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Comments
I'm also discouraged: because I've even opened my old AM/FM cassette(from the old car) and "fixed" a bit the "tunning" (cheap system: just some thread/line on some wheels and an ax...Similar to the kind one uses for flossing
Except when I've put it back the last time it lost power (OK the detachable face mask button/contact was not in great shape either) and I was mainly puzzled by the "wiring harness"...
Also I'll be needing two more speakers, at least for the back of my old car(not for the Rodeo, at least for now) and I'm not even sure if it's wired all the way to the back...
Can I easily detect that?
Anyhow, I've started to see what you mean about bass output(got our first Subwoffer(?) with the DVD home theater)...:)
-mike
-mike
As long as you're talking about a simple factory head unit swapped out for an aftermarket head unit (and not involving amps, custom speaker enclosures, new wiring, etc.) I would think your risk of being denied warranty coverage on electrical problems would be extremely low.
Also you should be able to splice it into the current turn signals most likely and have both of em working!
-mike
This is a common problem with 4WD novices, they are encouraged to drive too fast by the enhanced acceleration traction, but fail to realize that their braking traction is the same as any other vehicle on the road.
SUV rollovers in dry weather are much rarer, and almost always involve a situation where they do not allow safe following distance or similar mistakes.
Would a firmer front sway bar also reduce the risk of rollover, in your opinion?
On dry weather mainly(because we've heard some concerns on using sway bars when cornering in snow)?
I can see your point about slowing down, the problem seem to me that:
a) it's hard to appreciate exactly the road conditions... Esp. around the Grand Lakes where the wind could cause black ice, etc....
b) on long trips (e.g. 500 km) between cities here, even people in small cars tend to drive fast...
E.g. I guess that 50km/h would be much safer on slippery roads, but most everybody drives at 70-80 km/h, probably being in a rush to make it...in one day
I have gone as fast as 70 mph on snow-covered roads, but that is on a straight road with no traffic, with no problem. Of course, if something unforseen had happened in front of me, my ability to do anything about it (stop or avoid) would have been severely limited.
I recommend you take your Rodeo to a deserted parking lot next time it snows. In 4WD practice panic stops, turning sharply under acceleration, etc. to get a feel for what your vehicle is capable of in those conditions.
Of course, the "slipperyness" of snow will vary widely depending on temperature, so be aware of those differences as well.
-mike
70mph that fast! Imo
Can you do that for 4-5 hours in a row? I can't, even in very limited snow...:)
BTW: how deep was the snow?
In my case, I don't feel at ease going fast in any kind of snow...:) Sunday driver
Thanks again for the advise on the sway bar: it will help reducing roll and sway when cornering on non snow conditions, that's what you're saying?
I've just found one from "Automotive Customisers" 4x4parts@shadow.net and i've mailed them back since I'm trying to figure out 100% that:
a) it's for my '99 Rodeo, not for earlier models (since nobody else had one for my truck yet)
b) it's thicker then my factory installed one. They say:
"We have front sway bar for your Rodeo for $199.95. This unit is 1 and 1/8"
thick and the rear sway bar for $189.95, it is 3/4" thick. These will help
to reduce body roll on your Rodeo. "
My parts dealer guy has no idea...:)
Can you help?
Technical: What size tires other than stock 245 70 16 will fit and what are the ramifications of changing size?
Aesthetic: I don't think I've ever seen a trooper with raised or outlined raised letter tires... has anyone done this and if so, how did it look?
My guess would be you could put 255/70/16 on the factory rims with no problems. That's only 10 millimeters wider than the factory tires. Shouldn't be any effects on speedometer, fit inside the wheel well, etc. since they'd be the same diameter and only slightly wider. Maybe you'd get slightly better dry handling due to more rubber on the road?
I don't remember for sure, but I seem to remember somebody explaining that the factory rims on newer Troopers actually are of a size that can hold more than a 245 millimeter-wide tire. The rims say "16x7JJ" - a tire shop could probalby help you out over the phone.
People are frequently asking about 265/75/16 tires on newer Troopers, because it's a larger more common size. You might search the "Trooper - Part V" topic in the SUV area or the "General Isuzu Discussion" on www.itog.com. I can't remember exactly how much a speedometer/odometer difference these larger tires make, but it's probably around 10%. People have also mentioned reduced power for reasons I can't explain or remember.
More about tires and snow driving later...
-mike
White letter tires = personal preference. I plan on getting white letter tires soon, I think it will look good on my black Trooper. If you really don't like it, you can always have the tires reversed on the wheel so the black-only side shows.
-mike
It went pretty easy, but you need a pretty high-lifting jack to do it. I recently bought a Craftsman 3 ton hi-lift floor jack specifically designed for SUVs, and it came in handy.
Drove around a little, not enough to pass judgement. Seemed like a nice ride, though. I think it will be even better with the truck levelled off more; I haven't lifted the front yet. Tomorrow I'll have a go at cranking the torsion bars - I have heard 6 turns will do it, so we'll see.
There sure is a difference in coil weight and wire diameter between the OME and OEM coils.
-mike
I took the bumper off and sized up the job. I think I can get it done in a couple of hours now, but I am going to leave the electrical wiring of the lights for the dealer. So it looks like I am going to have to wait until next Saturday to mount the bar. The stock bumper is pretty light, not much to it and only attached with 4 bolts.
Even if the difference is 3 RPM between the stock Dueler spare and the Pirellis, you're talking 3 out of 703. That's way less than 1% -- about 4/10 of one percent. Not enough to worry about, in my book. Also, I've never heard one magazine, tire manufacturer, tire shop, etc. mention that you need to be careful about tires of the same stated size actually being bigger or smaller than other tires.
-mike
- City driving( couple of days with snow)
- Only one weekend on the highway (400 km in total)
- No off road
BUT they seem to provide more control(e.g. less roll and sway)
Definitely the car is less unnerving to handle when maneuvering at highway speeds
Just a note, I put the ISA shocks on my 99 Trooper about 1 year ago and yes there was a significant ride improvement, however, I now find that two of the shocks are leaking fluid. Considering the pain in the .... it was to put them on, I think I'll be switching to the Rancho 9000's soon. The biggest problem seems to be where to get them? Does anyone know of a good online site for purchasing the
Rancho brand shocks?
Also, can anyone tell me if replacing the sway bars is a Saturday afternoon in the garage job or does it need to be done at a service center with a hydrolic lift?
Thanks
-mike
www.4wheelparts.com is one that comes to mind. Rancho usually offers a buy 3 get 1 during the year, so if you can wait you'll save ~$70.
Garrick
Also, any idea where I can get a cover for the cargo area? (I'd like to save some $ by not going to the dealer) Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Try a junkyard or http://www.salvageplant.com for the cover.
-mike
mike@iace.com
-mike
Some experts say that while a firmer sway bar in the front of an SUV('99 Isuzu Rodeo) would reduce body roll and sway (E.g when cornering at highway speeds), might, on the other hand increase chances of rollover?
What do you say?
It looks that it would only make the driver feel less unnerving while cornering, but it might not be increasing the safety of the vehicule(on the contrary)....
Your opinions please?
thanks,
Marian
PS
Basically I've found an after market sway bar from a supplier(Automotive Customizers) that are "made for my '99 Rodeo and they are made to be stiffer then stock"...
Except that I'm not so sure if I'm ready to order it, considering the above mentioned concerns...:)
BTW: 70% of the time we do only on-road driving, 20% is snow(in the city) and less then 5% is off road
cornering SUV's is the driver's perception that he can run faster than what
is safe.
To rephrase it, flatter cornering SUV's can give a false sense of security
and the driver will tend to push the SUV harder (in fact, this is also stated
as a warning by the Edelbrock company).
Flatter cornering does not equate to lower center of gravity. If you put an
SUV on an incline sideways and gradually increase the tilt / angle
(steepiness) of the incline, the SUV will roll over earlier before a car
does. This is true regardless if you have stiff aftermarket shocks or
swaybars or springs, the fact remains that the center of gravity is still
high.
I read somewhere that SUV's should be driven and respected as a truck and not
as a sports car that you can play around on the twisties.
I also read somewhere that toyota engineers tune their car suspension so that
at the limit of cornering adhesion, the car will significantly lean to make
the driver uncomfortble. This is the toyota's way of telling the driver that
he is approaching the limit of adhesion. That may be the reason why the camry
lean so much, but it is also has a very nice ride.
Additional information here is about tire presure. The Ford explorer
engineers choose 26 psi (as opposed to 30 PSI) because the tire grip is NOT
good enough to make the SUV to tip over on hard cornering. It will just slide
instead of causing the SUV to tip over. Unfortunately, the firestone that
goes with the explorer have horrible quality and notorious for slowly leaking
air without the knowledge of the driver causing permanent damage and blowout
(driving with severely underinflated tires)
What I want to point out here is that don't get a sense of false security
that by increasing your tire pressure it will be safer because you get better
cornering grip.
Good luck with your Monroes."
You see my problem is not only that I'm not an expert, but English is not my mother tongue either(that's why sometimes I reapeat my question and hope for different wording in explanations, etc)
RE: If it doesn't lean, it never rolls, period, imo.
(CP) Not quite. See, the problem is, it will definitely lean. There's nothing you can do about that. The forces have to go somewhere, so either the suspension will lean, the tires will lean, whatever. Something will lean.... If you take away ALL the suspension lean, what happens is the only lean you have left is in the tires themselves.... So if you push the truck around a corner hard enough to use up all the tire lean, guess what? The tires on the inside of the turn will simply come off the ground. The lean you're trying to control here with the swaybar is the lean of the body/frame away from the suspension(note: axle?). If you control ALL of that lean, it'll actually be MORE LIKELY to roll around a corner. It'd be easy to remove all of that lean, just find someone to make you a GIGANTIC swaybar... But that's my point -- you really don't WANT to take away that lean -- the lean keeps you from rolling. When the body of the truck leans around a corner, there's still a basically downward force on the outside tires of the truck. The inside tires stay planted because the suspension is allowed to open up. If you try to control all the lean, the suspension can't open up, so those inside tires might be more likely to come off the ground instead...
RE: But like you said, the forces have to go somewhere, so that maybe the swaybar would push the car sideways, rather then lean it...What do you think?
(CP) No way your tires are going to lose traction and let you push sideways on dry pavement -- you're far more likely to lift the inside tires....
> STOP please, my simple mind is overheated: did you mean "the swaybar will > actually be TRYING to lift that OUTSIDE tire off the ground" rather then the inside tire?
(CP) Nope, I mean the swaybar will try to lift the INSIDE tire off the ground. The outside tire will be jammed up into the wheel well, and when it goes up, it'll pull the swaybar up with it -- when the swaybar goes up, it'll try to pull up on the INSIDE tire.
From Chris L.:
I believe that HD swaybars do help the tendancy to roll over in 2 ways. The 1st is all about a controlled environment and the 2nd is more real world. The 1st: The majority of the mass of the vehicle is centered longitudinally (in sport utilities it's high and in the middle, right to left). As the body rolls the CG in fact 'lifts' as a result of the lean (picture the vehicle straight on from the front or the back). Hence more body roll equals a temporary increase in the height of the CG. This combined with the lateral acceleration increases the propensity to roll-over. a flatter body reduces the effect of this 'lift of the CG'. However, once you enter the scenario with a flatter body there will be a higher level of tire adhesion. This may increase the lateral acceleration sufficiently to flip it, even though the body is flat. Maybe we're all better off with 4 mini-spares and no swaybars...:) (The amount of lateral acceleration that setup would provide would be incredibly low.) 2nd:... what I believe to be more of the 'real world truth'. A flatter body, with less lean, provides a more stable, confidence inspiring and precise platform. When faced with 'real world' driving conditions (lane changes, blowouts, slippery spots etc.) there is far less likelyhood of overcontrolling the steering and feeling out-of-control, which of course, ultimately leads to the roll-over. All this is IMHO, of course.
Chris L.
Hi Chris L.,
I can (even stupid me) defintely see your points about higher CG with body roll and the benefits of not panicking(making the ride less unnearving)...:)
What I don't understand from your 1st point is tis part:
"a flatter body reduces the effect of this 'lift of the CG'. However, once you enter the scenario with a flatter body there will be a higher level of tire adhesion. This may increase the lateral acceleration sufficiently to flip it, even though the body is flat. Maybe we're all better off with 4 mini-spares and no swaybars...:) "
Are you basically saying the same as CP, please?
And what are 4 mini-spares? You mean I should rather have spares rather then full size tires?
My rear glass quickly fouls up (less than 1 minute) when the road is wet that I have to use the rear wiper and washer many times. I am sure the rear spoiler can reduce the problem but i just want to hear from first hand experiences.
Thanks
I'd go factory.
-mike
DC HOPP
I'm planning on installing the center guard and the Hella 500's that have been sitting in my garage since Xmas this weekend. I think I'm going to mount the switch in my center console as an "override" and wire the lights to come on with the high beams when the switch is in the "on" position. Am looking forward to the difference!
I also ordered a Wheelskins leather steering wheel cover today. I got a two-tone one. Dark brown on the sides and sand (light beige) for the top and bottom. I'll install it this weekend too.
I think my next purchase will be a dark burlwood interior trim package from Woodashfactory.com and that will about do it for the interior.
I'm still trying to decide what to do about the suspension. I really have no complaints but less lean in the corners would be nice. I'll probably end up at least trying some Monroe Sesamatics or Rancho 9000's. I feel the urge getting stronger...LOL!!!
-mike
Well, I had a dream about my dried and cracked 684s blowing out while my wife was driving the Troooper with our baby on board. That was enough to get me off the couch and into serious tire shopping mode! It's just not worth it to squeeze a few more miles out those tires.
I decided to go with the Pirelli Scorpion A/T in the stock size. However, I'm getting them installed tomorrow and still can't decide if I want outlined white letters facing out or not! I found one photo in the Auto Trader of a white, late model trooper with white letter tires and thought it looked pretty good. Any more comments one way or the other????
By the way, the best deal I found was at Discount Tire. The four tires (245 70 16) installed, balanced, and with tax will run $406.
-mike
As far as price.... I don't know if people know, but things like tires are negotiable -- even at nationwide chains like Discount Tire. I checked at Big O Tire and they said $130 each installed. I had already checked prices all over town and that was $15 per tire more than they quoted me on the phone! Once they figured out I was shopping price (and NOT going to buy a Big O brand tire) the price came down pretty quick. Then I took their quote to Discount Tire who promptly beat it by $20. I also like the fact that the price includes lifetime rotate and balance.