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Comments
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In my opinion the Trooper is very predictable in extreme maneuvers. I have been driving troopers exclusively since 1984. I have had them in all situations. I know for example that in a steep downhill turn across a narrow bridge the Trooper handles just fine at speeds that send a GM minivan of the older wedge design into a nose dive that feels like its might drag the corner of the front bumper on the ground. Troopers stop really weel too. Keep an eye out for tailgaters and give them some room because you can probably stop faster than they think you can.
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If you get hit by other cars, you will be protected and probably drive away since the Troopers stiff frame and solid build uses the crumple zones in the other vehicle very effectively.
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A big part of good handling is good tires. But the 4 tires for $100 deal and you will be very unhappy with the handling. Buy a good tire Bridgestone AT/ Revo or Michelin LTX/MS or other top of the line tire rated highly on http://www.tirerack.com and you will be very pleased with handling and experience much less tire noise at highway speeds. I also agree with the suspension upgrades mentioned by others, I like the OME set of shocks and springs and the sway away torsion bars.
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I shopped for a new Trooper last summer to replace a totalled one. It drove away just fine but since the air bags went off the insurance company totalled it, airbags are $6000!!!. I found that between several that I tested it was easy to tell the difference in which ones were cared for properly and driven like they owned it. I tested two rental fleed Troopers one was really beat up suspension wise and had an assortment of different tires on it. Make sure all the tires are good, and if the suspension seems like a mushy American made car then it is worn out. Troopers come with relatively tight handling you get a terrific sense of control. I ended up buyng a loved and well cared for 2001 Trooper which still handles like new even with as many miles as the rental units tested there was a world of difference in the ride and handling. I think some of the higher end Troopers or different years may have been set up with different suspension parts like softer springs and mushy shocks to sell to the "luxery" SUV people. If the Trooper you get is not as firmly in control of its handling as you would like do the suspension upgrades they do not cost all that much and you get a lot of improvement.
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Compared to a Suburban or Hummer the Trooper is very light and has excellent acceleration. You will leave them far behind at the lights.
No one has really mentioned getting alignments at Isuzu dealers, bad idea? The other question was that, like i said, i will be doing some significant traveling, has anyone really been uncomfortable while driving long trips(indy to cali, 2,000 miles!)? What is this about oil consumption i am hearing here? Would this be a problem with the engine that i should be worried about, or just something else, like being the size engine, etc.
After much research on the web, first thing I did after purchasing my (used) 2002 Trooper 4x4 S was to replace the factory shocks with Tokico Trekmaster R/T's. These solved the lean/tipsy feeling and smoothed out the ride....I have a lot speed bumps going into my neighborhood. Trooper still leans in corners - it's not a sports car, but now it feels very controlled and stable.
Trekmasters also work great for moderate off road use.
Tire upgrade is next, waiting for my BFG A/T's to arrive.
-mike
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I found a HUGE variability in the feel of the Trooper suspension when test driving them last summer. The one I bought was well cared for and the suspension is tight enough that I have not bothered to update it at all. Some others were so sloppy that I would update the suspension immediately (after arguing the price down based on an unsafe suspension condition) and before any significant trips. I do not know if this is due to the sloppy ones being used badly or the fact that they were rental fleet units which are configured custom for the rental duty and rental companies may have specified mushy shocks or soft springs or just to drastically cut costs since they don't keep rental cars more than a year or two.
The only suspension modification I've made is the poly sway bar bushings. That reduced its tendency to lean, but did nothing for directional stability. The OEM (not OME) shocks are not mushy at all, and the tires are the original Dueller 245/70/16's. I intend to replace them with 265/70/16's of some sort, which will probably eliminate some of the problem.
The alignment may be off just a tad, because at 31,000 miles, the tires show a bit of wear on the outer edges (but nothing significant). Originally, it had a slight pull to the right, but a dealer re-alignment corrected that.
If you think adjusting the wheel alignment again might correct the problem, which aspect of the alignment might be contributing to the problem? I'd like to be armed with as much info as possible when I take it to the shop.
Thanks,
Dave
By the way, anybody done an XM radio upgrade yet? Some of the guys I work with are showing up with factory Satellite radios now and they sure are nice.
One possible issue of cranking something up could be steering column wear. If for example, cranking up the toe angle makes it hold its line better, it may put more wear on steering components when trying to turn?
BTW, I have checked the fluid and its level. Everything was OK.
Tom
Agree with boxtrooper, I also "found a HUGE variability in the feel of the Trooper suspension"
that I tested drove. Mostly noticed that the rental ones around here were pretty beat up. I don't think the shocks & spring ratios were any different than non-rentals, just that the shocks were trashed - along with interiors, body, exhaust system,etc. Some looked like they'd some serious off-pavement work already, w/o any maintenance. Took me a few months to find a good used one.
I'm not sure why Isuzu sold the Trooper here in the USA with hydraulic shocks and not gas-charged. Guess they were trying to save a few bucks? Or maybe they wanted the Trooper to lean a lot, to scare folks into not driving so fast as to roll it? Very strange.
I went to Hoover Alignment here in Minneapolis, they didn't even use a computer at all [gasp!] and got the first good alignment ever, after half a dozen tries at Sears.
What do you mean by that, are they sacrificing things like suspension in the luxery version? Or are you refering to the fact that it cost more for the luxery and you just like what you get for your money in the S version? I Definitly want the automatic, my tracker was an manual, i hated not being able to have a free-hand, and especially being that i will be in the city, can you imagine a manual in the heart of chicago???? I also really like the TOD idea, on roads that are mostly dry but still have patches of ice, or side roads with some snow, it's nice to know you dont have keep putting it in and out of 4x4,or risk ruining the 4x4 or something by leaving it in the whole time for those patches you might hit while you are driving on pavement.
My problem is that i can only find one trooper for sale withing 30 miles of indy, so it is hard to test drive them and feel for suspenion differences. Going on autotrader.com i can find a good amount within 150 miles, i have learned now to ask for service records, so that i can see the work done (if any) and that could give an idication to the vehicles past and how it was driven (i.e. 4x4ing, hard driving etc.). That'll help some with figuring out if the trip to test drive it is worth my time and so that i know to really feel the drive out to look for bad shocks, or other problems. Also things like who drove it (old women, male, etc again) and if it was garaged. Any other things you guys would suggest me ask about to give me a good idea of the shape the vehicle might be in?
I am also becoming increasingly aware that some had problems of loosing acceleration when you try to accelerate after long durations of driving, and how at stops, sometimes the engine would just rev up and take off if you don't have the foot on the brake, has anyone had these problems?? I can't seem to find much on it, just the original complaints. I would like to know if there is a fix for this, if it just happened at the beggining, if it happens for a little bit and that is it or what? All i find on it is the ocassional commment that they had a problem with it.
Dave
I actually was able to attain 22mpg with stock tires at slightly elevated pressures, with 3 people and moderate gear. My driving was forced to be 60-65mph, not more, not less and this was with AC on with med hills, nothing major, but not plains flat.
I achieved this 2 or 3 times before putting on my ARB, Larger tires, springs, etc.
-mike
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Transmission
I have never had any issue with shifting into 1st gear. The 1984 was an awesome shifting Trooper, the 1995 was stiffer and a long throw on the shift lever, the 2001 is stiff and a short throw with a tendancy to sometimes pop out of thrid gear if not put there firmly. My Troopers have all be gasoline engines, so the transmission might not be the same as with the diesels.
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Value over Luxery
I lke the lower price. I think the fancy models provide extra features that do not add value for me. I don't like leather seats for example because I wear shorts a lot. There might be some models of Troopers with different factory suspension parts, I do not know how to figure out which ones, but some people have reported that their Trooper is mushy, where mine have always been on the stiff side at least until the shocks wear out. IMHO when it is time to replace the original tires it is time to replace the original shocks for better handling and better shocks reduce tire wear by keeping them in constant contact with the road.
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Try http://www.cars.com which lists all the ads from local papers around the country. I drove 5 hours to go buy mine from a nice family in another town.
called my tire shop today to price new tires. when i asked about super-sizing (in the McVernacular) to 265/70/16s the guy advised against, b/c the ABS system measures the rpms of the tire. since a larger tire turns at a different rate, the ABS system wouldn't work properly.
reasonable logic, i guess, but it seems like splitting hairs--we're not talking about a huge difference in the size of the tires.
anybody have any thoughts or observations?
(First trip with family on moderate trail was not pleasant) After I installed them, I happily discovered that they also solved the other handling annoyances. Downside is now my wife wants to drive my Trooper all the time instead of her mini van!
MPG: Trooper S 4x4 Automatic. 21k miles. I usually get 14/15mpg city and 21/22 Highway. Note - My Highway milage is mostly in the mountains.but not much over 75mph. Stock Tires. I use Mobil One in Engine and Rear Diff. K&N Drop in filter. Not sure that matters. Last night upgraded to 255/70/16 BFG A/T's ,wanted sturdier & more puncture resistant tires for dirt roads. Hopefully MPG won't drop much.
TOD: Gotta love it - Works great on pavement in snow. Push the button, and Voila, you have a Subaru type system. I don't use it off road,I need the gear multiplication of the transfer case to help slow me down. Otherwise, would be riding the brake way too much on the way down. Found this out the hard way, as TOD will let you climb up, but gets scary on the way down.
Luxury: LS & Limited: Love that sun roof! Wish I could have gotten one just for that feature, but I'm too tall. Otherwise S model has everything I need. Really, for as cheap as Trooper go for, If you can find a good LS, go for it.
Acceleration: Not sure if this is what you are feeling, but My 2002 Automatic has grade logic. When I'm going down a hill, it kicks in and slows Trooper down. Works great/awesome in the mountains. Feels like a downshift. Sometimes a little annoying around town, as go down a hill at 40mph and it trys to slow down. Not really a big deal, just different.
Surge: Didn't notice it on any of the 6-8 I test drove last year.
Good luck on your search! Good used vehicles can take time to find.
Plant to stop building Isuzu SUVs
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru cars and wagons, agreed to end production of sport-utility vehicles for Isuzu Motors Ltd. in Indiana as Isuzu shrinks its U.S. lineup amid declining vehicle sales.
Production of Isuzu Rodeo and Axiom sport-utilities will stop July 23 at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette, plant spokeswoman Ann McConnell said. Subaru has built the trucks under contract for Isuzu since January 2003.
Instead I think the ABS system only cares about the relative speed of each wheel. If you keep your foot on the brake pedal the system then modulates the brakes to keep the wheels from locking up. Thus, it should work as designed as long as all tires are the same size.
That being said, larger tires will increase your stopping distance. This is due to pure physics not some artifact of the ABS programming. You have more weight and that weight is further from the center of the axle. You therefore have a higher rotating mass which takes more distance to stop.
Is this dangerous? I am sure people have had accidents because of the longer stopping distances of larger tires. If you like to tailgate, drive fast, brake hard and at the last second, are used to sports car brake performance then such a change may be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak. If on the otherhand you are a cautious driver, brake early and easy, used to living with drum brakes then slightly larger tires may be something you can live with.
My take FWIW is that 265/70-16s are going to replace the stock tires on my 99 when the time comes. Just my $.02, YMMV.
Given the Isuzu situation, should be making a new "commitment" to Isuzu, or just let it ride?
About Rodeo and Axiom production ending - now that is not good since many of the parts found in those models are also found in the Trooper - and of course all this means that more dealers will be dropping the Isuzu line, resale will drop even further - however I would expect parts and service to remain available for some years at least in the bigger markets. A 2001 Limited is a nice ride and nicely equipped. With 26K it is virtually new and the warranty transfer is good for 5 yr/60K. I know we would never sell our 01 LS TOD - leather was already installed by the dealer and we added the outside temp module and altimeter domahicky - I did relocate the outside air temp sensor to a lower location under the hood. $3800 doesn't sound bad at all.
I wonder what will happen to our warranty...
About Rodeo and Axiom production ending - now that is not good since many of the parts found in those models are also found in the Trooper - and of course all this means that more dealers will be dropping the Isuzu line, resale will drop even further - however I would expect parts and service to remain available for some years at least in the bigger markets. A 2001 Limited is a nice ride and nicely equipped. With 26K it is virtually new and the warranty transfer is good for 5 yr/60K. I know we would never sell our 01 LS TOD - leather was already installed by the dealer and we added the outside temp module and altimeter domahicky - I did relocate the outside air temp sensor to a lower location under the hood. $3800 doesn't sound bad at all.
Is the Hidden Hitch really weaker than the competition, or do they just rate their products differently?
Paisan, in some of your past posts you've mentioned towing 5000 lbs with your Hidden Hitch. Did you use a WD adaptor with that much weight?
Thanks
http://www.gmcanada.com/ssi/english/vehicles/isuzu/isuzu.html
ABS: It compares wheel speed from wheel to wheel, hence all tires need to be the same size. My ABS works better with 275-70-16 tires I have on there.
Out of Bizness: That sux, although they might just import them from thailand, they are still made there as well as the trooper replacement.
-mike
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Maybe since it sold "Duramax" to GM Isuzu will not be allowed to sell diesel SUVs in the USA. If that were true I would expect them to drop the idea of ever coming back to North America.
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Will we see the next version as the Chevy Trooper as they are known in South America?
The Hidden Hitch model 87544 has been recommended here quite a bit in the past. It is mostly invisible when installed except for the receiver. See Paisan's site at www.isuzu-suvs.com for actual photos. It is only rated for 3500 lbs without a WD adaptor, but Paisan's experince shows that it can handle more. It weighs about 33 lbs, most others are > 40 lbs. Best price is at jcwhitney.com, $100 + shipping. The 4-pin wiring adaptor offered there should plug into the Troopers factory connector and costs an additional $28.
Most other class 3 hitches for the trooper are rated for 5000 lbs without a WD adaptor vs 3500 for the Hidden Hitch. If you intend to tow heavy stuff, you might want to take that into account. I don't know if this is a true difference in the capacity of the hitches or just a difference in the rating systems.
The most interesting alternative to the Hidden Hitch IMHO is the Reese 33043. This one weighs 42 lbs and is rated for 5000 lbs WC. It looks a little beefier than the Hidden Hitch, but doesn't use a straight square tube all the way across the back like most others. Best price I could find is about $142 + ship at 1800.hitchit.com. Here is a link to a good photo and another vendor: http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=s-2126&- bool=AND&category=r_cl4_t&maxhits=1&keywords=rp0455&a- mp;GO=GO%21
The Trooper has a factory installed trailer wiring connector on the driver-side rear corner. You will need an adpator to convert this to whatever type of trailer wiring you need. Wiring adaptors are not included with most hitches. Rumor has it that many of the wiring adaptors available are just rebadged versions of the Hoppy unit: http://www.trailerwiring.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?part=43255. You want something that looks like that in order to plug into the factory connector. Manufacturer's catalogs may refer to the part as a "T-connector" even though that it not literally true for this wiring adaptor. These generally cost $20-$40 depending on where you buy them. Can be found on ebay also.
Hope this info helps someone else.
My Warranty is up in August, so at this point I am just going to go to a local place anyway.
-mike
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GM's "Colorado" replacement for the S10 pickup is an Isuzu and the Hummer H3 will probably be based on that. http://www.chevrolet.com/colorado/
EDIT: I just checked the Colorado board and it does appear so... There go hopes for Isuzu to bring it down here under their own nameplate...
-mike
1) Appears the coil pack I got from St. Charles was bad So they will be replacing my coilpack under my extended warranty
2) $200 for Spark Plugs and replacement of them.
3) Cats will be replaced under extended warranty
4) Coolant temp sensor will be replaced under extended warranty
On a positive note, when I mentioned the T-case/Tranny problem, they didn't look at me like I was crazy. Apparently they have another Trooper in there with a bad TOD Transfer case, so they are probably gonna order me up a T-case So that will leave the oil consumption problems which I guess will be a long-term testing type thing since there are no apparent leaks etc.
-mike