Dirt Daily. Dragging home a DED Chevy Tracker
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- Опубліковано 11 січ 2024
- I went and did it again. I adopted a left over DED Chevy Tracker that was ravaged by night stalkers. I used to have a small Suzuki Samurai and realized I never should have sold it. After we built this Chevy Tracker on Dirt Every Day I realized that it was pretty similar to the samurai, and better in some ways. And when it was available for me to take home, I grabbed it. This little Tracker is going to be a fun project, but first, let me show you what it is and what was stolen off it while it was in storage.
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As a tracker guy... I've been wondering where this tracker ended up. Mine is a first gen tin top. I have a lot of videos on my channel about it. There are a ton of common parts between the first gen and second gen tracker. Do NOT buy from Calmini. You will pay them but never get your parts. TRE 4x4 has an affordable E locker and ARB does make an air locker for it. Trail tough up in Oregon is a good source for parts and information. The front diff from 89-04 will bolt in. The 00-04 vitara with the V6 and 5 speed have the steel diff. There are some minor differences in the pumpkin, but the housing bolts in. I'd update the front to manual locking hubs and use an older pumpkin so you don't have the weird air actuated differential. You can also just weld it in the engaged position. There are some spline count differences in the front axles on the pumpkin end from the first gen to the second gen, but the manual hubs from the older one will bolt on. Also, the axles on the front are different lengths.
Plus 1 on Calmini. They are garbage!
As an Escudo owner I can confirm this info as “Excellent”.
Good video Fred. The day of wheeling that thing was so much fun
Looks like it's gonna be a fun little rig! I remember seeing it on DED.
Hey Fred, excited to see this build, the 2nd Gen Tracker, GV, Vitara, xl-7 are super cool rigs, I've built several. The steel diff you're talking about can be sourced from the 99-2005 Grand Vitara V6 manual. Or, 01-03 Xl-7 manual trans. . Yours being a 16v it should have 5:12 gears, if so, you'll have to swap your current gears if still good, or the 5:12 can be sourced from 01-03 XL-7 automatic. The steel diff is a direct bolt on, so no modifications needed. ARB offers lockers for both diffs. Going the ARB route is the way to as it will remove the air actuated disconnect (A.D.D), or can source the carrier from 1st gen. 88-98. The beefiest route is the 04-06 xl-7 front 7.75" diff. It's a direct swap for the housings, and 5:12 gears can be sourced from Partsouq or 2010+ 4cyl automatic Grand Vitara which are AWD, so the carrier doesn't have A.D.D. You can always weld the A.D.D, but the spider gears are tiny, the 06+ have much larger spiders. 4xfourart is a good source for aftermarket. Stay away from Calmini as many others have said.
I got an '06 XL7 with the ADD. I always thought after '06 the front diff was changed. Good to know that I can just snag the carrier from one for stronger side gears!
Love the idea of an entry-level rig! Thanks for the awesome content!
I love you you have the tracker and an 80s series cruiser. Those are mine and my wife’s “fun” vehicles ❤
Trackers are amazing. Used to have one in Alaska with 235 mud terrains and it rallied all over the place! So much fun!
Fred could you show us around your property and show all the random vehicles you have??? Would love to see all the vehicles you've collected. Just an idea for a dirt daily or multiple dirt daily. Love the content thank you!!
He was inspired by the "Cat Converter Story" and will be by with a flat bed and trailer at 2am on a random day to liberate his favorites. 😂😂
Obviously just joking. Lol
@@MrBillsfishin it does read like that
Hi Fred, I love the DED resurections!
UTV fighter is exactly what the projects begs to be! I look forward to the build series on this!
They are super fun Fred. Glad you got this thing for yourself. I have a 1999 tracker/vitara 2-door in the shop right now getting a full workover.
As a owner of a 2001 2 door on 33's....I approve this series!!!
If you are looking for a dirt cheap suspension upgrade for a tracker look into the Buick regal strut swap and Chevy cavalier rear shocks. You do that and swap out springs and it will give you about a 4 inch lift and a much better ride. I did this to my first gen tracker for about $100 and I absolutely love it. I’m not sure what interchanges with the second gen but it’s definitely worth looking into.
I have a 99 chevy tracker 4 door with a 2" Amazon lift kit and 30 " mud tires with 1 inch wheel spacers on stock rims and I love it ,it goes pretty much any were I want
Can’t wait to see the direction you go with the tiny4x4. Friend had one just after high school and would go wheeling with all of us in full sized blazers, bronco, jeeps and yotas. We even put a homemade lift on it for him.
Where I grew up Sidekick was the 2 door version and the Vitara was the 4 door version in the 90's, the boxy model. There was also the Vitara Sport which was the 4 door with a 2 tone paint and body kit. After 1996 there was no more Sidekick, all of them were Vitaras. This were also rebadged as Geo Trackers although i have never seen a Tracker 4 door in 2 tone with body kit trim, only in solid body colors. Then in 2001 the body changed and there was 3 version, Vitara 2 door soft top, 4 door, and Grand Vitara 4 door V6 (if im not mistaken) with a 2 color body paint with a wider body kit, if we dare calling it that. Which i also saw rebadged in solid colors, never in 2 tone. And then there was the XL7.
I am a jeep guy but i love it when you mess with the small crawlers always fun watch
They are so fun and the same size as mist sxs's. Had one and loved it. Had actual sxs tires on it and the rear was welded and it would go anywhere.
Yes! so glad you got this back from MT! Definitely looking forward to this build.
This is the content ive have been waiting for!!!! Miss watching you build!
16inch rims will solve the brake caliber issue
In New Zealand the cheat for a lift is using the springs from the 4 door in the 2 door to give a low cost 2” lift for bigger tyres
I was just on a SXS ride yesterday and was saying I wanted to see someone build a tracker/Suzuki into something that could compete with a SXS. Looking forward to this build.
I've been contemplating one of these to get into wheeling. Going to go back and check that episode out. Will be following. Thanks for saving it Fred.
I like the plan, they look like they are so much fun to explore in
It's funny I used a 2001 Chevy tracker four-door as a snow plow rig. One day I had a bit too much wheel hop when I was stuck and broke the front diff mounting bracket. I managed to rig it back together but it's good to know there's a steel option. It worked okay angling the plow was useless cuz the whole vehicle would just angle and effectively do nothing.
I have to agree with you Fred it is refreshing to see something 4 wheel drive that isn't a Jeep or Toyota build
the smooth orange rims and retro pizza cutters look outstanding. You could make anything look cool with those
Subscribed. I just bought a 1989 JLX two door. Planning a budget build myself. Already got started with a set of 29” Goodyear A/T’s and a BDS lift.
I'm super excited for this tracker build! I just got a free one from my father in law I'm going to start working on.
Absolutely love the trackers so underrated I've wheeled with these for years long before the sxs blew up been wanting to build another one
Keep up the good content keep cranking out as much as you can. I love following your creativity louis from Austin get those numbers up.
I had a 2000 or 2001 with the DOHC 4-cylinder and 5-speed. It was a great little SUV and got around 24mpg. Unfortunately, a bad hydraulic timing chain tensioner led to it jumping out of time and bending all the valves. I pulled the head and had it rebuilt for around $1,000. I screwed up and didn't set the cam timing right and trashed more valves. I was done and sold the thing off as is for $1,000. I would have just put another motor in it but a live in a very rural area and there was nothing available nearby. I do miss the thing though. Lots of fun and easy on gas.
1980-1996 f150 wheels fit right on
Hi Fred, nice little project. Keep it simple and fun.
Platinum is in side the cats. I had slowed down that junk yards an such wont touch it. Bummer people took the wheels an such feed but you got it back.
Excited to see this affordable build!
The steel front diff is from v-6 models of that era. Weak link is the axle disconnect built into front diff
Can't wait to see it in the end fred calmini makes nice stuff I had there 5 in. Super lift on my samurai it was awesome!
I love this project!!!
This is going to be a fun project to watch👍🏻👊🏻
The little bit more modern and comfortable Samurai. Don't blame you for wanting to wheel this. Little simple ones are light and fun and fit in places the full size just can't. Also doesn't matter that they don't have tons of power because they have enough for what they are capable of doing. Should be fun to watch.
Welcome back Tracker!
I'm glad I've came across your YT channel, I miss your show on Motortrend, hopefully I can itch my need to 4x4 shenanigans here.
it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast then a fast car slow. It definitely goes to 4 wheeling.
Back in the late nineties I got a wrecked Isuzu trooper for free. 2.8, 5 speed 90 and i put 31 TSLs. I had a square body on 38s but I loved that trooper even though it was basically stock with a winch and giant skid plate. You could bomb that thing all day and not hurt it
Since you want to keep it small wheels, have Dave make you an air ride kit for it and make a poor man's land rover. I'd love to see the air conversion done.
I built and wheeled a 95 Kia Sportage, (in fact I started the upyourkia lifts). Same basic suspension as the Suzuki but was so much fun and even did the Golden Spike trail with a bunch of Jeeps and it held it's own. I now have a built 98 TJ but miss that little Kia sometimes. I'll be watching your tracker build.
The stuff in the background is always so interesting. Like, let’s talk about that D130….😊
Uk company called vitmods or jimnybits for all the suspension components, lockers are available for both front and rear, steel diff housing available from either 2.0td or 2.5/2.7 v6 if youre going to go over 3 inch suspension get aftermarket lower a arms from jimny bits or calmini (dont buy full suspension kit from calmini) the consensus seems to be theyre not as well engineered as the cost might suggest, its adviseable to get a short shaft mod for the front diff which enables you to use the bolt type axle on both sides, other than that if you go for a solid front axle then the samurai is a great donor as the vitara diff drops straight into it
This is so cool!
Make a Baja buggy and add a exo cage be a nice crawler add some portals to it so it gets a little more ground Clarence
Platinum and Paladium are the precious metals in catalytic converters and are stolen to extract the metals.
Little 4x4s are so much fun, the little 2 door SUVs like these and the early 2 door Rav4s. Even the old 2 door short bed small pick ups like the Toyota HiLux/ Pick Ups, and 1st Gen Tacomas, or the old Frontiers and Danger Rangers, S-10s. Everything keeps getting bigger and bigger. Current Gen Tacoma's are bigger than 1st Gen Tundras. We need more small size Trucks and Real SUVs again.
These trackers are sweet. I've rebuilt the engine in a couple of them & they're really fun cars for the desert. It's too bad I'm so tall, I don't fit in them very well
Really needs a straight axle!
Some sticky SXS tires on it and keep it very simple and lightweight
2-2.5” lift and 31” tires would be super rad. I did that with a 4dr one and it was an excellent trail rig.
A cheap tracker is the most fun you can have without ending up with a wart on your pecker. And those front diffs are a lot stronger than you think. My cousin runs one in the front of his 1000 hp sand drag Jeep, and has only broken it once in over 20 years.
I'm glad you got this back. Hopefully you get this thing going and we can meet up on the trail sometime. Maybe bring the tracker to Zukicon on the Rubicon
solid axles and 38's in my opinion ;)
Catalytic converters have platinum in them which is a rare and expensive metal.
Vehicle will be great for the gambler
Currently building a small beach jeep. Something that does what a golfcart or utv would do but fits in a toyhauler, is light and street legal to drive in town while camping at the beach. My starting point is a cj3a
I’m about to build mine up, either 35’s or 37’s, on FJ80 axles.
Cool! Trail tough has been helpful. I needed a flex plate for mine and they got me one asap. Mine has the non CA cast manifold, that took a couple years to find at pick n pull. Still waiting to find the elusive steel front housing. I did the trail tough lift. I like it but the altered ego suspension would be cooler and a little better for “go fast”. Can’t wait for more tracker content. Possibly a 2.3 Aerio “big block” swap…..?
Dude! I wonder what it would look like if you did a full build up with a 90s era blazer. Frame n all 😂 that would make it mean looking and you could beef it up moderately and it would look like a 1000 hours of fab for like what a g
Second gen Tracker nice... i have a blue first gen 94 8 valve im gonna start doing some stuff with hopefully. Still have my 2000 XJ Cherokee but really missed working on smaller quirkier rigs. My first Offroading experience was in a 1986 Mitsubishi Montero 2 Door so the lil Tracker shouldnt be that far off from that
Im in Oregon. I bought a cheap Amazon cat for like $50 for my 4cyl yj because i was tired of the exhaust smell. Someone also took mine. Which is funny because i couldn't imagine much was left of it after 30 years. I'm sure California has strict rules on cats though and that's probably not an option.
I've seen the Zuki Nation 4.5" lift in other channels and it looks very nice. You can fit up to 32s.
I am not in us, so not sure if there are better options.
I have mine in my country. Looking forward for Tracker videos
I loved the tracker episode. If you do SAS it, I think it would be cool to run a samurai axle and 31s. I think it's a good balance of being capable and pretty strong.
The average catalytic converter contains about 1-2 grams of rhodium, about 3-7 grams of platinum, and between 2 and 7 grams of palladium. While the market value of these metals has decreased, they still can fetch a pretty penny. Rhodium is averaging $146 a gram, Platinum $30 gram and palladium is selling for about $38 a gram.
Looking forward to it! I say get it on some 31's and rip it!
Love to see you and Dave get together and do a UA-cam collaboration
Can’t believe how much trouble somebody went through to steal the cats! Damn!!
I want to see the build up of this one Fred
I live in Manitoba Canada. We need a cat housing. Nothing is done to ensure there is anything inside.
Since it needs exhaust, what about a small turbo? For efficiency purposes, of course.
It would be cool to get Dave down there and you 2 do a resurrection together with this thing!
Dang! I'm in Alberta, Canada. & I just junked My Tracker, still has the full factory exhaust. I would have shipped you the cat
Platinum in the cat. Melted down and sold black market $908.80/oz.
Little bit of lift with slightly bigger tires…. Done✅
Altered ego/ zukination in Kelowna BC Canada has great lifts for this vehicle. lots of other goodies as well
look up the geo tracker rockstar project from mike hagen! very simple build with great performance!!
Please keep the tall and narrow tires and do a review on its performance on the not-so-hardcore wheeling. Maybe some 235-85-16?
Engine computers drain batteries dead in a few weeks. My modern Chevy sedan cranked slowly after sitting for two weeks.
Cool project, Fred. Can’t wait to see what you do with it and I’m still waiting to see what you do with the PORSCHE! Do you still have it?
Looks like 5×4.5 to me. That front axle is passenger side drop. Before you throw in a Toyota solid axle, look at Isuzu or larger GM front IFS. You might be able to put something stronger in there and maintain the driveability. My Isuzu rodeo had a lunchbox locker that worked great. In that little truck it would be pretty solid.
Actually, that would make for a great rear end swap as well. Find you a 4cyl Isuzu with the 4.56 gears. All the rears were a version of Dana 44 and all the fronts were sort of GM 10.5. Fronts are passenger drop so you can use the existing transfer case and drive train. It would be like 1/4 ton swapping your 1/8 ton truck.
In the UK these are called a suzuki vitara gv1600 . So many offroad parts for them.
Fred, love the Tracker, have a 94 and use it as my poor man’s SxS and a dingy to pull behind the truck camper. Will you pick this project back up?
SAS Swap !
I have a little toyota kei truck, I think the code is kp39, the thing is rusted and I've been thinking that the body would fit nicely on one of this tracker chassis
Nice
Altered Ego Motorsports has a couple different lift kits for this tracker.
Cool
👍👍😎
Living is California, the good gas mileage is a bonus.
I have few part trackers. Sure I have cats. You can have and any other parts. I'm in wv about 45 minutes from insane alyuma you visited on UA.
@4xFredWilliams hear me out, toss the Tracker body and put a Flattie body on it, have the look of a Flattie and a more comfortable modern driver, plus if it's registered as a 40's Jeep, you may not have to worry about smog?
Where did you get the battery disconnect
Front splines come in 22 and 26 varieties. Check what you have.
There is a mod to fit Toyota front axles to replace the CVs with stronger ones. I have no idea if the US got those Toyotas though.
In that year ( 99 to 05) they are only 26. 22 spline is 89 to 95
We put ATV tires on them in Alaska and wheel the heck out of them.