The only kits know to me are some of the ones on ebay, but I'd stay away from those. Most are kits assembled in either the US from Chinese components are made and assembled in China.

Your best bet is to price out the components individually. That way you have pick of brand name components.

There are a few well known sites to get some of these parts from. Some you can get aftermarket through the likes of RockAuto (gaskets, belts, pistons, rod bearings, etc.) others like a new crankbolt you'll have to get through a stealer or stealer-assoicated site like parts.com.

Read some of the recent and older rebuild threads. There are some parts like the crankbolt and flywheel bolts that are must replace part when doing a teardown and rebuild.

Jim

one more thing, the trooper cant carry a big tire on the rear door it causes the door to sag and hinges to wear out fast. The montero will carry a heavy 35 on a steelie forever no fuss <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

touche... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Stock to stock, I think the Montero/Raider wins. But the Isuzu has a much much bigger aftermarket support. We have some support, but the rest we have to look for ourselves or make

I've owned several of each Troopers(89, 92, 98) and Gen I Monteros(89, 91). If you go with a Trooper, avoid the 4 cyl. if possible unless it is freshly rebuilt. The blown head gasket/cracked head was a very common problem with these engines. Capability and looks are pretty similar in my opinion. I think I personally kind of like the design of the montero better, but they are both very well built and dependable trucks. Isuzu has a very long history of commercial trucks it's a bummer the trooper was discontinued in 02( the montero too for that matter). Alot of the drivetrain components are overbuilt which helps them last forever.

When I bought my first car, the 87 Montero.. the mechanic where I work warned me off too.. but I bought it anyway!

Troopers aren't that bad, most came with either a 12 Bolt rear or a D44 rear in them. The 12 Bolt's axle shafts are comparable to the size of a D60.

The 44s obviously have endless aftermarket, gearing, etc available for them.. you can get cheap Aussie lockers front and rear for the isuzu 10 bolt and 12 bolt rears for around $350-400 each.

www.independent4x.com has plenty of aftermarket support for isuzus, much more than there is available for Mitubishi. On the plus side, not much aftermarket is required for the Montero.

Isuzu has a much better manual transmission (Mua5) trans with adapter kits to mate GM 60 and 90 degree engines.

Personally it's a crap shoot between the two, I'd grab the first rust free truck with a solid platform to start from and go from there. I happened to end up with an Isuzu truck for that same reason, but for an all around good vehicle, I can see myself sittin in my own Gen 2.5 Mitusbishi in another year or two.

As all have said, it's a toss up.

I'm new to the Montero/Raider but I have an Isuzu pup with the 2.6l for over 5 years. When I got it, it has a blown gasket. I replaced with aftermarket head and oem gasket. I have been driving that thing ever since. Total cost was a little over 1K as I did both top and bottom of the engine. I also rebuilt a latter year pup with the same engine for a friend. He has been driving it for several years now without problem.

I just bought a Montero last month with a bad tranny that has the 2.6l engine. I am swapping out the tranny and hopefully my experience with the Montero is the same or better than the Isuzu.

I don't know if you've seen the 3 doors version of the Trooper, but for apple-apple comparison, this will a better comparison. I like both SWB on the Isuzu and Monty.

Has anyone ever thought about using Isuzu axles/ parts so we can use some of the aftermarket supported for the Trooper?

Funny you should ask that, I was thinking that very thing...

Don't we have just as much support for our axles?