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'PJ' 2nd Gen Vitara Build Thread

34K views 106 replies 15 participants last post by  oober 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally picked up a new wheeler. '03 Vitara to be a mild build on the cheap with lots of DIY. I hope to not let it get too ridiculous like my previous builds and will try to refrain from putting an LS in it :laughing:. I plan on keeping this one for a while.

Backstory: I traded off my S10 Blazer 'The CrAzYbLaZe' on 40's in 2011 for a '71 C10 'Ol Blue' that I then swapped in an LS, and Tons but traded that off in '15 when we had our first kiddo. I then sold the 1 ton dodge diesel that I had traded for and bought a minivan. So after having no rig and driving a minivan for about 4 years I am finally getting back into it. I think my 3.5 year old is just about ready to start going on short wheeling trips.

Requirements/Searching: I have been looking for a cheap and light yet capable offroad vehicle for a while now. I have a hard rule for not buying any more vehicles with a carburetor (too temperamental for me). Fullsizes were too big, jeeps too expensive, so all arrows seemed to point to a single vehicle – the Suzuki Vitara (Geo/Chevy Tracker and all of it’s variations).

I have always been a fan of the Four Wheeler Magazine Cheap Truck Challenge. They go for a budget of ~$2,000 and go have fun with whatever they bought. I am going to shoot for a self imposed budget of $3,000

So after many months of looking I happened upon a gem of a Suzuki Vitara/Tracker/Sidekick. 4 cyl 5 speed 4×4 165k miles and a clean title! I debated on the 4cyl vs v6 but I wanted it to be super light and need to polish up on my stick driving skills. All of the V6’s I found were autos.

Left on an adventure to go get it about 1.5 hours away in Wifey's (spotless) rig


Which I promptly got stuck about 3 miles from my final destination...


After adding about 2 hours to our journey and the guy I was to buy the Vitara from coming to pull us out with his tractor. We were on our way with the new ride.

Tally so far: $1,200 plus an extra $200 tip to the seller for coming out, breaking his truck in the process (not sure what happened, shut off and wouldn't start), and getting his truck and 4x4 tractor covered in mud. I really appreciated his help.



Stock as brought home photo for future reference


So why is it named PJ? When I brought it home the wife and I asked Sam our 3.5 year old what he wanted to name it and he said 'Pizza Johnson'. We have no idea where that came from but it stuck, so now it is officially 'PJ'.


More pics and details go here: https://www.diymetalfabrication.com/new-wheeling-rig-suzuki-vitara/
 
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#99 ·
Picked up a new to me CNC plasma cutter, cleaned it up and fixed the limit switches (this one is a pretty cool write up, I did a video about diagnosing and repairing limit switches that I put a lot of time into figuring out)





 
#100 ·
I am in love with my new tow rig. Went with the Expedition EL over a pickup for the 3rd row and extra space for stuff when making wheeling/lake trips. There is even enough room to sleep 2 in the back if I am too lazy to bring a tent. Picked this specific one with the max tow package that specs 3.73's. Makes the tow rating 9,200lbs which is almost as much as the older 3/4 ton burb's 10,000lbs and way more than the 1/2 ton Suburban's tow capacity (7,400ish or 8,300 with max tow but it was hard to find them with this option and they were ~20% more expensive than the Expedition).

It is a '15 with about 140k on the clock, which seemed to be the sweet spot for price vs life left on these rigs. This one is a creampuff that didn't do anything but haul kids to baseball with a giant aftermarket tv screen in the back. I'm fairly certain that it never towed a trailer until I got it because the first time I tried to use the trailer brakes the module started smoking (turns out to be a common failure on all F150's)

I work from home permanently now so my concerns with putting on a lot of miles and good fuel mileage are not a big deal anymore.


Cool timelapse I did on the shelter build
 
#101 ·
Did some more framing and fixed the CNC plasma so it was working consistently

Here is my no-waste test rig. Kind of cool to see the cut path all laid out.


 
#102 ·
Gertrude and I framed out the walls



 
#103 ·
Finished my first sign. The first one got hung in the laundry room since Wifey approved the CNC purchase :)





Also finished up a lot more framing and dirt work



 
#104 ·
That pretty well gets us up to date for the last 10 months or so.

2022 has been kinda rough. A bunch of family ended up getting Covid over the last couple of months. So far everybody has recovered fine except my dad who passed away from the resulting pneumonia a couple of weeks ago. He had just turned 60 and planned to retire very soon 😕. It still has me pretty shaken up.

Now that any hopes of my dad helping me finish out the shop are gone, I went ahead and found a handyman/remodeler guy that is going to come by next week to hopefully help me knock out some stuff. I have made some huge progress but am running low on motivation and time these days. The bigger lessons from my dad passing away is to always prioritize time with family/friends, stuff can wait or be hired out. Just because I 'can' do something doesn't mean I should, and don't save it all for the end because it might be too late.

PJ has been on plowing duty with the couple of pretty decent snows we have had. I usually end up doing 5-7 driveways for neighbors/friends/family just for fun. I must have done too many donuts or something (is that possible?) because now the front axle is making a new noise that I haven't identified yet and don't have the time or motivation to take apart at the moment.

I'll try to keep this more up to date. If it has been a couple of months, please bug me. Hopefully these posts are educational or at least entertaining ;)
 
#105 ·
Couple of updates.

The shop worked out great through the winter. Kept all my rigs ready to go!



Kept working on framing and details inside the shop. This is a 2" future tube I installed for future wiring possibilities or whatever comes up.


I nixed the full bathroom idea and opted to go for a half bath then turn the area where the shower was going to be into a mechanical room with its own door. I had put the compressor up on the mezzanine and realized you could faintly hear it run inside the house due to the breezeway. Also my compressor is old so it was a pain to get up there to tinker with it. So it will be going in the 'mechanical room'.


Soffit lights installed. Turned out awesome!


 
#106 ·
I realize these aren't Suzuki pics, but I haven't been wheeling lately and the damn thing doesn't break that often, I use it all the time.

After using my Expedition for a while I grew tired of not having a place to put my tools. Nobody really made anything like what I was looking for, so I built my own. It has been over a month now and has been AWESOME to have all my basic tools with me wherever I go yet not lose any hauling space.

Before/stock. With a receiver hitch and socket set rolling around in the back.



After, almost done aside from wrapping it in carpet / painting.




Full build thread with all the parts used and details:
 
#107 ·
Junk gathers very quickly. Had to do some major cleaning so I could get back to working on the shop itself. This was after I picked up my first load of 20 rolls of insulation.



Got the house painted to match the shop. It needed painted anyways. Was a bit of a journey to get the right paint color but in the end it turned out awesome


Front after paint


Lots of late nights


Full progress report here:
 
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