Anyone know anything or have any experience with Geo Trackers or their Suzuki/Chevy cousins.
Anyone know anything or have any experience with Geo Trackers or their Suzuki/Chevy cousins.
decent little 4x4's. very popular here for winter vehicles.
Very easy to kick around in the snow
Wife still misses her Grand Vitara (suzuki built V6 version, straight from Japan). Very capable off roader even on car tires. Tiny footprint so you could park it anywhere. Super fun to throw it in 4wd and fo donuts in the snow.... but be forwarned it will make you dizzy/sick doing that
i keep searching for X-90's for rallycross reasons. Its a "sports car" body on a geo tracker/suzuki Sidekick frame.
Apparently they're pretty capable. Body on frame, 4lo, and a solid axle
Still want one, in a very 90s color if possible.
Starting to get a little thin on the ground these days.
ebelements said:Starting to get a little thin on the ground these days.
Now is probably the right time to get one, while they can still be found at good prices, I bet they shoot up in value the way Suzuki Samurai have.
The Isuzu Amigo is the bigger alternative that's an ultra low cost of entry, but larger headache to source parts for.
Had one. Loved it. 30 mpg, capable off road stock. Fun vehicle. I am particularly biased in Suzuki's favor, yet I still feel I speak objectively.
I used to work at a place renting them. We had Trackers and Sidekicks(and Samurais) that people rented as beach vehicles. They're small, efficient, durable, cheap and gutless. Out of the fleet while I was there we only had one die when somebody tried to recreate an auto-commercial and snapped a camshaft while bouncing off the rev limiter in the shorebreak.
I love them. I've test driven them. They have less shoulder room than my Samurai. I'm pretty wide and they are tight enough that I can't comfortably drive them.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:The Isuzu Amigo is the bigger alternative that's an ultra low cost of entry, but larger headache to source parts for.
And not as reliable imo
If you are looking for a capable off road cute ute, the Tracker/Sidekick will do the job. Full frame, transfer case w/4 lo, lockouts, short wheel base, good approach and departure angles, great sight lines over hood and thru side door windows. I drove mine on fire trails.
If you are looking for a daily driver with a short commute at 55 mph it would work. Would not recommend for long commute at 65 mph.
Look out for rust and buy a clean example. Some, like mine, spent their time being towds have spent winters south of the rust belt.
I sold mine because I had to reduce the fleet. I miss it as my daily driver with the top off all summer. Find one with a hardtop or buy one for quieter driving.
I've had 2. The first was an 88 Sidekick. There's really 2 things you need to worry about on the older ones:
Later on I also had a 99 Vitara 2-door. That thing was awesome, though I wish it hadn't been an automatic. It didn't seem to suffer from rust nearly as much as the 88, and the 2.0 in the 99 was way more refined and powerful than the 1.6 in the 88. It was unstoppable in snow. Unfortunately it got tagged by an uninsured drunk driver after we gave it to our daughter. She was ok & the truck still ran & drove fine, but the LR corner was smashed pretty bad, and with liability-only on it I wasn't going to pay to get it pulled & fixed since I only paid $700 for it.
My mom had a 4 door, great car but apparently has a phantom timing issue no one can figure out.
My dad still has it, I may try to figure it out one day
I loved my 92 and 93. The 92 was an impulse buy for 400 bucks. Baby blue with pink graphics but with the addition of 29 inch v treads it was a blast. Most of our local trails are atv sized so it worked fantastic. When it died I replaced it with the 93 but it was hit when parked at our apartment.
after that I spent 800 bucks on a 91 rodeo xlt and had even more fun but it didn't fit small trails as well!
ebelements said:Still want one, in a very 90s color if possible.
Starting to get a little thin on the ground these days.
This is of interest to me. I've shopped these off and on over the years. I believe Duster's dad had a tintop Sidekick that he offered to me and I came within a gnat's ass of buying it. But I had just bought my TR-3 and there is the perennial storage problem. I regret letting that one pass.
one is running in MR at the Rallycross nationals apparently
My Sidekick started ticking. Thought it was a stuck lifter or something. It wasn't. The timing chain went. Otherwise, it was okay.
Check the future of parts availability. Should be OK, but I know that Suzuki (vehicles anyway) pulled out of North America about 10 years ago.
Flared fiberglass fenders on these make them look pretty neat.
Look up Dodge Raider. The forgotten sibling to the 2-door Montero/Pajero and they can still be found cheap on amrketplace because people think they're just old Dodges.,...very capable off-road....factory LSD on many, almost all parts are still available either here or overseas for cheap.
The Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara have a fairly strong aftermarket behind them. Lift kits, differential gears and lockers, aftermarket transfer case gear sets with lower-low-range, winch bumpers, etc.
For example, the aluminum front differential housing is a weak point with big tires/lockers/gears and hardcore off-roading. There are junkyard formulae to swap in the steel housing out of a later-model Suzuki SUVs, or you can even buy an aftermarket housing off the shelf: https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=2&m=5&t=3&p=694&n
Most of the other cute-utes don't have nearly the aftermarket support.
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