i bought my 89 sidekick for the same reason a 95tracker .
i to put on between 150 and 275 miles a day . i have had it two weeks now and with the 3 speed auto , she is pulling a sound 30mpg as long as i keep my foot out of the peddle and cruse at 55-65 on the freeway .
in the last two weeks i have went through the front end . new bearings , breaks , dive shafts , seals struts and rear shocks . did it all for the cost the shop wanted for just re doing one side of the front end
today i changed the front crankshaft oil seal as well as the cam oil seal and replaced the timing belt . took all of 3 hours , not a hard job at all
total expense for today’s work was a waping 42 bucks and three hours of my time outside enjoying the day .
you can learn to do most all the work yourself .
as to the ride JT is right these rigs are short coupled and have very much a built in heavy ride just as any jeep would . HOWEVER there are things you can do .
Check the struts and shocks first . If its bouncy you need shocks . If you hit a bump and you here a metal on metal thump with alittle bounce after ,,, eather you hit the hole to fast OR but if you were going slow shocks and struts are probably in order .
This isn’t something just for trackers and sidekicks , it goes for all vehicles..
Today we have a lot better choices then we had in the 1970 , 80’s even early 90’s . so chose wisely. In today 4x4 market there is really everything from low end standard to high in dial a ride gas assist designed for off road use as well as highway . So you can tame the ride some what but you will never get the ride like you will from a larger vehicle.
My dodge 1 ton is like riding on silk , smooth as glass but the suspension design is different and it has the weight . So before you go out and spend a lot of money , spend some time talking to folks here . Listen to what they have to say . read the links folks send you to . if you dont understand them "sometimes it is confusing " ask for clerifications
Im sure you will find that it will save you lots of money in the end.
Not everyone is mechanically inclined . Most times I find these folks just simple are overwhelmed buy what the see or think they see .
don’t do this . Look at one item at a time . Concentrate on that one item , don’t get side tracked .
What im getting at is , if your going to change the oil . don’t worry about what makes the engine run, or about all the all the wires or smog control.
Its pretty easy now days to pop the hood and go ’HOLY C@$.
So lets start with your check engine light .
First go read TJ topics . Simply click on the bottom of his post where it says
carfix.stufftoread.com.
this will take you to
Jerrys main sidekick page
Click on his topic concerning the check engine light ,
Follow his instructions .
If you get confused , come back and ask .
We will help you . don’t be intimidated and don’t let other intimidate you .
Your learning something new . Doing so is always alittle difficult at first
Need help from an "old foggie"
What size, type of tires (expensive or cheep) and PSI are you running?
Linear Mode
