justinhw's 1988 Isuzu Trooper

[justinhw]

Personally, I like the manual windows and locks. Less stuff to break over time. It is a pain though to reach over and roll down windows while you are driving.

Haha I meant that I prefer manual windows/locks as well! Grammar fail.

I just got back from death valley- didn't do anything serious, just trying to test out the truck. I would love to head out there again (maybe in the next few weeks?), although I'm very new to 4x4 driving so you'll have to guide me =P. Mammoth sounds cool too. I'll send you a PM!

 

[nfpgasmask]

Haha I meant that I prefer manual windows/locks as well! Grammar fail.

Naaa, I think I just read it wrong!

I just got back from death valley- didn't do anything serious, just trying to test out the truck. I would love to head out there again (maybe in the next few weeks?), although I'm very new to 4x4 driving so you'll have to guide me =P. Mammoth sounds cool too. I'll send you a PM!

Cool. Yeah, this month I am booked up but maybe sometime in June or July. There is a gorgeous campsite at about 8500' within Death Valley. I just wish DVNP was a little closer for me. Its about 7 hours away so I will need to see what kinda time I can get off. Mammoth is only about 4 hours for me, not sure how far it is for you however...

Bart

 

[justinhw]

Campground right at the trailhead to telescope peak? I hiked and camped at the peak a few times- gorgeous!

If Mammoth is closer, I don't mind doing that, just a little bit farther (maybe an hour or two) for me.

 

[nfpgasmask]

We stayed at "Mohogany Flat" campground. Here's a pic of me from our trip down there:

Bart

 

[justinhw]

General Maintenance

In looking to increase cooling capacity, I found a good deal on a new radiator ($104 shipped to my door), so went ahead taking the old one out:

Although I ordered a brass/copper + plastic end tank rad, the one they shipped me was a CSF all aluminum radiator. Good deal I guess?

So I replaced the thermostat, radiator, rad cap, lower hose (upper was okay).

Next I replaced all spark plugs and wires with NGK, as well as the O2 sensor and EGR gasket.

old

new

Thoughts:
This car is hard to wrench on! I found myself wishing I was working on my truck (although it is smaller, the engine bay is less cramped). It's hard to maneuver around anything. In doing the radiator, it's really awkward to get to the auto trans cooler/warmer lines, and even harder to get to the small 4 bolts that hold the rad in place; I'm a small guy, and if you had larger hands I have no idea how you would be able to do it.

I was worried that I cross-threaded the spark plugs on cyl. 1 and 3- all because it's really hard to angle the new plugs down there. Strangely, O2 sensor came out on the first try no problem- just 30 mins of pb blaster prior.

In my opinion, things that customers typically change themselves (oil, oil filter, air filter), are well designed to be easily accessible, but everything else IS NOT. In fact, I originally tried to change out the AC compressor with one I got from the jy - but gave up as there's no way to access those bolts to remove the old one without taking off the intake manifold (at least not obvious to me). Bleh.

Ah, forgot to add - in putting in the spark plug for cylinder 3, I tried to thread it in by hand at least a dozen times, but it always meets really really high resistance half way in- I am paranoid that I stripped the threads. I warmed the car up for a minute while the aluminum head expanded and threaded the plug in more, but it still isn't all the way in (flush). It functions and there's nothing from the combustion chamber coming out of it, but I'm worried and doubt I'll ever be able to take it out...

 

[nfpgasmask]

On the flip side, I find the V6 to be pretty easy to work on, with the oil filter in the worst possible location. There is absolutely no way to NOT spill oil all over the starter when you remove the filter. I bought a remote filter kit to move it to another spot, I just haven't figured out where yet.

Where did you order your radiator? I need a new one as well as mine has a hairline crack around the neck.

Bart

 

[justinhw]

Hey Bart!

I originally went to partstrain.com. They have a warehouse in Carson, CA which is close-ish to me, so I called the warehouse to put in a Will-Call. Talked to the guy on the phone, he let me use his employee discount and it was cheapest to have them ship it to me!

Sorry for the long reponse but yes, partstrain.com. They have a few options.

The CSF radiator was a perfect fit, didn't need to drill anything. Looks pretty too!

 

[justinhw]

Update: General Maintenance cont.

Drained and replaced trans filter today. No pictures, sorry. Very straightforward and lucky there are no frame crossmembers I had to remove, it's all accessible. I dropped the pan and found a thin layer of grime all around the pan, so cleaned it out. Also, there were quite a lot of grime on the magnets in the pan, so I cleaned those out too.

Stupid of me, I forgot to put the magnets back in before replacing the pan and refilling the ATF. I still need to continue flushing fluid for the next week or so in order to replace all 12 qts. I wonder if I just continue to flush fluid regularly if it will last to my next filter change in maybe 12k miles.

So far, the engine low-rpm stumble has gone away, but I'm not sure if that was actually due to new transmission fluid.

 

[justinhw]

Update: Roof Rack

Found an old 5'x7' con-ferr rack for $60 today. I like the length, but not so wild about the width. It reminds me of those old land rovers with comically large roof racks that you can carry the earth on. I'm debating keeping it like that, or cutting about foot out of the width and welding it back together.

Evidently it was originally purchased for a TV show, where they spray painted "rust color" on it.. some of the mounting hardware is rusty, but all in all pretty good condition. Now I need to spray paint it

As per VDEG, looking to store sleeping bags and other light/low density equipment up there. The size is probably overkill for that. Also, looking into chicken-coop flooring I've seen elsewhere on the forum.

 

[nfpgasmask]

Wow, that rack is basically identical to mine, but yeah, looks about 12"s wider, which is strange...??? Maybe you can cut it down and weld it back together to get the right width?

Bart

 

[SAS]

$60 for that huge rack? what a deal!

Similar to the one Cronk found for his 1G Trooper build a year or two ago.
Here is the link to the write-up on Midwest Isuzu Offroad.

Keep posting and taking the 'ol Trooper out in the dirt--those of us far from the desert enjoy the pictures and descriptions of trails in the wide open spaces.

 

[justinhw]

Cleghorn Trail 2N47

Went to Cleghorn 2N47 trail off the 15 at cajon rd exit this morning. My second time driving through, last time I just went to check it out, staying on the fire roads.

This time I went with my brothers and we tried some of the tougher tracks

I've heard about using momentum if you have open diffs (which I do), and found it very useful in progressing through tracks (although scary from a breaking-parts standpoint). There were many times where both front and rear axles had opposite sides losing traction, and we got to practice placing rocks and digging to regain that traction.

Picking my line was also VERY apparent, and I definitely need more experience in order to visualize in my head how much weight each of the tires will be seeing in order to keep them planted.

I haven't had the chance to try airing down in order to gain traction because I don't have a way of re-inflating.

Also, I'm still in the process of locating suitable rims in order to change the wheels/tires I have currently (Sears Guardian Trail Handlers 235/75/15) with the ones on my work truck (Michelin LTX A/T 215/75/15)

I definitely think something like selectable lockers or aussie lockers would make life a lot easier, but for now I'll practice with what I have!

Also, the new radiator works wonderfully (along with a cooling system flush with my gardenhose and new distilled water) Last time I traveled during the heat of the day (began at noon), and the thermostat barely passed middle at the hottest, typically below middle.
This time, we went at 5am, and of course no problems. Wasn't too many people, but on the way back there were a LOT of jeeps and toyota trucks driving in, a lot of cool rigs! But for some reason no one wanted to stop to let me pass; when meeting another car, I had to pull over to let the other pass every single time. Maybe because my truck is tiny and not as decked out =(.

 

[nfpgasmask]

Awesome!

Bart

 

[jl8088]

Nice progression on the rig. Glad the radiator flush solved the overheating. It makes me feel alot more confident after doing successful preventative maintance to hit the trails up.

I could be wrong, but i think you give the right-of-way to whomever is going uphill. Or at least that's how i do it.

 

[Jrally]

Yeah, as you found out, stopping on the up hill sections, loosing momentum, makes it interesting to get going again. Give way to off roaders coming up hills. Keep up the good work on your Trooper, sounds like it's running well.

-Jon