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Isuzu Trooper

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  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    All '00 and '01 and '02 models have the factory alarm and keyless entry standard. I like the fact that it is integrated and re-locks the doors if you don't open one withing 30 seconds of unlocking it.

    -mike
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    01 Trooper S, it took 1/2 tank of gas to pull the boat to the lake 70 miles or so. I think my boat with a 4.3 litre engine gets better gas mileage. I don't use the Power Drive option and set the cruise at 70 on a pretty flat drive. My ford ranger 4.0 liter engine got better gas mileage as well. Where is the 15 city 19 highway miles??? I guess no SUV gets good gas mileage, but yikes, I must get 8-10 miles per gallon.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    How many miles on the Truck? That seems low for towing, even towing @ 75-77mph towing my ~3K boat trailer I got 11-12mpg. Of course once I hit the hills, that was a different story, but if you own a boat, you know how expensive boat ownership is in general :)

    -mike
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    The Trooper has under 3k and the truck had 150k. Boat ownership isn't too bad. 200 bucks to winterize and dewinterize and the gas in the boat itself. Not too bad.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    That's probably it, the trooper isn't broken in fully especially gas milage-wise til about 5-7K miles IMHO.

    On boats, wait til you get those nice I/O repair bills :) I just did a driveshaft and water pump on my Johnson 90hp OB and it was almost $900 ($600 in parts) A boat owner's 2 happiest days: The day he buys his boat and the day he sells it! :)

    Happy Boating.

    -mike
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    The Trooper has under 3k and the truck had 150k. Boat ownership isn't too bad. 200 bucks to winterize and dewinterize and the gas in the boat itself. Not too bad.
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    I have a 1996 SeaRay that I bought from a overly anal person for 10k. He waxed it every month and took very good care of it and bought a bigger boat. Someone stole the battery out of it last weekend, I am glad we didn't get to the lake before I noticed. We hit a log last year and knocked a blad off of the prop and that is the only issue so far. I change the oil every season and the outdrive oil as well. I use it every weekend and it has performed very well. I used to have a 1968 boat, that was a headache. I gave it away to charity, but had to call a few places before someone would take it, yikes. It is nice to just turn the key and go in a boat.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Yep, had a '67 outboard previous to my current used '82 that I bought last summer for $2300. This one has been good so far except for the broken drive-shaft. It is a nice feeling to just turn the key and go! This one also came with a cool depthfinder/fishfinder that I absolutely love! I can't wait to get up to my lake house next weekend and then the whole week of july 4th for tons of boating! :)

    -mike
  • raydahsraydahs Member Posts: 449
    I have aftrmarket wheels on my trooper, which allows the disc brakes to be seen more than the stock 5 spokes. As I was walking up to my truck from a distance this past weekend, I noticed the rear disc (12.3") is larger than the front (11.0"). I raced motocross for 20 years and have followed car racing for just as long. The most stopping power comes from the front brakes, so why is the largest disc on the rear? Did some looking into other makes and models with 4 wheel discs (performance vehicles) they all have the large disc in front. My cousin has a Yukon, and it also has the largest disc in the front. Someone in here just purchased a Sequoia which also has 4 wheel discs, can you check the size of those? I can't find it on the web site. Anyway thier must be a reason, any thoughts?
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Isuzus I believe have close to a 50/50 split on the braking. On my '97 rodeo, I went close to 70K miles on the original pads in the front, only 55K on the rears. That was in heavy city driving and lots of braking. That could be why they have larger rear discs since they actually put more braking power to the rears than others do, it makes sense especially if you tow often that you'd want more brake power in the rear or near 50/50 split. Is there a reason why most cars are front brake biased?

    -mike
  • centralcentral Member Posts: 51
    Physics is why the front brakes do the lion's share of the stopping. As you stop the front tends to dive and the rear lift therefore the fronts have a greater load than the rear.

    As to the rotor size difference, I suspect that is only part of the story. What about the pad size and caliper design differences? My guess is that the fronts have bigger pads and/or a more robust caliper design than the rear.
  • jglasmannjglasmann Member Posts: 13
    I just returned from towing my boat (approx 2300 lbs.) RT from Denver CO to Page AZ with my 99 Trooper S. When I initially left Denver with a full tank of gas and had driven only 40 miles uphill through the mountains my gas gauge dropped to 1/2 tank. I stopped at the nearest station and refueled. It took less than 3 gallons for refill. This same thing happened thoroughout the entire trip, around 40 miles the fuel gauge dropped to 1/2 tank, but it stayed there for quite some time. I check my mileage again after I got out of the mountains and I averaged 16-17 mpg while doing 70 -75 mph.

    Without towing my mileage runs around 19 mpg while doing 55-60 mph and around 17-18 doing 70-75 mph.

    I can't complain about the mileage considering the size and weight of the truck and it has more the ample power to get the boat over mountain passes without holding up any traffic.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Hmm, my guage is top heavy on my '00 Trooper. Doesn't drop to 1/2 but then from 1/2-E is like less than 1/4 of the tank.

    -mike
  • keepontroopinkeepontroopin Member Posts: 297
    Paisan my gas gauge is the same as yours. From full to half full I'll get about 230 miles and then from half full to empty I'll get about 100 miles. i thought this was very odd because my '94 trooper was consistant throughout the range. Also I was disappointed that Isuzu changed the styling of the gas gauge from the '94. I hate having only a full, half, and empty reading on the gauge. I much more approved if the eighth incrimental marks on the 94 Trooper. I guess I am lucky though if all I have to [non-permissible content removed] about is the styling of my gas gauge when my buddy is taking his Grand Cherocrap in to be serviced every couple of weeks.

    By the way Paisan I am going to take some pics of the '00 I have now so you can add them to your gallery. Hopefully I will be e-mailing them next week. Keep On Troopin'!!!!!!!!!!
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    I don't like how the gas light comes on when it is 1/8 from being empty. I really don't know when the damn thing is empty, but I am sure that I will find out when it runs out of gas one day. My wife panics when she realizes how bad the gas mileage is compared to our civic ex. Why is the gas mileage so bad??
  • raydahsraydahs Member Posts: 449
    Mine's a 99, I've never seen a low gas light. Is this a 2000+ addition? The most I've ever put in was 20 gallons though, that leaves 2 left, I should have seen something!
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    It's a 4600lb truck + gear + gas + etc. It only has 215hp, and has 245mm tires on it. It also has the aerodynamics of a BRICK WALL! :) You can't expect it to get great gas milage. Anyone trying to compare a civic to a trooper on gas milage definitely isn't all that tightly wound. ;)

    -mike
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I think the gas tank is 22 + 2gallons reserve. When my fuel light comes on I generally put in 20-21.5 gallons.

    -mike
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Always looking for pics for http://isuzu-suvs.com


    -mike

  • conman2000conman2000 Member Posts: 158
    I only have 1,900 miles on my 01 Trooper and seem to be getting about 15MPH average mostly city driving. On two trips over 300+ miles each, I got almost 18MPH so I appear to be within spec since the engine is so green still. BTW, I checked my oil and it appears to be down a 1/2 quart from new so not too bad.

    I happened to have filled up on Sunday at the 1/2 mark and put in 12 gallons(24 total right?) so it appears to be even. Also, I think the gas low light came on for me at 3 gallons once because I put in almost 21 gallons at that fillup. which at say 15mpg is 45 extra miles which make the bottom half feel like it is less because none of us wants to run out of gas and the light comes on so early. I am not complaining cause I get better MPG than my buddy's Pathfinder and Tahoe! :)

    Cheers,
    Con
  • sdc2sdc2 Member Posts: 780
    I don't think the gas tank is that big, IIRC it is 21.5 gallons on my 99. Maybe it is bigger on 00s, there seems to be plenty of room under there for a bigger tank...

    My empty light doesn't come on until it is on "E", with only a couple of gallons left.
  • raydahsraydahs Member Posts: 449
    Where on the dash is the light located? Usually you can see the location when the sun hits it just right, but I've never seen it.
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    On my '99 trooper they look to be the same size, although I did not (can not easily) measure them. The backs do have about a 2-3 mm of corrosion around the edge where the pad does not touch but the fronts are completely clean. On my sequoia, the front discs look to be wider than the back discs, but that is a 6600 lb truck.
  • gtroopgtroop Member Posts: 85
    The number 22.5 gallons comes to mind on the 2001 Trooper. 21 gallons is cutting it pretty close. I seem to get about 15 mpg on a combo city/highway. Last tank though I turned on the Power mode and the mpg seemed to drop a bit so the power switch is now off.
  • gpm5gpm5 Member Posts: 785
    I get 13.8-13.9 mpg in the 'city' i.e. 30-40 mph roads with stop lights etc. and with TOD mostly off. I get 12.1 in the city in the winter with TOD on all the time. I get 17.6 mpg hgy if I'm easy on the gas pedal even with some city driving mixed in and TOD on half the time. I get 16.3 mpg in heavy hgy and stop and go traffic with TOD on and going up to 70+ mph and doing hard accelerations. '99 trooper S
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Time to break out the manual, my guess was 22gallons on the tanks. I'm pretty sure that 92-01 are the same but not sure.

    -mike
  • erinsquarederinsquared Member Posts: 178
    My guess is that if you pull a 5000lb. boat behind the Trooper, the center of gravity of the boat and truck combined moves closer to the rear where those large discs prove helpful.
  • breakorbreakor Member Posts: 398
    The sales brochures for the 1998,1999 and 2000 Troopers all show the capacity as 22.5 gallons.
  • waltenbergerwaltenberger Member Posts: 2
    IIRC, the tank holds 22.5 gallons. I played around with how far I could go after the low fuel light comes on, having heard that it comes on when the tank is pretty low. I started out by filling up immediately after it came on a couple of times and ended up putting around 18gal in. I then let it go a little longer each time the light came on and varied the driving style and terrain.I now consistently can go 50 miles after the light comes on and I end up putting in between 20.5 and 21 gallons, which still gives me around a gallon and a half buffer. I figure if I had to, I could go around 75 miles max before I ran out of gas. Still, when I'm on a road trip in unfamiliar country I start looking for gas after I go below half a tank just to be safe. Obviously this only applies to my vehicle since I think even a 1/4" vertical difference in where the sensor is mounted could vary things by at least a gallon.

    -Ben
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Well there is our answer. So I guess when I filled up and took on 21.5 I had about 1 gal in there. Has anyone actually ran out of gas and seen how much they took afterward?

    -mike
  • carscarscarscarscarscars Member Posts: 7
    raydahs:

    What kind of aftermarket wheels do you have? Did you modify the rims for performance purposes? If so, what rims & tires have you chosen and what results have you experienced? Have you done anything else to modify the ride?
  • atltrooper1atltrooper1 Member Posts: 11
    I ran mine way down (took 21.2) and never saw the light. I've had the dash apart and I know it's there and the bulb is good. BTW, 99 model w/perf.pkg.
    Thanks, Chris
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    As was mentioned earlier, physics dictates that the front brakes do more work than the rears. In fact the front brakes can do up to 75% of the work in stopping a vehicle. You don't want to have rear bias since the rears may grab more causing them to lock up. This in turn causes the tail end to suddenly snap around. However, this is less of a factor with ABS. Also, for braking stability in curves, you don't want to have rear bias either.

    FWIW, all current Mercedes-Benz vehicles have EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution) which shifts more the braking effort to the rear brakes for improved wear and less heat. It's still not 50/50 though, or anywhere close that, but it is enough that it does help. EBD is not activated in curves for straight line stability reasons. It seems to work quite well; at Service A, my front pads had 60% left, and the rears 65% left. Very even considering that I have to do a lot of driving up and down slopes on almost a daily basis.


    Drew
    Host
    Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accesories message boards
  • conman2000conman2000 Member Posts: 158
    I looked at my Trooper today and see why the rear are bigger. The rear brake pad is smaller and the rotor surface is smaller because of the center "hub" is bigger than the front. So that means the braking surface is smaller than the front still.

    BTW, Has anyone thought about cross-drilled/sloted rotors? My buddy with a Acura TL just did it (plus it was cheaper than factory rotors) and it made a big change in stopping power. He used the same size rotors and standard pads. Our seat of pants test had a better firmer feel plus it appeared to stop faster(sorry no before and after tests were done). I heard cross-drilled rotors stop worse when cold but my buddy's TL seems to be fine even in January. I guess the down side for them for 4x4 is getting rocks stuck in the holes. Any input?

    Cheers,
    Con
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I believe that overlander.com sells crossdrilled rotors for the trooper. I was thinking about it, but for ~$400 I figured I'd wait til I need to do rotors before upgrading.

    -mike
  • cwmosercwmoser Member Posts: 227
    I typically go 330 to 350 miles before filling up with gas - 87 octane. There are 2 settable odometers and I always reset them when I refuel and those I use also as an indicator to refuel - of course along with the primary indicator - the fuel gauge. As far as the low gas lamp, I use it as a reliable indicator to start looking for a gas station. Typically, I fuel up 19 to as high as 21.5 gallons. My 1999 Trooper tank capacity is 22.5 gallons as stated in the owners manual. I don't know if that is "usable" fuel capacity or not. Surely, some residual fuel will remain in the tank when the engine is starved.

    So, the maximum refuel I've experienced is 21.5 gallons -- whats everyone elses? I would like to know if 22.5 is "usable" capacity.

    BTW, I can "feel" the handling difference immediately after fueling from a near empty tank. Unfortunately, it's not a "remembered" feel that one can use to gauge need to refuel.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I usually get less than 300 but fill up before the needle is holding up the E.

    -mike
  • toddswagnertoddswagner Member Posts: 33
    How is it that the cars from the 60's got pretty close to the same amount of mileage with bigger engines and the same weight as our new and improved fuel injected models? 215HP is nothing compared to the standard V-8's in the 60's, with the same mpg. The sad thing about the 215HP is that you get that much HP at 5600 RPM's. How often do you hit the redline when you drive??? All car manufacturer's claim to have so much horsepower, but at the redline. Is this true of american SUV's as well? I know the pathfinder claims 240 at 6000rpm or so, but what about the new GM model with 270hp?
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    The I6 also gets it's HP at a relatively high range on the RPMs. But your butt dyno doesn't notice HP really. Your butt dyno will notice Torque, not HP. Torque is typically made in the low range of rpms on trucks as well.

    Back to the 60's here is a few reasons why they got similar milage:

    1) Drive Ratio, they were geared a bit differently than todays trucks are geared

    2) Aerodynamics, our trucks have the aerodynamics of a brick wall, not so on sedans in the 60's and 70's

    3) I believe a lot of the V8s in the 60's didn't have much more than 215-250hp, except for muscle cars.

    4) Emissions controls. Starting in '75 you had catalitic converters, air-pumps, etc. that all pushed milage/performance down and emission down as well.

    5) I think todays HP ratings are mostly used as marketing ploys to draw people in.

    My '74 olds 98 regency with a 455 4bbl Holley never got more than 13-14mpg on the highway, and in the city got like 8-10mpg which is much less than I get on my Trooper. You can get a Lincoln TC and it will get close to 21-22mpg on the highway, but there isn't much utility in a LTC.

    -mike
  • keepontroopinkeepontroopin Member Posts: 297
    A few weeks ago I posted a message saying that my 2000 Trooper would sputter and almost stall when starting, but only when the engine is cold. A few of you said you have experienced similar startups. Just wondering if anyone has found out the real reason for this yet.

    I finally got around to calling my local Isuzu dealer and told them about it and the service guy told me it is the Power Train Control Module. Does this sound right. He said that the Power Train Control Module needs an update and that will solve my problem.

    I am going to take it in next week and have them update the module and I will let everyone know if that solves the problem. In the meantime if someone else has had their Trooper serviced for this problem please let me know if it was the same thing they had done. Thanks.
  • conman2000conman2000 Member Posts: 158
    Hmmm. Sound like the drive by wire system?!? If so, sounds like they will hook up a computer to it and adjust the specs. Let us know. The only problem I have so far is a noisy muffler. It sounds like a heat shield is loose but when I look under the truck, nothing seems loose. So it might be that my muffler insides are loose. Will have it checked out at 3k for my oil change.

    Cheers,
    Con
  • raydahsraydahs Member Posts: 449
    I put 16x8 Ultra 66's in mine, mainly to get a wider track, Pontiacs "wider is better" theory. The stock 99 wheels have a +38mm offset, the ones I put on are -9mm offset,(I wouldn't go any more than 9mm). It puts the rim flush with the fender flares, also by adding the 1" to the rim width I didn't screw up the weight distribution (wheel bearings). I figure this probably added 2" to the track, so it handles a little better in cornering but this is only one stage that needs to be addressed IMO.

    As far as tires, I left the stock 684's on it for now, I've got 48k on these things, I have about 5-10k left until it hits the wear bars. But when it's time to get new ones, I'm leaning towards the Dueler A/T 693's. (LT's not P-metric) I've had such good luck with these, might as well "go with what ya know" plus they're made in Japan, like the 684's. They also have a 30 day guarantee (for whatever reason your not satisfied, bring them back and swap them for whatever you want, Pirelli Scorp's maybe?).

    In the future, I plan on doing the suspension work in stages. First I'm going to put the sway-a-way tosion bars on like SAHARA111 recommends (see #338 in aftermarket/accesories), I can't stand the nose dive under braking. Next, the OME shocks. I'll put the OME springs on only as a last resort. I don't tow often, so I'm not sure it's worth it. Someone here mentioned that the ride got a little harsh on the small stuff. I'm not sure I want that, but if I can't get the ride the way I want with the bars and shocks, then i'll do it.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Calmini sway bars as well. I have the OME springs (do towing) and Rancho 9000 shocks. The shocks rock IMHO. I'm gonna get the calmini sway bars eventually and swap them with the stock ones for better on-road handling. I may do the sway-away bars as well eventually. For tires I'm looking at replacing the 684s when the time comes with pirelli scorpions.

    -mike
  • sdavitosdavito Member Posts: 71
    Don't forget that until 1972 (I think), all the HP was measured at the flywheel. Since 1972, the HP is measured at the rear wheels, with all available options turned on.

    David
  • fiveharpersfiveharpers Member Posts: 53
    What kind of muffler noise do you get? My trooper makes a rattling noise like a tin can banging when pressing heavy on the gas from a stop, I do not get the same noise if I gently apply the gas.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Are you sure it's at the wheels currently? I'm pretty sure it isn't but you could be correct.

    My trooper made a noise when it was new (under 10K miles) basically the expansion and contraction of the muffler system. If you get a tin can banging it could be pinging?

    -mike
  • raydahsraydahs Member Posts: 449
    Found it last night while looking in the ownwers manual (lower right corner under the fuel gauge). Another thing I was reading about was the Check Trans light (for towing), pretty cool feature. I guess if the fluid gets too hot, you pull over leave it running until the light goes out, then you can proceed. Has this ever happened to anyone?
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    But I have that both on my subaru and the trooper on the subaru it's the "AT Temp" light. I've towed about 3500lbs with the trooper and no overheating or AT overheating problems. I am going to be towing about 5Klbs with the trooper on the friday night before the 4th of July up to my house (the XT6 on a flatbed trailer) so I'll know if that light comes on. I'll also give a full report as to how it handles with the weight.

    -mike
  • conman2000conman2000 Member Posts: 158
    It sounds like a loose heat shield noise(tin-ny maybe?). When the engine is cold and you hit the gas hard, very noisy(Exactly like fiveharpers). I looked under the truck and did not notice anything loose. It might be that the exhaust system is still breaking in(Paisan's problem) so this might be it because it makes less noise when warmed up.

    Regards,
    Con
  • jglasmannjglasmann Member Posts: 13
    I have a 99 Trooper S with 23K miles. My low fuel light came on for the first time just recently when my tank got down to 2.5 -3 galllons. At first the light would come on then go off. Then the further I drove the longer the light stayed on. When I refilled the tank, It took 20.7 gallons.
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