Stephen's 1994 Isuzu Trooper

Stephen Nielson, Salt Lake City, Utah

1994 Isuzu Trooper

You can read about my rebuild here: Project: Stratotrooper

Engine: Isuzu 6V1D-W Advanced
3.2L DOHC V6 w/SOHC Plenum and Multec-2 Injectors

Transmission: Stock AISIN 5-Speed Manual

Transfer Case: Revolution 3.1:1 Low Range Gears

Front Axle: Stock, AISIN manual hubs

Rear Axle: Stock LSD

Suspension: Old Man Emu Dakar 2" lift coils in rear, front torsion bars cranked to match lift and upper ball joints flipped, OME Nitro Charger Sport shocks at all four corners

Steering: Stock

Wheels and Tires: 255/75 BF Goodrich MT KO2's on 17" Isuzu Axiom alloy wheels

Navigation: iPad Mini w/MotionX-GPS

Communication: Cobra 75 WX ST CB / BTECH MINI UV-25X4 HAM

Favorite Trails: The open road

As I have gotten more and more involved in backcountry adventure style 4-wheeling I wanted to find a larger, comfortable, well equipt vehicle to suit my needs. My Samurai, while great for shorter trips, is just too small and slow for long haul trips hundreds of miles away. And while my old Pathfinder was great, it still felt a little small and poorly laid out to carry the gear I like to haul. So when the Pathfinder found an unceremonious end to its off-roading life, I began looking into other vehicles.

For years Troopers have been on the edge of my radar, but often discounted as a soccer mom vehicle. Occasionally I saw them off-road, but never really paid them much mind. About a year and a half ago my Dad snagged one and we've picked over it and been impressed with its build quality and capabilities as a mild off-roader. The other nice thing about Troopers is that they are cheap. You can find Troopers in good condition all day long for under $2,000. So when one popped up with a blown timing belt I jumped on it and picked it up for $700. $250 in parts and a few evening of work I had a solid running vehicle. Not bad.

With their ample interior space (Nearly 7' from the back of the front seats to the rear doors), solid AISIN and Isuzu parts, I think that I've picked up a great camping vehicle for cheap. Throwing on OME springs for clearance and some better tires, and I think I'm set. There are no further modifications that I plan to do to the vehicle (maybe sliders). So now its time to just get it out on the trail!

 

[Troop92]

Just found your build thread. Awesome.

 

[Stephen]

Just found your build thread. Awesome.

Thanks! It's been a great rig. I've just kinda slowly tinkered with it over the last two years or so and really enjoy it. I'll be taking it on the Easter Jeep Safari this year, so it will be it's first real test in a "rock crawling" format, so should be interesting. Especially since I know those trails like the back of my hand, only in a vehicle half the size! Planning on getting the rock rails on it finally before April and hopefully fab up some stouter skid plates for it as well. We'll see if that come to fruition!

 

[Troop92]

Thanks! It's been a great rig. I've just kinda slowly tinkered with it over the last two years or so and really enjoy it. I'll be taking it on the Easter Jeep Safari this year, so it will be it's first real test in a "rock crawling" format, so should be interesting. Especially since I know those trails like the back of my hand, only in a vehicle half the size! Planning on getting the rock rails on it finally before April and hopefully fab up some stouter skid plates for it as well. We'll see if that come to fruition!

Mine's two years older, but pretty much a copy of yours. I've had mine for two years and I love it. It's coming along. Never been into the rock crawling scene, but I can see the appeal - there's some gorgeous country down there. Your plans to beef up protection are right there with mine come springtime - bumpers, sliders, etc.

Here's a question for you - in 4 hi can you keep steam up a hill or obstacle? Mine is gutless under 2500rpm no matter the terrain... Can't figure it out.

 

[Stephen]

Here's a question for you - in 4 hi can you keep steam up a hill or obstacle? Mine is gutless under 2500rpm no matter the terrain... Can't figure it out.

2500rpm is pretty low. Your ratio is still 1:1 in 4-Hi, so you aren't being helped out by gearing. So I'm not surprised that when you try to climb something your engine bogs down if the revs are low. Next time pop it in 4-Low and see the difference.

 

[Stephen]

I've been thinking for awhile about bed lining the lower portion of the Troopers body. I wanted to do this to help protect it a bit, cover up some paint damage from the trail and because I thought it would look cool (which is why we do everything, right?) Well in keeping with the theme of this vehicle, cheap is the way to go. So rather than pay some big bucks for someone to do this for me, I picked up some spray on Dupli-Color bed coating. I figured that I'd be waiting until spring to get this on, but since today was unseasonably warm and I had some free time, I figured why not?

This is how the drivers side looked before:

I grabbed some masking tape and masked off just above the little crease towards the bottom of the door:

Then I hit it with a Scotch Bright pad to rough it up so the paint has something to stick to:

Dupli-Color Truck Bed Coating. The recommended temperature for doing this is 69 - 92. My thermometer said 65, but what the hell!
It calls for two to three coats, I ended up doing four per side. Each side ate a can.

After first coat:

And finished!

Only took an hour or so. You have to wait five minutes between coats and it drys extremely quick. Next I need to pull the bumpers and hit the body behind those, but thats for another day!

 

[MOODY]

Good work. Keeping it simple. I say you do that to your Miata. Maybe a racing stripe down the middle?

 

[bryson]

Looks good! Now to remove the pinstripe on the rear door!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Nice work.

I have a heat gun that would likely make quick work of the pin striping.

 

[Brian P]

Nice!

 

[Stephen]

Good work. Keeping it simple. I say you do that to your Miata. Maybe a racing stripe down the middle?

I was actually gonna do the whole thing, but just leave a racing stripe of the original paint down the middle.

Looks good! Now to remove the pinstripe on the rear door!

Yup. Looks like Kurt's got the solution to that! ----v

Nice work.

I have a heat gun that would likely make quick work of the pin striping.

Perfect, lets do it!

 

[Stephen]

Had a few more empty minutes today, so I decided to install a grab handle on the drivers side. This is a neat little "Easter Egg" on the 2nd Gen Troopers. As these vehicles were built in LHD and RHD variants, they had to have the ability to have the grab handles for passengers regardless of layout. Why would I want a grab handle on the drivers side, one might ask? Because why the hell not, thats why.

First I removed the inner trim panel from the A-Pillar:

Then gave a few good tugs on it to pop out the push pins:

This little tab at the base was a bit of a bugger, but a few wiggles and it came out:

With the panel out, I cleaned it up as it was quite dusty:

As you can see, Isuzu was kind enough to provide marks for where you need to drill! Thanks Isuzu! (This in no may makes up for the ridiculous placement of the alternator):

You can also see in the cab that the bolt holes are there and waiting:

So rather than cutting the nice little squares out (which lets face it, would be a pain in the ass), I grabbed my trusty 1/2" hole saw:

Punched a few guide holes:

And BAM, holes:

Yes, they are a little bigger than what the factory holes should have been, but have no fear. The handle still covers them up perfectly:

Next up, I reinstalled the panel and you can see that the holes line up perfectly with the bolt holes:

I then mounted the handle. As you all can see, if Kurt is not involved, my hand stays intact!

And voila! Drivers side grab handle:

 

[Rot Box]

Looks great

Out of curiosity how difficult was your hub swap? Did some Isuzu's come with selectable hubs or was this a retrofit? My friend has a 95 with auto hubs that are giving him fits and he would like to go with selectable..

 

[Stephen]

Out of curiosity how difficult was your hub swap? Did some Isuzu's come with selectable hubs or was this a retrofit? My friend has a 95 with auto hubs that are giving him fits and he would like to go with selectable..

1st Gen Troopers, Rodeo's, Amigo's, and Pickups all had them as an option. You see them at the junkyards pretty regularly and its a straight swap to the 2nd Gen Troopers.

 

[Stephen]

Picked up a set of Revolution 3:1 t-case gears yesterday for a great deal. I'll be throwing them in tomorrow! I was not planning on changing the gearing in this, but at the price it was hard to turn down and it will certainly help in the more difficult spots that I find myself in.

 

[sixstringsteve]

very cool. what's the stock ratio?

 

[Rot Box]

Sounds like a nice upgrade Thanks for the info on the selectable hubs.

 

[Stephen]

very cool. what's the stock ratio?

Stock it's 2.05:1 in low range.

Thanks for the info on the selectable hubs.

No problem.

 

[Troop92]

I love our rigs, don't you? The more I wheel it, the more I realize what a hidden gem the Trooper is.

I'm about to do a full rust removal blitz, paint my frame, and the paint the lower portion of doors/rockers as you've done before I toss on sliders. Small steps.

Did you get your Revo gears from the kid in Provo that was selling them it dirt cheap?

 

[Stephen]

I love our rigs, don't you? The more I wheel it, the more I realize what a hidden gem the Trooper is.

I agree. Solid vehicles, very capable. A very good alternative to something like an 80-series Cruiser.

I'm about to do a full rust removal blitz, paint my frame, and the paint the lower portion of doors/rockers as you've done before I toss on sliders. Small steps.

Good plan. Definitely something I should get on. I've still got a set of sliders that I've been sitting on for the last year and a half.

Did you get your Revo gears from the kid in Provo that was selling them it dirt cheap?

Not sure if I'd call him a kid, but yeah, I got them from him. $250. They were a PAIN IN THE ASS to install! But now that they are in, they're great. I took it up Forest Lake for a quick spin on Friday while my cousin was in town. First time I'd thrown it into 4-low since EJS and I had forgotten how low the gearing is! Between the 3:1 T-Case and the 4.56:1 diff's, it just crawls.