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2002 RS

58K views 186 replies 17 participants last post by  Teddy Frank 
#1 ·
I bought my 3rd Isuzu a couple years ago. I have been slowly building her up. I've added a 2in body lift, 3 in OME lift, 16x8 wheels with Treadwright 265/70 Guard dogs. I bought this size tire for when I just had the body lift, and I just recently finished my pre-runner style winch bumper. In the works is a rear tube style bumper with tire/jerry can carrier and a full length roof rack. Later I'll be deciding on whether to keep the IFS and upgrade to the BTV lift that Black98Rodeo has or do a SAS. I've been PM blackrodeo and emailing the folks from Thailand that make the BTV lift. This will prob be the route I go.
 

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#155 ·
With the solenoid relocated I had to shift my battery around. On the factory battery tray the two rear tabs can be bent down and that allowed me to shift the battery. I had to make 2 new holes to use the factory tie down. I plan on going dual battery one day but I'll prob wait till I SAS and do the ABS delete to have more room for placement.
 

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#156 ·
Since I was on a electric hook up kick I decided to run wires and set up all my switches for future lights. I only have front and rear at the moment but I plan on getting a led bar and some side lights hooked up. I ran some 6/8ga wire into the cab to make a fuse bank for connecting everything to. Helped a bunch to unclutter the engine bay with wires going everywhere.
 

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#158 ·
I moved a few of the factory switches around for better access and to prevent accidental activation. After testing all my connections I felt fine to reassemble my dash area. The factory hole for the 4x4/cruise/fog is just perfect to put a 4gang rocker panel over. I moved the center console power/winter switch to up on the dash and placed the anti-theft blinking red light to the console area. I don't use the hard top much so I had open slots from removing the rear window defrost and wiper switch.
 

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#159 ·
I'm just waiting on getting the rest of my lights in and I'll get all those plugged in and running. I haven't driven at night yet to see how bright the switches are. I may look into getting a dimmer to work with them or I'll lightly coat them with something to soften up the light. The switch panel looks pretty good. I just need to get better looking screws.
 

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#160 ·
Went out last night on a trail near my house. I found a couple spots to see how the rear axle would flex with the extended brackets for the sway bar. It flexed pretty good. I could move the coil a little but I think I'm going to go with limiting straps to be safe. And then the other side compressed really good and I was able to find where I been making contact in the rear. On occasion I'd hear the tread rubbing.
 

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#162 ·
I would use limit straps for sure. Ideally you don't want the shocks or anything else to be the end limit of your droop, as it could cause additional wear n tear. I'd also capture one end of the coils and leave the other free. Set the straps so they don't allow it to droop beyond the point that the coil wouldn't reseat.
 
#163 ·
Thanks for the info paulevans, I'll look into the coil retainer too. I been reading up on limit straps a bit and I've taken a few measurements. I'll be ordering some straps and make up some brackets in the next week or so. When I bought this RS and started to mod it I was in Florida, not much articulation going on. But out here it's a whole new animal.
 
#164 ·
My limit straps and brackets came in the other day. I miss calculated the first go around and the 14 inch straps were too long, I ended up using a set of 12 inch straps. I'll save the 14s for later when I SAS and whatnot. Got everything lined up and welded on. Wasn't too hard to hook everything up, just welding in funny angles and without a lift is a pain.
 

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#165 ·
I did however break off 3 of the 4 bolts that hold on my bump stops, and 2 of the 4 bolts holding the sway bar on twisted right off. So for now I don't have the rear sway bar in. I needed to make a 2 inch extension for the bump stops so I'll fab those up one day and get them hooked back up.
 
#171 ·
I cleaned up the wiring harness so my speaker, mirror, and curtesy light all work. I am definitely gonna upgrade to some bigger door speakers though. If I'm driving over 40ish mph I can barely hear the radio. I also plan on installing a removeable cross bar on the passenger side. Just a little extra insurance my kid don't fall out while on the trail.
 
#172 ·
Very cool. Every time I go on a trial ride I remember that I want to do half doors! I bet it makes it a lot easier to see what is going on when you're crawlin.
 
#174 ·
I got my half doors back from the paint shop. The did a pretty good job. Looks a 100 times better matching vs the silver. Now that they are painted the frame pieces stand out bad, they definitely need to be painted. I'm gonna try and redo them in a mild steel so I can weld up the opening where I cut and bent them.
 

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