OK, here is my next project! I am looking for a 99+ chevy tracker or suzuki vitara. Two door convertable. I want a running around/decent mileage/hunting/moderate offroaing vehicle. I really want on with a blown motor or trans or both, mainly cause im planning on doing a mildly built 4.3 swap into it! Maybe around 300hp ;). A little bit of a lift, some decent rims and tires for the offroad. What do you guys think? I think it would be a sweet project and I have my 2500 for my heavy duty stuff and show truck. I might even go for a little boost......not sure yet. But starting off with somethin like this
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/Enderprime/2002_Suzuki_Vitara.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/Enderprime/99tracker5.jpg

I would get a suzuki samurai, years 86-94. They are all pretty much the same, and most were 4x4's. You can easily swap a v6 into them, possibly turbo'd or supercharged if you want. I have a 1988 and it's a very tough offroad truck to beat. I picked mine up for a thousand bucks in running condition. I replaced the tires with bfg A/T. I also had to replace the exhaust, do a tune-up and rebuild the carb. Had the radiator rebuilt and i've been driving it around now for like a year and a half. I just put some suspension seats in it. It is so much fun to drive offroad, even with the stock suspension and drivetrain. I have seen guys put 10" lifts and 40" tall tires on these, gear them down and put large engines in them. They make great mud machines, and you can really make these things articulate on the rocks. Just look on youtube. Plus, they are solid front axle, which I don't think the trackers or vitaras are.

well im not looking for a rock crawler, just somethin to ease around the mountain to hunt. Its hard doing that in a crew cab 2500. It wont turn to good and the long wheel base kills me in alot of places. I want something equally as road worthy too. Something I wont worry about if I go further than 50 miles from home

And apparently these things are HARD to find. They seem to hold their value alot better than I thought they would.

Like I said, go with the samurai. There are tons of these things out there, and for cheap. You can get one that has low miles, stock suspension, babied for around 2 grand. For what you are trying to do, the sammy would be perfect. I have had mine in some of the worst conditions and it always got me home. I wouldn't be afraid to take mine on a road trip thousands of miles from home. It is dead reliable and even in stock form is very tough to beat. Mine is 100% stock. All I have done is added BFG all terrain tires, and some suspension seats for the rough ride(it is straight axle front and rear). These things will fit anywhere a rhino or ranger will, and they can sit 4 people or a bunch of cargo no problem. The 4-low in the transfer case is plenty low for crawling into your hunting spot. Mine will roll 70 or 80mph all day long, and still gets around 25mpg. I love it. May be something worth looking at for you, instead of the tracker.

my buddy had a sammy. It was a great vehicle did a spring over and 31's or 32's. Great aftermarket support behind them.

Well ya'll may convince me! I suppose a 4.3 would be a good power plant for one of these wouldnt it? I mean my 4x4 s-10 was a great vehicle and I loved that motor for what it was, and they are fairly cheap to come bye. Track/Sidekicks are a bit lighter. Ive seen swap kits just for the 4.3 but I dont suppose a motor and tranny swap would be too awful hard from scratch, especially in the older ones

I put a VW TDI in mine. It's got plenty of power, but we are going to dump the manual injection pump and get into some computer tuning now.

Thats pretty sweet. A 4bt would be sweet but its too pricey haha

A 4BT would be a waste. I really can't figure out why people bother with those things....they shouldn't be taken out of the bread trucks.

A 4BT would be a waste. I really can't figure out why people bother with those things....they shouldn't be taken out of the bread trucks.
Eh, they make decent torque and reliable power, and Ive seen tons of them with 500,000 miles on them. And I guess its just a way for someone to say they have a Cummins haha. Im not a big fan of them either. I love a good built 4.3 honestly, and the last one I had (as a teenager) i ran the immortal dog shit out of it and never had a BIT of trouble out of the motor. Had 200k on it and it still ran like a top!! And it had decent power and torque for as simple as the setup is. And I have good access to PLENTY of good 4.3 Vortecs and Im thinkin that would just be a great all around reliable and good power setup

A 4BT would be a waste. I really can't figure out why people bother with those things....they shouldn't be taken out of the bread trucks.

Simple engine, versatile bolt patterns, lots of torque, zero electronics.

like a briggs and stratton?

Thats pretty sweet. A 4bt would be sweet but its too pricey haha

Pardon me but I don't speak Diesel that well, what's a 4BT? For Bread Trucks maybe:D?

Vernon