bus?

Well, I don't know, The rear of my
Kick ate a Ford T-Bird that had to be
towed away, and all I got was a bent
exhaust pipe  

Wild

Was it a newer T-Bird?
Are they unibody like everything else these days?

If so, the front end of the T-Bird may have done exactly what it was supposed to do -- crumple.  That way it can absorb the shock of hitting that solid boxed frame on your Kick with less "impact" to the driver (as long as the nose doesn't crumple into the cab area -- bad design there).

I hope you got a new free-flowing exhaust out of the deal

I don't know that Diamond rockers would have helped much on this one.    

I sure hope that thing was parked & empty when it got hit

Yeah I saw those pics that is quite scary even though that was not your car (at the time). Keith, maybe make some steel tube rocker panel guards that stick out about 2-3  from the door and about and inch or so down, that way they can also be used as half ass step boards. LOL

My wife crashed my Tracker head on into a parked Grand Marqui station wagon.  She totaled the wagon (pushed the radiator into the engine) the tracke ended up with a broken steering box, a blown tire, a bent lower controll arm, and a twisted spindle steering arm (and a busted grill and headlight of coarse).  We got her a new car on the way home from the emergency room (she broke a nail) and thats when I took posession of the tracker and started my mods.  

One thing I never understood though was that I thought these things were suposed to have weak idler arms.  She hit hard enough to shear gears out of the box and actually pull the frame out a little where it mounts but the Idler was fine.  Go figure I guess......  

Two words: ROLL CAGE





I wish calmini had a ready made roll cage for my '03 tracker.  Looks like custom is the only option for me.  See that picture of the wreck (above)?  I dont think anything you could do to safe-up your suzuki would prevent serious injury in such a case.  But the cage would be a good first step.