Title says it all. Love to hear from both sides on this one.

they are both good, if they are glued together right....IMO

Originally posted by DemoMike
Title says it all. Love to hear from both sides on this one.
What I like about the Trackick tranny is that you can get one for near the price of a 1600/Sam adapter plate and you get a larger transmission to go with it.

You need to massage the tranny tunnel to make the larger tranny fit though.

Some people swear that the TracKick tranny is weaker but I don't buy it.

r@m

Come on now, I know there's more opinions on this board than just two...

Besides, a little post padding never hurt anyone;)

I know the Sidekick 5-speeds have sealed bearings in them (so do the ~1990+ Samurai's) so that's good, but I have not heard anything else one way or the other about them.

Originally posted by 0ILBURNER
I know the Sidekick 5-speeds have sealed bearings in them (so do the ~1990+ Samurai's) so that's good, but I have not heard anything else one way or the other about them.

I know tht Dave Latourette (www.davesport.com) has been soured on them - he converted to the TracKick tranny and he says he can't keep a good one in the truck now. He had better luck with the Samurai tranny.

I dunno, I've got two sitting around here waiting to be bolted into trucks so that's my opinion. :)

my tracker tranny has held up so far 11 months to date

Thanks gang, keep it coming...

From my persoanl experience..
1993 Geo Tracker 8v, 4x4, 5 Speed
1987 Samurai (now with motor from above)

My tracker tranny always shifted like crap.. the first thing I noticed when I started driving my samurai was how nice it shifted. Look around there a people all over complaining about how bad the Tracker/Kick tranny shifts. They seem to eat synchros or something. My Tracker at 45,000 miles was near impossible to get into first when it was cold out, my samurai shifts fine and it was 12 degrees this morning..

I wouldn't give up my tracker tranny for a sammy, no way! All the gears and bearing are much bigger, the flywheel is ~30% heavier, the starter is a gear reduction unit (more torque), and it shifts so much better. You do have to widen the tunnel ~ 1.5", I used the stock scissor jack (the only use I've ever had for it!) I have pics or the tunnel, but it doesn't look much different...The shifter comes out about 6" back, I made a little cover for mine

That looks MUCH cleaner than other kick conversions Ive seen. Nice!

I am intrigued to find so many that say the Tracker/Kick 5spd is junk. I am on my second one, and it may be having problems already. Cant say for sure, but it might be going out. I guess my first one lasted a while, I keep forgeting how long I have been wheeling my rig with the 1.6 and Tracker/Kick 5spd, its been several years now.

Hear some like the Sami tranny because the flywheel weighs less, engine wraps up a lot quicker. But then i got to thinking that with a heavier flywheel it may not wrap up as quick, but you can idle over obstacles(or lug over them) a little easier. You have all that extra rotational weight going for you.

Tracker/Kick trannies are a LOT bigger and heavier. Larger bearings and what not. Guys that have been in my rig to move it here or there say it shifts so smooth.

Never heard of anyone having a problem with either tranny, so do whatever you gotta do to get the gearing/motor combo you want, they both work.

I talked to a "16V swappo" guru and guess what, he suggested staying with Sammie trannie. The more I thought about it, the easier it sounded. No trannie tunnel trimming, no stubby shaft shortening, x-mbmr fabricating, buy a kit for about $150 and your in (mountingwise),not bad really.

What do you think Gozuki, you seem happy with yours. And I second your clean install, it will be my model if I go Sidekick.

I poked around inside both, I was impressed with the relative size increase in components. Maybe Suzuki realized the folly of cutting corners and made the kick stuff bigger, I don't know. I have heard of a lot of 2nd and 5th gear sammy failures, not much for the kick tranny. I'm happy with the kick tranny...Mike

I currently own my 4th and 5th Sidekicks. Both my 95's have over 120,000 miles on them. The 4-door was used to teach my son, and his girlfriend how to drive. We live in the mountains, so you learn quickly, how to shift a lot. But they killed the synchro's. I still drive it every day, but you gotta have the "touch" to not grind the gears. My 2-door was never abused by novices, and shifts smooth as silk. I think the synchros in the Sidekick transmission are kinda flimsy - they just don't stand up to people who never learned how to drive a standard transmission well. On the other hand, if you really DO know how to drive a stick, you don't need synchros. Just my .02