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Isuzu Off Roading/Trail Reports
If you aren't afraid of a few scratches, the Pine Barrens is a great place to 4WD on the east coast. Most of the terrain is sand, but there are a lot of low branches and mud holes. The mud holes and water crossings can be deep.
I took the family for a day trip and we had a great time. The only negative, besides christening the truck with front to rear scratches were the droves of motorcycles that would come out of nowhere. I was travelling 10-20 mph and they would come around the bend about 30-40 mph. Not terrible but it broke up the quiet serene trip in the forest.
I took the family for a day trip and we had a great time. The only negative, besides christening the truck with front to rear scratches were the droves of motorcycles that would come out of nowhere. I was travelling 10-20 mph and they would come around the bend about 30-40 mph. Not terrible but it broke up the quiet serene trip in the forest.
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up once and moving forward again. Other than that, the SUV was unstoppable.
Right now, I am enjoying the moment.
Happy new year to all of you!!!
The downside i did find is that reverse sux in low traction conditions with any 4x4. I think the reverse gear ratio is much higher or lower (whichever one makes you spin em easier) which means that whenever you are parking like in your driveway and want to make sure you can get out, the best bet is to back in with the front facing the direction you want to go in afterward.
Happy Snow!
and Happy New Year!
-mike
Overall the truck performed as usual. It made deep snow seem very easy. It would be more fun to hit some snow on off-road trails?
I hit a few soft snow piles that were bumper high. Packed snow in the front and A-arms of the suspension. I am going to get up early tomorrow and see if I have a problem with TOD. I am going to let it warm up first.
I've already replied to "Found a winter wonderland for beginners" by drmperalta on the SUV owners forum(please see bellow), but now I notice that Paisan, in his "Ditto on the snow", had a similar bad experience, like mine when backing off in 4X4 even LOW!
In Reply to:Found a winter wonderland for beginners by drmperalta
Hello,
I'm happy that you had so much fun
I hope that you won't mind if I ask a few questions(as a newbie), since last night, in similar snow, in a different and crowded city(Montreal rather then our Ottawa) my experience wasn't so great as yours?
We have a '99 V6 5 speed Rodeo:
So we were on this narrow street when we pass our host's place and (at the guy's suggestion) I try to park on the side of the street in one or two feet of snow...Definitely more then one on the left side of the truck, almost two I'd say...
I park almost completely, but I get stuck a little, even after switching in 4W Low? After straightening up the tires I could back off, but in the process I've discovered two other disconcerting factors:
a) Rather then backing off in straight line (diagonally towards the middle of the street, that was clean), the truck would kind of steer left?? And keep me in the snow and backing towards another parked car...
I guess my stock tires aren't much good in snow
b) Something started to smell! Later I've recalled an article from the last year newspapers something like "many SUV owners burned...their engines on the Chicago streets when getting stuck in the snow, because they don't know how to handle them...An SUV won't take you out of everywhere..."
So the question is what is the danger here? I'm afraid that someone like me might actually burn something at the engine block(is it called block engine's insulation or garnish?)?
Can anyone provide more input please?
PS
I did get out of the snow moving forward eventually, but I didn't want to push the truck too hard, since that smell was smelling trouble!
I guess it just wasn't my day after all(see previous post about getting the tire cover punctured from a minor collision from behind earlier in the same city), but it could have been much worse
Basically I'm not so worried about getting a little bit "embarrassed" like you said, but about the danger of pushing the truck to hard in a situation like that...
Any advice would be more then welcomed!
Thanks again,
About:
"We got about 10" of powder in PA today. I got on a steep unplowed slope and tested 4-low and TOD. In 4-Low the truck would slide sideways and spin alot. In TOD it took right off and went up with no problems. "
BTW: exactly what happened to me in 4-low backing off: slipping sideways and spin a lot! Kind of scarry Plus some smell...
TOD is the full-time variable tourque system on the Troopers. It can be used in wet or dry conditions, and varies torque split between the front and rear axles.
The problem I had was in snow, it appeared to permeate the TOD unit, and cause a short. I cannot re-create the problem, even with driving a whole weekend in deep snow. I'm gonna let it go as a hiccup for now.
-mike
So the smell doesn't come from something more serious like the gasket of the engine block(I think)?
Also, you guys seem to indicate that TOD would do a better job in the snow then 4WD low?
Not knowing better, I thought 4WD low is the best there is...It was one more reason not to go for a "permanent all wheel drive" ....:)
I wasn't even aware that one can have either TOD or 4WD low in an Isuzu Trooper...
I'll keep that in mind and sorry to hear about your hiccup with TOD...
As a matter of fact anything that is fully automatic kind of worried us, in terms of reliability...
But we'll learn as we go or from your experiences
-mike
I saw a discussion on water in the tranny somewhere in the owners club, but I can't recall where. Does water get into the tranny through the so-called vents? Are these on top of the transmission casing--does anybody know--are there vent line extensions on the trooper? I would assume that most vehicles could go through 6 inches of water, and I'd hope the trooper could go through more without having to replace the tranny fluid. They do show an advertisement with it sitting in a shallow river bed. I've heard about people extending their trany vent lines for offroading through deep water etc. --but I assume this would be water that would come through the doors. I also have heard of people ripping out the rugs and putting in rubber for such offroading. Any input would be great.
Sorry for the confusing generated by my long posts
No, my 4WD Hi didn't do better then 4WD Lo in deep snow: I've used 4WD Lo to get out, but , like someone else said here I had the same problem with it:
"In 4-Low the truck would slide sideways and spin alot." especially when backing up...
Eventually I was able to exit by moving forward after backing up a little, since backing up would slide left and back towards another parked car
Not to mention that something starting to smell and I was afraid that I might burn something like the engine block gasket by overheating the engine(people said that it might have been my clutch rather then the engine)...
I'm glad that at least you the Trooper owners have TOD to help you in snow and such
I'll probably consider one for my next truck(even if we intend to keep our '99 V6 five speed Rodeo for as long as possible)...
I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with your vehicle, you just need better tires.
That was my guess as well...:)
What are your "good AT tires on your 4X4. "? Are they all seasons, or winter only tires?
If I'll have the choice I'd get all seasons for my Rodeo(to save money), if they'll do a better job then my factory ones...
I've heard the Pirelli Scorpions are good tires too.
-mike
That was my guess as well...:)
What are your "good AT tires on your 4X4. "? Are they all seasons, or winter only tires?
If I'll have the choice I'd get all seasons for my Rodeo(to save money), if they'll do a better job then my factory ones...
I would look for a tire with lots of siping and blocking for snow use, although such a tire can be noisy in some cases.
On one of my previous vehicles, an 88 Pathfinder, I had worn 75% of the original tread off the tires, but though I could make it through the winter, as they were not worn down to the wear bars yet. Then I had a minor fenderbender where I slid into a guy during a snowfall. The accident made me decide to spring for the new tires, and what a difference! I was able to drive in 2WD where with the old tires 4WD was necessary, and braking in the snow was also vastly improved. I am convinced that if I had gotten new tires earlier, I would not have slid into that guy.
I guess my point is that any decent AT tire with good tread on it will be superior to worn tires, regardless of brand.
-mike
Question is: should I do it now?
I only have 23.000 km on the stock ones...
The tread sims to be in good shape(but I'm not sure what its original size was), but on the other hand I'm not happy when it slips in deep snow or if it affects breaking distance as well...
I would definitely like to be cautious(like sdc2 said) but isn't 23.000 km kind of early to replace them?
They should last past 50,000 miles, I think they have a 60,000 mile warranty.
Iv'e tried this on our rear wheel drive car and it helped a lot on the mud (plus of course, the cheater weight at the back to keep the rear firmly planted)
Still happy and satisfied w/ this truck!
In the article above, the guy in back let slack develop in the strap, then ran over the strap thereby wrapping it around the front wheel axle. This broke the brake line to the brake caliber and no brakes. He passed the towing vehicle, then went sideways and T-boned the towing vehicle, flipping it on its side and ending up on top of it.
-mike
I did tow a car about 15 miles once with it, when my friends car conked out on a remote dirt road in northern Minnesota. It was nerve-wracking - I kept thinking what would happen if I had to hit the brakes. It wasn't any funner for him, the road was muddy and his windshield kept getting covered, which made HIM nervous. Made it OK, though, I would brake very very gradually when we had to stop, which was fortunately only once or twice before reaching civilization.
On another note, I was just talking to a coworker who used to have a Jeep. He told me about an x-ray that was shown around at his 4x4 club. It showed the image of a hitch ball imbedded INSIDE a guy's skull. Needless to say, the guy was killed instantly in the tow strap incident.
That's why you NEVER hook a strap to something that can come off, and never use straps with hooks on them.
The Trooper is good stuff in the snow and I really like the TOD. I was flying down some roads tonight @ 60mph, the Hella 4000s are great for night driving, makes it like daytime!
I'm lovin the snow up here in upstate NY!
-mike
TOD is a little different than an older-tech part-time 4WD system, in that the power is apportioned more to the rear until something slips. But, I have driven both systems, and it is nice to have a system where you don't have to worry about whether or not you are on dry pavement or slippery surface - you can just set it and forget it!
-mike
I did manage to get some nice 4wd drifts in TOD while up here, having the trooper moving sideways and forward @ 40-50mph in the snow is pretty cool! I only wish I had pics of it.
-mike
-mike
Just wanted to check some basic facts, if you don't mid:
Is it true that being in 4WD Hi would actually help when using the "engine brake"( I mean downshifting to a lower gear, rather then pushing the brakes)?
I mean when one tries to stop at a slippery spot, while driving at low speeds...I always try to downshift("engine brake"?) rather then push the brakes first...
My feeling is that being in 4WD Hi actually helps because all 4 tires will probably provide some resistance, right?
I never had the truck slipping(is fishtailing a better word to sue here?) when doing that, while the wife had in the same spot(but she's scrappy she never uses 4WD Hi much, prefers to stay in 2WD)
Could you please enlighten some SUV newbies, more?
Thanks
-mike