Hi!
About a month ago I picked up a 2002 2-dr Chevy Tracker with 30,000 miles.  I bought the tracker for a fun off road rig to take my kids off roading.  My husband rides his enduro bike and I follow with the kids, lunch, and extra gas.  Previously I have had 2 Jeep Wranglers we used for similar excursions, but we like this Tracker sooo much more!  Well, we have already put 4,000 miles on it with a 2 week trip to Utah and a 1 week trip to Anza Borrego (Cali).  So far however, I have already gotten stuck two times!  Pretty much mud problems in a very narrow track where ground clearance with the rear diff becomes an issue.  In both cases I was able to jack up the tracker and get out (kids just love seeing mom dig around in the mud!). 

I am thinking a small lift may be helpful.  We really like using the Tracker around town so I was thinking of just a little lift (1 - 2").  Since I do not have the tools or time to install the kit myself, I would like to be able to purchase everything together and take it to my mechanic for installation.  I prefer not to have to buy 10 pieces from 10 different places and hope they fit together.

There are many different kits out there and I was looking at the Rocky Road site.  They list 1" coil spaces or a complete 2" kit with new shocks/struts.  Also Sky Manufacturing list a kit for $155 that includes strut spacers and shock relocation bracket.  What would you guys recommend?  I do not do serious rock crawling, but I never know what is around the next turn.  I am currently running 235/75/15 Bridgestone AT tires.

On a completely different note, after a difficult off road day (~150 miles with mud and rocks) the next morning the starter began making a funny screeching sound (like you were holding the key on too long).  Husband thinks a knocked something out of alignment in the starter motor and says I should just get a new one.  Anyone else have this happen to them?

Cheers,
Jill

well with the 235's its as big as your going to get even with a suspension lift without cutting or a body lift... for a cheep spacer kit like your saying try http://www.boondoxmotorsports.com/zuk_suspension.html he has strut extenders camber bolts and 1.5 poly spacers that are really nice fitting the spring. then new shocks to go with the lift, and it comes with instructions and everything. it should be easy for the mechs to get it back in alighnment and it will ride nice when done better than stock probably...im not sure alot of mechanics would do this for you though for safety reasons not being stock parts... you might have to find a backyard mechanic to do it for you..

 your probably at 9.5 inches of frame clearance now so this will get you to about 12 inches frame clearance... but the axles are gonna stay in the same place... you need larger tires to move them up... and to clear anything larger than 235's usually means a body lift or some cutting for tire size...
 im testfitting 31's right now on mine "2 inches bigger than 235's" they will lift the axles up 1 inch, so far they clear but i have to make sure they dont rub on any fenders when fully articulated..... but i did a mixed kit from a few different places...

Wezeles, thanks so much for the quick reply.  I was confused about the lift kit increasing ground clearance as the rear axle does appear straight on to the wheels.  A quick look under the car led me to believe that the only way to increase ground clearance was to get larger tires.  I asked Rocky Road about their kits and they insisted that your ground clearance increases by 2".  I guess they mean only the frame.  When I talk about ground clearance on a vehicle I usually measure at the lowest point (rear diff for the tracker), not some part that is way up on the frame. 

If the lift kit does not get you really any more ground clearance (axles still at same location) is the only reason to do a lift kit to be able to fit larger tires.  The 235/75/15 seem to be running fine and I do not want to go bigger. I am not really sure what they are doing under suspension compression but I have not heard any strange noises, any easy way to check?

Thanks,
Jill

sounds like your starter got a little too wet... it happens and sure has to me, yes, you'll need a new one really soon.

for your lift options, if you don't want to spend a lot you can buy coil spacers, 1.5 inch for the front and 2 inch for the back,  for rear shocks, either buy some crown vics of any year from the 90's, i recently bought mustang rear shocks which were surprisingly 1.5 inches longer than the crown vics but ride rougher..  the only real difficulty will be what you decide to do with your front struts, what i listed above should only cost $150,  if you can get strut extensions from bds go for it, if not look into OME struts, this will be the biggest expense but people say they're great.  then install and good to go, the OME struts are already prepared for the alignment requirements i've heard.

if you buy the boondox 1.5inch spacers all around you will not be happy, the front will sit noticeably higher than the rear.  you must have a taller spacer in the rear.

you can see below what i am running.  i fit 31's with only rubbing on the frame..

JillRide9, I will sell you 2-1.5" and 2-2" coil spacers for $80. That includes shipping. Let me know if you are interested.

well dont always think of your axles as your bad part to get stuck... i was the same way as you 235's on the stock setup and it got me through most but not all that i went at... i bottomed out the frame on ruts and missed the tires by only a couple inches...if i would have had the lift in i could have still dragged myself through it the axels will pull themselfs through thick mud... the entire frame wont..lol so it will still help...  and its not crazy big or feels unsteady acctually rides smoother than it did... mine consist of jeffs 2.0 and 1.5 spacers and i left the factory spacers in place aswell then i just order boondox strut extenders and camber bolts and picked up a 2 inch shock extender at an autoparts store... it made its stance the same as factory and took me and a budy about 3 hours to put in most of the hard part was getting loose rusty bolts... besides that im sure you and your husband could do it in the driveway without any problem.. just take the spring out put the spacer above it put the spring back in, then extend the shocks and struts... pretty easy then just take it in for an alinment with the new camber bolts... the kit cost about 150 and an afternoon of time..

the extra lift under everything but the rear axle will make your tracker feel like a whole new truck on the trails - in a good way! 

Another thing you may wish to consider is that a suspension lift on the front does make the ride worse, because the more the A-arms point down, the more road shock is communicated to the chassis.  The more lift, the more the effect.

The Old Man Emu springs and struts and shocks do make a considerable improvement over the stock parts, and reduce the effect, compared to just using spring spacers and strut extenders, so you may feel the extra money for OME is worth it in the long run.  You can get the kit from Rocky Road, but people say there are less expensive suppliers.  OME is a "recognised" supplier of replacement parts, so is "respectable" in terms of not needing a backyard mechanic.  Also, the struts are designed to correct the camber for the lift, so you will not need camber bolts and a trip to the alignment shop (but it might be an idea to get the toe-in checked).

If you do feel the need to increase the clearance under the rear diff, the downside of larger diameter tyres is that it raises the overall gearing, and adversely affects your acceleration and top speed, as well as the calibration of your mileometer and speedo.  It is possible to counter this by changing the crownwheel and pinion in each of the two diffs for a lower ratio (if you can get them).

if you buy the boondox 1.5inch spacers all around you will not be happy, the front will sit noticeably higher than the rear.  you must have a taller spacer in the rear.

oh great... and i just ordered that kit last week! 

oh great... and i just ordered that kit last week! 

its just the way it sits a 1.5 spacer up front will give you 2 inches in the end but the 1.5 spacer in the rear will give you only 1.5 inches... take the stock spacer .25 out of the front and leave the one in the rear that will make it look alright... thats the only problem with using the same size front and rear is the stance changes from higher in the rear to level all around... still looks ok but most people like the look of the factory stance... specially when you go to fill up the gass tank it will end up riding lower in the rear when its full and under compression

Another thing you may wish to consider is that a suspension lift on the front does make the ride worse, because the more the A-arms point down, the more road shock is communicated to the chassis.  The more lift, the more the effect.

The Old Man Emu springs and struts and shocks do make a considerable improvement over the stock parts, and reduce the effect, compared to just using spring spacers and strut extenders, so you may feel the extra money for OME is worth it in the long run.  You can get the kit from Rocky Road, but people say there are less expensive suppliers.  OME is a "recognised" supplier of replacement parts, so is "respectable" in terms of not needing a backyard mechanic.  Also, the struts are designed to correct the camber for the lift, so you will not need camber bolts and a trip to the alignment shop (but it might be an idea to get the toe-in checked).

If you do feel the need to increase the clearance under the rear diff, the downside of larger diameter tyres is that it raises the overall gearing, and adversely affects your acceleration and top speed, as well as the calibration of your mileometer and speedo.  It is possible to counter this by changing the crownwheel and pinion in each of the two diffs for a lower ratio (if you can get them).

What Ian said.  I lifted our Grand Vitara via spacers and when/if I do our XL7 I will be using the OME lift for it.

With the exception of the rear shocks.  OME's rear shocks just do nothing to inspire the urge to pay their price so I'll just source some other shocks locally for half as much.