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-mike
Paisan, I think that is only PART of the story. A town car is also body-on-frame but it has a limo ride.
The mild 1-inch lift was done by cranking the torsion up front and installed a home-made spring spacer at the rear. There's a guy that sells spacers for isuzus, just check out the website:
http://hometown.aol.com/donsteph29/page1.html
Regarding soft spring, I totally disagree unless you use your SUV for towing (now that's another story). Name a sedan that has a stiffer ride than any SUV. Even the VW jetta with sport suspension felt too soft and absorbent compared to my passport.
I believe more than 90% of Axiom will not be used for towing but rather be used as a 4WD station wagon.
Here's a quote from Four Wheeler Magazine made during their Four Wheeler of the Year Shootout:
"We found that the Axiom's independent front suspension and coil sprung live-axle rear suspension offered an average amount of articulation, and we were grateful for that...".
Let's put and end to the idea that there is low articulation here, it's just not true. Articulation is measured down from the nominal operational position not up.
If you want to get rid of bottoming refer to Paisan's advice.
PS Axiom came in 4th behind ML500 (3), Liberty (2), Grand Cherokee (1).
Not bad for a "hybrid".
Calmini.... Their customer support sux, if everything goes fine with your order, then they are ok, but if anything goes a miss you can count on it being a long wait for it to be fixed.
I agree that the articulation is fine on the axiom for a truck that's not supposed to be a truck.
Just know that you will loose articulation if you crank the T-bars.
-mike
-mike
I don't know if Don Moody also ripped people off with his spring spacers.
One inch lift can hardly be noticeable but it offered improvement in ironing out the bumps.
As for the RX300, it's a lot lower than the Axiom IIRC, a lot lighter as well (lower CG). It goes back to the Axiom being built by a truck company v. RX300 being built by a luxury car company or in the case of the Pathy, built by a company that does both cars and trucks.
Interesting about the Towncar. I was forever under the impression that the Chevy Caprice and Crownvic/Towncar were built on modified uni-body that had subframes (kinda like the Jeep Cherokee and GC) You learn somthing new every day!
Glad the lift helped to smooth out the bumps!
-mike
In any case, I agree that just replacing springs will probably make the ride much stiffer. Also, I don't want to lift the Axiom so I am not to interested in spacers. I am convinced airsprings are the way to go. I will order a set as soon as I get back from Vacation in a couple weeks. I will keep you informed on the outcome.
Sowr, thanks for the info on the Axiom's articulation and offroad prowess, that is impressive.
-mike
3,900lbs/3,930lbs/4,180lbs/4,416lbs/4,600lbs
Truckish/carlike/truckish/"soft"/"plush"
BTW, I love driving the Axiom in the rain with TOD engaged. It feels like driving on dry pavement.
-mike
All in all, the Axiom really didn't go through any growing pains for a first year model (granted many parts are from the trooper and rodeo) compared to other first year 2002 models. Only 1 recall and 13 very minor TSBs aren't too bad for a brand new vehicle. Isuzu has definitely proved to me their capability of putting together a solid and well engineered truck. Too bad there are so few of us that knows this. Lets hope there will still be new real Isuzu's left when I go to replace the axiom in several years.
My question is do you get used to it? Do you recommend the vehicle?
We will use it for a daily driver and to get to a vacation house on the Outer Banks (reachable only via the beach, no road).
It is important to remember that this is a real body on frame truck and it will ride rougher than a unibody vehicle like the highlander, which the Axiom is often compared too. Because it is a truck, it has much more utility than a Highlander, especially considering Isuzu's TOD system.
I would definitely recommend the Axiom because:
1)You get the most bang for your buck compared to other mid size SUV's. (huge discounts and good financing)
2)TOD is superior to many other 4wd systems offered in other vehicles because it has both low range and AWD (different and better than auto-4WD).
3)Reliability, see post 1116 and lack of mechanical issues on this board.
4)Even though we probably won't need it, 10 yr 120K mile warranty (can't even be topped by the Korean manufacturers).
5)Unique, I rarely see another on the road.
The only reason I would not recommend an Axiom is if you plan on only keeping it for a few years, Isuzu's defintely don't hold their resale value like other models.
Just take it on a good long test drive on roads you normally drive to see if you can live with it's truck ride.
Good luck
other than that i loved the styling and the price. hopefully it will continue to evolve. I will be keeping my eye on it.
I love my Axiom, best truck I have owned so far. Ride quality was never an issue for me with my Axiom, or maybe I am just used to that truck feel. Could it be better? Maybe, but that goes for just about anything. For me, as is, it's value and performance are second to none when compared to other trucks in the same category.
Oh, and don't forget to check the oil!
Good luck, Let us know how you make out.
To me, oil consumption is an indication that the pistons are not fitted and sealed as they should be, leak oil to the combustion chamber and the oil is burned along with the fuel. It is a process also knows as "blow-by." Does anybody have any experience in the field of engine engineering to give us a scoop as to why our engines consume oil?
-mike
On another subject, I just installed a Draw-tite hitch on my Axiom at a total cost of $223 including light kit and ball. Although the website said it was an easy installation it took the tire shop two hours to complete the job. They had a problem positioning the washers in the right place but didn't have to drill any holes. It looks very sturdy and fits great.
thanks,
John R.
http://www.digitalfridge.com/dfPerInvite.asp?iDFICode=55058750
Seems to be working well. I drove 4 adults on a 100 mile trip this weekend and the suspension felt pretty good even in Normal mode. Very nice and hard in Sport mode. I'll post a few more reviews after I've had a chance to drive to work and back for a few days.
After I figured out that I didn't need to remove the spring things got a lot easier! The suspension felt great coming into work today. I have a few areas that consistently bottom out the suspension. Still in testing mode right now.
I will check for pinching or rubbing tonight after work.
I haven't been here for while...
BTW I have question regarding the wheel accessory. Have you guys seen the flat center piece for axiom. I was wondering where i can get that part. IMO, axiom wheel looks much nicer with the flat center piece. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1855220035
ThaNX GUYS
-mike
If they were.... there would be many cool
aftermarket stuff made available.
( Including some suspension upgrade parts!! )
I ran the AirSprings at varying psi.
If your Axiom is unloaded 10psi will prevent bottoming out in normal mode and keep the bouncing to a minimum.
At 20psi there is a little more porpoising than using only the stock spring.
I ran 30-35psi unloaded and the rear end started to undulate heavily on the Los Angeles freeways! The porpoising was very evident, I recommend 30-35psi only while fully loaded.
On another note, has anyone looked into changing out the 17 inch tires and wheel for larger diameter 16 inch tires? I was looking at the Pirelli Geolander and they only come in 16 inch. I want to be able to seriously take my XS off road and the Geolanders look quite capable.
Yokohama Geolander AT II+ are also good all terrain tires.
-mike
Let me know how the compressor works and where you mounted the control unit. You could mount it in the engine compartment, glove box, or possibly in the storage area in the right rear of the vehicle. I couldn't decide so I just used the schader valves.
Tires, I screwed up!
Geolander is Yokohama and Scorpion is Pirelli!
Apparently, if sales remain as low as they are, they will retool part of the line, which is at the joint Subaru-Isuzu factory in Indiana, to build Outbacks instead.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
When was the last time you saw an Isuzu commercial? What good are 0% financing incentives if people don't know about them?. I probably haven't seen an isuzu commercial since March or April, and that was on the History Channel. On top of that, the commercials they had for the Axiom were ridiculous.
One made fun of the Grand Cherokee because it was more capable than needed because nobody takes them offroad. That implies that the Axiom isn't capable, just a rugged looking vehicle that isn't a real SUV. Obviously that is not true.
Obviously Isuzu wanted to compete against the Highlander, so what do they do? They show Joe Isuzu dissasembling a Higlander. What does Toyota do? they show the Highlander on gravel roads in beautiful country, which implys that the Higlander is more rugged than its car based roots actually are.
Lets face it, most people in this SUV craze want the rugged image that SUV's portray, so when people see Isuzu advertising the Axiom as if it only belongs on city streets, they are obviously not interested.
Isuzu just needs to start advertising like they said they would several months ago and show the Axiom is at home both on and offroad with good towing capability and the benefits of AWD. Oh yeah, the 10 year 120K warranty wouldn't hurt to mention as well.
-mike
My guess, with a good set of truck tires and with the added weight that the boat would place on the back of the Axiom, you would have enough traction for most ramps. Probably no worse or better than other 2WD vehicles out there of similar weight and engine size.
-mike
kevin