Bought a 96 Tracker last weekend with 86K on it.  Per "Wild" that is the one to get for a future turbo mod, thanks Wild.  It has a lift on it that I can not identify and the guys at Trail Tough could not either, but they liked it.  I will post pictures in the very near future to see if any of you guys and ID it. 
The first problem I am having is alignment of the front end.  Took it to the good alignment shop in Medford and they promptly found the center link to be badly worn.  I could not find a new one, so I went down to Trail Tough who had a less worn used one from their lot.  Put that one on and the drop arm rubs against the face of the differential cover.  Gave the old one a good look and it is not straight, so either the old one was bent to fix the rub, or the new to me used one was damaged and now looks to be straight.  Thought about flipping it 180, but then realized how dumb I am because the holes for the drop arms are tapered, so it only goes one way.  So I have questions....
1) Does anyone know if someone makes a replacement center link?
2) Has anyone already tackled this problem and what is the fix?
3) What are my options to stabilize the steering and achieve a tight alignment?

It would be good to see a couple pictures. I think it'd be easier to see what's been modified and may be causing problems... My bet is that your center link idler is damaged.

-Eric

Is the lift red plastic? Four coil spacers and strut spacers? If it is I made it.

Not your lift, Jeff.  Yours was my plan, but when I finally found a tracker it had one on it.

Not your lift, Jeff.  Yours was my plan, but when I finally found a tracker it had one on it.

Too bad, I was going to say you have the best lift money can buy but you don't!! LOL

Okay fellas, here is the problem child with lift.

continued.... with the rest of the lift and a shot of where the center link rubs the front of the diff cover.

Looks like your center section (differential housing) is lowered and moved forward. Does the bracketry that holds it in place appear to be aftermarket?

-Eric

Yes it is after market, I'll look it over in the daylight tomorrow.  Thanks

That is an old version of the discontinued Explorer Pro Comp 2.5" lift. There were fit issues with the kit being put on the Canadian build Kicks and Trackers (they had a different cross member that the Japan built). the Rear bracket of the front suspension drop would fit (with A LOT of beating and hammering) but would not fully insert to the proper location (not up high enough). The result is the rear of your control arms are dropped more than the front. This causes bad handling and in my case, pulling the drivers side CV out of the cup at full drop.

From what I can remember, the diff drop was verticle (not pushing the diff forward or backwards), just rotated a little and droped it. 


Zig

Can you get pics of the three brackets on the front diff? 2- hangers and cross member mount?

Zig

This is a Canadian Tracker.  The cv problem must be what was addressed with the limiting strap.  Here are the pictures R side, L side, and then front and rear of cross brace.

That does not look right.. I dont remember the drop bracket being bent/angled like that... Trying to find pics of the brackets on line now to compare..

On second look, the pic looks like your CV is at an angle (front to back) instead of coming streight out of the diff anf out to the hub, or is it just the angle of the pic?

Z

Here are c couple of pics of drop brackets I found on line... This is basically how I remember the pro comp brackest looking. ( a lot like the Calmini) notice that the brackets do not have the bend that rotates the diff around like yours.. Still looking for pro comp pics....

I remembered the procomp lift having streight drop brackets and the rotation of the diff being done with bolt hole placement and the cross member mount bushing...

Still searchin.

Zig

I think we have identified the problem, he should ship that kit down to me immediately to put on my rig. 

Could he be running the diff drop from the Calmini kit?  I know it runs at an angle in order to clear the rear cross member.