Hey folks,

Searched and couldn't find anything. Is there anything we can do to beef up steering in these little rigs?

I guess I could be a little clearer. I just picked up a 2002 tracker. From what I understand the steering in these is known to be weak, and as I intend to beat on it off road I was hoping to find a solution of some kind. Stronger parts to replace them with, bracing or some such if applicable, or a different steering setup that may or may not require other changes?

Thanks!

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From what I understand the steering in these is known to be weak

Says who?

I know that sounds argumentative, but that's not my intention - seriously, where did you hear it, and wouldn't it be best to ask the folks who're saying it why they feel that way?

There are essentially three types of steering system out there - what I will call "worm & sector" (there are other names for it), rack & pinion, and hydraulic - and of the three, only the first two are street legal.

These vehicles have rack & pinion, which is more modern, way more precise, has less parts to wear and require periodic replacement, less linkages to bend, and is, in my opinion, quite robust.  I have yet to hear (or read on any fora) any complaints about the rack & pinion on these vehicles being weak, breaking, bending, etc..

I have, on the other hand, seen suggestions like yours more than once, with nothing to substantiate them - where is the evidence?

I have personal experience with the strength of the steering on these vehicles, a guy with a Toyota demolished the front of his car against my right front wheel - the steering took the brunt of the impact and only damage sustained was a bent tie-rod -

Fair enough. I will go forward with my unsubstantiated information. It was some article that talked about how chevy could have done much more with the tracker. One of the things it mentioned was the switch to rack and pinion in 98 (or 99?) Which is (alledgedly) weak, and expensive to repair. I'll look for it and post it when I find iy

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Was this what you found?

The later (1999 and up) Tracker models reverted to a lightweight automobile-type rack and pinion steering, and thus were nowhere near as popular with rural and off-road users since the rack and pinion is easily damaged (and expensive to repair).[citation needed]

I took that from Wikipedia

If it is, I want to draw your attention to that "citation needed' - go back to the Wikipedia article & click on it, find out why it's there - and no, I'm not the person questioning it.

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with Wikipedia - it's an excellent source of unverified information - it's a "collaborative" effort - all the content is contributed by every day folk, who may, or may not have the faintest clue what they are writing about.  Wikipedia is supposedly "self correcting" in that if any one disagrees with what someone else has written, he/she can correct it, but does he (or she) know more (or less) than the original contributor?

My suggestion is that you take what you read in Wikipedia with a large pinch of salt.

Just came across this ...

Rack and Pinion elimiates the weaker Kick idler arm set up.

It's part of a discussion on which is better, the older Sidekick or the "newer" (at the time) Grand Vitara.

Taken from here  You can decide if the guy knows what he's talking about, but he is supposedly one of a very small number of people running a twin locked Grand Vitara.

Here's another interesting thread on the strength of the rack & pinion steering.

I have to agree with Fordem.  The tie rods would be a "weak" point on a Tracker...  just like on any other truck.  The R&P assembly is tucked up behind the front cross member.  I think you would crush the front diff carrier before you would or could damage the R&P assembly.  If you have a front skid plate... the only part left exposed is the tie rod ends.  Even those are tucked up tightly against the front control arms.

I replaced my original tie rod ends at around 150K miles, because my boots were torn.  I'm at 207K miles now and the front steering is still tight and precise.  I'm also still running the original R&P assembly to boot.

The main draw back to the 2nd gen Trackers, to some, is the IFS suspension that limits articulation.  While that is true, I haven't found this to be a significant draw back for me.  With a locker in the back the Tracker stills pulls very well with one front wheel in the air.

These are really bullet proof little trucks, right out of the box.  CAN some one break them?  Of course.

Fair enough. I will go forward with my unsubstantiated information. It was some article that talked about how chevy could have done much more with the tracker. One of the things it mentioned was the switch to rack and pinion in 98 (or 99?) Which is (alledgedly) weak, and expensive to repair. I'll look for it and post it when I find iy

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I totally agree GM could have done so much more with this Tracker vehicle offering to make it stand out both in the market place and against any similar competitor. 

A bunch of people (me included) would have been happy if they had engineered the wheel wells with about another inch or two of clearance... then equipped them with 31" tires right out of the factory with the increased gearing to pull them, offered a deeper set of gears for them as an option, and maybe offered more serious skid plates, a rear locking axle and another 6 inches of rear seat leg room.  I'm convinced they would have sold the piss out of these Trackers in North America. 

But then... I wasn't the pencil head geek who had the job of budgeting the vehicle design and development budget nor advertising the Tracker to generate the increased sales.  This was probably a similar budget battle that a few Jeep engineers fought in order to finally develop and field the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon model back in 2003.  Besides, I'm sure GM was also using the Tracker platform to help bring down their CARB fleet average to boot to satisfy existing laws.

Seriously though, could you just imagine buying a brand new Tracker, WITH larger wheel wells and 31" tires standard, more axle gearing (and optional gearing available) with more rear seat leg room in North America?  I think they would have sold like hot cakes.