hey yall. first let me apologize if my qeustions sound stupid, i have never thought bout messin with these things. alright my mother went and bought a 93 tracker she found on craigslist yesterday,this is where my interest began. while research the vehicle for her to make sure it wasnt problem prone, i found out how many folks wheel the snot outta these things,and that there super capable. which caught my attentioncause i want get more into wheeling which i was gonna put my 88 f150 together for but, long story short its becoming a resto project with everything thats gotta be done. so i found a 4 door auto 94 sidekick with 148,000 miles for 900 obo. that im thinkin bout.
so heres the questions i got. i am thinking about just driving it daily until spring when the truck is done so any question about mods are just to make sure this particular one will be suitable for it. i have read about small block chevy swaps in these things, how hard is it? i already have a few rebuildable 305s layin around and one 350. does a swap like this require extensive axle upgrades? or if i slap a lift and tires on it will it stay intact? thats pretty much what i got for questions right now. if its not a good idea i still want one but ill wait to find manual tranny version,and skip the big swap. thanks in advance.

A small block v8 would be great fun in one of these rides, but I really don't think the running gear, trans, axles and such would stand up to it. You would probably have to do axles and trans too, and extensive suspension mods to handle the xtra weight. IMO.

Hi and welcome to our world!

First, the biggest wheeling advantage that our little trucks have is their size and weight.  Even a 4-door "TracKick" can get through all kinds of places that a Cherokee or other mid- and full-sized 4x4 can't go - with a little modification.  Shoe-horning a 350 Chevy engine into a TracKick  wipes out the weight and maneuvering advantage on the trails and the rocks.  It might be useful in a mudder, though I can't imagine a 4-door mudding TracKick...

I can't recall ever running across a TracKick with a 350, but I have seen several 350s and a 455 in Samurais.  All of them were well-executed projects that the owner seems reluctant to wheel as hard as the rest of us - with the exception of the 455 owner.  His night run at the 2002 ZookiMelt was quite entertaining carnage-wise

I guess what I am trying to say is that less engine and more suspension/drivetrain work is what you need to consider.

The current trend for TracKick lifts is the Solid Axle Suspension (SAS) mod - available as a kit or by shade-tree mechanic methods.  Shade-tree IFS lifts have been done and one vendor is working on kit.   

You might do a search for SAS or IFS lift here at zukiworld.com, at Zuwharrie.com, Zukiworld.com or (shudder) Pirate4x4.com.

Finally, I have actually wheeled all my trucks - including the stock '93 4-door on the Green trails at the Badlands - and drove them 450 miles home in one piece. Naturally, the Samurai gets wheeled a bit harder that the others...      

the other option i was considering is manual tranny swap. im just afraid of the auto being a dog. i did come across lightning conversions, they did a 4.3 v6 swap in a tracker, backed by a 700r4, i cant remember the transfer case off the top of my head(they sell the parts to do the small block swap to). but it had what appeared to be factory style suspension just lifted, im assumuming the internals were just beefed a little. i just think it would be unique, and i got the engine and 700r4,i mean like i said this wouldnt take place in the near future, id just be driving it/mild wheeling till the other 2 vehicles ive got myself into accidently on purpose. this a link to the one im looking into, gotta call em later.
http://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/936620577.html

That 4-door is almost exactly equipped like mine!

The JLX sports a 4-speed OD Automatic (Asin Borg Warner used in older Volvo sedans), 1.6 16-valve, power windows, etc. etc.

It won't do a quarter mile in 13 seconds (more like 20+) but it'll get decent mileage and isn't a total dog on the highway.  I can cruise at 70 all day in it.

I can't tell from the Craigslist picture, but if it has autolocking hubs, you should consider getting a set of manual locking hubs for offroad use.

If I lived closer, I'd buy it in an instant at that price!

well thanks for the piece of mind. we will be calling them today to find out about it. it was listed twice oncraigslist. once for 800 then for 900 so i think they are unsure what its worth cause blue book is way over that. so i am going to try  and get it for a steal. just outta curiosity are these autos strong enough to be run off road cause i may ditch the goofy engine swap idea if they are ok. thank you somuch, now i just have to do some convincing and get rid of some junk lol.

Automatics are nice on the trail, especially if you are running over sized tires without the proper gearing.  Helps get rid of the smoked clutch issue.    My next "If I decided to start over from scratch" wheeler would use an automatic Tracker for a base.  Just to try it out. 

Not to co-op the thread, but does anyone run transmission coolers on the Tracker auto's, or do you not really need them?