96 Trooper

[Masdoh]

Hello all, this will be a continuous build thread for my newly acquired 1996 Isuzu Trooper that I (believe) got a sweet deal on.
Found it on Craigslist after searching for troopers, all over So Cal, Nevada, New Mexico. I was desperate. But found this for $2,500

I picked it up from the 2nd owner (had it one month) and he was an older gentleman the had a issue with his legs. He purchased the trooper, not realizing how hard it would be to get in and out of it, so he sold it a month later.

He picked it up from another older man (1st owner) (best type of finds, right?) and he kept it in the garage the entire time he had it.


1996 Isuzu Trooper, 3.2 v6 132,000k miles

Interior is untouched and absolutely amazing, so for the time being, I don’t wanna drill any holes into the actual vehicle (may change)

Exterior is also in very good condition with a few rock chips on the hood, and and lil wear on the bumper.

Mechanically I only know so much, But this is what I’ve found:
currently leaking power steering fluid (hopefully a hose, at worse the pump)

I’m seeing signs of a soon to be faulty alternator. While driving (at night) 3 indicators would flicker on the dash: brake, battery and 4 wheel drive. And the actual headlights would get brighter. (?)

So, at the mechanic now, gonna have a full rundown and look over of everything.

Future plans for the Trooper:
Find a name for it. (Most important;) )
New wheels and tires.
Build a sleeping platform using the back seats while still having full functionality when not in use.
Roof rack
Suspension upgrades
New bumpers

Smaller future projects/ purchases:

Curtains for sleeping
Heater for overnight sleeping
Camping stove

Looking forward to hearing from everyone and if anyone around So Cal (or anywhere) has tips or tricks for Overlanding it would be very appreciated.

 

[472HemiGTX]

Congrats and welcome. Those are great rigs. Pretty bullet proof and easy to work on. My son has a '98 that he has been working on. Good luck with the build.

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

A buddy of mine in a local overlanding group has one and loves it! From what I remember, he's mainly kept up with maintenance, added larger tires on some steel wheels, and added manual locking hubs. Pretty sweet rig if you ask me!

 

[Masdoh]

Alright, so it’s been a few days and today is nice and rainy, perfect time to write up some progress info.

So 1st things first, I got a sweeeeet deal on some rims and tires. They are Method Wheels. (not sure the specifics) they look good on the trooper and fill up some of wheel well space.
I still need to replace the spare, but for $200 I couldn’t pass it up.

Next, I made a sleeping platform! Lots of YouTube videos and other inspirations and I cake up with my simple build.

The criteria:
wanted to still have functionality of the back seats.
wanted it to be one piece for easy removal (just in case)
and I wanted it pretty inexpensive.

Not to much to ask for. So here’s some progress pics




(Will be adding a small 2x4 to the middle for extra support)

Threw on some cheap carpet that was 50% off!

All together, with hinges attached. And...

Full functionality of back seats! Yay!

Has enough room to lay myself and my girlfriend back there. Someone about 6’4 can fit back there comfortably! Has some room for side storage, and for the meantime lots of room underneath.
Future plans on building some drawers are coming!

Thanks for reading, if you have any tips or whatnot please send them my way!

 

[472HemiGTX]

Nice progress. Sweet deal on the wheels.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Hello all, this will be a continuous build thread for my newly acquired 1996 Isuzu Trooper that I (believe) got a sweet deal on.
Found it on Craigslist after searching for troopers, all over So Cal, Nevada, New Mexico. I was desperate. But found this for $2,500

I picked it up from the 2nd owner (had it one month) and he was an older gentleman the had a issue with his legs. He purchased the trooper, not realizing how hard it would be to get in and out of it, so he sold it a month later.

He picked it up from another older man (1st owner) (best type of finds, right?) and he kept it in the garage the entire time he had it.


1996 Isuzu Trooper, 3.2 v6 132,000k miles

Interior is untouched and absolutely amazing, so for the time being, I don’t wanna drill any holes into the actual vehicle (may change)

Exterior is also in very good condition with a few rock chips on the hood, and and lil wear on the bumper.

Mechanically I only know so much, But this is what I’ve found:
currently leaking power steering fluid (hopefully a hose, at worse the pump)

I’m seeing signs of a soon to be faulty alternator. While driving (at night) 3 indicators would flicker on the dash: brake, battery and 4 wheel drive. And the actual headlights would get brighter. (?)

So, at the mechanic now, gonna have a full rundown and look over of everything.

Future plans for the Trooper:
Find a name for it. (Most important;) )
New wheels and tires.
Build a sleeping platform using the back seats while still having full functionality when not in use.
Roof rack
Suspension upgrades
New bumpers

Smaller future projects/ purchases:

Curtains for sleeping
Heater for overnight sleeping
Camping stove

Looking forward to hearing from everyone and if anyone around So Cal (or anywhere) has tips or tricks for Overlanding it would be very appreciated.
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Excellent buy from all appearances. I don't know anything about the brand but it has all the makings of a good overland rig. Unless your going to some pretty rugged country I wouldn't do a whole lot to it other than adequate tires for off road trails.

 

[Webb]

Nice!

I’ve got a’96 manual and love it. Haven’t made any changes (yet) other than needed mechanical fixes.

Looking forward to following and getting ideas.

 

[472HemiGTX]

This vintage of Trooper is really easy to get additional ground clearance on. Less than an hour to put Old Man Emu springs n the rear and adjust the torsion bars in front. Stock shocks still fit. Just get an alignment afterwards and you're ready to roll.

 

[Masdoh]

Nice!

I’ve got a’96 manual and love it. Haven’t made any changes (yet) other than needed mechanical fixes.

Looking forward to following and getting ideas.

Very nice, I would’ve loved to found a manual, but they are a rarity. Anything crazy mechanical wise goin on? Do you do the work yourself, or take it somewhere?

 

[Masdoh]

This vintage of Trooper is really easy to get additional ground clearance on. Less than an hour to put Old Man Emu springs n the rear and adjust the torsion bars in front. Stock shocks still fit. Just get an alignment afterwards and you're ready to roll.

Awesome. Didn’t realize it was thattt easy! I’ll definitely be checking it out. Thanks!

 

[Masdoh]

Excellent buy from all appearances. I don't know anything about the brand but it has all the makings of a good overland rig. Unless your going to some pretty rugged country I wouldn't do a whole lot to it other than adequate tires for off road trails.

Oh yeah! Nothing to crazy for sure! Just functionality type things!

 

[Webb]

Very nice, I would’ve loved to found a manual, but they are a rarity. Anything crazy mechanical wise goin on? Do you do the work yourself, or take it somewhere?

I bought the truck at auction so I did a bunch of preventative maintenance— timing belt, water pump, battery, brakes kind of work. I’m leaking a little oil and so I’m going to steam clean the engine to figure out the what and where and what’s next. But I’d consider all that normal on a vehicle that old with 147,xxx miles and an unknown maintenance history. So nothing crazy.

I don’t have a garage (and so light on tools too) so have had the work done. Going forward, I will be able to do the simpler work.

 

[Masdoh]

Alright, finally went out and got some adventuring in!

To begin, I took the trooper to a mechanic to get a full run down of everything goin on with it. The things I took care of right away, that seemed to be urgent:
power steering pump was leaking
pressure hose was bad
And 3 studs were broken.

Got that taken care and right when I picked up the trooper I went to the grocery store for some food and took off to Cleveland National Forest.
(Noob mistake, leaving at 430. But was eager to get out)

This 1st trip was intended to tell us what we “NEEDED” and what we “wanted”

Well, showing up at night looking for a spot was not the greatest but we found a good lil place.

Next was the food, busting out a small stove and getting it all ready for the first time wasn’t the hardest.... but I was dark and we only had our phone lights. Oof

Finally made some grilled cheeses and quick ramen and it’s time for bed.

Took a while getting the curtains to sit where we were happy with them, but finally we were In side and cozy. Lots of blankets kept us overly warm, but happy... until you moved slightly and the curtains came down. So that needed fixing.

Those were the big issues I ran into my first night out. So definitely got a rechargeable headlamp, and adjusted the curtains and they didn’t give us much issues since.

This is a long post so I’ll cut it off here... but I’ll throw in just a couple pictures I took.

Stay tuned for my trip I just got back from:
Mountain center- Joshua tree- Big Bear.