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Comments
-mike
Here is my tire recommendation.
My Trooper ('96) came with the Bridgestone Deulers. I replaced them around 45k with BFG TA All Terrains. The BFG looked good, never let me down, were reassuring in the snow and wet boat ramps. Lets face it, they were also stiff, harsh and loud....right?!
So at 95k it came time for tires again. I had recently put new tires on my Mazda Miata. I purchased a set of Kumho Ecsta 711's. I have been extremely pleased at these tires which were $52 each. So far looks like a tremendous bargain when compared to a Michelin Pilot for 2x the price.
So I check out Kumho website and saw they had Kumho Road Venture AT tires in 245X70X16. The local dealer was Americas Tire. While they did not have them in stock, they did order them for me.
I got the set of four for $82 each. This compared to quotes of $160/ea on BFG's, and just above $100 ea for Michelins and others.
I am very pleased with them. They are not necessarily an off road combo tire like the BFG AT's, they are more like the Deulers at a much better price.
After new Edelbrock shocks and these tires the damn thing feels like a Benz!
I highly recommend Kumhos!
-mike
-mike
-mike
>I've punished my trooper and did not notice a problem with >alignment. I did notice that the 684s wore with the tread blocks >alternating high and low on the front and there were cracks between >the tread blocks at ~20k miles. I put on TOYO Open Country ATs in >the stock size. I'm very happy with the traction and handling, >although they are expensive. I like the heavy tread design. I have a >black trooper and the white letters out look nice on it. I'm just >worried that they will be beat off when I go offroad.
WTF, mine had the same thing happen on the front of *my* '99 Trooper: "tread blocks alternating high and low". I haven't abused it.
Guess I'll look at replacing all four then. Glad I got a decent deal on the truck. Thanks for all the informative posts.
You got the Kumho's for $82 each? My local dealer quoted me $107.64 each, and had to UPS them in. I'll probably go to S*m's Club for tires.
-Unicon
-mike
-mike
-mike
-mike
I wonder if the shop was really that "concerned" or just trying to scare you into purchasing the tire de jour.
If I got that story I would be tempted to call them back in a month or so and tell them I want a wider tire, like a 265, so my Trooper will stop rolling over. It would interesting to hear their response to that.
-mike
http://isuzu-suvs.com
I would think wider tires, would create a wider wheel base, and thus provide some decrease in roll-over risks? I recognize they are taller, but there should be some calculation to figure how much wider vs tall is important?
-mike
There is a mirror site for the minimopar oil filter study - http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/oil_filter_study/
In addition another newer site also does a good filter study - http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml
As to the timing belt chart, I admit I am still somewhat confused on this point. Some sites claim the newer troopers are interference engines and others state just the opposite. Checks with Isuzu have also returned the same conflicting responses. IIRC the best research on ITOG indicated they are interference meaning if the belt fails in service it takes the engine with it and therefore it must be replaced before it fails.
-mike
1.CD changer - replaced 2 times, and third keeps skipping sound as the first one did. Never load more then one CD anymore. Second changer ate all 6 CD and I got them back only in 2 months.
2.Windshild wipers - once snow sliding from the roof broke wiper motor housing; covered by warranty after haggling with Isuzu. Sitting with wiper arms up ever since. Another time frozen wipers snapped a link in the wiper assembly - another trip to the dealer.
3.Leaked transmission fluid trough un-tight drain plug. Tightened this one myself. Went to the dealer, and asked to check and add fluid. Guess what, they cannot see this small (pint) loss, as damn thing does not have tranny dipstick and plugs system is too imprecise to see if fluid needs to be added. I even afraid to think what happened if one day fluid will start slowly leak, as it does on most cars.
4.Had a small grease leak from an axel boot. Went to the dealer- they decided to put a new boot on it. Waited a week for part to arrive, and next morning after taking truck from the dealer I was lucky to look at the new boot. Large ring snapped, and grease splashed all over brake parts, wheel well tire, and rim. Went to another dealer, and after like 3 more days (weekend) finally closed the issue.
5.Had a check engine light come on after two separate car washes. Once I was able to reset it by removing battery terminal, another time had to go to the dealer.
6.And last but not least - brakes. I do drive it very little - in winter, to carry some household goods, and when other cars in the household need more then one day attention / repairs. After a year, on the second winter of ownership I have noticed that brakes become funny. The reason for this was that rotors become deeply pitted with rust. Went to the dealer, and they resurface rotors at no charge at only 5000 miles.
Aside from the fact that I had rotors useful life depleted, this fact made me very angry. From this point up I've started to suspect that rotors on this truck are made from substandard material. Now at little over 10000 miles, guess what - it did it again. Only now dealer wants me to pay to replace the rotors, and rear brake pads, that prematurely worn by rusted rotors. I took the truck back, call Isuzu, NHTSA, BBB.
I do not hope that they will help, unless other people had similar problem, and reported it.
Please, report to NHTSA if you had similar or other brake problem, or another safety related issue.
Have a safe winter driving.
Check Engine light: This happens on all cars. It's not Isuzu only problem. With the federal regs on emissions even a batch of bad gas can cause the CE light to come on.
Fluids and Axle boots: Sounds like you had a bad dealer. This happens, live with it, find another dealer to bring it to for repairs.
Wipers: the linkages on all cars will break if you turn them on while they are frozen to the window, doesn't suprise me at all.
-mike
I've followed the tire discussion with much interest -- and I'm wondering if I should be looking at getting the 684s on my Trooper replaced. I don't think I'm quite as aggressive as Paisan, the tires pass the "quarter test" with ease, and it doesn't look like I have the cracking described by others. So, the question is: can I put this off for a few months (with insurance due and the 30,000 maintenance, I don't really feel like putting more money into the Trooper this month), or is the mileage high enough that I should order myself some Scorpions regardless of how the tires actually look? How long have other people driven the 684s safely?
Oh, and I've included below a list of the repairs I've had to have done to the Trooper other than the fuel line recall and standard maintenance for the first 30,000:
-Dave
I am at 32K miles with a LOT of life left on the pads (and rotors)...
FWIW my 99 has been in the shop twice, once to replace that lovely CD changer (so far so good on the replacement 9 months later), and once to replace the intake manifold gasket. Other than that, nada.
-mike
I changed the fronts on my '96 Trooper at about 75k miles and finally did the rears to match at 90k!
This includes towing a 3500 lb boat, and it is an Automatic.
I have never seen brakes with this type of durability!
Trooper brakes are fantastic, in my opinion.
The car is driven daily. It is a '96 with 98k miles on it, 20k miles a year.
Great brakes!
Also, OAN (on another note) I have 8000 miles on the Troop now and no signs of trouble of any kind with the brakes. My Bridgestone tires were starting to make lots of noise, probably from being out of alignment for a few thousand miles when new, but I increased the air pressure during my last oil change and most of the buzz went away. I hope to rotate the tires this weekend.
So it is not much choice in the matter.
And about brake rotors. I have 90 Chevy Corsica, also mostly sitting next to trooper. It's brakes getting clear from any SURFACE rust after I drive it around the block every other month. Rotors on trooper, on contrary, have deeply pitted rust that no driving, nor machining cannot remove.
And if Isuzu wants me to drive it any particular number of miles per month, why don't they put it in the owner's manual? For the same reason that they did not put there cost of 30000 miles service? Davis Isuzu booklet that I picked up at the dealership list price of this service at 579.95, and this is before tax. I've driven cars that cost less then this.
And, I forgot in my list one more thing - on hot days twitters from the front doors tend to fall off. Extra care has to be taken not to jam it in the door when it is hanging on wires. Also it pops right back ok. Dealers cannot do much - it's design. And I did have one of the front speakers replaced by warranty - sound was badly distorted.
-mike
Having bought trooper for such occasions, I had to make it through the 2-foot snow in Chevy caprice because of trooper vipers.
Another useful invention went unnoticed by Isuzu in the wiper area - it is a self-resetting fuse that will turn wipers off, if motor load becoming too large - like frozen vipers, vipers on dry windshield, or wipers obstructed by something - like lots of snow. This fuse is suppose to turn wipers off in those cases, and attempts to turn them back on in 5 min or so. Without this fuse power windows, for example, would need replacement every time you try to lower window that frozen shut.
Maybe problem with wiper assembly that it is borrowed from 94 or so Honda accord, together with instrument cluster, and not really adequate for Trooper
-mike
Thanks
Funny he is dogging the Troopers wipers, I have not yet experienced a winter with the Trooper but look forward to it (if it would ever snow here). Mine has been trouble free with the exception of the CE light and occasional engine ping.
My father had a Chevy Celebrity that experienced the entire wiper arm just falling off for no reason on a regular basis. I can't wait till GM makes as big a mess of the Trooper - sorry, I mean the Ascender!!!
As for the auto stop on the wipers, that is a good one. Never heard of that, but I might of had I bought a highly optioned Caprice, the Cadilac of Chevys. I wonder if cars in Russia and Poland have this feature...
Touch up paint - St Charles - Isuzu. You can find the link at www.itog.com
-mike
Probably makes little difference, but I look at other SUVs and don't see this so much.
If your rear DRUMS are rusting you have a Cadillac Escalade not an Isuzu Trooper. Last time I checked, 4 wheel Discs!!!
I assume you made a brain-fart?
-mike
Sorry to bash you, but, if you give the Trooper some time it will prove itself to be a much better vehicle than a 1990 Chevy Corsica or 1992 Chevy Caprice!!!
You will be amazed 100k miles down the road that it is rattle free, the switches still work, the headliner is not hanging down in your face, the seat covers are not ripped, and you have not replaced the transmission for the third time!
Try looking out the [non-permissible content removed] windhshield before turning on the frigging wipers and assess if you need to take action or whether you can reasonably expect a machine to determine for you if it can clear your windshield or kill itself trying!
By a new BMW 7 Series if you need a car with a computer that will say "Dave...there is snow on the windshield and if you turn on the wipers it may burn out my wiper motor. I cannot allow that to happen Dave...."
Move to Florida!
Since the Trooper is (sadly) being discontinued, I doubt if they would be willing to do a recall or modification of the current version, but it may be worth a try!
- Dave
Can't wait to see what GM does with the new
AssEnder.
Offroader
-mike
*TM Arktrooper1
Thanks!
-tidester
Host
SUVs
So that you know he isn't the only guy, my rotors (on my 98) rust noticably OVERNIGHT if it is damp out. It doesn't do any damage, I just drive off, but I can imagine that if you never drive the thing, significant rust could accumulate.
Gchernya, you are being too hard on the Trooper. It is generally considered, not just by people here, but by serious off-roaders and hard drivers everywhere, too be one of the best vehicles around. You don't have to look too hard to find that opinion.
My dealer charges about $400 for a 30K service. And it does not have to be done by the dealer - just find a mechanic you trust that'll charge you less.