Isuzu Trooper

[Florida_Native]

Anyone drive a trooper. I picked one up after my wife kept fussing about having to drive my Titan around (it was too big for her). Its been a pretty good hunting and fishing rig!

Just curious! It'd be nice to have somone to compare issues with.  I joined an Isuzu forum but no one seems to respond. Figures the vehicles dont really have a large following.

[h20hunter]

Hit Buckmark up...I think his rig is a Trooper. Rugged little sucker.

[syoungs]

I was considering one. They have a pretty big following on plametzoo. I think I'm gonna stay full size though, but I'm not 100% on that right now.

[Dan-o]

My brother had one for a long time.  He liked it.

I had an Isuzu Rodeo and I drove the tires right off it.   I think it died at around 300K miles and I beat that poor little rig a bit.

[deaner]

i drove a 93 trooper around for five years, got rid of it two years ago.  was a solid rig.  when i gave it to a friend it had 206k miles on it and no problems, that was over 2 years ago and its still running strong right now.  liked it a lot.

[dewandgin]

I drive a 88 Izusu Trooper with a 4cyl and a 5spd and beat the living snot out of it. It is a stout rig and still gets high teens to low 20 mpg when driving it in the woods loaded with gear. 216k on it and modified 16" Silverado wheels with 32" tires. Love it. Tore the interior out and rhino lined the inside.

[rbinhood]

I owned three. They can be very top heavy. I rolled two of mine, one very badly. Watch your tire pressure, and your speed in turns. I also had a problem with mine eating fuel pumps. I thought Isuzu quit importing them to the U.S. You might have trouble getting parts. Other than that, all of them were very sound, mechanically.

[bearpaw]

My 91 trooper has been my favorite hunting rig for the last 10 years, I will not try to detail where all it has gone and what I have done with it, but it has been amazing, more than 1 story floating around involving that trooper. Sadly at well over 200,000 and many of them are hard off-road miles, the motor is ready to go, I haven't decided if I am buying a different trooper or rebuilding this motor. I have the 4cyl with 5 speed manual. I do think they are somewhat maintenance intensive, but I was pretty hard on it and that could be the reason. Stay away from the automatic trannies, they do not seem to be as strong. Plan on doing the timing belt and head gasket on 4 cyls. I don't have any experience with the 6 cyl motors on what to watch for. 

Looking for another 4cyl with 5 speed manual if anyone wants to sell theirs.

[diegomx3]

i drive a 89' Trooper i have built it from the ground up with the lift to engine to roof rack it is a 4 cylinder 5 speed it is all camoed out and a great truck to drive only down fall is fuel consumption it isnt that good on fuel on the highway i top out at 55mph so it doesnt see the highway to often but now i just tow it to the hills when i fold down the back seat i made a platform were i throw a futon matress on when im out hunting all in all a great truck if you are looking for a lift or anything check out calmini they have some cool stuff but i made/adapted my lift parts from s10's and bronco II's and rims are compatable with full size chevy trucks from the early 90's and suburbans

[dewandgin]

Hey Dale I am getting ready to pull my motor out and rebuild it with 220k on it as it is using a little\lot of oil. I already have the rebuild kit with all new brgs and pistons  and gasket set and timing belt. Got the reman head standing by. I will let you know what the final cost with boring and.all parts is but shouldn't be over $650

From the Wetside. like the darkside only Wetter!

[bearpaw]

Yes, I would like to know what it costs you. We were thinking of getting a reman motor out of Lewiston, pretty reasonable there.

[Special T]

I think there is a bone yard in the Marrysville area that specializes in Izuzu rigs. had a buddy with one, great rigs.

[diegomx3]

Here is pictures of my trooper

[diegomx3]

Side view

[sirfunkeybut]

i owned an 88 for a little bit, the only problem i ever had was the slave cylinder leaked. it was given to me by a buddy and i got a parts rig with it. after not having money for insurance i sold it for 350 to another buddy. shortly after the head gasket blew then the block cracked. This was his fault for checking the radiator and over heating it. Awesome rigs IMO and i will buy another someday, but only the 88 or 89. theyre my favorite

[bearpaw]

I've fixed the slave cylinder a couple times on my trooper, it's some of the small things that can go wrong on them. Still looking for a replacement, might move up to the 2nd generation body style, anybody like them as well?

[dewandgin]

So far I have the rebuild kit shipped to my door (rings,rods,mains,pistons,timing belt and a complete gasket set) $194.50. Rebuild the head with all new seals and a valve grind and resurface $180. Machine work for boring the block and surface the deck and turn the crank 10/10 $210. So total so far is $584.50. I am going to put all new tune up parts and oil and filter and air filter so figure another $75 for that.

Grand total for complete rebuild is $659.50 which is more than I paid for it to begin with but it should run for a long time now with no oil consumption.

[Florida_Native]

I've fixed the slave cylinder a couple times on my trooper, it's some of the small things that can go wrong on them. Still looking for a replacement, might move up to the 2nd generation body style, anybody like them as well?

I got a 2000 last year and I love it. Used to have a 98 Tacoma supercharged and too many mods to list.  I loved that truck but kept having clutch problems, go figure with all that power. I love the 4wd tod in the isuzu. Honestly, it thinks it's better than the taco as 4wd. I do wish it had a little more power. But the older I get the less important that is. It'll pull my little boat and a trailer just fine.

The only problem is feeding the oil demons. I burns by a quart every thousand miles. I tried an additive with no luck. Replaced the pcv valve a week ago. We'll see how that helps. Wanted to try running seafoam but heard horror stories of it working too well.

I'd say they are a well kept secret since you can buy one soo cheap.

What's the best bang for the buck mod anyone has done?

[ghosthunter]

I drove a 90 for 5 years. 6cly LS, automatic. No problems till it quit and I sold it.

[Florida_Native]

Does anyone have a bull bar for their 2nd gen trooper. I wanted to get one for my 2000 but can't find one.

[Florida_Native]

Have you checked the Calmini dot com website.  They weer always my resource for aftermarket bits and pieces.

No I hadn't seen that website yet. They had a lot but not exactly what I'm looking for. I just wanted a bull bar not the entire grille guard. I can find grille guards just not bull bars.