Hello fellow enthusiasts.   

I've had my 4-door,4x4, 5 speed 97 geo tracker now, and WOW, more fun then anything i've driven.  I've had plenty of "fringe" cars, and i have to say, the COMMUNITY is what makes these cars.  Like nothing I've ever seen!


I'm in the middle making my little weenie "economy" car,  into a road/terrain trucker.     I've got a good set of 235/75/r15 (which from what i gathered SHOULD fit...)    and I've welded a custom safari rack, a light bar, and a modified blazer bush bar.  and, i gotta say, its coming together.


Anyway,  My question:    I want to lift it.     Minimal, maybe 2" at most. Truthfully, more for looks then performance, as this is a 6 day city, 1 day trail car. The main thing is, it has to be done properly.   Are coil spacers a viable option? or are they the cheap sort of knock off way to do it?   Whats the best way to get this car sitting a little higher? Is there a way to lift without having to modify breaks, fuel lines, steering and shifting?

I'm sure this has been all asked hundreds of times,  I'm just having a rough time getting it all together for my certain tracker.  if there is a good discussion with this, just link it to me!

Cheers,  and thanks!

-Andrew

coil spacers are a pretty good option for a daily driver, it doesnt modify any lines, or anything other then locating the struts and springs lower. (and changing out the rear shocks)

with mine its the same, it needs a lift but its a daily driver. so im going with a tried and true method of spring spacers. 235's fit fine on these trucks, you may have some rub on the frame at the rear of the front wheel wells at FULL turn each way. i know i have it, either adjust the steering stops, deal with not turning right to full turn, or take out the hammer bang the frame (theres a ridge on the frame where it hits, just hit it flat and it will get rid of some of the rub)

with the 2" lift it should help out with the rub as well. ive made the local guys with samurais look at trackers in a different way after running with them on a/t 235's while there up on 31's at least. i kept up on alot of stuff they thought they would be towing me out of.

thanks for the response Mike.

I'm picking up some offset rims at some point this week, so i am hoping that will keep them from rubbing at all, just need to make sure they fit my 4x4 hubs.

So basically the damage is,  new rear shocks? what do you mean by locating the struts and springs lower?



Thanks again

Jeff1997 has a 2" kit for about 150$  It comes with 4 coil spacers and 2 front strut spacers. Add a set of 95 mustang shocks for about 30$ a piece and you're all set. Highly recommended by many members here.     BTW  I run this kit with 30x9.5 BFGs on 15x8" rims/3.75 BS.  I can't find his E-bay page but you can PM him through Z-world.  HTH

Awesome...That sounds really good!  thanks for the info, I'll pm him now.  any chance on that ebay page anyone?

Hey, would rear shocks from a 98 crown vic work as well?    Mustang ones are twice the price.

Jeff1997 has a 2" kit for about 150$  It comes with 4 coil spacers and 2 front strut spacers. Add a set of 95 mustang shocks for about 30$ a piece and you're all set. Highly recommended by many members here.    BTW  I run this kit with 30x9.5 BFGs on 15x8" rims/3.75 BS.  I can't find his E-bay page but you can PM him through Z-world.  HTH

Sky of Sky's Offroad Design also has coil spacer packages for your Sidekick and he's a site sponsor.

strut spacers - http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=72
coil spacers - http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=161

Suzuki stuff - http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/products.php?category=suzuki&sub_category=all&page=1

Good luck,  -Eric

Thanks Eric.

So the total jist of it is,     

-1.5 coil spacers in front,  2 in back.   
-95 mustang/98 crown vic rear shocks.
-2 front strut spacers.
-CAMBER bolts and nuts??

Thanks everyone on here, once again.   the science of lifting is becoming clearer.  or muddier.

Hey Eric, didn't mean to undercut a sponsor : )  I guess everyone needs the business right now. Andrew,  I've read that the crown vic shocks will work but not sure, I think the sleeve for the lower bolt needs to be pressed out and replaced with the one from the stock shock. On my mustang ones i had to modify the rubber bushings at the top.   

I used crown vic shocks on my trucks.  Need to cut the steel bushing sleeves out of the bottom of the stock shocks and insert into the crown vic lower bushings.  For a tighter fit I bought some aftermarket poly bushings to replace the rubber stock bushings.  They snugged the lower mount up very well.

In place of spacers, is it possible to just use longer springs?   or would that make the ride too bouncy.

De-rail my own topic here...dont want to start a new topic just for this.


I'm heading back out to the trails this weekend, and its supposed to be wet.  

Someone want to give the newbie run down on riding through puddles?   Snorkles a ways off yet,  what do i have to know and consider?

THANKS.

EDIT:   and by water,  i mean up to the top  of the tires at most.   

Check the depth before you go in.
Air intake is behind the drivers side headlight.  Keep it up!

In place of spacers, is it possible to just use longer springs?   or would that make the ride too bouncy.

I run a 1" spacer in the back and Grand Vitara springs up front for about 2" or so of lift in the front. The vehicle sits level and has plenty of clearance for the 235/75/R15 tires and the 1" wheel spacers. I found the ride much smoother then with a spacer up front but I did need to add a strut spacer to soften up the ride.  With just the springs the struts didn't have enough down travel and large bumps would cause the strut to top out on the freeway.  It was still a large improvement, in my opinion, then the 1.5" spacer I was running up front.

Previously I was using the Crown Vic shocks in the rear but with a rear anti-sway bar the ride was to stiff.  I switched over to Bilsteins and saw a marketable improvement.

Here in Jersey we have LOTS of water. To keep my rig running safe in water, I eventually put a snorkle on. But something you can do now that's cheap and effective is get yourself a large tube of Dielectric grease, available at any auto parts store. Then methodically proceed to apply the grease to every electrical connection you can get to under your hood. By this I mean, disconnect the plug, apply the grease to the connection, and reconnect. I do all my spark plug wires, at the plug and the cap, and EVERY wire connection I can get to. this will prevent shorts and corrosion. Good Luck!