Ultimark
Active member
hidn45, to be honest, I don't know about the relative value of the normal Isuzu trucks as opposed to Isuzu 4WD trucks. What I do know, is that the second hand market for the small Isuzu 4WD truck, is very tight. Almost non-existent, unless you want something that has been run into the ground and those don't seem to sell. I've seen two units on the market for almost a year, and they are very low, but so is their condition. The larger F series of Isuzu 4WD trucks are everywhere in mining, and a myriad other uses. Think power companies, earth moving companies and so on. I wished to have a small unit that is capable of carrying our slide-on camper, the small NPS 75 - 155 4WD Isuzu fits the bill admirably.
You may wish to consider a spring loaded tray if you are going to put a tray onto anything. I've driven a handful of trucks with sprung trays, on rough roads they seem to make life easier; but for what you outlined, it may not be an economical reality.
Smiley Shaun makes a pretty good point with regard to cab-over and feeling road pot holes directly impacting on your body; this does happen. To counter this issue we are having the suspension completely changed, springs, shock absorbers and super single wheels fitted with a ballooning type of tyre, as opposed to a normal truck tyre. Truck tyres are super stiff and normally require high air pressure. They do work very well at low speeds when deflated, but can be quite harsh. Bigger wheels with wide tyres that will balloon a bit are where I have seen and felt quite good improvements.
Almost 50 years ago I drove my first cab-over truck that wasn't a real problem in very rough stuff; within reason that is. The only other cab over truck that I have driven that handled better in the smoothness department, was a 6WD version of the 4WD. Earlier this year I was in an Isuzu NPS 75 - 155 4WD fitted with wheels and tyres as described, it was running around 5,000 kg as it was more or less unloaded; although it still had quite some gear on board; the ride was really good and better than expected. We expect we will be hovering between 5,250 kg and 5,750 kg with full fuel and water taking us close to 6,000 kg. As the truck is rated to 7,500 kg , our potential maximum will be around 75% of the trucks GVM.
The best cab over truck I have ever been in, is an Oka. The unreal suspension and overall build and thought that went into making of that truck, is like nothing else. I didn't drive it, but I was a passenger in some pretty interesting terrain, including traversing a around a 100m of going down then back up a river on the return journey. Smooth as.
This is an historical documentary of a home grown truck built for the Australian army, this is what I cut my teeth on 50 years ago driving these and their bigger 6WD brother; which I preferred. This year I saw one of these trucks in a rural town as I was having lunch, a week later on the return journey I spied it again, still a daily driver. The tests depicted in this documentary were all done with the trucks loaded to their requested maximum, check out what they did at the 23:30 mark then the 24:00 mark, a bit like the Paris Dakar some 40-50 years later.
A bit off topic, but fun to look at anyway.
You may wish to consider a spring loaded tray if you are going to put a tray onto anything. I've driven a handful of trucks with sprung trays, on rough roads they seem to make life easier; but for what you outlined, it may not be an economical reality.
Smiley Shaun makes a pretty good point with regard to cab-over and feeling road pot holes directly impacting on your body; this does happen. To counter this issue we are having the suspension completely changed, springs, shock absorbers and super single wheels fitted with a ballooning type of tyre, as opposed to a normal truck tyre. Truck tyres are super stiff and normally require high air pressure. They do work very well at low speeds when deflated, but can be quite harsh. Bigger wheels with wide tyres that will balloon a bit are where I have seen and felt quite good improvements.
Almost 50 years ago I drove my first cab-over truck that wasn't a real problem in very rough stuff; within reason that is. The only other cab over truck that I have driven that handled better in the smoothness department, was a 6WD version of the 4WD. Earlier this year I was in an Isuzu NPS 75 - 155 4WD fitted with wheels and tyres as described, it was running around 5,000 kg as it was more or less unloaded; although it still had quite some gear on board; the ride was really good and better than expected. We expect we will be hovering between 5,250 kg and 5,750 kg with full fuel and water taking us close to 6,000 kg. As the truck is rated to 7,500 kg , our potential maximum will be around 75% of the trucks GVM.
The best cab over truck I have ever been in, is an Oka. The unreal suspension and overall build and thought that went into making of that truck, is like nothing else. I didn't drive it, but I was a passenger in some pretty interesting terrain, including traversing a around a 100m of going down then back up a river on the return journey. Smooth as.
This is an historical documentary of a home grown truck built for the Australian army, this is what I cut my teeth on 50 years ago driving these and their bigger 6WD brother; which I preferred. This year I saw one of these trucks in a rural town as I was having lunch, a week later on the return journey I spied it again, still a daily driver. The tests depicted in this documentary were all done with the trucks loaded to their requested maximum, check out what they did at the 23:30 mark then the 24:00 mark, a bit like the Paris Dakar some 40-50 years later.
A bit off topic, but fun to look at anyway.
