'11 Suzuki SX4 AWD

[WagoneerSX4]

Nice SX4 you have there.

Thank you! It's been the perfect vehicle for me the last couple years. I was afraid I'd outgrow it too quickly but with the addition of my trailer I don't think that'll happen until we have kids.

Pictures please, since the upgrades!! I love the little homemade trailers! Tventuring had sucked me in, lol!!

Here's my little homemade trailer.

That things great! Mine went through a similar stage when I first started to build it.



Here's a sneak peek of where it's at now:



It's covered up because the back isn't sealed or painted yet, but EVERYthing has been upgraded on it. I'll list the details once I get the finished pictures up. I don't think it'll be for a couple weeks though, the forecast has not been working very well with me on my days off.

 

[KLT88YJ]

How did/ has your homemade RTT Rack held up? I considered going that route with mine.


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[WagoneerSX4]

How did/ has your homemade RTT Rack held up? I considered going that route with mine.

It held up fine actually. It went through some pretty serious abuse with fire roads that are potholed and washboard. It was still solid when I took it apart and used the wood to build my box. It was a little creaky when you moved around in the RTT because I just had it bolted against the lower box of the trailer. I wanted it removable but if you glued it together it would have solved that problem.

 

[KLT88YJ]

As long as it's sturdy and supports you, that's all that matters!


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[WagoneerSX4]

Yep, it did it's job in that respect. I just wanted more interior space in the trailer so that's why I built a much larger box for it. I originally used the RTT on the car but now I had a roof basket on the vehicle and want to carry a spare tire and my hi-lift up there so the RTT is going on the trailer again. I built the box in prep for the weight of the RTT so it should work perfectly.

 

[SnowedIn]

A note for those interested in such things -

Breather vents. I'm pleasantly surprised that the rear diff and transaxle breathers are in pretty decent locations. The rear is piped up a bit higher than the diff, and the front is in the engine compartment on top of the transaxle (you can see it, looking down into the engine compartment). They seem plenty high for the amount of water someone might reasonably expect to cross in one of these.

My significant other is out of town so I've been daily-driving this again... I'd forgotten how much fun it is.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Yeah the stock locations of the breathers are in better locations than most trucks. Even the airbox is routed pretty safely and as high up as possible under the hood. I've had no issues with all the water crossings I've done. But then again I don't ever do water crossings unless I'm with larger trucks that go through first and I see that the bottom is hard and there's no chance of getting stuck. As long as you're moving forward and don't switch gears while you're in the water you'll be fine. But I'm not ever going to take that chance with this car as it's my DD with a full interior with a warranty - I don't need to get stuck in water.

But in saying, I've had water up over the hood before


This past week I've been doing a bit of prep on the SX4 for the trip inbetween painting the trailer. Valvoline synthetics in everything. 5w30 in the engine, GL-4 in the tranny and GL-5 in the transfer and rear diff. This is the third time I've replaced the tranny and transfer case fluid and the 4th time I've done the rear diff and the vehicle only has 90,000km. I did it last time (I'll have to check my records to be sure) I'm pretty sure about 60,000km and all the fluids still looked brand new. So far I'm really really liking the Valvoline synthetic GL-4 in the tranny. This stuff is like butter even in below zero temps. Much smoother than the redline fluid I used before. I'll do one more oil change before the trip at the end of May.

All that's left on the car is to finish bolting my light bar up to my roof rack, rewire my CB (my coax cable didn't make it through the winter - wire cracked and got exposed to water/salt), and most importablty - entirely new brakes. I have drilled and slotted rotors, braided stainless lines, high-temp fluid and ceramic pads. So if i can get one more full day in on working on the car she'll be ready for the trip.

The trailer is pretty much road-worthy and just needs some fine touches before it's complete as well. Things are starting to come together! I'll try to get some pictures if the sun EVER decides to come out in Ontario. I hoping to get one local shake-down camping trip in before the big trip just to iron out any small things as I find them.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

My trailer is officially finished. Now all I need to do is swap out the brakes on the SX4, and finish up my roof rack with my LED bar. Then everything will be ready for the big trip!

 

[digitaldelay]

finish up my roof rack with my LED bar.

Trailer looks awesome! Do you still need the roof rack now that you have the trailer? Hey, maybe you could use a single crossbar to mount your LEDs. Then you could move it back far enough to avoid the glare you were getting.

Jason

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Trailer looks awesome! Do you still need the roof rack now that you have the trailer? Hey, maybe you could use a single crossbar to mount your LEDs. Then you could move it back far enough to avoid the glare you were getting.

Thanks! Yeah I'm still going to use it for my spare tire and hi-lift. Might even carry an extra 10L jerry can as well. Can never have enough extra gas when you only have a 40L gas tank! Mounting the LED bar right on the crossbar did cross my mind (no pun intended) but it would be tough to mount and make it look good because it's curved. I figured the times I need to be carrying my spare on the roof rack are the only times I'll be needing my light bar as well, so having it mounted right to the rack will work out perfect. It'll be mounted about 6" back from where it was before, so hopefully the glare will be cut down significantly.

 

[SnowedIn]

Primitive Racing skid plates for the win. (again)

Also, extremely happy with the FrontRunner rack up top. Hardly weighs anything, low profile, easy to bolt things to.

I have a set of Maxtrax mounting pins set up for it (should have brought them along, since we always seem to end up where we don't expect to go). Cramming the full size spare under the trunk floor lets me use the whole rack, too.

Some more pics at http://imgur.com/EBkKbI0,Xi4oIb1,WNwFrAk,g1xzGZs,wPGgdwJ,2zXDYuS,hhOockh,2SUOABM#0

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I'm the opposite. All my gear is packed away under my false floor and the spare goes up top when I need it.

I got a doozy of a dent in my front skid plate that I'm going to have to bang back out. I think it's rubbing up against something and making a racket.

Not the first time! Wish PR had a 1/4" option

 

[SnowedIn]

I'm usually going at a snail's pace if I think I might actually hit anything. No dents that way, but you get to enjoy the nails-on-chalkboard of rocks going under the skids. :smiley_drive:

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I'm usually going at a snail's pace if I think I might actually hit anything. No dents that way, but you get to enjoy the nails-on-chalkboard of rocks going under the skids. :smiley_drive:

Sometimes when you're a trail that's regularly used by jeeps with 40" tires and you slip into a rut, you can't help but make use of your skid plates. That's really the only time I've ever banged down on a rock pretty hard. Otherwise the SX4 has such a small wheelbase missing obstacles really ins't all that difficult.

How strong is that FrontRunner rack? Strong enough to carry a 60# spare tire? I'd like something a little more low-profile. I find myself just leaving my rack on all summer now as I'm using it more and more often.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I finally got around to Installing my new brakes. Drilled and slotted rotors, ceramic pads, stainless braided lines and flushed the system with new high-temp brake fluid. Night and day different compared to the OEM brakes. I LOVE this setup. Brake feel is fantastic and the bite is just so much better. I can actually get some ABS chirp out of my 28" General Grabbers when stopping now. I could never get that with the original brakes. Definitely going to feel a lot safer at highway speeds while trailering.



Also remounted my light bar off my roof basket. Glare is totally gone now just from moving it back about 6". Made the brackets out of 1/4" thick aluminum and all the hardware is stainless.