I am trying to make the Tracker vs. Samurai decision.  I have 3 teenage age daughters that will probably drive the "extra" vehicle from time to time, so it needs to be safe on the road.  I want to use it for hunting and exploring in places I can not get my 78 F-250 4x4 to due to its length, weight, etc.  If some of you fellas could give me your thoughts on which way to lean for a vehicle that will see 85% road and 15% off it would be very helpful.  Then after that question I would be interested in which mods take priority for this utility vehicle, not a crawler, but a get most anywhere reliable rig.

Well the Samurai is classic, but they are getting harder to find now, and
the nice clean rust free ones are worth more than a mid 90s Track/Kick.

That being said, I have a Sidekick, and I think you would be better off
with a Sidekick, one for the power (bigger engine) and the driveability
and comfort, power steering and air conditioning on some models

All that being said, what do you have in mind for a budget? And
much can you do/work on it yourself? You can find a problem truck
that needs some work and get it for less than $1000, add a locker,
and a spacer lift, some mud tires and it will do what you want and
probably more

Wild

Thanks for the input.  I am thinking I should stay under 5 or 6 thousand since part of my selling point to my bride was this instead of a additional quad.  How much difference is there with the pre vs post 96 trackers and I noticed on your rig you added turbo, how tough and expensive was that?

Get the 16V, like 96 and up yrs, and turbos go on easy enough, I did an 8V, total
pain, lots of fabrication and just too much work.

I did all the turbo work, took me 2 years of tinkering to get it running well, I had to
experiment with 4 different manifolds, and several fuel adding mods, until I ended
up putting 4 additional injector bungs on the 8V manifold and utilizing a MegaSquirt
EFI system to run it only at boost over 2-3 PSI which is where the stock TBI just
runs out of fuel flow

You could have a tricked out Sidekick for $5000, and that would be buying a good
running clean one.

It also hauls more than a quad 

How many girls do you have?  at $5000 you could buy each of them a TracKick!

It would be very easy to find a decent Tracker or Sidekick for less than 5K.  Another $1000 of mods and you are huntin' (and the kids are driving) in comfort and safety.

Wild is our resident Modding Wizard.  I image that his mods are a snap to him but a bit too challenging for the rest of us.  A lot of us consider it "special" when you own a Harbor Freight wire welder.     That said, Turboing a Kick is not something anyone can do.  Plus, do you really want to hand over the keys to your lifted and turbo-ed 'Kick to a teenager?

I'm just sayin'...

Wild, your right about hauling more.  It would be great to make one trip back to camp to haul an elk instead of 3 on the quad.  ACK, I know what you mean about having my daughters drive it with turbo, but a guy has got to have dreams and I am sure there is some prep work and $$ to stash before that goes on so I am in the planing ahead stage for when I am an empty nest.

Finding a 96-98 is the tough part for me.  I can find Samurai's all day long (they just look cool), but the only trackers I am finding are a 6 to 8 hour drive.  I'll stay on the hunt though.  I have the cash in the gun safe ready to pull the trigger.  Trail Tough is based down town, I figure those guys could help me decide on the order of the mods, but sneaking a turbo under the hood and rolling with my buddy who has a 16v samurai would be a really fun one to pull on him.

16V TURBO Is actually easier than the 8 valve due the the better fuel injection system, multiport vs throttle body on the 8 valver. It has been done, check out " How to Turbocharge a 16 Valve " in the How To Forum.  Can you weld? Also, the Tracker/Sidekick is a much more civilized ride, I'm sure everyone in the family will appreciate it.

If you get a Sidekick/Tracker you can get the 2" lift kit from me. 

Bentparts; most all I have talked to say the Tracker is the one for my needs.  I do weld, but am not very good with aluminum.  Was at a welding competition in high school and had a welding teacher liken a good weld to a good woman.  Strong enough to stand by you in your time of need and pretty enough that you enjoy having her on your arm when you go out on a date.  My aluminum welds are more like my uncles old pack mule, strong and well behaved, but not good looking enough to hang out in the front pasture.

Jeff1997- I'll check out your lift, 2 inch seems reasonable.  Your lift does maintain proper geometry and still allows for correct tire alignment?

The front will need realigned but that is all. Slotting the lower strut mounts or getting camber bolts fixes that though.

Bentparts; most all I have talked to say the Tracker is the one for my needs.  I do weld, but am not very good with aluminum.  Was at a welding competition in high school and had a welding teacher liken a good weld to a good woman.  Strong enough to stand by you in your time of need and pretty enough that you enjoy having her on your arm when you go out on a date.  My aluminum welds are more like my uncles old pack mule, strong and well behaved, but not good looking enough to hang out in the front pasture.

Jeff1997- I'll check out your lift, 2 inch seems reasonable.  Your lift does maintain proper geometry and still allows for correct tire alignment?

You don't really need to weld aluminum, I did that just to make install easier. The first gen turbo just used silicone couplers and worked fine. What you really need to be able to do is weld stainless, don't make your manifold out of anything else if you really want it to be durable, IMO. PS, I really like your welding teachers analogy, my welds aren't exactly beauty queens either, but their strong!

Having owned both a Sami and a Tracker, mostly used on roads, and daily driven, the Tracker has a much more civilized (comfortable ) ride.  For a teenager, I feel the Tracker is a bit more stable also. 

You will be amazed at where a stock Tracker can go.  The only thing I've done to mine is put a set of 225's on it, and it still embarrasses the J**P guys...

Take it out a few times.  You may find that with what you want to do with it, it doesn't need anything.