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| Jim's planning and craftsmanship yielded a clean, strong J4000 rear axle with good articulation. |
Jim Mazzola works as a staff engineer at GM's advanced power train division in Detroit building concept vehicles.
He is also a lifetime ambassador with United 4WD Association and a lifetime member of Great Lakes 4WD Association.
He and his wife Kim love exploring the Canadian outback, 50-miles from civilization so they need a reliable, go anywhere 4WD.
They previously 'wheeled a Geo Tracker with a custom 9-inch lift. He dreamed of building his own concept 4WD. Jim said, "I wanted to build something no one else had, something other than a Jeep, something I could drive to work and not upset my employer." He transferred that vehicle from his dreams to paper by way of his computer aided design system.
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| There is space behind the back seat for camping supplies and rescue gear. |
With plans in hand, Jim began finding components, fabricating parts, and plasma-cutting the suspension away from a 2004 Chevy Tracker. His design used a 3-link front/4-link rear suspension using PORC Johnny Joints on the control arms with rubber bushings on the other end to isolate vibrations. Up front, he used a Chevy K5 axle narrowed 2-inches with a Currie swaybar.
He used a J4000 with a Detroit Locker, and Tracker front disk brakes for the rear axle. Both axles sport Superior axle shafts, 5.89 gears, Detroit Lockers, and 2.5-inch Fox air shocks.
Jim left the Tracker's 2.5L Suzuki V6 and 4-speed automatic transmission stock, but to turn the 37x14x17-inch IROK tires on 17x8.5-inch beadlock wheels, he added a second transfer case from a Toyota.
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| The shortened K5 front axle fits nicely under the Concept Tracker. |
To clear the 37's, he trimmed the fenders.
To protect the body, he designed 1-3/4" steel bumpers with sidebars running around the fenders and along the rocker panels.
A Warn M8000 winch has a second function; its rollers direct the winch rope to the front axle so it can cinch the front end down to keep more front-end weight over the axle during climbs. Rock lights recessed into the fender wells light the tires for nighttime rock crawling.
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| The Concept Tracker's 107-inch wheel base and 37-inch tires provide an 80-degree approach/departure angle. |
The result was a beautiful, comfortable, reliable 4000-pound rock crawler on a 107-inch wheelbase, with 11-inches of lift, 12-inch clearance at the differentials, 22-inch clearance under the belly pan, and 80-degree approach/departure angle. The red beauty works well on tough trails, and at Mile-Hi Jeep Club's 2007 All-4-Fun Week, Jim's Off-Road Adventure concept 4WD won 1st place in the Extreme Rockcrawler Class of 4 Wheel Parts' Show-n-Shine contests.
