yah when i saw it, i was thinkin it was mac cause i rember you saying that mac's is hard top, yours isnt, but then u said that you were puttin a hard top on so i wasnt sure, and i guess i should figured it out when u said that yer trucks still at yer shop


spencer

Hehe I got my hardtop put on my truck last week.

Seeing the trucks parked side by side is funny because they look so much alike.

haha, mac probly didnt know, he doesnt even know me lol and i was wavin away, well u dotn really know be either  :-/  haha, i hope to get sunday the 18th off and coem out andd see ya and the other trucks up at slegg

I think I'm going to take my broken diff housing to a local fab shop (only place I can think of with a TIG welder..) to do the same thing that Kreg has done... beefing up the ear.

Then when I mount it, I'm gonna be doing to strap of steel over the third-member, bolted to the cross member to eliminate twisting in reverse (which is how I broke my ear off). Hopefully my front housing will be much stronger than stock, and much cheaper than doing a GV swap.


As for the question of the GV front diff swap, You can't use the R&P gears, since as Rhinoman said, they are much higher than the Tracker. However, the housing itself will bolt right into your truck. (this is what I've come to assume, based on my research into the matter, although I can't confirm any of it).

Yes after some reading, I believe the housing will bolt right into the truck.

All you have to do is switch up the gears, which is pretty easy to do as long as you mark everything first.

Oh, and you don't need a tig welder to beef up the ear. (even though it would look very clean once it was done)
I just used a MIG at a real high heat, and lots of feed  

All I have in my shop is an old stick welder. *shrug*

Well I finished modifying the ear today, and I got everything put back together.

The ear is super beefy. It's about an inch thick of solid stock aluminum.  It also covers more area on the housing, so I'm confident that it will hold pretty good until I get my hands on a steel housing.

My sister borrowed my digi camera today, so I'll post pics tomorrow.

As for the question of the GV front diff swap, You can't use the R&P gears, since as Rhinoman said, they are much higher than the Tracker.  However, the housing itself will bolt right into your truck. (this is what I've come to assume, based on my research into the matter, although I can't confirm any of it).

My Kick and a GV have the same 5.125:1 gears.  My kick is a1994 auto with OD.

Wouldn't it be better to just switch out your rear to a matching 5.125:1  They are quite popular rear diffs and are even found in 2wd 5 spds.

its all very well beefing up the ear on the aluminium 3rd member but all you do is move the stress further on.
you will destroy the axle where it mounts to the drop brackets next as they are hollow in construction ... very weak ..
trust me i did 9 axles and 3rd members before i got a steel axle under tonka-toy .
since then i have not had to worry at all

My Kick and a GV have the same 5.125:1 gears.  My kick is a1994 auto with OD.

Wouldn't it be better to just switch out your rear to a matching 5.125:1  They are quite popular rear diffs and are even found in 2wd 5 spds.

Dammit, now you're confusing me...

My 91 Tracker 5 speed has 5.12:1 gears, so if the GV has 5.125 gears, wouldn't I be able to just swap it in, gears and all?

:-/

The GV auto has the 5.12 gears, but unless they have changed production it will be an aluminum housing as well, it has to come from a Grand Vitara with a manual tranny ( wich I believe has 4.26 gears) for the steel housing and you will have to swap your 5.12s into it.

And if you are planning on putting a rear grand into a sidekick it will not work the grand does not have the three link suspension.

Mac

What would be the benefits of a rear GV axel besides not having to change the front gears? All I was after was the steel housing.

That is why I wrote that, I did not understand why you would be looking at a gv rear housing? it makes no sense to swap it in. you still will have to change the gearing if you go to a Grand front diff. the grand had 4.26 gears in the manual, and the auto sidekick 2dr came with 4.62's not the same gear ratio. And with you running a manual tranny, you will need to swap in the 5.12's into the gv housing.

Mac