nice squatch.
your attention to detail is superb :salute: :notworthy:
your attention to detail is superb :salute: :notworthy:
Red Beans 2/Maint + Upgrades
I've been putting off some work on the Trooper so It was time to get started. Instead of several different threads or making the original Tow Boat thread 20 miles long I decided to start a new build thread. 1st a couple of posed shots on a camping float trip a couple of weeks ago. Just so we remember why we do this stuff.
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I started on the rear axle because I just picked up a much needed rear sway bar. I have had a set of used Calmini HD sway bars since I got my truck. The front one is on the truck and the rear one won't work well with the OME springs I have. So I picked up an ADDCO rear sway bar for the 1st gen.
Addco on top. Calmini on bottom.
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Calmini clamps to the leaf springs and the clamps won't line up and the U bolts are now much too short. This is Calmini bar laying on the spring where it would clamp.
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The Addco bar end link goes to a plate that mounts on the bottom of the spring plate. And the fact that my OME springs are thicker. The end link is off by about an inch. Now add 2" of lift and that becomes 3" off on one end or the other of the sway bar. Frame mount or end link.
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I'll either have to make the end links longer or space down the frame brackets. I actually have a kit that does that in my other truck which made me think that dropping the bracket was the way to go. The end links are pretty long already.
The sway bar kit comes with these cool U bolts that go in the frame.
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I found some 3" channel at the junk yard down the road. It still has wood attached to it.
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The size was right and It cleaned up fine. So here are my drop brackets.
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I ended up turning them open side out because they just worked out better that way.
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Much better angle on the sway bar arm here.
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Than here.
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End link bolted up.
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That takes care of the sway bar. Had to take it back apart for paint and it's on the 2nd coat now. I haven't checked the exhaust now that this is together. Maybe it will go right over the sway bar since I dropped it.
Remember 2+ years ago?
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Well 2 salty winters later here in the Mid Atlantic.
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I knew my E-brake cables had frozen up. it seems so had the E brake part of the caliper.
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The calipers also were not floating at all. The drivers side was stuck pretty well on the pin. It took some serious prying to get this caliper this far. Hasn't been that long since I last lubed them! 22k from a set of rebuilt calipers.
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The rotors had worn as well.
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So after a trip to the machine shop my Powerstop rotors are now nice and smooth again.
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Still waiting on some brake parts. and then they will go back together along with new E brake cables. I'm going to change the rear diff oil, lube the driveshaft, and work my way to the transmission and transfer changing oils and then the front axle. Much more after that as I get to things.
I started on the rear axle because I just picked up a much needed rear sway bar. I have had a set of used Calmini HD sway bars since I got my truck. The front one is on the truck and the rear one won't work well with the OME springs I have. So I picked up an ADDCO rear sway bar for the 1st gen.
Addco on top. Calmini on bottom.
Calmini clamps to the leaf springs and the clamps won't line up and the U bolts are now much too short. This is Calmini bar laying on the spring where it would clamp.
The Addco bar end link goes to a plate that mounts on the bottom of the spring plate. And the fact that my OME springs are thicker. The end link is off by about an inch. Now add 2" of lift and that becomes 3" off on one end or the other of the sway bar. Frame mount or end link.
I'll either have to make the end links longer or space down the frame brackets. I actually have a kit that does that in my other truck which made me think that dropping the bracket was the way to go. The end links are pretty long already.
The sway bar kit comes with these cool U bolts that go in the frame.
I found some 3" channel at the junk yard down the road. It still has wood attached to it.
The size was right and It cleaned up fine. So here are my drop brackets.
I ended up turning them open side out because they just worked out better that way.
Much better angle on the sway bar arm here.
Than here.
End link bolted up.
That takes care of the sway bar. Had to take it back apart for paint and it's on the 2nd coat now. I haven't checked the exhaust now that this is together. Maybe it will go right over the sway bar since I dropped it.
Remember 2+ years ago?
Well 2 salty winters later here in the Mid Atlantic.
I knew my E-brake cables had frozen up. it seems so had the E brake part of the caliper.
The calipers also were not floating at all. The drivers side was stuck pretty well on the pin. It took some serious prying to get this caliper this far. Hasn't been that long since I last lubed them! 22k from a set of rebuilt calipers.
The rotors had worn as well.
So after a trip to the machine shop my Powerstop rotors are now nice and smooth again.
Still waiting on some brake parts. and then they will go back together along with new E brake cables. I'm going to change the rear diff oil, lube the driveshaft, and work my way to the transmission and transfer changing oils and then the front axle. Much more after that as I get to things.
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1 - 20 of 510 Posts
Here the preveiw from when I brought them home. I have a used set in good cond.stusvend said:
The drivers rear is on. I need to pick up some rivits on the way home today to keep going. I need to do a little body work on the rear pass door before I can install that one. I slid into a sign on the ice winter before last.
Made a nice find this am. I found a place on the other side of Balt that does SS and mandrel bent exhausts as their main bussiness. I'll probably be taking the truck there to get the exhaust straightened out from the sway bar install. SS exhaust is great but it's a pain to find someone to do the work. You really need a mandrel bender to keep from kinking the tubing. Most exhaust shops don't have one or a TIG welder.
Spent last evening beating on my pass rear door with a hammer. Here is a pic of the problem taken when it happened. I haven't touched it since.
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Just a small dent from sliding into a road sign on ice. It kept me out of the ditch. Anyway I borrowed a couple of dolleys from a neighbor and used some rods, punches and a hammer to beat the shape back into some form similar to the way it should be. Then I sanded and primed the spot. I didn't do any bondo work. The fender flare should cover most. I'll worry about bondo if and when I ever paint the truck. For now I just want the rust stopped before I cover the dent with a fender flair. I'm going to spray paint the primer tonight.
My rear calipers came in last night. I'm now the proud owner of a slightly used set of Isuzu OEM rear calipers. These look great and should be much better than the rebuilt junk that was on there. When the time comes someday I'll rebuild these myself. Right now they look like new. Even the E-brake springs are shiney. Now just waiting on the rear brake pads. I bought 3 sets of Non-Chinese made Semi Metallic rear pads on close out on Epay. If they work the way I want then I'm set for a good while. When they arrive I can get the rear end buttoned up with new caliper, pads, E brake cables. I changed the rear diff oil over the weekend. It looked great. After 20k miles on a "brand new" set of gears and LSD I expected some sparkle in the oil from break in( I did change the oil at 1k) but it was just dark from the LSD wear.
Also got a new cam belt and seal. Now I have what I need to install the Calmini cam!
Just a small dent from sliding into a road sign on ice. It kept me out of the ditch. Anyway I borrowed a couple of dolleys from a neighbor and used some rods, punches and a hammer to beat the shape back into some form similar to the way it should be. Then I sanded and primed the spot. I didn't do any bondo work. The fender flare should cover most. I'll worry about bondo if and when I ever paint the truck. For now I just want the rust stopped before I cover the dent with a fender flair. I'm going to spray paint the primer tonight.
My rear calipers came in last night. I'm now the proud owner of a slightly used set of Isuzu OEM rear calipers. These look great and should be much better than the rebuilt junk that was on there. When the time comes someday I'll rebuild these myself. Right now they look like new. Even the E-brake springs are shiney. Now just waiting on the rear brake pads. I bought 3 sets of Non-Chinese made Semi Metallic rear pads on close out on Epay. If they work the way I want then I'm set for a good while. When they arrive I can get the rear end buttoned up with new caliper, pads, E brake cables. I changed the rear diff oil over the weekend. It looked great. After 20k miles on a "brand new" set of gears and LSD I expected some sparkle in the oil from break in( I did change the oil at 1k) but it was just dark from the LSD wear.
Also got a new cam belt and seal. Now I have what I need to install the Calmini cam!
Just checked the old thread. I 1st drove her on 7-11-08 with 86+k miles on the clock. 2years later a little over 107k. Technically with my "historic" registration I'm not supposed to go over 7,500 a year. Looks like I'm doing 10,000. More the 1st year than this. New toy syndrome.
As far as putting her through the paces I definitely use her but try not to abuse her. I've driven almost 400k miles behind the wheel of a Trooper most of that 1st gen. I'm real familiar and comfortable with what they will and won't do. I'm not afraid to put her to work. I load more weight than most would in and behind this one but it is now set up for that. The 12 bolt will handle whatever you can put in and on the truck as well as the frame can. With the springs I'm running no worries. Not unusual at all to load 20-25 bags of mortar or concrete mix ect in the back. They run 80-90lbs a bag. The pics in my sig are real typical of the way she's normally driven. But mostly I drive pretty gentle. I don't really beat up on her. Not the way 4 wheeling does. Most of the off road duty is working not rock crawling. But most of the time she's driven it's for work or "expeditions". My DD is a 40 mpg Civic. It gets most of the normal duty. I do try to drive the Trooper every week or 2. But it can sit with the boat hitched up for weeks without unhooking. I just get in on the weekends and go. Of course this year the snow duty was pretty intense. Md threw the record books away last winter and wrote a new one. She saw a lot of this kind of load last year and will again soon.
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The truck looks pretty stock but there is not much that wasn't touched or tweaked in some way. Some of what I'm working on now is project stuff that I just haven't gotten to yet. They're never done. Much is just maint and some is repairing things that really shouldn't need to be repaired but are great example of how low the quality of replacement parts has fallen. When I had my 1st Trooper and replaced calipers and Rotors I use brand new OEM because that's all that was available. Expensive but good for 150k+. The replacement rebuilt Wagner stuff I used on this truck does not impress me at all. 20k miles= 1 seized front caliper and both rear ones were hung up and the E brake part was rusted solid. I painted them when installed and lubed everything as I always do! The rear pads that came with the loaded calipers are 2/3 gone and roughly worn. I used to get 50-70k out of the OEM stuff.
My rear brake pads came in today and look pretty good. 3 sets of Italian made semi metallic pads on Ebay old stock clearance. $8 a complete rear set. If they work well I'm set for a while. They look real good side by side with the old ones.
As far as putting her through the paces I definitely use her but try not to abuse her. I've driven almost 400k miles behind the wheel of a Trooper most of that 1st gen. I'm real familiar and comfortable with what they will and won't do. I'm not afraid to put her to work. I load more weight than most would in and behind this one but it is now set up for that. The 12 bolt will handle whatever you can put in and on the truck as well as the frame can. With the springs I'm running no worries. Not unusual at all to load 20-25 bags of mortar or concrete mix ect in the back. They run 80-90lbs a bag. The pics in my sig are real typical of the way she's normally driven. But mostly I drive pretty gentle. I don't really beat up on her. Not the way 4 wheeling does. Most of the off road duty is working not rock crawling. But most of the time she's driven it's for work or "expeditions". My DD is a 40 mpg Civic. It gets most of the normal duty. I do try to drive the Trooper every week or 2. But it can sit with the boat hitched up for weeks without unhooking. I just get in on the weekends and go. Of course this year the snow duty was pretty intense. Md threw the record books away last winter and wrote a new one. She saw a lot of this kind of load last year and will again soon.
The truck looks pretty stock but there is not much that wasn't touched or tweaked in some way. Some of what I'm working on now is project stuff that I just haven't gotten to yet. They're never done. Much is just maint and some is repairing things that really shouldn't need to be repaired but are great example of how low the quality of replacement parts has fallen. When I had my 1st Trooper and replaced calipers and Rotors I use brand new OEM because that's all that was available. Expensive but good for 150k+. The replacement rebuilt Wagner stuff I used on this truck does not impress me at all. 20k miles= 1 seized front caliper and both rear ones were hung up and the E brake part was rusted solid. I painted them when installed and lubed everything as I always do! The rear pads that came with the loaded calipers are 2/3 gone and roughly worn. I used to get 50-70k out of the OEM stuff.
My rear brake pads came in today and look pretty good. 3 sets of Italian made semi metallic pads on Ebay old stock clearance. $8 a complete rear set. If they work well I'm set for a while. They look real good side by side with the old ones.
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