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).