looking for suv

Most people don't know much about Isuzu. However, I've got a '99 Amigo 4wd that's put up with a lot of abuse and 4 wheeling trips and came back asking for more. I've seen Troopers do incredible things on these trips too. They are very impressive offroad and plenty comfortable onroad. You can probably get one in that price range that will be fairly new. They will all be 4WD, up until 2000 (or 2001?) when they started offering 2WD. Get the 3.2L V6, or 3.5L in newer ones. Very capable and reliable. I know of Troopers that are around 300k miles in the 4 wheeling Isuzu club I'm in. They just go on forever. You can even find them with a 5 spd manual. Other than Isuzu, I'd go for a Toyota Land Cruiser, but you have to get one much much older to get in your price range.
 
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dont buy a Ford or Mazda or anything to do with that name. Get a GM or something, I'm serious, or Toyota etc etc
 
Don't buy an Explorer unless you like buying replacement front hubs all the time (the actual 4WD hub on the 91 - 94 trucks, and the wheel hub & bearing assy. on the 95-up) :rolleyes:


cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO
 
last bill of parts was 500 easy, and thats every other year, the brakes on those are so bad I feel better pulling Fred Flintstones to stop:D . Plus the older twin I beam suspension binds up when you turn and they roll them because the high center of gravity, has to be the Pinto of the present;) .

Maybe a full size Bronco over an Exploder but they suck gas and still arent too hot
 
Izuzu all the way

I have a 90 izuzu trooper... had it for years..Handed down from my dad..156,000 miles so far..Just recently replaced the clutch with a centerforce dual friction..My Izuzu Has the 2.6 liter 4 in it...Calimini full lenght header/Cam combo, 2 1/4 full exhaust with a high flow cat and a flowmaster, and lastly a Super coil, MSD 6a,and a perma cool 16 inch electric fan...Izuzu's are teh best trucks/REAL trucks out there..And now I think you can get a 90 styl eizuzu trooper at a good price...STAY AWAY FROM GM..If you want something american truck wise buy a ford...And thats about my two cents here:O)..BTW an Izuzu can climb anything..I offroad with mine all the time:O)..Damon
 
buy around that year small Ford SUV and you've screwed yourself over more than buying a SC


A4LD= garbage
twin I Beam= garbage
4.0= garbage
front 4WD system=garbage
brakes=garbage
sun-roof that blows off sometimes=garbage
sagging springs=garbage

arent Isuzu parts hard to come by? plus they have a boxy style interior like a camaro, a lot of road noise also, kind of like a large Samurai by Suzuki
:D
 
Hmm Boxy..Such as a land rover....land cruiser....Whats that high end Mercedes...Looks boxy to me....The Hummer..Yah a box..Well about the Izuzu..Anyone that knows Izuzus or off roading knows exactly what their capable off....As far as parts breakage..Lets see what I replaced after 156,000 miles........Hmmmm..Hmmmm ok..Rotors front and rear once...(easy to get and cheap)..Hmmmm..Clutch recently at 15X,XXX miles(first clutch change)...And oh yah oil and tires...on 3rd set of tires..Wait...I almost fergot..First valve adjustment at 155,000 miles and second timing belt change..Yeah I was pushing it...I also decieded to change the cam while I was at it..Get a lil more power......Oh and yah....I did the exhaust at 120,000 because the factory muffler finally took a dump...And with all the offroading Ive done not once did I ever..Flip my truck..BTW...A majority of people who flip SUV's shouldnt be driving an SUV to begin with..If you seen the positions (non sexual) Ive had my truck in...Youd go....It looks like it should be on its side but.........Anyway..I wont go on to bash GM trucks..They do enough of that on their own...Whatever you decided to get..Put things in perspective..What are you using it for..Me I do light towing, transporting of some heavy @ss stuff.And offroading..Also great in the snow and gas consumption isnt bad,,However my truck is slow as dog poo...Good low end grunt no top end..However I can get my box up to around 100mph now...So the better question would be..WHat do you want an SUV for???..Bash my izuzu HAAAA!!!!!!
 
Damon Slowpoke Baumann said:
Bash my izuzu HAAAA!!!!!!


i know that, they dont have many moving parts, I bet I could make the window glass on that truck from my kitchen table:D
 
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Damon, are you on 4x4wire? That's where the Isuzu 4 wheeling discussion group is. Good number of people in your area.
Yep, the Troop is boxy. One of the last real SUV's. Not car based, no unibody, the tranny doesn't explode at 100k and not used for soccer duty nearly as often as others. Very capable of 4 wheeler, fine for towing, and it's not the size of a submarine.
 
Speaking of large Sami's, here's a shot of a friend of mine in his (this thing is tough):
 

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Troop going through same spot. No mod's, only the tires. I think he even had open diff's.
 

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The V6 in the '91 Trooper is a GM...

Great trucks! I wasn't as lucky as some here though. Went thru clutches every 45,000 miles, like clockwork. Most of my off road was in the Sierras though. Pretty steep for a 6000 4x4. 5 speed went out at 80k, but that's because the seal between the TXfr case allowed all the oil to migrate from the Tranny. Lesson? Check your levels!

Gotta love a truck that you can clean the interior with a hose!

On the down side, if you drive on road in the steep mountains, it's a pig. Hope you like shifting between 4th and 5th.
 
I'd go with Nissan Pathfinder

Hello,
I'd go with a 95 or newer Pathfinder if you like an all around good reliable SUV.
Laterz,
D Rainer

NRCLSC.bmp
 
Why 4wd?

An SUV it is not but our Subaru is all wheel drive with enough ground clearance and traction to handle ski outtings and 27-30 mpg highway with very mediocre power but fair roadholding. My wife and I put 8,400 miles on ours from Aug 3-23 this summer with three dogs, all our camping gear and enough clothes to get us through. It never so much as wimpered as we picked through some logging trails and mud in upstate NY. It has yet to dig itself in out here in the lightly packed dunes and goes down the road just fine. For most of us, this is more than enough vehicle although it is hard to get over the "Oh, you have a stationwagon" comments...Functional---hell yeah, Cool?, maybe not.

Anthony
 
use for SUV

well my whole family goes about 2 month of vacation thru all the baja so i need to seat 4 people all their stuff and at leat 20gallons of gas becuase the places we go are like 2 or 3 hours off road from any gas station or any kind of civilization 4wd is becuase i really need it at one point we need to go like 30 minuts in sand dunes .....so i wont be taking my sc there....or my moms cougar so we need a SUV......
 
are explorers that bad!?? ive also been shopping around for a suv.our work has 2 explorers the 94 has 190000 and the 96 has 140000.the 96 did need a transmission,but they seem pretty reliable overall.honestly,id like a 98,99 or so outback.i never thought i would say"thats not a bad looking stationwagon"!! ...boy,how times change!!
 
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