Isuzu Trooper

[DIKASUN]

my mom is giving me her isuzu trooper in a few weeks because my jeep is f-ed up. i'm still keeping my xj to build up as an off road vehicle, but it's just not suitable for a daily driver at the moment. so i'm asking if theres anything i should look out for as far as common problems in the trooper. also, is it easy to lift or even good off road at all? i dont really know much about it except it's a '95 4X4 with a V6.

 

[yellowxj]

changing the cv axle was a pain on my 91 trooper...not a lot of lifting options I think but they wheel very well stock with 31's...sway bar disco's would help.

 

[motorcityxj]

sure its "good off road at all" not a world beater i mean its a true 4wd with 2 speed transfer case and a real frame. I dont know much about isuzu engines, i know many rodeos and i think troopers used D44 rear axles.

Its a daily driver though, if you already have a trail dedicated XJ i would resist the temptation to take it down anything to rough, its much better to have a straight driven straight panels DD, and one war torn trail rig, than to try and mix the two.

Your lucky. Dont trash the tropper, and you can drive it for years and have lots of money to pour into your jeep or other hobbies.

 

[karstic]

OME makes coils and springs for Troopers

 

[xjtrailrider]

One of our local guys wheels a stocker 4 banger w/31's, I'm amazed at how well he keeps up and very seldom needs a pull. He beats that thing like a crack ho and it just keeps going.

Not much articulation and I wouldn't consider lifting it unless I went full width and SAS up front, its just too top heavy.

I owned a 91' for about 6 months, it was too top heavy for my driving style and the Chevy 2.8 burned oil like a furnace.

He is looking for a nice XJ to wheel so I think he's ready to move on also.

 

[alsodon]

I had an 89, it was my first 4x4. I never did anything exceptionally gnarly off-road in it but the little trail beating that I did do went fine. On road was a different story. It had the 2.8 V6 and that engine was a POS, reliability-wise. I had to have the head changed twice. The bottom of the motor held up OK but the top kept getting cracked. Of course, I used to drive it 100 mph up the cajon pass at 1:00 am after work, in retrospect that might have been a factor :dunno:. The 95 had the 3.2 V6 which I heard was better but I would still baby it.

 

[motorcityxj]

well if his has a 2.8 a chevy 4.3 v6 should bolt right up and fit no problem i imagine.

 

[burntkat]

well if his has a 2.8 a chevy 4.3 v6 should bolt right up and fit no problem i imagine.

wrong. Completely different bellhousing, ECU, motor mounts, size.....

that said, a 4BT or Isuzu 4cyl TD would fit nicely

 

[motorcityxj]

wrong. Completely different bellhousing, ECU, motor mounts, size.....

that said, a 4BT or Isuzu 4cyl TD would fit nicely

opps your right i thought the 2.8 was a 90 degree block like the 3.8 buick is. My bad. Still seems like it would be a good swap though. Or the buick for that matter, i dont know many folks that have had much praise for the 2.8 and its variants. What tranny does the trooper use. Atleast in s10s and s10 blazers etc you can swap 2.8 to a 4.3 or 350 with out driveline modifications.

 

[DIKASUN]

thanks guys. i'm really excited to be honest. the xj has never been too pretty to be honest. but it has been awesome other wise. i'm broke as a joke right now(college). i would love to get another xj, but come on, i can't pass up a free vehicle. some day i will have a well built xj like a lot of you guys do. i'm just excited to see i didn't get a lot of jokes straight off as soon as i mentioned the words "isuzu trooper".

 

[RichP]

I had an 89 that served well, with two young kids those reclining rear seats were life savers on trips. It was rock solid, 4x4 worked well and it would pull a dumptruck stuck in mud out in 4lo 1st. It was also a 4 banger.
Downside was rust, by 97 the frame was about gone and it was a quartely thing with a 3m pad, drill, primer and matching paint [silver/blue] to keep ahead of the body rust that would break out. Seats were comfortable and I liked the adjustable height and lumbar support seats, it was an LS. We put about 150,000 on it in 8 years.

 

[MrShaft696]

troopers have some aftermarket support if you wanna improve it
http://www.calmini.com/

 

[burntkat]

opps your right i thought the 2.8 was a 90 degree block like the 3.8 buick is. My bad. Still seems like it would be a good swap though. Or the buick for that matter, i dont know many folks that have had much praise for the 2.8 and its variants. What tranny does the trooper use. Atleast in s10s and s10 blazers etc you can swap 2.8 to a 4.3 or 350 with out driveline modifications.

Don't know what tranny the trooper uses, though I would suspect the 60deg variant of the 700R4.

You can NOT swap the 2.8 for the 4.3 in S-10 trucks, either. Same sort of problems. I know a thing or ten about 'em- see my sig.

I am one of those folks who likes the 2.8. It actually is a fine motor, but the 3.4 is better. Now that would be a nice dropin for you. The 3.4 was actually designed as a dropin for the 2.8 S-trucks, and will literally drop right in place. This would be what I'd suggest for you, if the Trooper is giving you trouble and you want to keep burning gasoline. Ideally, though, I'd go diesel.

 

[Fergie]

http://www.expeditionswest.com/vehicles/ewvehicles/Isuzu_Trooper/index.html

 

[burntkat]

Nice! I've always liked the troopers- particularly the older ones. Remind me a great deal of Land Rovers, without the shite electricals

 

[motorcityxj]

Don't know what tranny the trooper uses, though I would suspect the 60deg variant of the 700R4.

You can NOT swap the 2.8 for the 4.3 in S-10 trucks, either. Same sort of problems. I know a thing or ten about 'em- see my sig.

I am one of those folks who likes the 2.8. It actually is a fine motor, but the 3.4 is better. Now that would be a nice dropin for you. The 3.4 was actually designed as a dropin for the 2.8 S-trucks, and will literally drop right in place. This would be what I'd suggest for you, if the Trooper is giving you trouble and you want to keep burning gasoline. Ideally, though, I'd go diesel.

hmm in advance adpaters catalog it confirms what i said, cant you just swap trannies and get a 90 degree 700r4, th350, 4l60e etc ? I dunno i have a 4.3 in my astro van its a good engine on 225,000 miles still runs strong.

see this link from the AA catalog http://advanceadapters.dirxion.com/?screen=1024&os=win

read under general conversion information.

 

[burntkat]

yes you can swap trannies. But you're going to have to swap wiring harnesses (and there wasn't a 4.3 in the trooper, so you'll have to make your own) for the engine, for the transmission TCV, etc.

Then, as the 4.3 is longer, you'll have to do some driveshaft lengthening/shortening, etc.

Not to mention, accomodate the front IFS chunk and probably chunk/oilpan clearance issues. Likely wil lbe easier to do a SFA swap in lieu of this, and ditch the IFS. Not a bad thing.

Just one hell of a lot of work.

Compare this to putting in a non-computer-controlled 4cylinder TurboDiesel. Less room needed for the swap in the engine bay. NO computer or wiring issues to deal with (other than wiring the fuel shutoff solenoid into the existing start/fuel pump wiring by way of a latching relay- VERY simple). Most likely no interference with the front chunk (but that SFA is likely still a good idea). 700R4 can still be used-- pick one up with the 90deg bellhousing as there are easily-available adapters to the Isuzu 4BD1T and Cummins 4BT engines. Get a low-stall TqCon and the appropriate governor for the tranny, and run the TCV by way of pressure switches on the 3/4 pressure ports.

Still less work than swapping in the 4.3. I agree the 4.3 is a nice motor-- but it can't run free veggie oil as fuel like the diesel can.

Or, if you still want to pay inflated prices for gas (you will NEVER see it below $2 a gallon again, kids- and it's likely to go much higher the way things are going), drop in a 3.4 V6. No swap issues-- it's a bolts out, bolts in operation.

BTW- went to that site-- don't see anything about Isuzu Trooper swaps. Any "general conversion information" is likely to be basically useless if it's aimed at any universal (ie: general) conversion. Got a better link, or can you C&P the relevant info here?

 

[burntkat]

opps your right i thought the 2.8 was a 90 degree block like the 3.8 buick is. My bad. Still seems like it would be a good swap though. Or the buick for that matter, i dont know many folks that have had much praise for the 2.8 and its variants. What tranny does the trooper use. Atleast in s10s and s10 blazers etc you can swap 2.8 to a 4.3 or 350 with out driveline modifications.

if you're referring to being right about the 2.8 being a 90deg block like the SBC and variants is-- no. It's not.

I have several books on 2.8s sitting here. One of them is entitled "Rebuilding your 60 degree V6". It's about rebuilding 2.8 and 3.4L V6s as found in the XJ, Fiero, S and T-series trucks, Trooper, several FWD passenger cars, etc. Unless there's a different 2.8 I don't know about used in the Troopers that year?

 

[burntkat]

Hmm-- got curious-

Went here, looked for "1995 Isuzu Trooper":
http://www.automotive.com/1995/09/isuzu/trooper/index.html

Looks like it's a 3.2L V6. In which case I don't know what the hell it is. Still doubt it's going to bolt right up to a 700R4 or other SBC pattern tranny, though.

Now I'm intrigued. Will research more.

 

[burntkat]

more digging done via car-parts.com and other sites--

yep, it's a 3.2L V6, and uses a 4L30E auto tranny. Can't find any information on the bolt pattern of that trans, but as it's used in the Cadillacs, etc, it MIGHT be a 90deg pattern (aka- SAE #3 bellhousing).

This is merely an assumption though, and I really doubt it's the same. A trip over to the Isuzu forum on 4X4Wire would prove enlightening for you. Or to this thread: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-197985.html