I bought a Tracker

[RLK]

...for $275. A 1997 Tracker 2wd, 2dr, no AC, "cloth top" white in color. It needs clutch work related to pedal/cable linkage. I had better read up. I'm pleased with search results on Suzuki Forums so far and i'll be reading a lot more than posting. This pedal seems to be pretty problematic; needing to be re-welded or other drastic measures. Yay! I hope there is a proven reliable fix out there there perhaps to include hydrolics. I'm a Toyota fan. I haven't dealt with a clutch cable since my 1984 Tercel, except on motorcycles.

This thing was on its way to the Pull-n-pay and they offered $275 so I stepped in and matched that offer. It belonged to an old friend who is choosing the hard way in life, not unlike myself in many ways. I haven't seen it yet. Its about 40 miles away right now. I will get to it tonight to asses the situation. Wish me luck!



Money well spent.







Those parts all work great.

This part doesn't.



It starts and runs 100% except the clutch issues. No rust dents or smoke! 182.9K. comes with 3 matching wheels w/ flat tires in the back. Good thing i'm in auto shop class this summer.

[seuadr]

nice! i've always thought those looked like fun.

[El Guero]

Originally Posted by seuadr

nice! i've always thought those looked like fun.

You'd be wrong

I had to drive one during college. What a hoopty piece of shit. The vibrate and bounce over every bump in the road, and if you don't fill the tailgate up with Greatstuff the spare tire will make an awful racket.

I can't even begin to imagine why you'd want one without 4wd, which was the only barely-redeeming feature of mine.

[pilot815]

I had a 4wd model that was very solid and well put together unlike the one referred to in the previous post. Only problem with mine was that it was the first year that they made them, and it had the smaller, carb fed, samurai engine. I bought a Calmini 3" body lift and put Super Swampers on it. Then I fabbed some bumpers front and rear and made a sweet little 4x4 rig.

The low gear in the T-case is a major redeeming factor. That little truck was fun at the beach since it floated over the sand. Jeeps were getting stuck as well as big trucks with their big tires, but the little sidekick (tracker) kept moving along. We would use it to launch jetskis at the lake off the shore since it was light enough that we could easily pull it out if it got stuck. It never did.

Fix it, sell it, get a 4x4 model.

[RLK]

I didn't necessarily want a Tracker. I wanted a set of 4 wheels to put tires on for class credit. These 7 matching and 1 not wheels + tires came attached to an almost great running shitbox RWD car.

I need to figure out how to get it to the school from Canon City by 0800 Tuesday.

[Fleksta]

I had a '92 4wd tracker, it was a great rig but rust finally did it in. Only had to replace the clutch cable and pcv valve in the two years I had it. Check the body mounts, all but one had rusted through by the time I had to retire it.

[WVhillbilly]

Zukikrawlers.com for info and parts.

[H96669]

Don't get rear-ended. Happened to one of my friends with a then new Tracker, hit at less than 30 MPH and both seats folded backward.

[Sniper X]

I guess if you get 1000 miles per gallon that makes up for not having 4x4....But being as light as they are it'll still be OK in the dirt and in snow with the right tyres....

[ehatcher]

I had a 95 with 4wd that I put 185,000 on. Just tires, belts, brakes and oil. It was stone cold reliable. Fun to drive in a golf cart kind of way, especially with the top down. Not so good on the highway - gets blown around like a leaf in a hurricane. Good on backroads and for running errands. Great on gas too.

I wish I had one now - 95% of my driving is on backroads and I miss that little thing.


E

[WVhillbilly]

If you find a 4wd donor car, the parts are an easy swap.
The drivetrain is worth what you paid for it.

[JamesG]

^^This.

+ $500 in front half drive train and you'll have enough "value added" to be able to justify another $1500 in suspension and other mods to make it a good little UT.

[RLK]

Its safe at the school now. AAA Plus kicks ass except that you don't exactly get to schedule your 'emergency' tow. Fremont county was a little busy and we waited 1:45 longer than expected. The serenety prayer comes in handy. I don't think it a total accident that a car full of tires lands in my lap on the weekend before the tires lab; on the weekend when there's 3 paychecks in the month and the middle one isn't spoken for...

More to come.

[RLK]

Originally Posted by H96669

Don't get rear-ended. Happened to one of my friends with a then new Tracker, hit at less than 30 MPH and both seats folded backward.

Serenety prayer works for that too. There's fear in life. What are you going to do about it? It has two airbags and ABS. I never cared about that stuff.

[Suzuki Phil]

I owned a 92 Tracker LSi two door 4x4 when in college and truly regret selling it. After college I got a hair up my ass and sold it to buy a full size pickup. After two months of owning the pickup I wanted to buy a house and to improve my chances with the loan company I sold the truck. After six months of home ownership I found a 1993 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4 4dr with 30K mile so it. After nine years and 120K on it I sold it for a 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara.

On my 93 Sidekick I developed a coolant leak that necessitated a engine rebuild at 115K miles. Only issue I had with my Suzuki's.

SP