Upgrades, Repairs, and Rebuilds for the Suzuki Sidekick

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UPGRADES
First things first, I added a set of AVS Ventvisors to the Sidekick. Honestly, I never thought about getting a set. However, since my primary source of income comes from a company that makes them, I thought I’d give them a shot. Honestly, I’m surprised at how much I like them! You can have the window cracked and let air in, they keep rain out with the window down, and you can even leave the windows down a bit when parked and you can’t really see they’re open. They were super easy to install, too. A nice little upgrade.

The next upgrade I made was a set of new Old Man Emu Nitrocharger rear shock absorbers (e.g. the pic of me installing them above). Old Man Emu is known for offering up both durability and ride quality, and so far, I’m very impressed with the ride, which is improved. The down side is that they are not as long as the rear shocks that came with my BDS lift kit, so I may lose a bit of articulation off the pavement. However, the ride is so good, I don’t think I’ll worry too much about it.

Additionally, we purchased an ARB 50 qt. fridge for the back. These fridges allow us not to have to bring a cooler with ice. These fridges can actually make ice! This will be fantastic for camping and travel. I will be wiring up the fridge as soon as I get the Sidekick back from the shop, but more on that in a few paragraphs.

REBUILDS
Finally, I bit the bullet and am having the five-speed manual transmission rebuilt. A reputable transmission shop here in Portland is redoing the bearings, adding new synchros, putting in new seals, and throwing in a new clutch. The trans had been grinding going into second and third gears for quite some time, and it’s always had a bit of a whine at idle, in addition to some new racket it’s been making. It’s not going to be cheap, but it should be worth it and will provide a piece of mind knowing that it won’t (shouldn’t fail).