I thought of powder coating them, but I had a bunch of armor on a Xterra that I spent money on powder coating and after a few off road adventures, the powder coating was scraped off in a lot of places. And I ended up having to touch them up with rattle can paint.
They do look great when fresh.
And yes....they are heavy. And these little 2.0L engines are not powerhouses to begain with. Coupled with your bigger tires I am interested in hearing now it does on the Hwy and pulling hills.
Post up some pictures when you get a chance.
I'm sure the 2.0 will be fine; it's got a lot more power than the older model trackers and side kicks
It'll still be a slow poke but better than the old 1.3s and 1.6s