ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: blazin00 on January 12, 2012, 10:51:51 PM
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I am thinking about putting 235's on my tracker but they are quite a bit bigger than the 205's that are on it and I am worried about how it will affect my gearing. Will 235's bog my engine down? Am I going to want to re-gear after I put the bigger tires on? If you have bigger tires on your ride please chime in. Mine's a 2000 tracker 2 door 2 liter and 5 speed.
Thanks
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I have 235s on my 2.0, 5 door, 5 speed - they are the OE tire - works just fine.
How about I rephrase that - the OE tire size on my 2.0 5 door is a 235/60R16 - ad it works well.
Saying you want to use a 235 tire doesn't give us the entire picture - it tells us the tire width and nothing more - providing the rest of the details let's us know the profile (the /60) and the rim size (the 16). A 235/60R16 works out to a 27 inch tire, same as a 215/65R16, same as a 205/70R16 - almost (it's 27.28").
Get the idea?
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I have a 2002 4-door Tracker with the 2 liter engine and 5 speed. Trackers come equipped with 15" rims. I have ran various 235/75/15 series tire brands on it for about 70K miles. It pulled them fine with only a slight loss of mechanical advantage which was most noticeable when driving very hilly roads at lower speeds/RPMs. To negotiate the hills while retaining ground speed (40-50MPH) you simply downshift to 4th. Out on the interstate when the engine is spinning at 3000 RPM+ the larger hills in Kentucky didn't affect my ground speed much at all. As in I could cruise in 5th gear with little to no loss of ground speed pulling up some of the 7 mile long grades. Alot of people don't even use their 5th gear below 50 or 55MPH. The 2 liter engines make their best horsepower in the 3500-4000 RPM range. I seldom push my truck engine beyond 3000RPM. So the answer to your question (IMHO) is your truck will do fine with 235s and as long as you use your clutch correctly (ie; don't ride it all the time) it shouldn't even affect your clutch plate life. I have 152K on my truck as of now with the original clutch. All clutches wear out at some point and I'm due in the near future but 150-170K on a clutch is acceptable. You WILL have some frame rub on the front end when you turn full lock left or right. The tire will contact the frame in the rear (by your foot wells). It takes the paint off the frame and will leave a shiny spot there. But it doesn't rust because your tire will continually 'polish off' the surface. When you shift into 4 LO your transfer case is geared down so you still have increased mechanical advantage... just slightly less than when you ran stock diameter tires. 235s are totally doable. You have a 2 door which is slightly lighter to boot. I haven't ran 31s but I am sure my assessment would be quite different and the duration of the clutch life would reflect this fact as well.
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nprecon pretty well covered it.
Yes, you'll totally feel the loss of power. You won't lose 5th gear, but you won't be accelerating much in it anymore. Mileage will suffer a little.
BUT it's totally worth it. Don't exceed 29".
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235 75 15 is the size I was talking about. I want to run them on the O E wheels. I live in the Sierra Nevada mountains and was more concerned on how the tracker will pull steep grades with the bigger tires.
Thanks
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You may be using 4th gear more than before, or running the rpm's higher before shifting.
I was running 30x9.5x15's and was splitting between 4th & 5th when going through Cascades, with a 1.6 l 8v. At 60 mph it was turning 3,000, and if I didn't turn it up to 4500-5000 I never would have got on the freeway. These motors are not like old American Iron, they develop hp at higher rpm's, and can run there all day if taken care of. Having the extra hp from a 2.0 l will help, and with the 29" tires it sholdn't be that much effect.
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My experience goes like this:
After installing jeff's spacer lift I put 235/75's mud tires on my 4 door 2.0l 5 speed Vitara. A few weeks later I ended up taking them off in favor of some 215/75 mud tires. I did this for two reasons; they rubbed my wheel wells (most likely cause of my excessive backspacing) and they did have a noticeable effect on power.
Now I once drove a 1.3L samurai with 31's and stock gearing. That was a real power loss, 5th gear was completly useless even going down a steep hill with a strong tail wind. The Vitara on 235's wasn't anything like that, but it was noticeable on the many hills around where i live. Now that I've updated the stock 4.62's to the much lower 5.13's I'm going to try 30's and hope the power loss isn't too bad.
If they aren't too many wild mountain passes on your daily commute I say go for it! Change is good! ;D
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Another thought.... when you slap 235s on your truck your speedo will be off by about 3+MPH. So when you are cruising at 55MPH you will actually be cruizing at about 58-59MPH. Ask me how I know :-\. Anyhoo... you can pop on the 235 tires and later down the road grab a set of 4.88 gears, which are readily available from automatic transmission equipped Trackers, and your speedo will be spot on using factory (Tracker) gears. Not only will your speedo be spot on again, but the lossed mechanical advantage will be returned. In the mean time, just be cognizant of the fact you will be moving slightly faster than your speedo indicates and you don't want to be crowding the posted speed limit.
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Thanks for all the replys and info. So about the 4.88s, did they come in all Trakitaras with an auto and 4 wheel drive or just the 4 cylinders?
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The second gen Trackers with 2 liter engines and auto trannys had the 4.88s. I think the 2.5 V6 equipped ran 4.88s also, but I haven't worked with any of them first hand. There are FAR more auto tranny Trackers on the road and in the scrap yards than the 5 spd equipped Trackers. Probably something on the ratio of 10 to 1. So acquiring a set of the 4.88 gears is not difficult.
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did any come with the 4.88's and steel front diff?
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None that I am aware of. Only Suzuki offered models with the steel front carrier and third member.
However, if you keep all the mounting bolts tight and install a steel skid plate under the carrier (like built of 10 gage thickness steel) if you intend to run off road on trails I don't know of too many who have had their aluminum carrier fail on them. There are exceptions to every point, of course. However, if you know you will really beat on your truck, run 31 inch tires with stock size gears (where the pressure is transferred to the diff more), OR get buried/stuck and really crank on the throttle in reverse to extract yourself without tying down the rear diff mount to prevent excess reverse torque on the rear diff mount... chances are great your stuff will eventually break. So, just be honest with yourself. If you plan on really working your truck, then plan on really modifying/building your truck appropriately for the way and wear you intend to expose it to. Neglect an area and Murphy will come calling. "Stuff" will still occasionally happen, but like most things in life, most of it is preventable. Still, these little trucks are built pretty damned good from the factory and as many have attested to they have amazed many an owner and many who watch the trucks drive by them. I wish more of the newer trucks were built with this much durability from the factory and the simplicity of repair. Those days are long gone though, I think.
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With Jeff's 2" lift, I'm currently running 245/75R16 BFG ATs... yes there's a loss in power, but I have always found my rig under powered, and don't find the difference enough to complain about.
I do get some rub, especially off road, but I have no plans on going back to a smaller tire. My Vitara is a 2003 4 cylinder with the auto tranny.
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honestly... you can run 235/75/15's without any lfits, and you can get it in a c ply... which is much lighter than eply 245/75/16's
I had a good set of Dunlop MT's and it seems like I could wheel just about as good as I can these days with my 2.5" lift and 245s... yet with better power and fuel effenciency... though the look is meaner with the meatier tires
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honestly... you can run 235/75/15's without any lfits,
Really depends on which wheels you run. I bought some 15x7 rockcrawler rims and of course had to use a 1.25" spacer to fit them over the calipers.
Even after Jeff's 2" lift AND a bunch of plastic trimming i couldn't get the 235's to fit without rubbing ???
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I bought a set of 15 x 7 cheapy aftermarket steel wheels to run studded tires on in the winter and had to run spacers to clear the front calipers also. Who makes wheels that will fit with out spacers?
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The factory Tracker steelies and aluminum rims are 5.5" and 6" respectively with 4.25" back spacing, as I recall. Both will hold a 235 series tire just fine.
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The factory Tracker steelies and aluminum rims are 5.5" and 6" respectively with 4.25" back spacing, as I recall. Both will hold a 235 series tire just fine.
but they're kinda ugly :D
Does anyone know if 15" samurai rims fit? Probably not, but those factory bullet hole rims look great!
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I know they are ugly... I didn't care for the second gen steelies (or aluminum rims) so I bought a set of five steelies from a 2nd gen 98' tracker at the local junk yard, painted them semi-gloss black (cause i don't like silver) and I'm rolling with them. For me, I just want to stay with factory back spacing and keep my tires under the fenders. 94' Kicks came with the bullet hole steel rims from the factory too.
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but they're kinda ugly :D
Does anyone know if 15" samurai rims fit? Probably not, but those factory bullet hole rims look great!
Yes, Derek runs 235/75R15 All Terrain tires on Samurai rims on a stock 4 door. A little rubbing on the back of the fender when turning and backing up, other then that no issues.