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Front Diff Questions

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Offline zukizuki07

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Front Diff Questions
« on: December 04, 2008, 08:34:13 PM »
I have a 96 16v tracker, of course I snapped my front diff. a friend of mine is picking up a 95 8v tomorrow for next to nothing.... I was wondering if the diff would work with my tracker. thanks!
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2008, 08:50:05 PM »
If it is a 2 door the gearing is the same, but your side gears are different.  If it is a 4 door with the 8v it will have 5.38 gears and the different side gears. 

If your original Ring gear and diff are in good shape you can swap them over.  Otherwise you will need to pull the diff apart and swap your side gears.

Or you can just swap the passenger side CV shaft and the drivers side extended shaft bit that runs to the CV.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline zukizuki07

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2008, 08:55:00 PM »
If it is a 2 door the gearing is the same, but your side gears are different.  If it is a 4 door with the 8v it will have 5.38 gears and the different side gears. 

If your original Ring gear and diff are in good shape you can swap them over.  Otherwise you will need to pull the diff apart and swap your side gears.

Or you can just swap the passenger side CV shaft and the drivers side extended shaft bit that runs to the CV.
damn! couldnt just be easy!! hahaha thank you very much! looks like im ripping it apart..... a little work and a free diff. is better than paying for one!
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline lil_Truck

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2008, 08:44:02 AM »
The difference if the spline count ( I think 21 to a 26 splin?).  If you read the first responce closer you will see that you can use it without ripping it appart.

Use the complete front diff and the left front CV shaft.  It's a straight swap.

The left side, the inner CV goes into the diff so it needs the correct spine.  The right side bolts to the extion shaft and those are the same.  Take the old one and the new one and you can count and see that the splinds are different.  But it will work.



e-mail: liltruck|removethispart|@comcast.net
96 Tracker
6" Calimini Lift with custom Frame
32 MTR's Warn 8000i
Front/Rear ARB's Many New Mods soon.

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Offline skitime

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2008, 12:19:28 PM »
I don't know were you live but I have one I could sell.  I am in southeastern PA

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Offline zukizuki07

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2008, 12:39:32 PM »
The difference if the spline count ( I think 21 to a 26 splin?).  If you read the first responce closer you will see that you can use it without ripping it appart.

Use the complete front diff and the left front CV shaft.  It's a straight swap.

The left side, the inner CV goes into the diff so it needs the correct spine.  The right side bolts to the extion shaft and those are the same.  Take the old one and the new one and you can count and see that the splinds are different.  But it will work.




awesome thanks!!
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline zukizuki07

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2008, 12:40:22 PM »
I don't know were you live but I have one I could sell.  I am in southeastern PA
Im in eastern ohio, what are you asking for it? I know ill need another one at some point.
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline skitime

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2008, 02:05:16 PM »
What exactly do you need. The housing or complete diff or third member.  I have two complete front differentials and one ring and pinion with spiders gears.  All of them are 26 spline units.

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Offline zukizuki07

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2008, 09:17:18 PM »
What exactly do you need. The housing or complete diff or third member.  I have two complete front differentials and one ring and pinion with spiders gears.  All of them are 26 spline units.
Im going to take another look at it in a few days when i go back, make sure I havnt done any damage to the housing I will let you know.
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline Spitfire Rick

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2008, 10:46:38 PM »
all the tracker diffs I have delt with were :auto trans 4:62 manual trans  5:12 all the side gears seem to be the same 2 or 4dr in my experience I just put 5:12s from a 90 something tracker (2dr) into my 95 4dr  but if there are diff splines youve already  got good advice here
If I have to understand don't bother explaining

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Offline Skyhiranger

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2008, 05:51:57 PM »
I have a 96 16v tracker, of course I snapped my front diff. a friend of mine is picking up a 95 8v tomorrow for next to nothing.... I was wondering if the diff would work with my tracker. thanks!

Your diff has 26 spline sidegears, the 95 diff will have 22 spline sidegears.
There is no way to tell if the gear ratios are the same without more info.  The 95 could have 4.30, 4.62 or 5.12.  It definitely will not have 5.38s.

If your 96 has.....
a 3 speed auto, it will have 4.30s
a 5 speed manual, it will have 5.12s
a 4 speed auto tranny, it will have 5.12s

If the gear ratios match, you can swap the left side inner shaft from the 95 to yours, and the right side CV shaft from the 95 to yours, then you can use the 95 diff in your axle housing (or you could just swap the complete axle housing from the 95 to yours....if you didn't want to mess with swapping thirds around).
Tracker and Sidekick parts for sale.....PM me with your wants/needs.

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Offline zukizuki07

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2008, 08:15:30 PM »
I have a 96 16v tracker, of course I snapped my front diff. a friend of mine is picking up a 95 8v tomorrow for next to nothing.... I was wondering if the diff would work with my tracker. thanks!

Your diff has 26 spline sidegears, the 95 diff will have 22 spline sidegears.
There is no way to tell if the gear ratios are the same without more info.  The 95 could have 4.30, 4.62 or 5.12.  It definitely will not have 5.38s.

If your 96 has.....
a 3 speed auto, it will have 4.30s
a 5 speed manual, it will have 5.12s
a 4 speed auto tranny, it will have 5.12s

If the gear ratios match, you can swap the left side inner shaft from the 95 to yours, and the right side CV shaft from the 95 to yours, then you can use the 95 diff in your axle housing (or you could just swap the complete axle housing from the 95 to yours....if you didn't want to mess with swapping thirds around).
Thank you very much! thats what ive been runing through my head ! mine is a 96 5spd and the 95 is also a 5 speed! thanks so much!
96 2 Door Tracker
4 door springs, Calmini 3"BL , Trailtough Mini spool , 31's
Plans: Jeffs  diff spacer, bumpers, smittybuilt 8k winch and XL7 iron Diff. housing swap

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Offline Skyhiranger

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Re: Front Diff Questions
« Reply #12 on: December 07, 2008, 05:26:47 AM »
I have a 96 16v tracker, of course I snapped my front diff. a friend of mine is picking up a 95 8v tomorrow for next to nothing.... I was wondering if the diff would work with my tracker. thanks!


Your diff has 26 spline sidegears, the 95 diff will have 22 spline sidegears.
There is no way to tell if the gear ratios are the same without more info.  The 95 could have 4.30, 4.62 or 5.12.  It definitely will not have 5.38s.

If your 96 has.....
a 3 speed auto, it will have 4.30s
a 5 speed manual, it will have 5.12s
a 4 speed auto tranny, it will have 5.12s

If the gear ratios match, you can swap the left side inner shaft from the 95 to yours, and the right side CV shaft from the 95 to yours, then you can use the 95 diff in your axle housing (or you could just swap the complete axle housing from the 95 to yours....if you didn't want to mess with swapping thirds around).

Thank you very much! thats what ive been runing through my head ! mine is a 96 5spd and the 95 is also a 5 speed! thanks so much!


In that case, they both should have 5.12 gears.....so you can swap things around as I said earlier.  You can verify the ratios by either doing the "lift one tire, spin the  other tire 2 revolutions, and count the driveshaft revolutions to give you your ratio" method, or by looking at the number stamped on the bottom of the diff bracket (let me see if I can find the link).
I can't find the post on here, but here it is from the zu.........
http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic,90632.0.html
« Last Edit: December 07, 2008, 06:03:57 AM by Skyhiranger »
Tracker and Sidekick parts for sale.....PM me with your wants/needs.