Isuzu Trooper

abc12 · July 11, 2010

HI

I am planning to go for a 32-xxxx isuzu trooper . its got a 2.8 intercooler turbo.

Pls let me no the goods and bads of this vehicle - - -- -

Any idea about the prevailing prices . . . ..

in ur opinion is this vehicle good

Thanks

Samanl · July 11, 2010

i also searched for 2.8 Isuzu Trooper. It's price range is generally between 17 -22 laks. i also found a one which is on 32- for 15 lks but the body needs tinkring work. Turbo also shown oil leaked. There are troopers which are originally registered as well as body permit ones. According to my experience, body permit troopers are now in a better quality than those with original body. ( there may be expections and correct me if i am wrong.). One of my friend who is engaged in Vehicle industry said me that body permited troopers are has a low second hand market value than the original even though there condition is good.

Samanl

MasterDon · July 11, 2010

long time owner and fan here...it's pretty much a faultless vehicle in my experience,all we replaced were the shocks and a damaged brake load distribution unit,I have no current complainnts except the differential is giving a faint hum on mine...I'm sure MRM who owns a fine looking troopie will have more info.

3000cc · July 11, 2010

Hey guys these days Police Action is on...... Happy hunting for troopers..........

YALA · July 11, 2010

3000cc said:
Hey guys these days Police Action is on...... Happy hunting for troopers..........

yeh i visited on the inspection day and my friend had visited the auction price of a trooper book hasnt reduced by much from what i gather.

MRM · July 12, 2010

MasterDon said:
long time owner and fan here...it's pretty much a faultless vehicle in my experience,all we replaced were the shocks and a damaged brake load distribution unit,I have no current complainnts except the differential is giving a faint hum on mine...I'm sure MRM who owns a fine looking troopie will have more info.

mine was just sold last week. but i regret selling it as it is lovely vehicle to have.

handling, power, reliability i would it is on Top compared to the Pajero( this is My personal openion) which is in the same catagory.

try to get a 2.8 TDI with a new Body as every one mentioned, you will see a Big difference in driving one of those compared to the Original sri lankan hacked ones as the vibration, rattles are much more .

i would say Overall a lovely vehicle for that price which can do a lot, even off roading the peformance is very good

maintenance is cheap compared to other jeeps and parts are freely available

3000cc · July 12, 2010

What were the prizes .....any idea?

Samanl · July 13, 2010

MRM said:
mine was just sold last week. but i regret selling it as it is lovely vehicle to have.
handling, power, reliability i would it is on Top compared to the Pajero( this is My personal openion) which is in the same catagory.

try to get a 2.8 TDI with a new Body as every one mentioned, you will see a Big difference in driving one of those compared to the Original sri lankan hacked ones as the vibration, rattles are much more .

i would say Overall a lovely vehicle for that price which can do a lot, even off roading the peformance is very good

maintenance is cheap compared to other jeeps and parts are freely available

Yes I agree with you. I had the chance of driving a 3.1L Trooper bighorn (2nd generation) with auto transmission. Very smooth driving and excellent pulling power. It amazed me.

Thaaqi · June 24, 2024

i found a 1981 trooper short wheel base, 31- number on it. any ideas on wether its a good vehicle to purchase and build because the tinkering and painting work along with small engine work (engine is a 2.8L 4JB1) small small noises to fix. all in all anyone has any thoughts as this is my first vehicle and i dont want to waste the cash. please experts education is needed. Thanks

iRage · June 25, 2024

1. VERY IMPORTANT ! Double check the paperwork ! There are plenty of Troopers, Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, etc...from this era that are running around with body swaps. There is nothing wrong with a body swap IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY AND LEGALLY ! The problem is most of them are hack jobs and no proper paperwork.

The reason I bring this up is...I am pretty sure the 4JB! wngine came out in the MID 80s. SO I am wondering how an engine from the mid 80s got into a car from the early 80s. Obviously a swap is natural and probably to be expected of a diesel vehicle this old. But are you sure this was the only thing that was swapped? Was it swapped properly ? Is the CR updated ?

2. Painting won't be a problem. The problem will be getting tinkering work done. There are hardly any tinkerers around who will actually take the time to beat out the metal work. 99.9% of these guys just want to fill it with putty or swap body parts. Having said that...it is likely that the Trooper in its current state is full of putty. These old cars are prone to rust. SO make sure there is no rust. If there isn't rust then it is because it was fixed up sometime in its life. Make sure it is fixed properly (likely that it is just a easy metal plate welded in and filled with putty). So be ready to take on some extra tinkering work than you currently are planning/thinking of.

3. When you start doing these little things like fixing a dent here and there..doing up some paint on these old cars, it is like going down a rabbit's hole and hten holding on to a tiger's tail. You ALWAYS find more things to do underneath the surface, which if you want to do a proper job you WILL have to attend to.

4. Mechanical parts should not be too much of an issue. Old-fashioned tech, and you stand a very high chance of finding compatible parts. Your issue is going to be with body and interior pieces, signal lights, door handles, dashboard pieces, etc. So make sure all the bits and pieces are there.

5. Electricals can be a pain in these old cars. But then being an old car there aren't any complicated electronics...especially on a farm type utilitarian vehicle like the Trooper (that is a good thing). So check all the electronics. There are auto electricians around (a few atleast) but they are constantly busy.

As for the Trooper itself....not a bad vehicle. Got overshadowed by the Pajero back in the day as the Pajero was deemed to be a better balance between offroad and onroad performance. Driving and other performance...well....it is a SUV from the 80s. It is bouncy...nippy...noisy...slow...and gives you the feeling that you can drive over a pile of rocks.

I think most of the old Troopers over here would have been imports for government or estate. So they are very basic and utilitarian. The rarity of it actually makes it more cooler than the usual pajero and LC IF it is restored properly. So..if you are willing to do some decent restoration work...you might have a desirable classic in your hands. If you do buy it...my advice would be to restore it to stock form. You can do a rolling restoration.

matroska · June 25, 2024

On 6/25/2024 at 12:31 AM, iRage said:

. VERY IMPORTANT ! Double check the paperwork ! There are plenty of Troopers, Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, etc...from this era that are running around with body swaps. There is nothing wrong with a body swap IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY AND LEGALLY ! The problem is most of them are hack jobs and no proper paperwork.

Expand

This has to be the single most important thing when buying old SUV's

john cooper · June 25, 2024

On 6/25/2024 at 12:31 AM, iRage said:

1. VERY IMPORTANT ! Double check the paperwork ! There are plenty of Troopers, Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, etc...from this era that are running around with body swaps. There is nothing wrong with a body swap IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY AND LEGALLY ! The problem is most of them are hack jobs and no proper paperwork.

The reason I bring this up is...I am pretty sure the 4JB! wngine came out in the MID 80s. SO I am wondering how an engine from the mid 80s got into a car from the early 80s. Obviously a swap is natural and probably to be expected of a diesel vehicle this old. But are you sure this was the only thing that was swapped? Was it swapped properly ? Is the CR updated ?

2. Painting won't be a problem. The problem will be getting tinkering work done. There are hardly any tinkerers around who will actually take the time to beat out the metal work. 99.9% of these guys just want to fill it with putty or swap body parts. Having said that...it is likely that the Trooper in its current state is full of putty. These old cars are prone to rust. SO make sure there is no rust. If there isn't rust then it is because it was fixed up sometime in its life. Make sure it is fixed properly (likely that it is just a easy metal plate welded in and filled with putty). So be ready to take on some extra tinkering work than you currently are planning/thinking of.

3. When you start doing these little things like fixing a dent here and there..doing up some paint on these old cars, it is like going down a rabbit's hole and hten holding on to a tiger's tail. You ALWAYS find more things to do underneath the surface, which if you want to do a proper job you WILL have to attend to.

4. Mechanical parts should not be too much of an issue. Old-fashioned tech, and you stand a very high chance of finding compatible parts. Your issue is going to be with body and interior pieces, signal lights, door handles, dashboard pieces, etc. So make sure all the bits and pieces are there.

5. Electricals can be a pain in these old cars. But then being an old car there aren't any complicated electronics...especially on a farm type utilitarian vehicle like the Trooper (that is a good thing). So check all the electronics. There are auto electricians around (a few atleast) but they are constantly busy.

As for the Trooper itself....not a bad vehicle. Got overshadowed by the Pajero back in the day as the Pajero was deemed to be a better balance between offroad and onroad performance. Driving and other performance...well....it is a SUV from the 80s. It is bouncy...nippy...noisy...slow...and gives you the feeling that you can drive over a pile of rocks.

I think most of the old Troopers over here would have been imports for government or estate. So they are very basic and utilitarian. The rarity of it actually makes it more cooler than the usual pajero and LC IF it is restored properly. So..if you are willing to do some decent restoration work...you might have a desirable classic in your hands. If you do buy it...my advice would be to restore it to stock form. You can do a rolling restoration.

Expand

This is spot on! @iRage

Just wanted to share my experience as an owner of this same model in LWB, one of my mates had about 15 years ago in SL which I drove a lot.

Both had the 4JB1 IC engine, and they both pulled like a horse train, the engine is reliable and spare parts were cheap compared to LC and Pajero from the same era.

Rust was an issue, especially on the chassis rails. It was common to crack the chassis (UBS55 model) next to the power steering box.
I remember my mates in Bighorn suffered the same and the shop we have sent for repair in Nugegoda has had many suffer the same.

I believe the short wheel 31 Sri is the earliest model that originally came with the 2.2 diesel engines and round headlights with a retro look.

regards,

JC

Edited June 25, 2024 by john cooper

iRage · June 25, 2024

On 6/25/2024 at 8:17 AM, john cooper said:

I believe the short wheel 31 Sri is the earliest model that originally came with the 2.2 diesel engines and round headlights with a retro look.

Expand

That is what I was assuming it to be as well. The earlier versions had the C223 engine, which I believe was only available in the export model variants at first. The 4JB1 was introduced only later on (I believe this was when the facelift was released)