Hello everyone.  My name is Randy, and I have a 95 Tracker 4x4 Auto with about 86k miles.  It's pretty much only a winter car, since my other car is a 1990 Nissan 300ZX TT (put down 431rwhp/416.6rwtq on my street settings before my rebuild and a few other upgrades), but I've obviously been bit by the mod-bug and am just now at a point where I want to do stuff to the Tracker. 

In light of the fact that my OEM locking hubs failed on me, I have a set of Superwinch hubs on their way (should be here in a couple days), so thus begins spending money on this car.

So on with some of my basic questions...

First off, I've noticed that hard tops fit model years from 89-97, but soft tops are separated right into 89-94 and 95-97.  The 95-97 tops are significantly more expensive, and from what I can tell, the only difference is that the windows are removable.  Do all these years mount the same?  (I assume so, but I want to be sure.)  What I'm getting at is, will an 89-94 soft top fit my 95 Tracker?  The 300ZX broke my bank account, and I'm trying to be budget minded while still modifying this car, so if the older style tops will fit, I'll just go with them since I don't remove my windows anyway.  The stitches on my back window have come out, and I really don't feel like stitching another window back in (already did that on the passenger side window).

Next, air intakes... do they exist for the 95 Tracker or am I doing this custom?  I see them all over the place for the previous generation 8-valve engines, but not for the 16-valve.  If they exist, can someone point me in the direction of where I might find one?  (Obviously 80bhp is a long way from 431rwhp, and while the Geo is surprisingly quick, I'd like a little bit more.)

I've been looking at body lift kits, purely for the look.  The extent of off-road use that my Tracker sees is flying down a very bumpy alley in deep snow, which it does fine with the stock ride height.  I just want the off-road look of a body-lift (yeah, I'm a bit of a poser, sorry).  I've found several of these online ranging from $124 (Rocky-Road.com) into the low three-hundreds (2" lift), and I can't figure out why.  I can go to Pep Boys and buy a rear suspension body lift kit for $20, and I can probably figure out a similar way to do the front suspension (like coil spacers, which Rocky-Road.com sells front and rear for $84 resulting in a 1 and 1/8" lift).  I know the other kits come with hardward to lower your bumper and all this other stuff, but is there any other advantage to these kits like the one from BDS which runs into the three-hundred dollar area?  I'm really tempted to get the coil spacers, but I want to make sure I'm not doing something really stupid there.  (Sorry if this is a dumb question; obviously I'm coming from the land of "lower is better" where we make fun of 300ZX's with 18" wheels who don't lower their cars to compensate for the extra ground clearance.)  I'd like something in the area of a 2" body lift.

Well, I think those are the only questions I have at the moment.  I look forward to being a part of the community and modding the Tracker even more. 

Thanks in advance for any responses!

(and if anyone is wondering, here are a couple of links for my 300ZX)

my first one
http://chicagoz.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=286

the reincarnation
http://chicagoz.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1798

Hello, Nice Z, that's my favorite body style 
As far as I know, you can use an 89-94 top on a 95-98 but you need the hardware from the like year, so you would need to get to a salvage yard and pick up the bars and hardware from an 89-94. The hardtops reqire removal of ALL soft top hardware, which is why you're seeing they will fit 89-98.

The big difference you'll find with body lift kits is if they're complete or not - Rocky Road's body lift does not include bumper lift brackets, BDS does, as well as steering extension. If you running stock bumpers, make sure that stuff is there. One of the members here used BDS suspension and body lift, he could give you more info.

Bumper brackets
http://www.bds-suspension.com/bodysystems_imports.html

No bumper brackets...
http://www.rocky-road.com/kicksus.html

I don't think this one had bumper brackets either...
http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/

Save yourself the $100 or so on those new hubs
and rebuild the old ones, you will be happy you
did, the aftermarket hubs have a problem with
not staying tight, tho some guys have got them
to work, the stock hubs are the best choice

Your 16V engine puts out 95 HP, not 80    you
might get a K&N filter to squeeze a few more HP
out of it, get a cam and header, best bang for the
buck mod, after that a 2" exhaust will help too

Ohh and the most important part
Welcome to the Forum 

Wild

The difference in the soft tops is the bracketry. I hate the newer bracketry so I switched to the older design. To do this you need to drill a couple extra holes for the bracketry.

Mike

Cool, so I need the older style brackets for the top... that'll be easy. 

And thanks for the info on the body-lift... I'll have to think long and hard before I put that kind of money down on a purely (for me) cosmetic mod. 

And as for the locking hubs, I don't want stock.  I know, from research, that the Warn hubs are good, but like I said, they failed on me, and I don't want to have to keep rebuilding or replacing them (not to mention, some of the screws holding them closed are stripped, so I'm going to need to do some damage to the hub just to remove it).  I've heard good things about Superwinch (and only a few bad things), so I figured I'd give them a shot.  Beyond that, I don't like automatic hubs because you need to roll forward to engage them... I'm in Chicago, we'll get a forecast for a clear day and it'll end up snowing over a foot, so if my car gets buried, I won't have the luxury of rolling forward before I need 4-wheel drive.  So I need them to lock instantly, which is why I like manual hubs.

Thanks again for the info and also for the welcome!

Stock hubs are Aisin, they're great and tough. Used on Toyota & Isuzu as well to name a couple.

Stock hubs are Aisin, they're great and tough. Used on Toyota & Isuzu as well to name a couple.

More importantly, you can get them pretty cheap at the salvage yard.  You can also use Samurai locking hubs.  I have a set on of Samurai Asins on my '93 Sidekick.  Keep 'em clean and they will not let you down.

And yes, I agree. Autolockers really suck.

lol... I really don't know why I said Warn, I knew they were Aisin from the Tech section of off-road.com.  Sorry about that.  I think I just spent too much time reading about what other companies are using and Warn came up quite a bit.

Hey Randy, are you in the Chicago area?  I live in the west suburbs.  I ask because of the website your Z pics are hosted on.  Great looking Z.

lol... I really don't know why I said Warn, I knew they were Aisin from the Tech section of off-road.com.  Sorry about that.  I think I just spent too much time reading about what other companies are using and Warn came up quite a bit.

Well my OE hubs are supposedly made by Warn. They're not the same shape as the earlier ones and have 'Made In USA' cast into them. They're not as strong as the Aisins though as the cam mechanism is a rather weak plastic affair.
Some people have reported problems with using Sammi hubs on a Track/Kick as far as I can ascertain the Sammy hubs need a gasket.

All the Sami's/Tracks/Kicks got Aisin manuals here in the States.  Maybe in Pomgolia you guys got some of the Warn cheapies later on?

Sami hubs fit fine, did that on my '93 Tracker.  I use RTV to seal any hub on these.

Hey Randy, are you in the Chicago area?  I live in the west suburbs.  I ask because of the website your Z pics are hosted on.  Great looking Z.

yep, I'm a southsider.  Originally from the city, then moved to Oak Lawn and currently a little further south in Frankfort.

hey zlove
 
 i have the bds body and suspension lift on my truck. the body lift comes with everything you need, brackets, t case extension, etc. pm me if you have any questions. the body lift is about $275 cdn
derek