Broke my front diff on the weekend, major cracks and its making an evil sound.
Didn't beat on THAT hard 

Time to park it for a bit and gather bits for a SAS.

The day started off good, here's a pic or two.

nice pics ,,now i've got the itch,, still got about five feet of snow here though(

Figured out how I broke it. 
I have pulled out so many HEEPS and other rigs that my rear tow hook is ready to snap off so I yanked out this dumbass in a YJ that was stuck down a side road wheelin by himself.
I now understand that pulling backwards is a shore fire way of breaking the diff.
Next time I see a clown stuck out wheelin by themselves they can learn the hardway with a $400/500 offroad tow job.

Go dig yourself up a steel front third and a Sammie rear centersection (4-pin) and
You'll do just fine.
Then start charging jeeps for recovery time

it's my next step me to! a sas on my tracker!

Picked up a stock aluminum case for $75.00 for a temp fix.
Going on saturday to look at and most likely pick-up a '84 toy complete and a set of 2" lifted xj coils.

Anyone farted around with the guts on one of these before?
Is it as easy as swapping parts from one case to the other or do you need to set lash and all that stuff?

If you're going to be taking the 3rd apart then yes, you need to reset the ring and pinion.  Any time the gears come apart from each other the pattern and lash needs to be reset.

   Dumb newer Tracker newbie question.  Will the rear third fit in the front diff?

no!!!