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Ghandi's 93 Trooper LS EXPO

6K views 38 replies 8 participants last post by  Ed Mc. 
#1 ·
Hey Guys I'm glad to be a part of this community. I have wanted a trooper for a long time ever since I learned to drive in my dads old 2.8 5spd Trooper.

So when this gem came up for sale I had to go look at it. I had my eye on a 94 rodeo but it was an auto.

Its a 93 5 SPD LS DOHC with just about every option one can get. its got headlight wipers, heater power folding mirrors, sunroof, G80, etc.

$700 later I brought this home.


First thing I did was fix this.




$12 later (yeah someone could copy my key but honestly I'm not worried.)


Next thing I fixed was the tires. It had the matching wheel on the back So I found a set of 265/75/r16 cooper discoverer M+S on CL for a steal and threw them on. No pics of that yet.

Then I had to fix the exhaust. It had rusted off just past the Cat, and the previous owners had just gotten rid of it. I stuck a cherrybomb on it for now. Will build something better later, probably another muffler at the end of the cherry bomb.

Lastly the driveshaft was not tight. 3/4 of the bolts at the rear diff weren't tight. The threads were filled with crap so I bought some new grade 8 bolts and replaced them.

After all that the truck drives nice and smooth down the road and has plenty of power, if a bit loud... ok REALLY loud.

The plan is more of an Expo kind of build, So I'm picking up some ZJ coils from a friend and then I'll lift the front to match. I'm going for 3" and 33s, then a front Lokka,manual hubs, winch, snorkle, roof rack, onboard air, and sleeping platform.
 
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#2 ·
Looks good! Great starting point and even better price. Sounds like an early Christmas present to yourself! :)

Seems like many of us have similar experiences, where we had previous exposure to Isuzu's, drive other vehicles and end up coming back to the zuzu's.
 
#4 ·
my last rig 90 jeep cherokee


It was really good offroad, but it was terrible on the road. plus 10mpg. and too small to camp in

And the rig before that 86 subaru gl


good on the road, good mpgs, and plenty of room for sleeping but not the best offroad.

I'm thinking the trooper will be a great middle ground.
 
#5 ·
Congrats on the DOHC find. 20 more hp than the SOHC and much less trouble-prone valvetrain. Should be a really good rig when you're done sorting it out.

An interesting anecdote on the DOHC motor, Jerry said that the SOHC did have better low-end torque. But he related a time when they had a DOHC motor on the test stand and were running an ECM with no rev limiter. The engine was taching over 7,000 rpm and making 240+ hp!! :shock: Wild.

With that setup you could go really really fast in 4-Lo!!! :twisted:

Another interesting engine mod that I saved in my ZuZu archives:

Yes, you can use a early model DOHC, but you will have to use
the intake system from the SOHC engine.
That is what I have in my '95.. it's a DOHC with a SOHC intake
and it runs great. It's 190hp vs. 175 SOHC engine and it has
the low end torque that the DOHC doesn't normally have.

You will also have to use the ignition system, wiring harness,
and exhaust manifolds from your SOHC. The EGR is in a different place on the
DOHC, so to mate it up with the SOHC, you have to use the SOHC exhaust
manifolds.

You'll use the airbox and throttle cable from your existing
SOHC also.

Other than that, everything pretty much lines right up and
goes in without a hitch.


Something you might want to consider down the line, since you're gonna offroad the heck out of it.

Keep us posted on your progress.........ed
 
#7 ·
Pretty straight for $700! Just a little 'ouch' on the fender but not even that bad.

Where in AK are you located? My Mom has a summer log cabin on 10 acres up in Nikiski.

I've been up there twice (2012 & 2014) and the latter was driving the 5200+ mile round-trip from the Seattle area.

Quite a drive and very beautiful!
 
#8 ·
You are very fortunate to find a 5 speed in that condition. These trucks are so under rated and over looked that you can buy them for a song and yet they will compete side by side to any mid sized 4X4 made. That is a nice Trooper keep us posted. Dave
 
#9 ·
Thanks guys. The guy I got it from wasn't the brightest light on the tree which is why I got it that cheap, I could almost triple my money if I wanted.

I'll be updating the thread every chance I get. It needs some work but it will get there.

Got some Christmas money for lift parts. Looks like all I really need is shocks and springs. everything else there seems to be a back yard free way to do it.
 
#10 ·
I have not done much between the holidays, I did lay in the snow for an hour yesterday replacing the starter. Not the worst starter I have ever done but certainly not the easiest.

I also replaced the ancient pioneer stereo with a modern JVC that I had kicking around. Who ever wired up the last stereo was a special kind of snow flake. They wired the ign and 12v wires together because the fuse was blown, and they soldered every conection, but wrapped them in duct tape.
 
#13 ·
WEll I have been busy shopping

I bought everything I need to get her up in the air.

Autozone has grand cherokee springs for $40 PN# FCS782V

I bought Gabriel 34057 shocks for the front. http://www.autozone.com/suspension-stee ... ckfit=true
not sure how they will work out but they are the right size and were cheap. <<< wrong measurements on website, its about 2" too short.

I also bought Balljoint spacers, and low profile snubbers.

I decided if I'm going to have everything apart I might as well put in new balljoints. so I bought a set of those, and I also went ahead and bought the ford HD tie rod setup.

Pics when it all shows up, I CANT WAIT
 
#14 ·
This is after the fact but if you ever have to change the starter again unbolt the motor mounts and lift the engine a couple inches makes life much simpler. Dave
 
#16 ·
outofrshell said:
This is after the fact but if you ever have to change the starter again unbolt the motor mounts and lift the engine a couple inches makes life much simpler. Dave
I have NO idea why this advice of unbolting the engine to do a starter on a 2nd Gen keeps going around. You DO NOT need to unbolt the engine mount and jack it up, thats just a waste of time and extra work for nothing. The starter comes out just fine as-is w/o doing that, pretty easily actually. Should only take about 5mins to get the starter out.
 
#17 ·
#19 ·
I would say that if you can do it in 5 minutes then things are moving so fast that the starter doesn't even realize it doesn't have room and just pops out. Dave
 
#20 ·
After a bit of thought I went ahead and ordered a 1.5" coil spacer and some of the indy4x rear upper shock sleeves.
which will work quite well with the rancho rs5144 shocks I picked up.

Extended Length (In): 22-5/16 Inch
Compressed Length (In): 14-3/16 Inch
Travel Length (In): 8-1/8 Inch

3/4" bushings at both ends.
 
#21 ·
outofrshell said:
I would say that if you can do it in 5 minutes then things are moving so fast that the starter doesn't even realize it doesn't have room and just pops out. Dave
So fast? Why, how long does it take yall to undo 2 bolts and a power wire nut?? Am I missing something here?? I guess everyone wrenches different, obviously, as some unbolt engine mounts and jack up motors to remove starters lol
 
#24 ·




I spent all day lifting the truck the rear went really really easy, the front was a bear.

I was going to replace the lower BJ's but they refused to come out of the knuckle. I also did not do the HD tie rods.

So all I did was the BJ spacers, upper BJS and new snubbers. the Shocks I ordered for the front were too short. they were listed wrong, the "extended length" was measured from eye to the end of the stud. not where the upper mounts
 
#26 ·
akghandi said:
well crap.. the clutch release bearing decided it didn't like its home in the clutch diaphragm.
It's a known thing for these pull-type clutches to have the bearing pop out of the clutch fingers.

When you install a replacement clutch, make sure it's an Exedy, Daikin, or LUK. The bargain-basement clutches are notorious for this problem.

Probably a good idea to replace the crankshaft rear main seal while you're in there, also the input shaft pilot bearing in the end of the crank.

Hey, at least you got it cheap, you'll know exactly what's in it when you're done!

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/isuz ... h+kit,1993

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/isuz ... wheel,5348

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/isuz ... aring,1964

https://www.isuzupartscenter.com/parts/ ... eid=216496

G'luck with the repair.........ed
 
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