Frank
Explorer
I decided to make another thread rather than fill the trooper pic thread with my ramblings.
A little background story, I had a '94 Trooper. It was a stock S model with the exception of good Firestone Destination tires and KYB shocks. It took my wife, our dogs and I any place we wanted it to go, with ease. It was in damn near every climate the US has to offer. Its been in the mountains, snow, mud, woods, sand, tank trails on a (certain) Marine Corps base and the grocery parking lot. It became old and I was faced to decide to put money into her or sell it. We sold it to a man in need of a vehicle (he wanted to ditch his moped before the snow hit) for $500.
The replacement, a nicely built, well maintained Jeep Cherokee. A nice Cherokee was on my list of vehicles I must own before I die, so it was a great time to dive into that vehicle.
This past weekend, my family went into Michigan for our Christmas tree. If you are watching national news at all, we went right into the affected lake effect snow area. Near white out conditions and heavy snow pretty much describes the day of driving we had. No big deal, I have a Jeep. Yeah...those thoughts quickly went out the window as soon as I hit a little snow on the road. The jeep performed horribly. In the jeeps defense, it has a wide, 275 tire on it. These tires are brand new BFG AT tires. Regardless of the tires though, I was disappointed.
So onto my reply from the trooper shot thread:
Well, here is a :coffeedrink: <- but beer filled thought.
1. My jeep has no room compared to my trooper. I am 6'3" and my knees are almost in the dash. With someone riding shot gun, we are almost shoulder to shoulder. The rear cargo area...I don't think I could carry half of the stuff my trooper could. Hell, my full size spare tire takes up the entire trunk area of my jeep. My 2yo daughter in the back seat/in her car seat is almost to the roof and she can not stretch her legs out. Put my 5'6" brother in the back seat, and those front seats have to be moved forward, a lot.
2. The jeep probably could go anywhere. The problem is, it NEEDS 4wd to get there. My trooper...4wd was an absolute last resort. I always ran 2wd and never had problems. On another forum I'm on, someone said ...yeah, its a jeep and it has 4wd, use it. My reply, that's sad.
3. I too am surprised at my findings. You can go onto about any forum and find rave reviews about the Jeep. Maybe I am going about this all the wrong way? Maybe this IS a jeep and coming from a very different, very capable 4x4, I expected more? I don't know. Looking back, my trooper was amazing to say the least.
My bottom line, I will be ordering new, dedicated snow tires soon. If this Jeep continues to not meet my demands, I will be looking for another Isuzu Trooper.
A little background story, I had a '94 Trooper. It was a stock S model with the exception of good Firestone Destination tires and KYB shocks. It took my wife, our dogs and I any place we wanted it to go, with ease. It was in damn near every climate the US has to offer. Its been in the mountains, snow, mud, woods, sand, tank trails on a (certain) Marine Corps base and the grocery parking lot. It became old and I was faced to decide to put money into her or sell it. We sold it to a man in need of a vehicle (he wanted to ditch his moped before the snow hit) for $500.
The replacement, a nicely built, well maintained Jeep Cherokee. A nice Cherokee was on my list of vehicles I must own before I die, so it was a great time to dive into that vehicle.
This past weekend, my family went into Michigan for our Christmas tree. If you are watching national news at all, we went right into the affected lake effect snow area. Near white out conditions and heavy snow pretty much describes the day of driving we had. No big deal, I have a Jeep. Yeah...those thoughts quickly went out the window as soon as I hit a little snow on the road. The jeep performed horribly. In the jeeps defense, it has a wide, 275 tire on it. These tires are brand new BFG AT tires. Regardless of the tires though, I was disappointed.
So onto my reply from the trooper shot thread:
man I never understand why folks seem to have so much trouble w/ XJ's ... I have had 3 of them and absolutely no probs. They have gone everywhere I pointed them and they last forever 250K to 300K is just normal.Built up they go anywhere and stock almost anywhere. I have never strengthened a uni-body except the steering box area and never had a crack or warp. Every time I read stuff about how bad they are I'm just mystified!!!! Tons of room, fairly comfy and a huge market support plus cheap parts. Whats not to like?:coffeedrink:
Well, here is a :coffeedrink: <- but beer filled thought.
1. My jeep has no room compared to my trooper. I am 6'3" and my knees are almost in the dash. With someone riding shot gun, we are almost shoulder to shoulder. The rear cargo area...I don't think I could carry half of the stuff my trooper could. Hell, my full size spare tire takes up the entire trunk area of my jeep. My 2yo daughter in the back seat/in her car seat is almost to the roof and she can not stretch her legs out. Put my 5'6" brother in the back seat, and those front seats have to be moved forward, a lot.
2. The jeep probably could go anywhere. The problem is, it NEEDS 4wd to get there. My trooper...4wd was an absolute last resort. I always ran 2wd and never had problems. On another forum I'm on, someone said ...yeah, its a jeep and it has 4wd, use it. My reply, that's sad.
3. I too am surprised at my findings. You can go onto about any forum and find rave reviews about the Jeep. Maybe I am going about this all the wrong way? Maybe this IS a jeep and coming from a very different, very capable 4x4, I expected more? I don't know. Looking back, my trooper was amazing to say the least.
My bottom line, I will be ordering new, dedicated snow tires soon. If this Jeep continues to not meet my demands, I will be looking for another Isuzu Trooper.