Chevy Tracker?

[ultra magnus]

Any opinions or experience when it comes to the Chevy Tracker as a BOV? Specificly the 4wd 4door hardtop model. Most of my research has shown them to be a little underpowered, but pretty capable of getting around.

[KJ_Ford]

I do not own one, so this is not personal experience, but there are offroad clubs dedicated to this vehicle. They are a bit underpowered, but with a small lift and the right gearing, these guys are going just about everywhere a jeep could go. There is a company that I believe makes a lot of off-road stuff for these. If I'm remembering correctly, it is called "Old Man Emu". Do a search online and you might be surprised by the aftermarket following of these.

[grennels]

Any opinions or experience when it comes to the Chevy Tracker as a BOV? Specificly the 4wd 4door hardtop model. Most of my research has shown them to be a little underpowered, but pretty capable of getting around.

I have owned 7 of them. (3) 4 doors and (4) 2 doors. I prefer the 2 doors. They get
better mpg and have better power to weight ratio. Trackers are true small trucks.
Full frame, real 4wd system with transfer case and low range gears. The last Tracker
before my present one I traded with 217K miles on it. Still ran fine. Never ONCE touched
it under the hood except to replace a battery. No water pump, no alternator, no starter,
no nothing. The one I am driving now I just replaced the factory Goodyears at 132K miles.
I actually prefer the 1st gen Tracker with the 1.8 liter engine. Over 30mpg. Newer 2 liters
drop down to 27-28 mpg. I know a guy that pulled a 17 foot runabout with a Tracker. No
problems. Great car. Too bad they quit making them. Same vehicle as Suzuki Side Kick/
Vitara.

[Braticus Caticus]

Had a Sidekick Sport four door hardtop for a few years while I was taking care of a Catfish farm in Neelyville MO.
No complaints, good mpg, rugged, and narrow enough to get into areas a fullsized truck/suv couldn't.
I sold it to the owner of the farm when I left.
In all honesty I liked it better than the 3 jeeps I have owned and will probably buy another.

[bugoutvehicles.net]

a buddy of mine was telling me about a magazine article he read that did a side-by-side comparison between a tracker, sidekick, and some UTV's. The sidekick and tracker won hands down in power to weight, offroad capability, and capacity. Might want to look around for the article. he convinced me so i bought something similar anyway.



it has a 1.7 liter gas engine, 4 speed manual with granny low but is already ready to go. rear locker, 2 ft fording ability, 4-dr with independent suspension

[TacAir]

Good question
1st, I run one and have since 1996, wife has one, as do the kids.
Never a problem, as the other poster has noted - built like a brick shithouse..

I live in Alaska - it gets kinda cold sometimes. The only mods I made was to put 'red' synth lube oil in the xfer case and pumpkins, Other it ws hard to shift in -10 weather. Heaters are da bomb!


30mpg no problem in sumer and a bit less in the winter.

Have it checked by an expeianced mech head before purchase - just as you would nay vehicle.

Hope this helps.

[ultra magnus]

Well I ended up getting one of these a 2000 with about 75000 miles on it. Seems to be in pretty good sape over all. On the way home check engine light came on though.
Got P0400, an EGR error. It seems to be running just fine, but from what I have seen cleaning solvers this error a lot of times. Can anyone provide me with good directions on where to find teh EGR valve and how to clean it?

[bugoutvehicles.net]

nope sorry, been years since i changed one out and i cant remember. What do you have planned for this one. Fairly stock or wildly modified. I bet a little M416 trailer woul be great behind one.

[ultra magnus]

nope sorry, been years since i changed one out and i cant remember. What do you have planned for this one. Fairly stock or wildly modified. I bet a little M416 trailer woul be great behind one.

Yeah I doubt I'll do much of anything as far as real mods, mostly just load her up with gear. Any suggestions on low cots, low skill mods?

[vahtryn]

My room mate's girl friend has one of these in soft top. Thing seems to run lock a rock. the alternator lost a bolt for some odd reason so she was having battery troubles. We found a bolt that would fit and put it in there and it's still running.

Unfortunately she doesn't really take care of it so it'll probably blow up eventually.

[Maast]

My dad has one, he describes it as a "ATV with a cabin and a heater" he goes all over the hills of eastern oregon in it.

[ultra magnus]

Now that I think about it a fuel can mount on the back would be snazzy? What kind of cash/tools/skill is required for that?

[djnerfer97]

me i dont own one but it will be my next one they seem to be built like tanks cuz they can go places were hummers cant and can last thru out the ages

[mypps]

Well I ended up getting one of these a 2000 with about 75000 miles on it. Seems to be in pretty good sape over all. On the way home check engine light came on though.
Got P0400, an EGR error. It seems to be running just fine, but from what I have seen cleaning solvers this error a lot of times. Can anyone provide me with good directions on where to find teh EGR valve and how to clean it?

my moms had an egr code that i couldn't seem to shake, too. if its the same motor my moms has(2001 1.6) the egr is on the back of the intake between the firewall and the engine. not easy to get to but doable with a wrench. if you remove it, try starting the engine. if it starts and runs, the metal tube running from the egr to the intake plenum is probably plugged. if it stalls then your problem lies elsewhere. read through this http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/2000-chevy-tracker-egr-62929/. it will give you some good info.

[grennels]

Well I ended up getting one of these a 2000 with about 75000 miles on it. Seems to be in pretty good sape over all. On the way home check engine light came on though.
Got P0400, an EGR error. It seems to be running just fine, but from what I have seen cleaning solvers this error a lot of times. Can anyone provide me with good directions on where to find teh EGR valve and how to clean it?

I've been running mine for 100k miles with the service engine light on.

Cover it with a piece of black tape.

[ZombieSoldier01]

Weird... I was actually thinking of one of these for my kids first vehicle, look on ZS and bam this thread pops up!

[ace of shades]

I've been running mine for 100k miles with the service engine light on.

Cover it with a piece of black tape.

My dad has a 89 (GEO) tracker with over 400k - Head was rebuilt around 200K and it spent most of its life with said electrical tape over the check engine light. I know on his there was a reset button on the back of the insterment cluster some where. IRC it was a pain in the ass to get to so he just went back to the tape.
Sadly it's down for the count now *has been for quite some time actually*. It finally gave up the ghost. The ECM and the head are both bad in it; We have been talking about here this past month and have decided to put a diesel VW rabbit motor into it. Not much of a power or torque gain, but it gets it moving again

[Polie]

I do not own one, so this is not personal experience, but there are offroad clubs dedicated to this vehicle. They are a bit underpowered, but with a large lift and the right gearing, a jeep could only still dream about going where a Tracker and/Samurai could go. There is a company that I believe makes a lot of off-road stuff for these. If I'm remembering correctly, it is called "Old Man Emu". Do a search online and you might be surprised by the aftermarket following of these.

Fixed it for you.

But yea they are very good 4x4's and the only thing better would be a Samurai. (only becasue they are soooo easy to work on with the suspension) On my zuk I had YJ springs, cry treated gears in the t-case and diffs, and 300m axles. I never broke a thing and and went places where some Jeep owners with more money than sense and every bolton upgrade would not could not go. (of course I had my fair shar of dents, dings, and scrapes.