IMO, stay away from the Trooper... It's prolly a nice truck cuz it's your parents... and they're prolly gonna give you a great deal on it and it's prolly in really good shape and all that.... HMMM... maybe you SHOULD consider it on second thought

... the down side to the Troopers is that they are on the heavy side... but for OCASSIONAL off-roading they do OK... if you wanna get serious, keep the tracker and modify it.

just my $.02

 

I think that you have the right idea. Take the Trooper from you're parents, because you know that you will be starting out with a good low mileage vehicle in good condition. Sell you're Tracker and put the money into the Trooper.

 

Yes but you have to realize the tracker is rusting through the chassis. And the engine bay. And the exterior. And the trooper is in excellent condition.

 

Also the trooper has a lot more features. And way lower milage.

 

Knowing a good vehicle is a lot less stress than buying someone elses junk.

 

You lost me there!?

 

Are Trooper's really that bad for offroading?

 

I think I may look through the jeep line also though.

 

In reply to:

But I have the option of getting a free 1994 Isuzu Trooper, good condition 70k miles from my parents.

[/ QUOTE ] You already know its history, and its free....I don't think I'd have to "decide" anything if I was your age

.

In reply to:

And then when I sell the tracker I have an extra 3k dollars.

[/ QUOTE ] If this tracker has gaping rust holes all over/under it, who told you it was worth 3K?

Take the Trooper.

Rembrant

 

I have 1.2k saved up in the bank, forgot to mention that

Oh, I decided to take the trooper and I found a great site that has parts for them. I can get a 3" body lift and a 3" suspension lift and 2 tow hooks for 506.96 + w/e shipping ends up as. But I feel that this is a good price. But if I am wrong please show me where to go to get a better deal!

 

Take the Trooper, sell the Tracker, and buy a different vehicle for offroading. No one seriously wheels them around here because they're so heavy and expensive to lift to get 33s on. I do see them offroad quite a bit when I'm scouting for new trails. However, I've never seen them wailing through mining chet or banging through mud up to their doorhandles.

I'd just make the Trooper your daily driver. Keep it nice and don't modify it much. It'll stay nice and reliable that way. Then buy something to beat out in the woods.

I would love to have the option of having two vehicles.

 

So 506.96 for 3"body and 3"suspension and 2 tow hooks is expensive, well then, i thought that was cheap....

 

Also as stated, money is an issue. I can't afford insurance on two vehicles yet alone buy a second one.

 

Never owned a Trooper so I can't say if that is cheap or not. I know for that much I can get an all-spring 6" lift for my truck. I'm going to have my truck lifted 4" using used parts for under $200.

 

Unless I'm mistaken you said the Trooper was free.

You said you can sell the Tracker.

Therefore, two vehicles is a possibility. You can get around the insurance issue by trailering the trail vehicle.

I have PLPD on my truck and it costs me around $50/month. My insurance company will let me switch which vehicle is insured as many times as I want as long as the more expensive to insure vehicle is the one I pay for. I can't drive both vehicles at the same time though. I have to call them up each time I want to switch. It's been a couple years since I've done this though.


I put all my money into one vehicle. Now I am regretting that decision. I wish I had the opportunity to have a second trail-only vehicle. However, I can't afford to purchase another vehicle that is off-road worthy (in other words, has 4wd).

 

That doesn't sound like a bad price for you're parts to me. Maybe every one doesn't wheel a Trooper but so what. This is the best thing for you're particulat circumstances. Not every one else's. Let us know what you decide.

 

Then I would have to buy a trailer. Plus insurance, you have to realize i am 16, man, 5.50 an hour isn't what pays for gas, insurance, a new trailer, and still go to school. Insurance is a lot more for a kid of my age.

 

Im pretty sure I'm going to take the trooper. It's in great condition and all I need to do is lift it and get some tow hooks on it and when these tires wear out ill get some bigger ones. I don't think it's as bad as some people make it out to be. Yes it's heavy, but woopdee doo. Maybe when I'm older not working at a little hardware store for 5.50 an hour then I'll get something nice. But for now a nice trooper with all the features is more than I can ask for.

 

Make sure you understand the basics of lifting and modifying vehicles before you go off and do it. When you put bigger tires on a vehicle, it makes the engine work harder to turn the tires, and also puts a lot of strain on the axles, t-case, and especially the transmission if the Trooper has an automatic OD tranny. Best solution is to regear the axles, but I have no clue what's available for your Trooper. Also, there's a difference in lift kits. You can lift any vehicle up as high as you want to, but can you do it safely or effectively? I beleive your Trooper has torsion bars up front. You could crank the hell out of them for about 2-3" of lift for free, but then your tires would be sitting like this /\ and your front end would have no suspension movement at all. You'd be breaking drivetrain components left and right. Trust me, from my own personal experience, whenever you lift something, spending more money to do it correctly is ALWAYS worth it. Safety and just not having to replace broken parts over and over again makes it worth it.

Check out www.Calmini.com, I think they have Isuzu stuff. Have you talked to anyone on the Isuzu forum here on ORC?

I had a 93 Tracker. Kick ass little 4x4. Fit anywhere and got me 25mpg, 22mpg when I put 235 muds on it. Mine unfortunately also had the rust bug, bad. I got my Ram after it, and I sometimes wish I still had the Tracker. There's something to be said for small, cheap to own and operate, and easily beatable. I'm selling my Ram for school reasons, but my next vehicle is going to be as plain jane as possible. Beating a really nice vehicle with every option around offroad is kinda cool, but gets old after a while, even if you aren't making payments on it.

 

Well I was going to get the Lift Kit from independent4x.com and there is noone on the isuzu forum here

lol. I do realize it puts more strain on it, I didn't plan to put a huge set of wheels on it. I would love to keep the tracker and lift it and all. But I do not have the cash to pay to have the spots that are rusting through fixed and I doubt that would be cheap, I could probably buy a new tracker for the price to fix it. Do you think the Trooper has what it takes for the lift and some bigger tires/wheels?

 

Your Tracker sounds like a lost case. Sell it for what you can get for it. Mine got me a whopping $650, but I had loads of fun with it, and it was pretty cheap. It's still running though, saw it the other day.

I'm sure the Trooper could do 31's with ease. 33's I can't say, but by that size you're really getting to the point where you'd need to do something to help the truck make up for the change in tire size. Also, keep in mind that in modern computer controlled vehicles, changing the tire size affects the speedometer, odometer, how the transmission shifts, and the anti-lock brakes among other things.

 

Hey gemiller...

I think that the Trooper sounds like a great deal IF you aren't looking for a serious off-road vehicle...

The Trooper will get you by off-road but it is HEAVY and underpowered. I off-roaded one for 8 years and was very careful as to where I was and how deep I got myself into situations. The vehicle is a great all-arounder and a pleasure to cruise on the interstates with, they have lots of room and get decent mileage. They also have dinky clutches and they burn as soon as you put them to the test

The trannies are OK and the transfer boxes are low enough to handle the normal things, the wheels are the same bolt pattern as the Toyotas and there are plenty of those around.

My 1988 Trooper would have really shined if it would've had a V8 with an auto tranny

that would've been a better combo for the wieght that it pulled around..

just my $.02

 

I don't plan to do heavy off-roading with it, just like level 1 and 2 trails out of level 5 max. And about the speed change I know someone who may be able to hook some funky thing up to the ecu and reset it to work with all the new stuff.

 

You can't lose with going with the trooper. By your own admission you are new to the sport, if you get some decent tires you will be very suprised at what you can do in the trooper when you learn how to drive off road. Take your time and if possible join a club in your area, they will help you out when it comes to mods and learning your vehicle. Have fun and don't worry if its not a jeep, blazer, bronco or whatever. A smart driver can often out wheel a stupid one with a built rig. If you decide that this is a long term passion of yours then by all means you can sell the trooper and go with something more trail friendly but I'll bet you can have a hell of a good time with that Trooper.

 

Hey GE MILLER,

For what it's worth...

I bought a new, leftover '88 Trooper in '89 off the lot. Great vehicle as stock for driving on the road. Less than 3K on odometer and I was paying a man to pull me out of the muck of an abandoned road in NE VA (after I spent an uncomfortable night in the back). It was, indeed, a heavy vehicle and did not take to mud well at all. Undercarriage got bottomed out and my stock Goodyear Wranglers were not enough to pull me through. Never took the chance of it letting me down again.

Then, once it needed it's second set of tires, I went w/ a bigger tire (came w/ 235/15's; newer tires were 265/15's). This seemed to kill the engine (4cyl - I forget # of hamsters inside); it never ran right after that. (Had a couple of blown head gaskets, and I think after the first one, either the head or block was warped thereby causing the 2nd. I sold it shortly thereafter.

Short theme: It's chassis/ground clearance is marginal for mud; but be careful what tires you go to, b/c IMHO, it's not up to larger tires w/o gear mods. I'd hate to see you 'over-tire' your engine.

Hope this is of some help.

R/