Ok so my front dif. housing broke on my last outing, this is #2 so its time to be dealt with..... my question is, on the writeup for the xl7/GV iron front diff. the kick worked on is a 92 5 speed which has a different spline count than my 96 2 door 5 speed (26 spline), will the 99 style 3rd member not work for me? can I use my stock 3rd? thanks 

 

I can tell you that XL7 and Vitara front housings are interchangable with the sidekick. With that being said there are some differences. The one you mentioned is the most common, It's been awhile but if memory serves me correctly the older sidekicks have 22 spline sidegears in the 3rd member and later models I believe 96 and newer have 26spline sidegears. Vitara and XL7 have 26spline gears in them too so you should be fine.  I would replace both the housing and the 3rd member with the iron components. Also the XL7 3rd member has a different mounting tab on it. I actually think it's a stronger design but just make sure if you get XL7 components that you also get the mounting tab. beyond that just make sure your gear ratios are matching.. I am pretty sure Hawk has them instock. You used to be able to get those parts directly from Suzuki too. Last but not least since your into the front end you might as well get the front locker from trailtough.

Ok so my front dif. housing broke on my last outing, this is #2 so its time to be dealt with..... my question is, on the writeup for the xl7/GV iron front diff. the kick worked on is a 92 5 speed which has a different spline count than my 96 2 door 5 speed (26 spline), will the 99 style 3rd member not work for me? can I use my stock 3rd? thanks 

From the Article archives:

http://www.zukiworld.com/month_090103/feature_sidekickdrivetrainimprovements.htm

Hope that helps.

-Eric

Quote from: zukizuki07 on January 01, 2009, 10:47:41 PM

Ok so my front dif. housing broke on my last outing, this is #2 so its time to be dealt with..... my question is, on the writeup for the xl7/GV iron front diff. the kick worked on is a 92 5 speed which has a different spline count than my 96 2 door 5 speed (26 spline), will the 99 style 3rd member not work for me? can I use my stock 3rd? thanks 

From the Article archives:

http://www.zukiworld.com/month_090103/feature_sidekickdrivetrainimprovements.htm

Hope that helps.

-Eric

Thanks, that is the writeup I am basing this "knowledge" from haha just unsure of the gearing and spline counts and what not.... going to call hawk strickly and hopefully get the info I need.

I can tell you that XL7 and Vitara front housings are interchangable with the sidekick. With that being said there are some differences. The one you mentioned is the most common, It's been awhile but if memory serves me correctly the older sidekicks have 22 spline sidegears in the 3rd member and later models I believe 96 and newer have 26spline sidegears. Vitara and XL7 have 26spline gears in them too so you should be fine.  I would replace both the housing and the 3rd member with the iron components. Also the XL7 3rd member has a different mounting tab on it. I actually think it's a stronger design but just make sure if you get XL7 components that you also get the mounting tab. beyond that just make sure your gear ratios are matching.. I am pretty sure Hawk has them instock. You used to be able to get those parts directly from Suzuki too. Last but not least since your into the front end you might as well get the front locker from trailtough.

Huge help, thank you very much!

Just got off the phone with hawk suzuki, awesome service! Looking at $1000 assembled.... oh how I wish I could pick up a used housing/gear set  :'(

You could pick up a Samurai rear end, then swap your gears and have a machinist clean up the passenger side of the carrier so it matches the stock Tracker carrier. 

You could pick up a Samurai rear end, then swap your gears and have a machinist clean up the passenger side of the carrier so it matches the stock Tracker carrier. 

I actually have a parts sammi sitting in the back yard.... do you have a writeup on that?? or what would be needed to swap both axles? thanks

Send a message to BRD HNTR, he had it done as part of a conversion for a steel front housing outlined over at http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=22395.msg192083#msg192083 They put the gears into the steel diff last weekend.

My Tracker is a daily driver, so I haven't even looked at it yet. 

Just got off the phone with hawk suzuki, awesome service! Looking at $1000 assembled.... oh how I wish I could pick up a used housing/gear set  :'(

I have a front diff gear set removed from the steel housing.  Appears to be like new. I think it is out of an automatic with 5:12 gears.  Does that sound right? I bought it for the steel housing and did not really care what gears were in it.  $100 + Shipping.

Quote from: zukizuki07 on January 02, 2009, 11:16:03 AM

Just got off the phone with hawk suzuki, awesome service! Looking at $1000 assembled.... oh how I wish I could pick up a used housing/gear set  :'(

I have a front diff gear set removed from the steel housing.  Appears to be like new. I think it is out of an automatic with 5:12 gears.  Does that sound right? I bought it for the steel housing and did not really care what gears were in it.  $100 + Shipping.

need 5 speed to 5 speed sorry.... thanks though! now either i replace with another weak aluminum diff. or try to find a good writeup on using a sammi rear axle in the front..... oh how I wish I had more money and yota's

I have my new Samurai conversion sitting on the bench.  I will be doing an engine swap next week, and install the new front housing then.  After testing it I'll post the results on the DYI section.  If you are able to create things, this is a natural build. 
To use a Samurai third the short side of the diff input sleeve needs to be machined to allow the Tracker long CV (larger size) to go all the way into the diff.  Compare the lid side of both Tracker and Samurai input sleeves and you will see what I am referring to.  I believe HAWK has machined Samurai thirds for use in Trackers, if you don't have the machining capacity.

I have my new Samurai conversion sitting on the bench.  I will be doing an engine swap next week, and install the new front housing then.  After testing it I'll post the results on the DYI section.  If you are able to create things, this is a natural build. 
To use a Samurai third the short side of the diff input sleeve needs to be machined to allow the Tracker long CV (larger size) to go all the way into the diff.  Compare the lid side of both Tracker and Samurai input sleeves and you will see what I am referring to.  I believe HAWK has machined Samurai thirds for use in Trackers, if you don't have the machining capacity.

Look forward to seeing your results!

hawk does have machined thirds, or you can just do the trailtough front locker, it has the locker the carrrier everything  for 300 bucks that is a great deal. To piece this together would be more unless you already have an extra locker and a samurai carrier laying around.

http://www.trailtough.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=169&category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

I bought my parts directly from Suzuki, unfortunatley I do not have the part numbers anymore. I wanna say the front third unloaded was less than 250.00 but that was quite some time ago.

You may want to check in with Petroworks too. I know some people that good complete front housing/diffs everything from him that were basically pulled from scrap vehicles.

the RPM4x4 guys did the samurai third member in the front. There are not a lot of details here but there are some.

http://zukiworld.com/month_020105/feature_rockstarpart2.htm

here is some more information on modifying the front diff to stop the mounts from breaking
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=21156.0


and again more information in this thread including the part number to order the XL7 steel front third member
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=4408.0

may the force be with you.
hutch

Quote from: skitime on January 02, 2009, 04:52:31 PM

Quote from: zukizuki07 on January 02, 2009, 11:16:03 AM

Just got off the phone with hawk suzuki, awesome service! Looking at $1000 assembled.... oh how I wish I could pick up a used housing/gear set  :'(

I have a front diff gear set removed from the steel housing.  Appears to be like new. I think it is out of an automatic with 5:12 gears.  Does that sound right? I bought it for the steel housing and did not really care what gears were in it.  $100 + Shipping.

need 5 speed to 5 speed sorry.... thanks though! now either i replace with another weak aluminum diff. or try to find a good writeup on using a sammi rear axle in the front..... oh how I wish I had more money and yota's

The 5.12 gears are the ones that you need for a 5sp manual. however autos are usually 4.88s or similar.