Mike Hagen

Trail Tough’s new Trail Savage Gear Set

COTTAGE GROVE, MN - We're extremely excited to tell you about Trail Tough's new offering for Suzuki Sidekick, Geo Trackers, and Grand Vitara. What is exciting is not only that Brent and his fine crew in Medford have bridged the gap between the stock gear set and the 4.24:1 low gear set that may be too low for many applications. They have solved one of the fundamental issues that has plagued Suzuki enthusiasts since we started wheeling the Grand Vitara and Xl-7 or at least, began transplanting those engines and transmissions into Samurai and Sidekicks.

Big Dreams; No Money – Suzuki Sidekick Rock Crawler Build Project Editor: E. Bewley Story/Photo M. Hagen Minneapolis, MN – Building a rig for maximum performance on a budget means that it will require a lot of time and you will need to get creative with as many stock components as possible. Keeping it lightweight helps keep the stock components …

Mike Hagen’s Tips To Modify Your Sidekick. Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: Mike Hagen COTTAGE GROVE, MN. To answer the first question of “Why?”, will take a while. Our original reason for doing this modification was to be able to use the left axle shaft in the right side. This would make it far easier to swap axle shafts on the …

Rocky Road Outfitters Sidekick 2wd Low kit We install and test their new kit for the Sidekick. Editor: Eric Bewley Photo/Story: Mike Hagen COTTAGE GROVE, MN -Mike Hagen installed and tested Rocky Road Outfitter’s new 2WD low Conversion Kit for the Sidekick. Results were overwhelmingly positive. This new kit really adds another dimension to the Sidekick’s wheeling ability. After I …

Project ZR3 Building A Chevy Tracker The Way The Factory Should Have Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: M. Hagen Minneapolis, MN – Last Year I bought a 2001 Chevrolet Tracker from the classifieds right here on ZW. It was rough and I knew it, but it ran and drove, so it had to be worth $800 right? A couple hundred miles …

RPM4x4 – Community Service Minnesota’s RPM4x4 Club Wows The Crowd At A 4×4 show! Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: Mike Hagen Forest Lake MN – Church outings are about cake walks and pancake breakfasts right? Not always. The pastor at Marantha Assembly of God in Forest Lake MN drives a stock car and also rides a Harley. His different personality puts …

Over Rotation of the Rear Sidekick Axle. Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: Mike Hagen COTTAGE GROVE, MN. Every offroader dreams of having driveline angles that are straight but its not very realistic on most lifted vehicles. Thankfully, it is very possible and doable on a Sidekick. This article will give you some tips on how to accomplish this mod on the …

How To Tighten Up You Sidekick Steering. Story/Photo: Mike Hagen Editor: Eric Bewley COTTAGE GROVE, MN. As your lifted kick gets some miles on it the drag link will soon begin to rotate which causes the alignment to toe in and out. This causes wandering and tire cupping. Even if you think it drives nice the way it is, it …

OPERATION: RockStar Building A Stadium Rock Sidekick On A Club Band Budget – Finale’. Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: Mike Hagen COTTAGE GROVE, MN – We started this project with our goal was to see how far we could take a TracKick while retaining mostly stock drive train. Our secondary goal was to have it built in 7 build days. That …

Raising the Gas Tank on a Sidekick. Editor: Eric Bewley Story/Photo: Mike Hagen COTTAGE GROVE, MN. Mike Hagen is no stranger to hard core wheeling with Suzuki Vehicles. He has owned and operated, or shall we say thrashed on, several Samurai and Sidekicks over the years. His last creation, however, is a mobile work of art. It is the best …