Joined
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213 Posts
Howdy everybody,
I've been a Trooper owner for a long time. On my second one ... well, I just bought another with an ARB bull bar recently, so I guess that makes three!
First one I owned I bought from my sister & brother-in-law in 2003 for $1000 as I needed a vehicle for working in Alaska. Their Trooper was struggling to make power but drove fine and was in great shape, and all I needed was a rig to run around town with. From Bend, OR to Juneau, AK, she made the drive but was hurting bad once I got there. At the end of that summer, I continued the drive to Anchorge where I invested another $1000 to get the motor fixed. The shop handed me an exhaust valve which had a crack that had eroded into a 1/8 pie wedge missing out of it. I guess it had been cracked for quite awhile??? The Trooper was now as strong as ever with all new valves and gave me 3 good years before I sold it to pursue another job back down in the Lower 48. I regretted not bringing it with me, and had always looked for a replacement, but nothing ever seemed to fit the bill.
![IMG_0161.JPG]()
Only pic I could find of my first Trooper. My sister covering her ears off the departure end of ANC airport during a visit in 2004.
In 2012, I found a Trooper on Craigslist in Portland, OR that looked really nice ... A red 1988 2-door 4-cyl which was in excellent condition for 235,000 miles, except for a broken piston arm inside the engine. I wasn't a fan of red, nor the 2-door version (standard frame, not an RS), but since I had been looking for a LONG time for another Trooper to replace my first, I asked a buddy to go check it out for me. I was living in Montana already but went to Portland often enough. He knew my Trooper from AK and was happy to go check it out. He came back with rave reviews and stunning photos of this driveway queen and I decided to get it and put the extra cash in to have the engine pulled, rebuilt, and reinstalled all before I ever saw it. I drove it home 2 months later and could not have been happier!
My family and I use it as our camping rig, and although my wife was not a fan the first time she saw this "old, boxy beast", our first trip converted her immediately. Now anytime we want to venture out for a trip into the back country, it's in the Trooper!
I'm looking forwarded to sharing more and learning from all the other enthusiasts on this forum. That's it for now ...
I've been a Trooper owner for a long time. On my second one ... well, I just bought another with an ARB bull bar recently, so I guess that makes three!
First one I owned I bought from my sister & brother-in-law in 2003 for $1000 as I needed a vehicle for working in Alaska. Their Trooper was struggling to make power but drove fine and was in great shape, and all I needed was a rig to run around town with. From Bend, OR to Juneau, AK, she made the drive but was hurting bad once I got there. At the end of that summer, I continued the drive to Anchorge where I invested another $1000 to get the motor fixed. The shop handed me an exhaust valve which had a crack that had eroded into a 1/8 pie wedge missing out of it. I guess it had been cracked for quite awhile??? The Trooper was now as strong as ever with all new valves and gave me 3 good years before I sold it to pursue another job back down in the Lower 48. I regretted not bringing it with me, and had always looked for a replacement, but nothing ever seemed to fit the bill.
Only pic I could find of my first Trooper. My sister covering her ears off the departure end of ANC airport during a visit in 2004.
In 2012, I found a Trooper on Craigslist in Portland, OR that looked really nice ... A red 1988 2-door 4-cyl which was in excellent condition for 235,000 miles, except for a broken piston arm inside the engine. I wasn't a fan of red, nor the 2-door version (standard frame, not an RS), but since I had been looking for a LONG time for another Trooper to replace my first, I asked a buddy to go check it out for me. I was living in Montana already but went to Portland often enough. He knew my Trooper from AK and was happy to go check it out. He came back with rave reviews and stunning photos of this driveway queen and I decided to get it and put the extra cash in to have the engine pulled, rebuilt, and reinstalled all before I ever saw it. I drove it home 2 months later and could not have been happier!
My family and I use it as our camping rig, and although my wife was not a fan the first time she saw this "old, boxy beast", our first trip converted her immediately. Now anytime we want to venture out for a trip into the back country, it's in the Trooper!
I'm looking forwarded to sharing more and learning from all the other enthusiasts on this forum. That's it for now ...
