I also noticed that any people have head gasket problems with these year of troopers, why is that, poor design? Cooling problem? Do the 92-97's have the same problem?

Not sure what the back spacing is but the tires are 35X12.5

the 2.6 I4 is usually the head gasket offender. if you keep it maintained and you keep it from overheating, you will be ok in the head/head gasket department. it's not a terribly hard job if you are somewhat experienced wrenching, and this site has all the tech you would need regarding anything under the hood. one thing to look out for is although you may find a good fixer upper w/ a blown head gasket, lots of times the head cracks with it, and that might not be something the owner could tell you right off the bat. AMC makes a great replacement head.

I've had troopers with the 2.3, 2.6, 2.8, and 3.4 (replacement for 2.8). The 2.3 got the best mileage, the 2.8 was plain ok (not that much power but enough, and not so great mpg), the 3.4 is way fun but not great on gas, and the 2.6 is probably my favorite. Enough pep to get going, upgradeable enough to entertain yourself, bottom end should last you a gooood long time, pretty good milage (high teens to low twenties depending on driving style and conditions). Maintenance is key to longevity with any of them.

It shouldn't be hard to fit whatever tire you decide on. I ran 35's w/ no lift--a lot of fender cutting and pounding of the firewall, but it's doable. My wheels were standard 3.75" BS 15x8 steelies.

The trade off you may find yourself having to make is wheel backspacing: too much and you are rubbing the frame, too little and although you'll have a wider stance, your scrub radius will increase and you'll be rubbing the firewall and possibly the fenders in front of the doors.

If i was going to run IFS and fit a 33+ I would probably go with a small body lift and a small suspension lift. a little more ground clearance, and the body lift will allow you to use all the uptravel you are left with after the torsion bar crank. If you go all the way up to 3" w/ the suspension lift you are left with little to no droop in the front, and terrible cv angles. I'd swap to a one-piece rear driveshaft, manual hubs, regear the case, the axles, or both, pop an aussie locker in the rear and make some rocker protection and maybe bumpers. throw on a winch and you'll be ready for just about anything. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

You're lucky that you live on the east coast. that is kinda the epicenter of the Isuzu offroad community, well the midwest too. Those guys have alot of gatherings and runs so you should have access to all the info and help you could want.

The 2.6 is a good little motor, I liked the reliability of it. Just keep it running cool and you will get alot of life out of it.

Look into Rodeos and Amigos too. They are great trucks and have respectable V6's(1993 and up). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Well, My search ends! I finally found my trooper and got a good deal, its a 1995 4x4 5sd 4dr trooper RS that runs great and only needs a clutch!! Body and paint are perfect except for a very small dent on passenger side front fender. Interior looks like new and the engine was one of the quietest engines I've ever heard!! I never personally rode in or seen a trooper in person so I didn't know what to expect. They look like a family SUV and not something that a backwoods hillybilly would own. Anyway I'm gonna do all the normal maintenance and get the frame cleaned up and painted while I replace the clutch, then a she'll go up in the air! I'll post pics of it later on my myspace and put a link to it on here. Oh yeah almost forgot the important question, paid $500.00 for it!!

95 RS? The only years the RS was available in the US was 1989 and 1993. Are you sure about the year? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I think he meant an LS since he did say that it is a 4 door.

My bad guys, I was just assuming it was a RS since it wasn't fully decked out. Well it has black factory fender flares along with the black bumpers and grill. So what ever model that is, anyway I finally found one and I should have her moving around friday. I don't have her yet, but the deal is pretty much sealed and the son lives by me so he took the title with him so I can pick it up this morning!! I should have the trooper here this evening. It was 80 miles away, but I really didn't care. I have a buddy with a nice towing rig and he finds any excuse to tow with it.

Got the title and she is now mine lol!!! I'm going to pick her up in a hour and can't wait to rip it apart!!! It will be just a matter of time before I start owning these Jeep guys out here!!

Ok, it took 5 hours and now she's at her new home. I'm gonna have hell removing some of the bolts as this trooper began life in MA where salted roads are the norm. Then it spent the other part of its life cruising the beaches. The frame needs work, but the body is in excellent condition. The frame has a good amount of rust and some of the body mounts need to be renforced, other than that I sould have the frame done this weekend. I going to pull the transmission tomorrow and get it ready for the new clutch and then this weekend start the frame. I'll keep you guys updated.