1999 Trooper Build (as seen on Nice Price or Crack Pipe?)

GingerBeardMan78

New member
So, I have a 2001 Trooper which is an automatic. The transmission slipped one day and I parked it for a year not having the coin to even look at what’s wrong. After some research, I decided that I don’t want to invest in fixing the trans since the 4L30E trans has a notoriously bad reputation for needing multiple rebuilds. I was keeping my eye out for a donor manual on CL to complete a swap. A few came and went, and I didn’t have the money or time. Then this beautiful white one came up at the same time as I got my tax return deposited. I debated for a few weeks; then it was featured in the “Nice Price or Crack Pipe” daily column on the Jalopnik website. That site comes up in my feed once in a while, but I wonder if it was coincidence or not that this particular truck which I had viewed several times daily just happened to find its way onto my feed… It got an 86% nice price, and I decided it was the universe telling me to pull the trigger. Check out the article here

https://jalopnik.com/for-4-500-is-this-five-speed-1999-isuzu-trooper-super-1825009694


Troop 1.jpg


It turns out the seller was a dealer, and there was tax and title, but I was out the door for $4,500; not a penny more. Since then, I have been swapping out the aftermarket parts I had on the 2001 to the new one. I am soooooo much happier with this one than the 01.


So far, I have put the OME springs and raised the front via torsion bar cranking. It still needs an alignment. The biggest pain in the ******** was that I lost the lug key for the old one and the new one didn’t come with it, so I sent a few hours banging on a 19mm socket then trying to get the freed lug off again. New lugs are on order.


Here are pics of the truck raised up a full 2 inches.

troop lift 2.jpg
troop lift 4.jpg



And here it is on a shakedown run in the Granite Dells in Prescott. I ran Broken Arrow in Sedona with the old trooper once before it broke and was impressed with how well it did bone stock. Can't wait to run that again in this thing.troop run 2.jpg


In the works is an in-dash install of the CB, a DIY full-length slim profile roof rack out of an old rack I had laying around, and a sleeping platform/storage build for the back. All of those in time for me to drive it up and volunteer at Overland Expo West. I will post more pics of those builds as they happen.

Hope to see some of you there.

Chris.
 

GingerBeardMan78

New member
I finished this a few days ago. I am not a big fan of roof racks, but I plan on getting a plano gun case and some max trax to put up there permanently. Also it is a handy place to mount lights. I cut up an old cheapo rack I had laying around and welded it back together to make the rectangle of round tube. The rest can from the steel yard. All in it cost less than $150 but took probably a solid 40 hours of work. That time was mostly because I have virtually no welding experience and did a LOT of grinding down bugger welds...

The original idea for the cross bars came from this site. http://buckwheat-anderson.com/bcanderson/trooper/Roofrack/Roofrack.htmlIMG_20180513_125404_hdr.jpgIMG_20180513_125349_hdr.jpgIMG_20180513_125419_hdr.jpg
 

GingerBeardMan78

New member
Update on the trooper. Recently moved from behind the spare to the side. Just learning to weld and using a harbor freight flux core 90 amp. Happy with the result though! 20181214_172056.jpg20181214_172049.jpg20181214_172106.jpg20181214_172101.jpg
The basket allows for tow strap storage.
 

GingerBeardMan78

New member
Well a few months ago, I updated the build quite a bit then did a trip to Humboldt County and the Lost Coast. I got the Roofnest for $2100 off of CL. It was brand new and still was in the factory packaging. The guy bought it but never mounted it. There are a few quirks aout it I don't like but overall, I am very happy with it.

I am also very happy with the Bat Wing. 15 or so deployments including 24 hours of rain and it is holding up nicely.

Still, a lot to do to this rig, but this is a big start!!!

So here are some pics from that trip. 20190626_205855.jpg66398627_10157212304727976_804817527707271168_o.jpg66594820_10157208216112976_5543447429191303168_o.jpg66751641_10157212381132976_2232919901956210688_o.jpg66789647_10157212381897976_8975091140093018112_o.jpg67224304_10157212305262976_7052674253828653056_o.jpg
 

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
We're heading to the Lost Coast in late September.
Probably going to drop into Shelter Cove and head north. First time and looking forward to it.
Pretty pics.
 

The_Jayhawker

Observer
Exact same colors as my 2002 trooper. What did you use at first to mount the hi lift to the spare tire? I need something like that. Thanks.
 

Dances with Wolves

aka jk240sx
I don't know how I missed this thread originally. I gave it a NP on Jalopnik! I had a '96 LS, same color. Love the shift knob, gives a whole new meaning to " grab em by the P"!
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Now that you have the RTT on top, where’s the Plano gun case getting mounted?

Nice trip pics, by the way.
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
GingerBeardMan78 said:
Made some new walnut shift knobs yesterday. Maude Lebowski commended them as strongly vaginal.
CE078F74-916F-458D-B1FB-CBD04257600E.jpeg
I’m trying really, really hard to not imagine what’s going through your mind as you firmly grab this “walnut shift knob” with your hand and vigorously go thru your shift patterns. It’s kind of a bell I can’t unring.

 
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