Poor Man’s SxS

[MarcW]

I originally had oem steel, but switched to oem aluminum to see if the weight reduction in rotational mass would be noticeable. It felt like it was, but could have been in my head. For the DIY beadlocks I’ll be switching back to either oem steel, buy some cheap steelies, or I think Brett might have some CJ wheels for me. I’d like to stick with 15x7 since this thing will mostly live with a 31 under it.

[MarcW]

About a month ago at a Wicked event in Attica, I noticed a leak from the headers, I guess oem Trackick headers are very prone to cracking in a certain spot. They are also short headers, which are great for fast stuff, but left a lot to be desired on hill climbs and anything needing low end.

I went in search for aftermarket headers, and came across many options for the previous gen motor (8 valve), but only two for the 16 valve I have. The two 16 valve options were around $400, while I could get eBay headers for the 8 valve for $100. I don’t know why the discrepancy, but I took a chance and ordered the 8 valve headers of eBay.

When I got them I was glad to find out that the only real difference was the mount flange, and openings were barely a quarter inch off. So my solution was to cut off the flange meant for the 8 valve and completely fabricate one for the 16 valve, and open up the pipe ends to line up.

Worked perfect!

[MarcW]

The increase in low end, from these being long tubes, was very noticeable. The motor no longer bogs on hill climbs, but rather falls to a steady rumble and just plows ahead.

[TrailTamer]

Now, do something about that oil leak haha

[MarcW]

Now, do something about that oil leak haha

 

It’s self flushing.

[MarcW]

15x7 wheels ordered and on their way, Aero beadlocks came in today. I think they’ll do just fine. I’ve read some that run them drill out the other holes(bolt ring has 32 holes like a normal beadlock, the weld ring only has 16), but with a 30” atv tire I think I’ll run them as is. The weight of each wheel will def be going up quite a bit compared to the oem alum wheels I have now. I’m going to weight both to see when I switch over.

[MarcW]

Late night with Jeff, ran to PA for his new toy which will make its debut this weekend. I stayed late at the shop to get the tires mounted on the beadlocks since dismounting would have been a chore without the tire machine. Weight definitely increased as expected, I’ll weigh them in the AM to get and actual weight to compare to.

All in all I think the DIY’s came out ok; they hold air.

[MarcW]

Only thing left for me to do to have it ready for the weekend is get the amazon special LEDs on that I got. I had lighting on it but last time out I quickly realized I did not want to bash the $600 in VisionX light bars and pods for the sake of Tracker action. I had them from a previous project, but still.

[MarcW]

I lied, all tires had leaks this morning. Slimed them all for the weekend, probably just keep it in there if it seals them too.

[MarcW]

Took a trip to visit my parents in coastal Maine a couple weeks ago, then further north to our family cabin for a some relaxation and fishing.

Picked up a parts Tracker along the way, and brought it all the way back to NY. This was the first time my van and trailer combo left the state.

This was actually the longest I’ve ever hauled anything since owning a traile. Everything went smooth, other than the non stop rain when I left Friday night 8/17. The LED bar on front of my van was a life saver with how hard the rain came down.

[MarcW]

Having been back now a few weeks, and putting off parting the blue Tracker (Salmon season coming soon so I’ve been getting all my fishing gear ready, and doing some fishing around Buffalo having finally brought my gear back from my parents house in Maine after 4 years of living here), I decided to actually do some interweb searching on other Tracker builds.

That’s when I found this on an older Colorado4x4 thread build.

[MarcW]

Now I’ve been pretty content with my wee ol Tracker and everything it can do. But look at that thing! It looks like a mini 4400 buggy!

I’ve decided to sell my white woods Tracker, and use the blue one I brought back from Maine as my blank canvas for a new build, and actual build, and try to focus more on the SxS half of the “Poor Man’s SxS”.

The frame is solid on the one I have, and the body in decent shape(at least the parts I plan to keep), however the motor is dead. I haven’t confirmed but seller said he couldn’t figure it out.

The plan was originally take what I can from the white one including the motor. But rather than take the $400 in parts I want from the white and be left with scrap,I figure I can sell as a running woods buggy and just buy what I’ll need for the new build, including a running motor.

[mr.mindless]

White one have any chance of being put on the road?

#askingforafriend


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[MarcW]

I broke the DIY beadlocks down to fix the leaks, and boy was cleaning that green slime out a mess. Good thing it cleans fast with just a hose. The plan is to fix the leaks, throw the Mud Rebel UTV tires back on, and sell with the white Tracker.

I really want to keep the DIY’s, but after getting an actual weight of the steel DIY with ring and bolts, 31lbs, vs the oem aluminum wheel at 14lbs, I think I’ll make a non beadlock work for now purely for the weight savings.

Plans for the new build so far are to keep the oem drivetrain, beef up the IFS, find a good way to delete the struts, replace the front aluminum anvil with a steel one, cage it, send it.

[MarcW]

Mike, no title unfortunately 😔