[Lightning]

Looks good. Have you read anything qbout how do the wheel bearings hold up with the spacers? I'm just curious, if not it'll be interesting to see of they affect your bearings any.

I'm guessing here but my diagnosis port on the 6VD1 engine is a three pin so it's likely that it is the same on yours as well. For that black box thing, I'm thinking an aftermarket alarm or keyless entry setup, or some weird amp thingy. Its definitely not a stock option so see if you can trace the wires to any other components for clues.

-Andy

 

[Tentin]

I'm not too worried, the truck basically just gets driven around short trips around town and to the trails and that's about it. What scares me more is all those horror stories about wheels falling off, but I figure most of those are due to improper installation. I coated my studs in red loctite and torqued down to 85 ft/lbs, and will probably re-check them from time to time.

I've got manual door locks so I'd find it weird if it was any sort of alarm. It almost reminds me of a 1/4" stereo jack. But yeah I probably just have to chase the wires.

 

[Tentin]

Got a little creative and made my own seat cover after not finding anything I liked with a universal fit. 5 yards of Joanne's fabric and about 500 zipties. Total cost just a little over $20

This is a pretty good before/after picture.

All installed. Just need to find some gray headrests

 

[szac]

Accurate representation of the process

HAHAHAA! looks great.

 

[BoiseTrooper]

That made me laugh as well.

Great truck. Great pics too!

 

[Tentin]

I adjusted the valves again (.008 intake and exhaust) and also soaked the iac tube in pb blaster overnight. Turned the truck on today after 24 hours of soaking, white puff of smoke out the exhaust for a few seconds, then noticed that the truck has a loud whine. Sounds like a supercharger. Not sure what's going on, I took a video.

I disconnected the smog pump belt since I originally thought that's around where the sound was coming from, no change. Removed the cam cover to see if it would be louder, no change. Really seems to be coming from under the valve cover. What could I possibly have done wrong?

 

[Tentin]

Susie Q's all good now, just needed an italian tune up. Added a few hundred miles with no issues. First time taking both isuzus on a camping trip together, what a blast. We really love these trucks. Amigo took a little bit of a physical beating, I'll update that thread once I fix it.

 

[Enemigo]

I don't always comment, but I really enjoy build updates. That goes for every build on here.

 

[Tentin]

Can't believe it's been over a year already. When I first bought this thing it barely made the two hour trip home, failed smog, and frankly ran like dookie. Nowadays I consider it reliable enough for roadtrips, and that's just what I did last week. We drove up to Oregon to visit family for a week and hit the dirt pretty much every day I was out there. 1300 miles or so with no issues, although my driveshaft carrier bushing which was torn before leaving is now becoming quite a clunky nuisance in 1st gear. New one on the way, hopefully arriving in time for my next trip this upcoming weekend

Here's some shots
.

 

[Tentin]

Driveshaft carrier bushing/bearing assembly has been replaced, the old one was torn 90% of the way around. Still some shuddering going on when pulling away in first gear, especially up hill. U-joints are my next guess, but they don't seem to have any significant play in them when shaking them by hand.

Truck started becoming quite squeaky around town but spraying down every bushing I could find with white lithium grease seems to have solved the problem.

Installed a powered 8" subwoofer under the passenger seat (shown visible for photo purposes). Sound system sounds 10x better now that it has some actual depth to it. Bass control knob is just in my cupholder right now but I'll find a cleaner place to hard mount it later.

Still waiting for my Lokka front locker to arrive, then the plan is to source a 4.56 G80 rear and front from a junkyard trooper. Also have plans for a tubular front bumper and eventually winch, but I need to decide whether or not I'm going to do a 1" body lift first. The tires just barely rub when the truck is fully loaded up (3 people) and off roading, so I imagine with the weight of a bumper and winch this problem will present itself more.

 

[Enemigo]

I resisted a body lift for a long as I could, but it has made many things easier, including removing the transmission, t-case, or exhaust for any reason. Plus in my case I can easily fit 33's.

 

[DSUZU]

Are your driveshaft U - joints all aligned properly? This will make vibrations if not aligned properly. Dennis

 

[Tentin]

Well, we just had our first big rain storm (they called it an 'atmospheric river') and I found out my windshield isn't sealed anymore. Previous owner tried sealing with what looks like great stuff foam. Had to pull the seat, let it dry in the sun and heat gunned it. Pulled the carpet off and shop vac'd the interior. I got all of the water off the floor but the seat absolutely reeks. For the windshield I removed the previous repair with a chisel and then applied almost an entire tube of black silicone sealant.

Subwoofer isn't working anymore either. Hopefully just a fuse, haven't taken a look at it yet.

Satisfying shop vac picture. Don't know how I ever lived without one.

 

[Enemigo]

That's not good, hope it didn't do any additional damage.

 

[Tentin]

Hope so too. All of the wiring runs along the door sills, which seemed to be dry. I've now gone full overkill and did a quick flex-seal spray job on top of the sealant. Can't say it's the most aesthetic car mod I've ever done but at least I don't have to worry about leaks anymore haha.

 

[Tentin]

Windshield no longer leaks, amp is back up and running, and the interior smell is gone. Noticed both my upper balljoints are torn, they only lasted about 4k miles! That's what I get for cheaping out I guess. I'll have to install some new ones when I install my...

4.56 G80 and front diff! 140k miles on the donor trooper. Driveshaft bolts are a pain in the ***, out of all of the 14mms I own nothing seems to fit on them securely and I stripped two of the rear bolts. Ended up having to pull the G80 and driveshaft together and separate them once I was out from underneath the car. Pretty excited for the next stage of the truck. Still waiting for that front Lokka I ordered in June...

 

[Enemigo]

That's a bummer about your locker. I ordered from them in, I think February of 2020, and had it in a week or two. Looks like I just missed down hill turn from lokka.

 

[Tentin]

1.5" body lift installed. No modifications besides repositioning the fan shroud. Extra benefit of getting rid of one of the chassis squeaks I've been hunting. Next step, winch bumper install. I bought a nearly new smittybilt Jeep bumper and quadratec winch for $400.

Also installed new upper and lower balljoints. Took some photos with the idea of writing a tutorial, hopefully in the next few days. Got it down to an art at this point, 4th time doing them on an Isuzu haha.

 

[Enemigo]

Any news on the locker?

 

[Tentin]

Nope. No responses on my 2 emails, might try a Facebook message next.

edit: Here's the automated response I got
"G'day - thanks for contacting us. We're getting hammered - but that's okay, we have new machines going in, and new staff being employed. But it might take us a bit to answer your question. Please bare with us and thanks for your patience."

I'm nearing the 6 month limit to file a paypal claim, but probably just going to stick it out since there aren't really any other options.