Title says it all... apologies.

I'm going to be modifying my 95 1.6L 4dr sidekick here shortly and I had some questions (even after reading thread upon threads here and other forums)

I'm looking for a general daily driver (not my primary vehicle) and also a desert masher. I live in So Cal an hour away from the dunes. I'm looking to build something thats gonna survive out in the whoops and hills as well as some mild rock adventures.

After reading the sidekick thread on pirate4x4.com, I have decided I want something around the same look.

Now, my idsetup idea is as follows:

Front: Monroe 801831 Struts
-These are 1988-1996 pontiac grand prix rear struts but with a small modification fit the sidekicks. They have 8in of travel and are only $35 on amazon with free shipping.
Paired with the OME962 front springs as seen on pirate4x4.com
I'll also probably add a new bump stop and strap it to prevent to much damage from full droop. I'll be adding camber bolts if needed.

Rear: Rocky-Road.com rear shocks
Paired with OME955 rear springs
Might also add a rear spring spacer if needed.

Tires: I'm gonna be running a 29in all terrain on 15in rims.



Now my question is should I just spend the extra coin and buy the OME front struts? They are both about the same length and have the same travel approx. so the only real difference would be the valving. I can replace the monroes 4 times for the price of one OME. I'm really trying to keep the cost down as much as possible here.

One more question...


Does anyone have the part numbers for the daystar 3/4" coil spacers and the 1.75" coild spacers for the sidekicks.
Google searching has found nothing. Thank you in advance.

Might not be what you are looking for, but I'm a huge fan of OME for Trackicks. I went with shocks, struts, coils and a 2 inch body lift to clear 30's. Ride is super plush.

No suspension on a Trackick will " handle the whoops " if your gonna drive it like a desert racer. The guys racing in the Suzuki Cup series up in the northwest have build the crap out of there Trackicks to handle that kind of use and they still have breakage and wear issues. For 29" tires an OME strut and spring combo will hold up much better than any off the shelf standard strut. BUT, for heavy use your gonna need to beef up lots more.

Like Bent said you are going to need a lot more suspension if you want to really rod on that car. My race kick has almost 13" of travel in the rear and it's not enough.(for me anyway) Regular shocks and struts are going to heat up very quiclky and fade. I am currently building a 4 door as a pre runner style rig and will post a thread soon.

bigzook, lets see some pics! i am working on a 4 door long travel as well, when i have spare time, which is almost never lol.

mine is a 98 4 door with front coill and strut spacers from lowrangeoffroad.com and 84 honda accord springs in the rear and cheep napa special toyota landcuser rear shocks. im runnig 31s because i got them cheap but if i could i would run 30s. it is one tough tracker i have jumped it nearly floped it hillclimbed it crawled on rocks everything and i love it. the lift only cost like $150. commpared to stock it is a huge difference it it so much smoother i love it. here is a picture of it. it has black wheels now it looks way better

Might not be what you are looking for, but I'm a huge fan of OME for Trackicks. I went with shocks, struts, coils and a 2 inch body lift to clear 30's. Ride is super plush.

That lift is essentially the same as the one I read on pirate4x4.com.

I've used OME stuff before and loved it, i'm just trying to budget build. The OME struts are ~$150 each. I can get the monroe struts which are the same length for $70 a pair. There was another thread on a different board where someone did this but there hasnt been any updates on the ride quality.

No suspension on a Trackick will " handle the whoops " if your gonna drive it like a desert racer. The guys racing in the Suzuki Cup series up in the northwest have build the crap out of there Trackicks to handle that kind of use and they still have breakage and wear issues. For 29" tires an OME strut and spring combo will hold up much better than any off the shelf standard strut. BUT, for heavy use your gonna need to beef up lots more.

Thats what I was worried about. My uncle has two race trucks he races down here in so cal. Not that I would be able to keep up but I would like to be a scouter of sort for him. I used to own a 88 samurai and that thing was horrible in the whoops. I now have a small child with me and I need something a little softer.

Like Bent said you are going to need a lot more suspension if you want to really rod on that car. My race kick has almost 13" of travel in the rear and it's not enough.(for me anyway) Regular shocks and struts are going to heat up very quiclky and fade. I am currently building a 4 door as a pre runner style rig and will post a thread soon.

Post pics of your long travel/pre runner setup. I was considering building my own front end setup. I just need an extra pair of arms I can work with and get dimension from. It would be easy to just scrap the front drive train all together and lock the rear making it 2wd. You wouldn't have to worry about CV angles and such but I wanna keep my 4x4.