LUVTruck.com

OK, so Im a Luv guy but I guess Im not an Isuzu guy. Whats so great about the Trooper? Ive heard mention in a few posts and was just curious.

Basically, imagine if the LUV continued to be made after 81, and they added a sort of a LUV "Blazer" model. That would be the Trooper. Exterior styling is not much like the old 72-80 LUVs, but mechanically there are parts all over them that are exactly the same, especially on the early (84-mid 87) Troopers. Its like driving a LUV, only with a back seat and dry cargo space.

The other side of them is they are perfect donors for upgrades to a LUV. You can pull the 5spd trans/tcase, power steering, larger 4 cyl motors (2.3L and 2.6L) as well as some of the other bits and pieces.

Yeah, what 800xl said. I also want to comment on their out of the box ability to play hell offroad. With a little suspension tweak, 33" mudders are not an issue. Axles are tough if you get some of the later type. If you can't tell, I'm in love with mine. Did I mention, that I can fold my seats up and throw a Queen sized air matress in there for camping? I have lots of pluses in mind, but you could call me overly biased.

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

well they are the same frame as the luv whith the weaker suspension and drive train components beefed up. The also get bigger motors and 33s are not a big deal on em. Antiher nice thing is the after 86 they came whith an Isuzu 12bolt rear whith has 12.3" discs . Its just a vary wel built truck just like the luv only it has a bit more room and is more comforatable for longer trips. Oh andothewr cool thing about the front end is thew ability to do a ball joint flip. The way the ball joints mount means you can bolt them up from the bottom of the upper A-arm adding up to 2" of downward travel and fixing camber issues after tweeking the T-bars. Bottom line they are like the nexet evelotional step from the luv

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I think you can tell we have a few rabid Trooper fans here. What it boils down to is if you want an SUV that is as much like a LUV as possible, the Trooper is that SUV. I've been so happy with mine I'm looking for another already. Thinking about getting rid of some of my wrecked/rusted out parts LUVs to make room for parts Troopers even.

They really are capable offroaders right out of the box. The 12 bolt Isuzu rear has been described as "somewhere between a Dana44 and a Ford 9 inch" for strength, never heard of anyone breaking one actually. The front IFS is still pretty weak compared to a solid axle, but able to get banged over some serious rocks before breaking a CV or half shaft.