'96 Isuzu Rodeo - SAS'd

Owners Name:
Steven Jones

City:
Salt Lake City

Vehicle;

1996 Isuzu Rodeo LS
3.2l V6
5 spd
Teralow Tcase gears (3.07:1)
10" Fox coil overs all around
3 Link Front / 4 link rear
Ford steering box
custom bumpers
37" BFG AT
Pro Comp Series 41 wheels
Suspension:
Front:
D44 - custom tubed HP Ford (for passenger side drop/Waggy width)
5.13 gears
ARB locker
2.25" x .375 wall Lowers w/Ballistic Rod Ends & Ballistic bushings
1.75" x .25 upper link w/ 3/4" heims
2.0" x .25 steering links w/1 ton TRE's
high steer

Rear:
stock D44
5.13 gears
ARB locker
2.25 x .375 wall lower w/Ballistic Rod Ends & Ballistic bushings
1.75 x .25 uppers w/ 3/4" heims
Blue Torch rear differ cover/upper link truss
4Wheel Underground coil over mounts

Bumpers
Front:
Custom Addicted Offroad winch bumper
Rear:
Custom Miss Conception Motorsports
Tire Carrier

 

[Troop92]

That's sick, man. Welcome!

 

[Pike2350]

I bought this thing about 4-5 years ago already SAS'd. It was 4 linked front with no track bar...and it was causing the sector shaft to twist. That, along with the 12" Sway-A-Away air shocks made for a less then ideal setup offroading...too tall and too tippy. I sent it over to Scotty @ Addicted Offroad to do the 3 link front end and Ford steering box. While it was there, I had them do the custom front bumper.

I'm still fine tuning A LOT of things...and trying to get it so it's comfortable now that it's my DD for a little while. It's up and running for the most part. I plan on putting new lower springs on the front, currently I'm sitting at 225/300 and I have about .75" of preload...but that's only because the shocks are short 10" and that's the preload you have with the adjusters all the way at the top. I'm going to go to 225/225 to bring it down another 1" or so up front...then I will raise the rear to level it out...and eventually go to a 12" coil over in the rear since will have over 5" of shaft showing at that point.

Here are some flex pictures after the 3 link

 

[Pike2350]

So I swapped out the lower front springs to a 225lb 12" spring....so far it rides smoother, and dropped it a little. I will let the springs settle before I deal with the rear, since I'm pretty sure i'm going to have to go to 12" shocks for the rear or I'm not going to have much down travel left. I still have tons to do to this, but it's roadworthy and driveable. I need to look into a front sway bar...although I'm not sure how the packaging up front will work. I also threw on some Low Range Offroad removable mud flaps to keep the cops off my case.

Here is an after shot of the truck with the different springs in it (the adjuster is still all the way to the top, but even then it has about .75" of preload due to the length of the coilovers)

 

[Kevin B.]

Lookin' good.

 

[sixstringsteve]

such a cool rig. I love rodeos. These have a honda passport motor, right?

 

[Pike2350]

Actually the Honda Passport was just a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo....Isuzu's engines and all. Minor cosmetic changes, but drivetrain was all Isuzu (minus the rear Dana 44)

 

[sixstringsteve]

Good to know!

 

[Pike2350]

i haven't had money or time to play with this thing. It is my DD now as well, so it's harder to commit to doing much when I have to drive it to work on Monday. I did take some family members to Moab over Labor Day.....guided my 2 brother-in-laws through some trails....Dont' remember which ones, but it was Hidden Canyon overlook, Hey Joe (I think...where you drive under the fallen boulder) and a couple of easy trails north of town. During Hidden Canyon and the other part (used to be 3-D) my one brother in law blew his front diff on his Durango....so I had to tug him on the last difficult parts of the trail...I believe it was Barlett's Wash. He made it home and swapped the diff. My other brother in law was in a 08 Tundra long bed. Not sure how we managed to get him through everything, but we did......keep in mind, neither had done much 4wheeling, so it was a new experience for all of them. I only got this pic the whole time...but I like it.

I've also taken it to 5-mile and almost made it up Waynes World....the Toyo's wouldn't get me the traction at the top, and I blew my axle seal....which up until the seals-it seal caused me a lot of trouble...if you recall reading about my possibly bent front axle.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I love rodeos, this is one of my favorites. Great pics!

 

[Pike2350]

With an Isuzu gathering in Moab coming up fast, I ended up in a bit of a predicament. Last week, one of my tires formed a hole in a crack (actually all have them) on the sidewall. These tires are old....they were on it when I bought it, and were almost brand new...but they had been on the truck since about 2006 or 2007....so they are showing their age with weather cracking in the treads, and the sidewalls have cracks on them.

With no spare, and wanting to upgrade to 37's, I searched. I found a guy who bought a truck with 5000 miles on it with some 37 BFG AT's on it. He changed out wheels and tires. Luckily he sold the wheels, and just wanted the tires gone...so I got 4, pretty new 37's for a really good deal. The problem I had now, was finding wheels. My g/f works for a local shop that deals in Pro Comp...so I looked at those. I found some I sort of like...but now that they are on, I don't love them that much...but oh well, I'll deal with it for now. I was in a hurry, and financially a little more constrained. :roll:

Anyway, I got them mounted and balanced Saturday, and put them on yesterday. I will hopefully get a chance tomorrow to test the flex, and make sure I'm not rubbing too bad...but I may be up front....nothing a little surgery can't help with.

One of the nice things, is the 37's with aluminum rims actually way less then the 35 Toyot's I had. I also shrunk from 13.5's to 12.5's which I'm happy about.

 

[rholbrook]

Images not showing

 

[Rock Taco]

Are the new tires 17"? And did the guy you bought them from drive a red/maroon f250? If so you are welcome. Haha

 

[Pike2350]

Yep... That's the guy.... Did you buy the wheels

 

[Rock Taco]

Yes and I paid for the dismount.

 

[Pike2350]

Yes and I paid for the dismount.

Thanks

So I went to Moab over the last weekend...and truck performed pretty well. I did realize that the rear axle wasn't centered in the wheel well opening (even when at full bump) and would rub the front of the wheel well on compression...it got annoying, but oh well. I need to take lengthen the links a tiny bit. I'm still unfamiliar with this truck when it comes to wheeling, so I didn't want to get too crazy. Friday a group of us did Metal Masher. Saturday, we did part of Flat Iron Mesa. I did do the top of the Chute ....I decided to have someone strap the front of my truck...just in case...since I wasn't sure how the front end would do (thinking it might unload or something)

I only got a few photos.....mostly from my gf
Metal Masher.

Mirror Gultch

The Chute

 

[spacecase]

looks like fun, wish i could have made it..

question for ya about your arb's. do you run your onboard air and your lockers with the same compressor or do you have to run a separate compressor for the lockers?

 

[Pike2350]

looks like fun, wish i could have made it..

question for ya about your arb's. do you run your onboard air and your lockers with the same compressor or do you have to run a separate compressor for the lockers?

Same compressor for both. I have the quickaire 2 but you can use the ARB compressors for oba and lockers

 

[spacecase]

thanx, sweet setup! i think that will be the direction i head with the yota.

the wheels look much better with a little dirt on em. :thumbs:

 

[Pike2350]

I was down in Moab this past weekend with family and joined up with on the trail run for Kevin's son. I am hoping to get photos of that from my F-in-L. I tried to do Potato Salad hill on Friday, but failed. My front locker wasn't working and I am still getting used the the suspension. I felt very light in the front, and on Saturday on the run through Hells Revenge both my F-in-L and myself were scared and felt we were going to flop over quite a few times. I just need to get some more seat time in on the more difficult trails.

I put a winch on the front of my truck on Potato Salad just because I felt so light on the front....even though I likely wasn't in any risk of rolling. I was also being guided by people with NO experience...so I just wanted the insurance...but I didn't make it when we noticed the front locker didn't work and I wasn't getting all my wheels spinning.

I've concluded that I need stiffer springs. The problem with that is it will make me taller....and I already want to be lower. The dilema now is how to address it. The best way would be to remove the bodylift....however that is pretty cumbersome since so much was built around the body lift. However, in doing so I should be able to lower it around the 3" which would make a HUGE difference. The next option is to notch the frame on the passenger side to clear the drag link at stuff and move the upper shock mounts up. Last option is to go a bit more extreme and cut the front of the frame off and redo it so it clears all the steering but allows me to get it a bit lower. I'm not sure where to go right now. For now, more seat time is in the works and moving to 300lb lower springs to help with some of the body sway.