I searched for info on putting trackick front gears in the rear of my sami, got everything but what I was looking for.
Just looking for feedback, good or bad about this set up

I know about the hybrid rear axle set up, but I got 2 front track diffs dirt cheap recently and seems easier and cheaper than swapping housings.

just change the side gears to fit the axels and go! use the sammie steel carriers for more strenth. and break the gears in slow and easy for the first 500 miles.

I know about the hybrid rear axle set up, but I got 2 front track diffs dirt cheap recently and seems easier and cheaper than swapping housings.

This a place where takeing a shortcut would be bad.

The front dif (or third member)  housings on a TracKick are too lightweight to take the abuse of offroading in a Samurai. Since the front axle of a TracKick is not actually part of the suspension (eg. it does not move - rather the halfshafts and the A-arms do all the suspension movement) the third member housing does not have to be as strong (although I understand that it can be broken!   ).

Putting an aluminum TracKick third member on a Samurai's rear or front axle (assuming the bolt pattern is the same) would be asking for trouble on the trail.

Part of the fun of wheeling is the DIY modding!  Buy a set of Carrier Pin retaining cans ($35.00 a set at trailtough.com for instance) and swap out the ring and pinions!

This a place where takeing a shortcut would be bad.

The front dif (or third member)  housings on a TracKick are too lightweight to take the abuse of offroading in a Samurai. Since the front axle of a TracKick is not actually part of the suspension (eg. it does not move - rather the halfshafts and the A-arms do all the suspension movement) the third member housing does not have to be as strong (although I understand that it can be broken!   ).

Putting an aluminum TracKick third member on a Samurai's rear or front axle (assuming the bolt pattern is the same) would be asking for trouble on the trail.

Part of the fun of wheeling is the DIY modding!  Buy a set of Carrier Pin retaining cans ($35.00 a set at trailtough.com for instance) and swap out the ring and pinions!

and its really not that hard , befor i did mine everyone was telling me horror stories about how hard it was , maybe on a d44 but the sammys toys and trackers are pretty straight foward , if you have questions call trailtough ,they are great and will walk you through it .

Since the front axle of a TracKick is not actually part of the suspension (eg. it does not move - rather the halfshafts and the A-arms do all the suspension movement) the third member housing does not have to be as strong

Uhhh  I'd have to disagree, on the contrary, the SideKick
front 3rd member does take quite a bit of force, that's
why they break, especially in reverse.

An aluminum 3rd member in a Sammy would take less
stress than in a Track/Kick, in the Track/Kick the snout
takes the torque of the front axle

Wild

Uhhh  I'd have to disagree, on the contrary, the SideKick
front 3rd member does take quite a bit of force, that's
why they break, especially in reverse.

An aluminum 3rd member in a Sammy would take less
stress than in a Track/Kick, in the Track/Kick the snout
takes the torque of the front axle

Wild

Okay, but what happens when that aluminum third member takes a nasty shot from a boulder on the trail?  I saw Lewis "BillyBob" Scherer shatter a steel third while high-centered on a Badlands trail.  I think we can agree that a steel third would be tougher than an aluminum one.  

I'm not saying you are wrong.  I just think that an aluminum third isn't something I would want to depend on while on the trail.

Signing off on this thread, I remain,

I just took Purevils front aluminum housing apart that he had in his sammy. The gears had NO backlash do to the fact the housing was twisted from the torque! I measured between the main caps of the case, and it was twisted. Yes...his is an extreme case, he really leans on it....but failed none the less.
You can stir up a steel housing for pretty cheap, and the mini install kit is only about $30 shipped. It's cheap insurance if you ask me.
Brent is getting his install kit this week, and we are stepping his up to 5.12s, in the steel housing before the melt!

 I'm going to use steel housings for both diff's but was told by trail tough that the front gears in the back won't last.
Is this just an up sell for the hybrid set up or is there some truth to this?

Okay, but what happens when that aluminum third member takes a nasty shot from a boulder on the trail?  I saw Lewis "BillyBob" Scherer shatter a steel third while high-centered on a Badlands trail.  I think we can agree that a steel third would be tougher than an aluminum one.  

OK, I'll give you that one, but you didn't
start the thread with impact as part of the
strength issue.  I would think if you hit a
3rd hard enough to shatter it, even a skid
plate would be hard pressed to hold up to
that kind of impact.

In some cases aluminum can take a hit and
live where a cast iron would break, I'm not
saying this is one of those cases, but cast
iron is more brittle, and therefore more prone
to shattering than aluminum, depending on
the alloy and so forth.

As far as power, my front aluminum 3rd has
held up to the turbo, 5.83 gears and 33-13.5
Super Swampers, tho I'm not locked in front,
I can't complaine, some guys replace the fronts
on a monthly basis

Wild

I don't see Brent(Trail-tough) doing an up sell...but I have had my gears in for well over a year...daily driver, and hammer it offroad. Knock on wood...never a bit of problems! And they were the first set I ever setup!!

remember the question was an aluminum front in the rear of a sami.  That is apples and oranges to your experiance Wild.
The rear diff in ANY rig will take most of the abuse/stress.
to take a unit ment for the FRONT on an 95% onroad 4wd and stuff it in the back of a 4x4 is a recipe for disaster.

Lets put it this way - you wouldn't want to run the aluminum housing in the back of your track/kick with your turbo going through it right?  (cause you are nuts to do so)

No one is dissing the track/kick front for what it is built for,
and that is light duty. (Like it or not suzuki didn't design them for what we do with these things.)

They really did a great job with the engineering considering how long these DO last.  You can only ask so much.

Didnt see anyone mention this, and would agree with Brent. If you put the entire aluminum front into the rear.
they have inharently poor oil passage to the bearing and under street use DD you would eventualy blow it up, due to lack of oiling.