Well I took my geo out on labor day and put in some good wheelin'.....unfortunately I had to stop early due to the front third member, here are a couple pics.

---I always start out mild----


---this happened on a trail caledl axle breaker....go figure-----


So now I am stuck with a new project....I have read that these 3rd members are weak, but is this very common? Would I be wasting time by replacing it w/ an original???

I have read about a XL7 swap w/ Grand vitara third member...I'm kinda leaning towards, but what year range of XL7 and Grand vitara are matching canidates? Does this mean I have to swap gears or is the Grand vitara the same 5:13?? I'm assuming "my" current gears are mangled....

Unfortunately I also have the chance to get ahold of some toyota drivetrain cheap, axles/transfer/5 speed....but to adapt this to my motor I would need a RingeR? Which seems $$$... Then I would need gears and new wheels and a locker to get moving at my current ratio.

I'm open to opinions and suggestion on my best option.  By best I mean with consideration to cost and time. All suggestions are welcome.

Well, Zig is selling his entire front setup right now. 

I'lll let those who have actually built up their Tracker front ends give you a real answer. 

Depends on where you want the rig to end up, driving style, and terrain traveled. If you decide to stay IFS, the part numbers and instructions on how to do the XL7 swap out is contained here in the forum (do search) and also in the technical section of the Archive.

Good Luck, Eric

I guess I was just trying to get a feel for if this happens a lot. I'm new to the Zuk scene and don't have any exposure to there trail life, besides what I find online.


I wouldnt consider my rig a strictly trail ride, yet, so it shouldnt be considered bulletproof. But on the other hand I don't want to replace this thing everytime I hit the trail.


The more I think about it I'll probably just run another stock axle and make sure to install my skid plate to help with any impacts, even though I dont believe that is what happened for this case. I guess I'll see how it goes, maybe somethings you gotta learn the hard way.

There have been a couple of pictures of a 'snout' made to wrap around the diff and stop it from being able to flex.  Apparently what can happen is the aluminum diff will twist and crack under a solid torqud load. There was also a post from a Samurai front diff being modified to work on a Tracker front end as an alternative to the XL7 front diff.

Its the rear out of a Sami not the front.  That would be my next move.

Get you a rear end out of a sami, clean up your gears and locker and install them (do a search, I've heard you need to do something small to them).  Or call Hawk, I think I've remember somesone saying he might be selling them already to go?

Anyway, you will have to make a strap/housing to go around the nose of the diff because there is nothing to bolt on to.

I have a Anvil and a LX7 steel diff so you know I've been there.

If you any good a fabin, I was about to (and still might for fun) build me a steel front axil housing out of a sami rear end.  But my Anvil got to me first.

Good luck

Its the rear out of a Sami not the front.  That would be my next move.

I thought the only difference between the front and rear was the side gears, and that depended on if your a 89-95 Tracker (Samurai Front End, 22 spline) or a 96-98 Tracker (Samurai rear end, 26 spline).

Love those aluminum slots on your rig...
The front ends break like crazy and are junk, you can swap out as others have said with the steel GV front end and use a sami steel 3rd member.  That will really help, the next thing is the axles, read up about the Hagen widening mod and switch to the bolt on axle or swap to Toy IFS axles.  Stan makes the kit.  OR, go to a TOY centersection, 3rd member(both steel) and axles.  They are giving them away all you have to buy is a gearset to match the rear.  

hmmm...I don't think I've come across a Toy center section conversion, I'll have to do more research and possibly try this if its not crazy to do.

Also I have, in the past, looked at the many articles in the Archive about installing the GV and XL7 parts....somehow I missed the Samurai third member or overlooked it, this sounds awful appealing and possibly the easiest of upgrade, as long as I can get ahold of a 3rd member locally or at least reasonable and as long as my axle housing isnt toast...Unfortunately my local salvage yards don't have a whole lot of newer Suzuki's, actually next to none. But I have some access to various toyota parts, trackers/kicks and a handful of samurais.

Thanks for all the info, it'll help get this Tracker back on the trail. If anyone has other input it is very welcome.

Using the Sammy third was down in the DOY section.  I believe it was called Next Day Third Member Replacement or something similar.   He was going wheeling the next day, he had a Samurai Third, and victory was to be had!  Or something like that.