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Isuzu Trooper

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Comments

  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Damaging it as long as the load is under 5K.

    But it might be slow going if you have a 5K trailer and want to go 75-80mph.

    -mike
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    My opinion is that the Trooper's frame and suspension make it a very capable towing platform. The engine seems to be built with overcapacity cooling and it can take a beating and stay happy. However, if you will tow very long distances very often over long steep hills with a non-aerodynamic travel trailer then I think a much larger tow vehicle rated to tow twice what you need would be a lot more satisfying. If I were travelling a three week vacation once a year with a 5000# trailer then the Trooper will do nicely. If I were in a business where I had to tow a travel trailer every month I would go get a GMC or Chevy all wheel steering 4 door pickup with the Duramax Diesel. The big truck with Duramax will probably get better MPG than a Trooper with the gas pedal an the floor half the time pulling a 5000# trailer.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I agree with you boxtrooper. If you tow often especially for business then yeah you are gonna want something more beefy. If it's a few or even often but only for vacations then I wouldn't worry. I've been doing a lot of towing with my Troop lately and it performs well, but if I were towing the 5500lbs car trailer all the time, I'd probably go for the duramax diesel.

    -mike
  • harhirharhir Member Posts: 29
    I have mounted an aftermarket seat in my car. The problem was, that the backrest of the original seat was not very ergonomic and not high enough for me and gave me horrible back pain after a while. I am 6’5”.

    Because I did not find any good after market seats in the US I got one from overseas.

    The only US manufacturer seams to be Corbeau. See: www.corbeau.com.

    But there email communication was very poor and they do not have orthopedic seats with a high backrest. So I ended up with Greiner in Germany. See: http://www.greiner-gmbh.de/e/scheelmann/index.html

    They have a seat with an extra long backrest. It is the vario XXL. Now I even cannot pull out the head restraint to the max, because it will touch the roof before. The seat is just perfect.

    After I got the seat, I modified the adaptors that came with it. The main change was, that I replaced the mounting holes in the adaptor to get the seat a far back as possible.

    Because of this I gained about 2-3 inches of additional leg room. And because the aftermarket seat has a lower cushion and I also have a little bit more head clearance.

    Beside Greiner there is an additional German seat manufacturer, which even officially distributes in the US. It is Koenig seats. See: http://www.ritec-int.com/konig.html

    Recaro officially does not offer adaptors for the new Trooper.


    For any questions please do not hesitate to contact me: harhir@hotmail.com


    Stefan

  • harhirharhir Member Posts: 29
    Isuszu in Europe and Japan offers a roof rail as an additionalm accessory. I have also seen it on some older Troopers (older than 97) here in the US. Does anybody know if these kind of rails are also available in the US for the Trooper?

    Here is a link in UK to explain what I am looking for: http://www.cheammotors.co.uk/ecomms/itm00819.htm
  • schulhof1schulhof1 Member Posts: 8
    Hey buddy. Don't sell your Trooper because
    the seat stitching is pulling apart!

    This happened to mine too. The local corner
    upholstery shop removed the seat fabric, turned
    it inside out, sewed it up and charged me maybe
    $55 for the deal. It has been fine since.

    It was on the drivers seat, right where I happen
    to stick my right elbow when I get in.

    Fixing that is small beans.

    My Trooper at 111k takes a licking but keeps
    on tic-tic-ticking (valve noise).
  • bawbcatbawbcat Member Posts: 118
    Harhir,
    AFAIK Isuzu doesn't officially offer any type of roof rack in the US except for the accessory Yakima ski rack, which only holds like 50lbs. The roof rails in your link look interesting, but $300GBP is pretty expensive, so even if we could get them in the US I'm not sure if we would want them.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    What if you bought the OEM ones for the pre-98 Troopers? They were an option and thus must be available as a replacement part no? :):)

    -mike
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    Rola is the maker of many OEM roof racks. This would be a good place to start. The best web site for this world wide comapny is Australian.

    http://www.rola.com.au/

    I think the parts are available everywhere.
  • tkevinblanctkevinblanc Member Posts: 356
    Except they don't have a listing for Isuzu... :0(
  • bluedevilsbluedevils Member Posts: 2,554
    At 67k miles, I figured it was high time to have the brakes on our 98 Trooper inspected. All feels fine, but I wanted to know how soon the pads would be worn out. Today the shop told me there's about 50% pad life remaining, both front and rear. It's amazing to me that a vehicle can go 67k miles on the original brakes and still have so much useful life left. I love this truck! Can't believe we actually considered selling it.
  • jimmyp1jimmyp1 Member Posts: 640
    I'm at 62k miles on my 1998 Trooper and just had my tires rotated last week and took a peek at the brakes while they were off. That's about exactly where they looked like mine were in terms of useful life remaining. At a minimum, I have 33% left. My 1994 Subaru Legacy Turbo went to 85k with the originals, although they were VERY close to being gone in the front. Amazing.

    Jim
  • tkevinblanctkevinblanc Member Posts: 356
    I'll bet it's partly because the discs are large and there's a great deal of braking surface area. Less wear per square inch.
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    at http://www.rola.com.au look under Holden Jackaroo.


    "Down Under" Holden is the name for GM and Jackaroo is the Trooper.

  • harhirharhir Member Posts: 29
    Yep, you have to look for Holden. There are no Isuzus in Down Under. But what they offer does not really impress me. You can get similar racks from Thule and Yakima.
    I am looking for something where I can detach the bars and also re-position them along the roof. That is the main reason why I am interested in a roof rail.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Check out the event section. Aug 24-26 Isuzus will be converging on Uwharrie National Forrest in NC for 2 days of camping and 4 Wheelin!

    -mike
  • savvas_esavvas_e Member Posts: 347
    You guys have no idea how pissed I am that I'm on the wrong side of the Pacific, when you put these events on. There is a Jackaroo club here in Sydney, but they have nowhere near the number of events you do.
  • savvas_esavvas_e Member Posts: 347
    Harhir,


    Rola does make a track mount system suitable for the Trooper, the RO-TM035. However it is different to the Isuzu setup in the UK.


    image


    The tracks sit flush on the sheet metal in the frame above the doors, and the roof bars attach to the tracks. Downside is that you will be drilling into the sheet metal, therefore it is a permanent fixture. Load limit is 80kg. Here's the link...


    http://www.roofrackcity.com.au/site/srchMake2.asp?ProductID=RO%2DTM035&MakeID=236&ModelID=4559

  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Could you find out a price on the OEM roof rack? I'd be curious if it was worth ordering one.

    -mike
  • harhirharhir Member Posts: 29
    The concept has one disadvantage because of the holes you have to drill. The Trooper already has 3 mounting points with holes under the rubber strip on each side of the roof. Why do they not use these mounting points that are already on the roof? I just do not want to drill additional holes in my roof.
    The roof rail available in Europe uses the existing ones.
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    There is what looks like a roof rail on a Trooper in the "What Japan Gets" section on www.isuzu-suvs.com also.

    Can these be imported from Japan or Europe?

    Maybe since Isuzu is no longer making the Trooper they will lighten up on the restrictions on importing the neat stuff we so far have not been able to get in the USA.

    Woudln't it be wonderful if a future engine or hybrid system became avaiable as a retrofit kit for the Trooper that gets fantastic MPG.
  • harhirharhir Member Posts: 29
    Has Isuzu already stopped the Trooper production? I am not sure, because you can still order them in Europe.
    But I guess as soon as the Ascender will appear in the US, the Trooper is gone. And with it also the Japanese quality.
    I would be interested what happens to Europe, Australia and Japan. What is replacing the Trooper in these countries? Cars like the Ascender can almost not be sold in Europe. No Diesel and too big.
    And if I look at the new Chevy Trailblazer which is the same as the new Ascender I am not very happy. I think with the Trooper Isuszu will loose its last good 4 Wheeler.
  • tkevinblanctkevinblanc Member Posts: 356
    I guess what you guys are confirming is that Isuzu is stopping production of that vehicle (Trooper, Jackaroo, whatever you call it) for all markets, huh? I was holding out hope that they were going to continue making it for parts of the world other than the US...
  • savvas_esavvas_e Member Posts: 347
    Production of the Jackaroo will continue into sometime in 2003, with the last batch arriving in Australia sometime during the 3rd quarter of that year. Holden still hasn't indicated what will replace the Isuzu based Jackaroo. As Japan, Australia, England, New Zealand and some other markets are right hand drive, it's not that clear cut as to whether we will get the Ascender/Trailblazer/Envoy or not. According to some local gossip, there are no plans to build the triplets as RHD and the last GM based SUV marketed in Australia, the Suburban, was a sales disaster. Jackaroo sold something like 20-30 times the volume.

    The only thing Holden has stated is that it has a whole new range of all-wheel drive crossovers vehicles to be released during 2003. It has already released the Cruze which is a tiny AWD vehicle based on the Suzuki Ignis. There will be a range of AWDs based on the Commodore/Monaro/Statesman platform. But that's all that is being said at the moment!
  • seanreidseanreid Member Posts: 152
    I've been out on tour for a month and the Trooper was used on and off to move bikes around, etc. and is now up to 33,000 (8,000 miles in 2.5 months). Just had our local mechanic go over it for a 30K service and found that:

    TOD/Transfer Case ATF - looked good but we swapped it anyway
    Front diff - he said the fluid looked and smelled perfect (maybe the dealer did this before they sold it), mechanic suggested I not waste money replacing it.

    Rear diff - same story

    Front bearing repack - checked both wheels, the grease looked perfect, no particles, etc., he suggested we leave that alone also

    Oil - using Mobil 1 and not burning any, swapped oil and filter

    Replaced air filter

    Brake pads looked like new

    Tranny - mechanic guessed (correctly?) that it has a GM trans. but wasn't sure if the fill hole was where he thought so we'll do that later. Is the fill bolt just 1.5" or so above the drain bolt on that trans. Anyone have a picture?

    I tend to be careful with maintenance but this guy has always been competent so I trusted his advice with the things to leave alone because they were in good shape. Seems like someone (previous dealer or owner) had a lot of service work done on this vehicle sometime before I bought it.

    Bill came to $180.00 including the expensive Mobil 1 oil change. Seemed quite fair to me.

    P.S. Mike, I'm going to try your CB mounting idea, what's your URL again? I want to look at the pics. Thanks.

    Sean
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    http://isuzu-suvs.com


    It's working great by the way.


    -mike

  • savvas_esavvas_e Member Posts: 347
    Sorry Mike. I thought I replied to your message, but just scrolling through I couldn't see my reply.

    Anyway, the OEM roof bars in Australia are just rebadged Rola bars. The OEM versions sell for something like $50 a pair more than the Rola version. Something like $350 not fitted for the OEMs to $300 fitted for the Rola.

    Holden has a lousy amount of accessories available for the Jackaroo. I'd go to aftermarket suppliers usually. They are cheaper and have a wider choice of gear.

    I'd still like the rear wing, though.

    Bling!
  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    I thought I replied to your message, but just scrolling through I couldn't see my reply

    We had a few system hiccups earlier and a few reports about posts not showing up (including one of my own).

    tidester
    Host
    SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
  • seanreidseanreid Member Posts: 152
    Thanks Mike. I mounted the antenna this morning and pulled enough inner bodywork to route the cable through to the right rear window, will try to finish up this weekend and see how it all works.

    Any answer to the tranny question?

    Thanks,

    Sean
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    Why was the Suburban a failure in Australia? I have been there twice, once East and once West, the roads seem big enough. Did they offer it with a diesel? Gasoline was quite a bit more expensive than diesel is that still true?

    I have been reading a little about other SUVs trying to anticipate my next one. The Assender is nearly as heavy as the Suburban 5115 lbs! compared to 5225 lbs. The Tahoe/Yukon non-extended had a turning radius of 37.8 ft. and is a little lighter than the Assender. I can get a big employee discount on GM products, so the Yukon sounded pretty good, until you mentioned that they failed in your area. So please tell me what was the problem with them there? Was it reliability? Was it off road ability? Was it the huge rate of fuel consumption?

    Thank You
    BoxTrooper
  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    I thought we had all gotten past the cutsie spelling of Ascender.

    tidester
    Host
    SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I'm gonna probably be debating the following 2:

    '97 Toyota Land Cruiser

    or

    New Yukon/Tahoe, SWB

    Definitely not Assender for me.

    -mike
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    paison, after you get ten years or so out of your Trooper, your next truck would still be a LadCruiser older than the ten year old Trooper? Why 97?

    I am hoping for a new wave of power plants for SUVs. I want a new 2007 Trooper/GBX with a hybrid diesel electric that gets 40 MPG and tows 6000# over the mountains and is still great off road or in snow. Yet it will be like the current Troopers huge inside and rather compact on the outside compared to other large SUVs so it can be easy to park at the mall and easy to fit around tight turns off road in the woods or rocks.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Keep the dream alive for me!

    Why a '97?

    Last year of solid front and rear axles on the TLC.
    Tons and tons of aftermarket worldwide support.
    Factory front rear and center lockers.
    Love the looks of the FZJ80s
    Affordable

    Heck I probably should have bought one instead of my '00 Trooper but wanted something "new"

    -mike
  • bluedevilsbluedevils Member Posts: 2,554
    Please do us all a favor and cross the Tahoe/Yukon off your list. Nice truck, but not something that will satisfy a Trooper aficionado like you. I.e., reliability and quality = not good.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I was (maybe falsly) under the impression that the Yukon/Tahoe was actually fairly reliable?

    -mike
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    My sister has a Tahoe without problems, she loves it, it turns tighter than her Lumina car did, but it is a 2wd. Her tall husband hates the seatbelt coming out of the seat instead of from the pillar. The full size trucks are supposed to be the best quality of all GM.

    Tahoe is about the same weight as the Ascender. Last time I spelled it Assender, it was not intentional.
  • tkevinblanctkevinblanc Member Posts: 356
    It was your subconscious coming through? :0)
  • bawbcatbawbcat Member Posts: 118
    I just installed a set of Rancho RS-9000s on my 98 Trooper with 48k miles. Installation was easier than I expected after reading some of the horror stories. The top rear mounts were definitely tight, but they came loose with a 1/2" drive ratchet and a short piece of pipe for extra leverage. I was surprised to find that the original Tokicos were all still in proper working order as far as I could tell. I can confirm that they are indeed hydraulic shocks, not gas. However when compressed by hand, they didn't feel any softer than the Ranchos set to 3. Initially I set the Ranchos to 4 in front and 3 in back. My initial impressions are that the Ranchos give a minor improvement but nothing huge. Bouncing and swaying are more controlled but still noticable. I think the bottom line is that the factory springs and sway bars on the Trooper are very soft, and no set of shocks is going to change that. I'm still glad that I changed the shocks, but for those who are considering this upgrade, don't expect miracles.
  • seanreidseanreid Member Posts: 152
    I looked very seriously at 1997 FJ80s as well but the Trooper is crisper handling (despite the soft suspension)and gets better gas mileage. I drive a lot of miles so the latter is a big issue. I found that good '97 FJ80s were usually priced in the low to mid-twenties and usually had 70,000 + miles. Insurance costs are also very high on the Cruisers. So going with the Trooper, I gained about 3-5 mpg, started with only 24,000 miles on the clock, saved about $7000 and have much lower insurance premiums. All together, it was a pretty compelling package.

    The Cruisers are legendary of course and most will run forever. They're the bees knees off road, I'm told, but onroad I like the road feel of the Trooper much better. Horses for courses I guess.

    As for the Yukon/Tahoe...well my 99 Suburban was pretty reliable but nowhere near as tightly built (as I discovered routing the CB cable in the Trooper today). The GMCs are good, comfortable trucks and handle very well. Mine never felt nimble though and the Trooper always does. 1999 was a good vintage for the Suburban/Yukon, 2000 was a year of teething problems which I would bet are mostly sorted out now.

    If you don't mind the gas mileage penalty, the Cruiser is in a league of its own compared to the GMs, and I say that with full respect for the GM Burban I put 83,000 miles on. But my curiosity is peaked...your Trooper is far from the grave, what's prompting all the mental truck shopping?

    Cheers,

    Sean

    P.S. Good advice on the antenna mounting, works great.
  • i30g20i30g20 Member Posts: 24
    Hi, I've got hidden hitch w/ 2" receiver on my Troop, but my old bike rack will not clear spare. I went to Perf site and did not find rack you mentioned. I found a 3 bike Sportrack Frontier ball mount rack that will work with adapter at Nashbar site. Is that the rack you have? What's the model no. at Performance and does it carry 2 or 3 bikes? I'd like to avoid adapter if I can but maybe the adapter is why it clears spare? Thanks! -- Ted(2001RedLimited)
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I'm always mental shopping. Driving as much as I do (but probably not as much as Sean) I see a lot of SUVs on the road. One day I saw a ton of FJ80s on the raod and they looked really good.

    Curious how you routed your wiring? I just routed the wiring on my K40 over the weekend. I had had my old wiring in place for my mag mount but finally got around to hiding the wiring on the K40. I just shoved it between the plastic pieces on the passenger side with a flathead screw driver up to the piece of plastic for the rear seatbelt then unscrewed that and the moudling @ the bottom of the doorways and ran it under them. Then had it go under the passenger mat to the CB.

    I'm loving that spoiler mount :)

    -mike
  • boxtrooperboxtrooper Member Posts: 843
    watching the era of the Trooper end and wondering of I should upgrade from my just getting warmed up 1995.5 Trooper-S manual to a new 2002 auto-TOD-Grade Logic Trooper.
    ..
    Today I am thinking of keeping my 1995.5 because it has already got all the stuff I need to make it a better fit for me, such as: 3rd row seat for three kids, cd player, OME springs, OME shocks, and OverLander/Thule roof rack. An additional plus for me is that the bumper covers are not painted, scratched don't show and my 1995.5 does not have those big plastic wheel flairs. And the money I save by keeping my 1995.5 can be used for more stuff like a ECB winch bumper and ARB airlocker rear diff etc... Still, if my Trooper's engine starts lifter ticking I can't stand it then I really want to swap.
  • seanreidseanreid Member Posts: 152
    I mounted the antenna itself at the center of the spoiler right where its reinforced by a wide pressed metal bracket (to the roof). I routed the cable along the underside of the spoiler (held by commercial velcro) and wire tied it to the right side spoiler bracket. I then ran it down the outside of the right-side rubber door gasket (again fastening it down with velcro)and brought it in over the gasket about 1" below the door hinge. (I've always found that, leakage-wise, the lower the cable comes in the better). I then pulled the covers over the philips screws in the lower right inner panel, unscrewed the panel and notched the panel edge for the cable to come in. I also pulled the panel above the door (where the rear light mounts) and then all the grab handles along the right side of the interior (all philips screws with covers). I pulled the various inner panels loose as needed (mostly they have little friction fit attachments) and routed the cable up inside the rear quarter panel to above the window and the above all three right-side windows to the front. I then brought it down behind the right-side windshield pillar panel and behind the rubber gasket that runs vertically along the seam between outside of the the dash and the body (near the door). Then I ran out of cable length and needed to add an extension cable (5' would have been great but I only found a 10'). I undid the nut that holds the front right carpeting in place and routed under the carpeting along the firewall into the center dash to the CB (which I mounted in my lower DIN opening).

    There just happened to be a guy around with a very fancy meter and we found that antenna was giving a very consistent impedance and SWR (under 1.4) across all 40 channels with the antenna mast lowered all the way into its receiver.

    Works great overall, thanks for the idea.

    Sean
  • tetonmantetonman Member Posts: 73
    Today's WSJ has an article on cars holding their value. The research organization is the Automotive Lease Guide.

    The 4WD Limited Trooper is profiled and comes out as follows:

    Original Price (MSRP)- $37,270

    Value after 3 years- $11,675

    Needless to say, that's a heck of a hit. BUT... as we all know Troopers are heavily discounted when you buy them. If you are in market for a Trooper, please make sure you get the best deal when you buy (some areas have $10,000 off MSRP).

    Acura MDX 4WD

    MSRP- $37,800

    Value after 3 years - $21,400

    But as many of us know, you will pay close to MSRP for the MDX so it's really not a fair comparison... Just another example of how the Trooper's poor market image comes back to haunt us. I'll keep my 99S until it dies (somewhere around 200k miles...lol).

    WSJ, 8/6/02, Page D1 for your reading pleasure.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Nice Sean! I really should do a writeup on this for the how-to section. Now I need to figure out how to mount my CB. My velcro isn't working very well holding my CB in place on the hump.

    Your job is much more professional than mine I think :) How are the races going? Any chance you might make it to either the Sept 21 or Aug 24-26 events?

    -mike
  • bluedevilsbluedevils Member Posts: 2,554
    tetonman, that Trooper 3-year value in the WSJ is ridiculous. Way too low. Yes, Troopers have high depreciation / poor resale value, but a 3 year-old loaded Trooper Limited will be worth much more than $11,xxx. I'd say $15k at least.

    Heck, I think I could get about $11k for your 67k miles, 4 year old 98 Trooper w/Performance Package.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    $11k is a bit low. I think they were trying to make a point by picking the lowest end of the spectrum for the trooper and high end for the MDX. I do think Isuzu was dumb when they put out 4K incentives on the Troopers. They should have just reduced the prices by 4K or more and offered no incenvtives.

    -mike
  • tkevinblanctkevinblanc Member Posts: 356
    Hey.

    I did not get the Frontier rack from Performance's web site, I bought it at their store on clearance. They don't have it on their web site. I bought at Performance because it was a few dollars cheaper and I didn't have to have it shipped (Performance has a shop here in Gaithersburg Maryland).

    I am all but certain the Nashbar racks are identical (Nashbar has the 3 and 4 bike rack pictures with the wrong listings: this listing for the 4 bike rack has the 3 bike rack picture and visa versa). Go to www.bikenashbar.com and search for NS-HR4 or NS-HR3

    Nashbar used to sell the Frontier rack and their own. They are clearing out the Frontier racks. I'm betting their brand is made by Frontier with the Nashbar name decal'd on. If you can get Nashbar to measure the foot of the rack, from end to end, I'll be happy to measure mine and let you know if its the same. Nashbar is a pretty considerate company. I'll bet they will measure it for you.
  • seanreidseanreid Member Posts: 152
    Is your second DIN opening free or is it filled with a CD player? If it's free, you can fashion a CB mount from the storage box which normally fills an empty DIN opening. Otherwise, I looked at getting one of the Cobra Units which has displays and controls right on the handset so that the "black box" can mount under a seat. I'll try to post some pics of my install if I get a chance.

    The tours are going great. August is intense. I have staff leading two tours from August 11 onwards while I lead two tours for Honda from 8/12 forward. Looking forward to the slowdown in mid-Oct.

    Sean
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