Picked this up a few years ago. Summer of 2010. Never talked about it much because it was just going to be a DD for a few years and I always had the Blazer to obsess over. Well, life changes plans. The Blazer is gone, this is still here, and my recent thoughts on getting a new Jeep went up in smoke. (Thanks .gov and reality...eat me.
)
Anyway, figured since the Suzuki forums I read are either mostly Sami or offroading biased I'd blather about it here. For a brand/model/vintage specific forum CK5 is more "open minded" about other vehicles than any other forum I've ever been on. Including some "no brand specific" forums.
2002 Chevy Tracker base model 4 door.
None of that body cladding or two tone paint BS.
-2.0L inline 4 (127hp! considering that's maybe 10 less than the 6.2L of the Blazer I don't feel terribly slow)
-5 speed Aisin manual
-yes, it has a transfer case! Aisin unit with a floor shifter and gearing around 2:1 in low. Sadly 1:1 in high unlike Sami's.
-MacPherson Strut IFS up front and solid axle in the rear. Coil sprung all around. 4.62 gears with open diffs.
-AC and power steering...and two cup holders are about it for fluff features.
-Oh, and factory roof rack. Very useful!
Aftermarket and mods.
-Old Man Emu 30mm lift springs. Rides better than stock. Previous Owner's work.
-LT235/75R15 BFG All Terrain tires on matte black painted factory steelies. Basically a 29" tire instead of the factory 27" car tires. (PO)
-2" front strut extenders and longer rear shocks (PO). Shocks/struts aren't anything to write home about but the guy was weird like that. $400 in aftermarket-imported-from-Australia-top-grade-lift-coils and he uses parts store cheapo shocks and struts. Rides okay and doesn't seem to fade much though.
-Camber bolts in the upper front strut mounts to get the tires somewhat straight. PO thought they were fine looking like \ /.
-6.5" Infinity speakers (PO) powered by a Dual stereo that I installed. Sounds nice and while not a "bumpin'" system it does well for me. HD radio, a bit of base, AUX input for my phone, I'm happy with it.
-Tinted windows all around (PO). Oh man do I love this. Keeps it cool because in their wisdom GM and Suzuki decided the AC system suitable for the 2 door 4 cyl models would be fine for the 4 door hardtop 4 cyls. It keeps you cool but won't ever freeze you out.
-POS bodged together, booger welded, tin can quality replacement metal exhaust system with a crappy sounding turbo muffler, the factory resonator removed and maybe half the exhaust hangers it's supposed to have.(PO's work) Bosal replacement cat back exhaust. Not "performance" but all high quality stuff and no crimp bent BS and even a nice exhaust note. Cost $5 more than the crimp bent cheapo Walker setup that was option B.
Custom modified into a performance system by someone backing into my tailpipe hard enough that it put enough pressure on the exhaust that the muffler buckled outward. (I'm thinking some internal baffling cracked/buckled because it's definitely deeper than it used to be. I don't mind it and it's not as obnoxious as the POS setup the PO had.)
-Curt 2" receiver hitch. PO had a ****ty little Class I hitch on it. Removed that for the Curt 2" so I could pull my trailer and use it with a hitch cargo carrier. Works great.
-Window vent things. For being $50 worth of plastic these are pretty useful. I'd have gone with the "in channel" ones but these are stuck on pretty good.
-Aftermarket4x4 gas tank skid plate. Beefy. I don't plan on dragging the rear on something so hard to damage the tank but well, I could bang the **** out of it now. Probably jack it up by this thing actually.
Other things I've fixed or replaced.
-Drained the GL5 gear oil out of the transfer case and transmission and replaced it with Red Line MT-90 GL4 gear lube. It immediately was smoother shifting and 4lo came back. You COULD NOT shift the t-case into 4lo before and immediately afterward I was able to drop it into 4lo and back right up the snowy hill behind my old place. Today it shifts in fairly smooth.
-Put a good stereo worthy of the $300 worth of speakers the guy had the crappy Delco CD player "driving".
-Un****ed the "performance" (read - loud) exhaust the PO had paid a muffler shop to hack together. It was ****ty. I mean, the more I looked the more ****ty I realized it was. Was horrible. Ended up just replacing everything after the exhaust manifold back.
-Real hitch. This thing can tow 1500lbs rated and a ton or so without sweating too much. Not fast but hey, now it has a hitch rated for it's capabilities and a rear tow point.
-(Re)Installed a cabin air filter. PO just removed it "since older vehicles didn't need that". Basically half my cooling/heating was venting straight into the glove box.
-Synthetic gear lube in the diffs. I think. Or was that The Blazer? ****, dunno.
-Camber adjustment bolts in the front struts. It's still not 100% correct and I've probably lost the tires but man, how he thought the front tires looking like \ / was okay I dunno.
-New front rotors, pads, and caliper mounting pins along with rethreading the front lug studs. Meinke or whoever the PO paid to do the brakes had impacted the front lug nuts on cross threaded and done it so tight the rotors were warped. Even with the unevenly worn tires this thing stops so much smoother now.
-Sylvania SilverStar Ultra headlight bulbs. Not HID or LED lights but SOOOO much better than the crappy stockers. Lights up the back country rural Kentucky narrow and windey roads SO much better.
Stuff I'm doing.
-Needs new front bearings and CV shafts. At some point someone "did a bearing job" and since they didn't have the correct socket for the Suzuki locknuts they just drove them on with a punch. Yup, they were far looser than the 159ft/lbs Suzuki calls for. I managed to catch them before they grenaded and tighten them up with my new $55 socket but they are getting replaced. CV shafts just need to be replaced as the boots are tearing at 114,000 miles.
-Just scored some Warn P/N 14641 manual hubs. Kinda look like their current Premium level hubs but not. They're an older model but still have the 7/8 turn and aren't built like the cheapo Warn Standard/MileMarker/Superwinch/AVM hubs. Less than half the price of a new set of Premiums and they're off of a creampuff road machine a guy bought for the engine.
(These come with an air operated front diff sorta like GM IFS but the axle setup is the same as the 89-98 Trackers/Sidekicks and they just put drive slugs on the axle ends instead of auto or manual locking hubs. Take the slugs off and viola, hubs bolt on. Less crap turning even with the air diff still in place.)
-Some kind of seat covers. Want something durable and decent looking. I swear to god every vehicle with nice seats I own I end up blowing a soda up all over them and me at some point. These still are nice to sit in but look like crap now.
-Better interior and reverse lighting. Both are pathetic. Looking into LED setups.
- Brass shifter sheets for the t-case and transmission since both of mine aren't the smoothest or easist to shift. Zuks OffRoad makes a nice set:
http://www.zuksoffroad.com/T-Case-Transmission_c_16.html
-Fitted floor mats. Lame but man, this generic set sucks.
Might do.
- Find some 4.88 geared diffs. They'd counteract the taller tires.
-Maybe a Lock Right in the rear diff. If I was super lucky I'd find an overseas rear diff 3rd with a limited slip since I don't wheel hard/much but I'm not that lucky and a Lock Right would work fine. Not a priority.
-Get rid of the front air diff setup. More reliable than GM IFS actuators of the 90's but still known for eventually going out. I could find a front diff 3rd from a 96-98 Sidekick Sport and then use a driver's side inner axle from it and mate that to my CV shafts...or I could just tack weld the slide coupler in place inside of my current axle. I don't wheel much or hard so I don't need to really upgrade this past just working when called on. No need for a cast iron front 3rd either.
-Find some factory aluminum wheels. Little bit wider, lighter, and cooler than my steelies. Maybe powdercoat them black or something. Cool would be the ZR2 rims.
-Maybe a set of ZR2 skid plates. Even more maybe an Aftermarket4x4 front diff skid plate. Not likely as again, I don't really wheel anymore. Just bump around out at my buddy's farm to go shooting and sometimes at work to get out to the vehicles.
-Some kind of performance upgrade. There's a company in Australia that makes superchargers for these. This thing is zippy but runs out of zip quick. Keeps me out of trouble but I would like more grunt. However I like the reliable 20mpg I get out of it and if push came to shove I'd probably do the 4.88 gears first.
There's headers and a K&N replacement filter out there. However the factory manifold is pretty long tube header looking as it is and the PO put the K&N in it. I replaced it with a WIX filter last thing before a road trip and haven't noticed any difference at all. Didn't notice any difference when I put the Bosal cat back on either. Definitely didn't loose anything and I think I gained some low end torque back.
-Considering a hand throttle (aka cruise control). Aftermarket cruise would be about 1/4 what this thing books for. Meanwhile not having to constantly be minding the throttle while flying down the freeway would be nice.
It's my wee little beastie Japanese/American love child SUV. Hauls me and the pooches around, gets around offroad pretty damn well, and even tows and hauls when called upon. Oh, and 20mpg at the low end unless I truly drive hard. Not fancy or new but it's paid for and has AC.
)Anyway, figured since the Suzuki forums I read are either mostly Sami or offroading biased I'd blather about it here. For a brand/model/vintage specific forum CK5 is more "open minded" about other vehicles than any other forum I've ever been on. Including some "no brand specific" forums.
2002 Chevy Tracker base model 4 door.
None of that body cladding or two tone paint BS.
-2.0L inline 4 (127hp! considering that's maybe 10 less than the 6.2L of the Blazer I don't feel terribly slow)
-5 speed Aisin manual
-yes, it has a transfer case! Aisin unit with a floor shifter and gearing around 2:1 in low. Sadly 1:1 in high unlike Sami's.
-MacPherson Strut IFS up front and solid axle in the rear. Coil sprung all around. 4.62 gears with open diffs.
-AC and power steering...and two cup holders are about it for fluff features.
-Oh, and factory roof rack. Very useful!
Aftermarket and mods.
-Old Man Emu 30mm lift springs. Rides better than stock. Previous Owner's work.
-LT235/75R15 BFG All Terrain tires on matte black painted factory steelies. Basically a 29" tire instead of the factory 27" car tires. (PO)
-2" front strut extenders and longer rear shocks (PO). Shocks/struts aren't anything to write home about but the guy was weird like that. $400 in aftermarket-imported-from-Australia-top-grade-lift-coils and he uses parts store cheapo shocks and struts.
Rides okay and doesn't seem to fade much though.-Camber bolts in the upper front strut mounts to get the tires somewhat straight. PO thought they were fine looking like \ /.
-6.5" Infinity speakers (PO) powered by a Dual stereo that I installed. Sounds nice and while not a "bumpin'" system it does well for me. HD radio, a bit of base, AUX input for my phone, I'm happy with it.
-Tinted windows all around (PO). Oh man do I love this. Keeps it cool because in their wisdom GM and Suzuki decided the AC system suitable for the 2 door 4 cyl models would be fine for the 4 door hardtop 4 cyls. It keeps you cool but won't ever freeze you out.
-
Custom modified into a performance system by someone backing into my tailpipe hard enough that it put enough pressure on the exhaust that the muffler buckled outward.
(I'm thinking some internal baffling cracked/buckled because it's definitely deeper than it used to be. I don't mind it and it's not as obnoxious as the POS setup the PO had.)-Curt 2" receiver hitch. PO had a ****ty little Class I hitch on it. Removed that for the Curt 2" so I could pull my trailer and use it with a hitch cargo carrier. Works great.
-Window vent things. For being $50 worth of plastic these are pretty useful. I'd have gone with the "in channel" ones but these are stuck on pretty good.
-Aftermarket4x4 gas tank skid plate. Beefy. I don't plan on dragging the rear on something so hard to damage the tank but well, I could bang the **** out of it now. Probably jack it up by this thing actually.
Other things I've fixed or replaced.
-Drained the GL5 gear oil out of the transfer case and transmission and replaced it with Red Line MT-90 GL4 gear lube. It immediately was smoother shifting and 4lo came back. You COULD NOT shift the t-case into 4lo before and immediately afterward I was able to drop it into 4lo and back right up the snowy hill behind my old place. Today it shifts in fairly smooth.
-Put a good stereo worthy of the $300 worth of speakers the guy had the crappy Delco CD player "driving".
-Un****ed the "performance" (read - loud) exhaust the PO had paid a muffler shop to hack together. It was ****ty. I mean, the more I looked the more ****ty I realized it was. Was horrible.
Ended up just replacing everything after the exhaust manifold back.-Real hitch. This thing can tow 1500lbs rated and a ton or so without sweating too much. Not fast but hey, now it has a hitch rated for it's capabilities and a rear tow point.
-(Re)Installed a cabin air filter. PO just removed it "since older vehicles didn't need that". Basically half my cooling/heating was venting straight into the glove box.
-Synthetic gear lube in the diffs. I think. Or was that The Blazer? ****, dunno.
-Camber adjustment bolts in the front struts. It's still not 100% correct and I've probably lost the tires but man, how he thought the front tires looking like \ / was okay I dunno.
-New front rotors, pads, and caliper mounting pins along with rethreading the front lug studs. Meinke or whoever the PO paid to do the brakes had impacted the front lug nuts on cross threaded and done it so tight the rotors were warped.
Even with the unevenly worn tires this thing stops so much smoother now.-Sylvania SilverStar Ultra headlight bulbs. Not HID or LED lights but SOOOO much better than the crappy stockers. Lights up the back country rural Kentucky narrow and windey roads SO much better.
Stuff I'm doing.
-Needs new front bearings and CV shafts. At some point someone "did a bearing job" and since they didn't have the correct socket for the Suzuki locknuts they just drove them on with a punch. Yup, they were far looser than the 159ft/lbs Suzuki calls for.
I managed to catch them before they grenaded and tighten them up with my new $55 socket but they are getting replaced. CV shafts just need to be replaced as the boots are tearing at 114,000 miles.-Just scored some Warn P/N 14641 manual hubs. Kinda look like their current Premium level hubs but not. They're an older model but still have the 7/8 turn and aren't built like the cheapo Warn Standard/MileMarker/Superwinch/AVM hubs. Less than half the price of a new set of Premiums and they're off of a creampuff road machine a guy bought for the engine.
(These come with an air operated front diff sorta like GM IFS but the axle setup is the same as the 89-98 Trackers/Sidekicks and they just put drive slugs on the axle ends instead of auto or manual locking hubs. Take the slugs off and viola, hubs bolt on. Less crap turning even with the air diff still in place.)
-Some kind of seat covers. Want something durable and decent looking. I swear to god every vehicle with nice seats I own I end up blowing a soda up all over them and me at some point. These still are nice to sit in but look like crap now.
-Better interior and reverse lighting. Both are pathetic. Looking into LED setups.
- Brass shifter sheets for the t-case and transmission since both of mine aren't the smoothest or easist to shift. Zuks OffRoad makes a nice set:
http://www.zuksoffroad.com/T-Case-Transmission_c_16.html
-Fitted floor mats. Lame but man, this generic set sucks.
Might do.
- Find some 4.88 geared diffs. They'd counteract the taller tires.
-Maybe a Lock Right in the rear diff. If I was super lucky I'd find an overseas rear diff 3rd with a limited slip since I don't wheel hard/much but I'm not that lucky and a Lock Right would work fine. Not a priority.
-Get rid of the front air diff setup. More reliable than GM IFS actuators of the 90's but still known for eventually going out. I could find a front diff 3rd from a 96-98 Sidekick Sport and then use a driver's side inner axle from it and mate that to my CV shafts...or I could just tack weld the slide coupler in place inside of my current axle. I don't wheel much or hard so I don't need to really upgrade this past just working when called on. No need for a cast iron front 3rd either.
-Find some factory aluminum wheels. Little bit wider, lighter, and cooler than my steelies. Maybe powdercoat them black or something. Cool would be the ZR2 rims.
-Maybe a set of ZR2 skid plates. Even more maybe an Aftermarket4x4 front diff skid plate. Not likely as again, I don't really wheel anymore. Just bump around out at my buddy's farm to go shooting and sometimes at work to get out to the vehicles.
-Some kind of performance upgrade. There's a company in Australia that makes superchargers for these. This thing is zippy but runs out of zip quick. Keeps me out of trouble but I would like more grunt. However I like the reliable 20mpg I get out of it and if push came to shove I'd probably do the 4.88 gears first.
There's headers and a K&N replacement filter out there. However the factory manifold is pretty long tube header looking as it is and the PO put the K&N in it. I replaced it with a WIX filter last thing before a road trip and haven't noticed any difference at all. Didn't notice any difference when I put the Bosal cat back on either. Definitely didn't loose anything and I think I gained some low end torque back.
-Considering a hand throttle (aka cruise control). Aftermarket cruise would be about 1/4 what this thing books for. Meanwhile not having to constantly be minding the throttle while flying down the freeway would be nice.
It's my wee little beastie Japanese/American love child SUV. Hauls me and the pooches around, gets around offroad pretty damn well, and even tows and hauls when called upon. Oh, and 20mpg at the low end unless I truly drive hard. Not fancy or new but it's paid for and has AC.
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how hard is a water pump on one of these? Never really looked under the hood of one.
