What you see here is ADD in action. I went on a trip last winter with some fellow nursing students to help run a charity clinic in the village of Nuevo Progreso, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. While my classmates were criticizing what they saw as a subpar fire house, I took a few photos of this Trooper, which I rarely see in the American Midwest.
The macho pretense of its Japanese market name, Bighorn, didn’t translate into English. That’s a shame because in its daily use, this Isuzu lives up to the hardiness of its namesake.
Depended on to move people and cargo over the town’s considerable potholes and caked in mud, this Trooper gets a workout daily.
Now this is an SUV I could live with, just make mine a turbodiesel.
My dad had an 86 Trooper from 1999-2009. It was in quite good condition when he got it. Early on, a bird crapped on the hood. Dad didn’t see it until way later. By the time he washed it off, it had lifted the paint off the metal. There was a spot of bare metal about the size of a quarter.
I don’t know if that says something about Isuzu paint or raises questions about what the birds in Wisconsin are eating. Maybe both.
I’ve seen your football fans wear blocks of cheese on their heads too, presumably to protect themselves from that kind of thing when outdoors. I’ve always suspected there’s something funny in the water over there.
Funny, the only Trooper I’ve ever been in was in DePere, WI…an utterly rusted mess that broke down on my little road trip with a friend…luckily, not until we hit the driveway of the vacation house her friends rented in Door County…
These weren’t exactly popular in Minnesota, but they were still quite common back in the day. They seemed to be pretty solid.
These things can live a very long time, I’ve seen a few in Truckee/N Tahoe with 250k+ on the odo.
Although i have no firsthand experience with these, I could really like one of these. I should have appreciated them more when they were more common.
If I remember correctly the last generation of these became too expensive. Also these were targeted by Consumer Reports, which is what probably really did them in.
Consumer Reports was able to, with great effort, show that the Trooper could be rolled. This prompted the NHTSA to conduct their own tests and conclude that it wasn’t the huge danger CR insisted it was.
It really is disgusting that Consumer Reports was able to get away with that. Especially when they were found to have made 8 false claims yet were not held liable for any damages because they convinced a jury they didn’t cause Isuzu any harm. In fact, Isuzu ended up having to pay CR for legal fees. Unbelievable. I hope somebody sticks it to those pompous idiots someday and puts them out of business. They certainly deserve it.
My parents bought a new Trooper in 1990 as our family vehicle. I was quite wonderful until it developed surface rust on the body after five mid-west winters. I drove a Trooper through high school and part of college. It was such a capable vehicle that easily swallowed all of my belongings with room to spare. How I miss my Trooper…
Quite popular in NZ BigHorns were ex JDM though the Holden version was here new these earlier ones are getting thin on the ground but I see many later models, yes you can roll one but not very easily unless your stupid
As Bryce says, we had ex-JDM models, and there’s still plebty around. If you think “BigHorn” is a bad name though, lots of ours came over as the “BigHorn Plaisir”. I can’t think of many worse car names.
I don’t think “Big Horn” was a translation isssue here in the US, Chrysler probably had the trademark as they were selling trucks named that at least as far back as 1972 from what I can find. They are using it again today as the “Big Horn Edition” Rams.
Other English speaking countries that don’t have the American sheep species might have made a different connection. Not as bad as Mitsubishi faced in Spanish-speaking countries with their 4×4 of course…
There is that other Big Horn vehicle…
A Dodge Big Horn….that did ring a bell, and then I remembered reading about it years ago.
(Photo: Douglas Wilkinson)
Nuevo Progresso probably isn’t very “new” or “progressive”, but at least the owner of this Big Horn (Montero) had the good sense to buy a Macintosh computer, probably in McAllen or Brownsville. The license plate decals on the windshield are evidence that the vehicle is legally registered. This comes in handy when the cops remove your license plates for parking infractions so you can still drive the thing while matters are adjudicated. Crafty Mexican residents have also learned to use blind and high security fasteners, as well as Loctite Red.
Kevin, I think you are mixing your brands here. This is a ISUZU Trooper. The Montero is from Mitsubishi. Also if you are saying that the owner has a Mac because of the Apple sticker, that sticker not only comes with Mac computers they come with all of Apple products as far as I know. So perhaps the driver likes to hear music on his IPod!
This Troopers along with the Jeep Cherokees are very popular here in Puerto Rico with the off road crowd. They are cheap, very capable off road, and parts are available everywhere to upgrade them, even tough Isuzu is not longer selling here or in the States.
I would never put one of those Apple stickers on my car. It announces that there are probably several pieces of expensive electronic devices in the car.
C’mon. You know I meant Trooper.
It was called Caribe442 in Venezuela. Brand & model. No reference to Isuzu.
Apparently made by / with GM… as my ex-GM friend told me.
Most of those Mexican vehicles really have to earn their keep. As a firefighter, I’d be interested in pictures of the subpar firehouse!
The Isuzu Trooper was a Vauxhall/Opel Monterey in Europe, it had a 3.1 liter diesel engine. Wasn’t very successful though, it had to face the Toyota Land Cruiser, Nissan Patrol and Mitsubishi Pajero. All with diesel engines of course, this breed of RUVs (Real Utility Vehicles) just screams “I demand a diesel engine under my hood !”
Never mind Land Rover. Rich folks drive them to pull the luxurious trailer with their daughter’s horses. I barely see them as full-time workhorses, speaking of horses.
I had a 1989 Trooper from 1995 to 2004. Mine had the 2.6 liter 4 cylinder gas motor unfortunately paired with an automatic. Overall a very durable and pretty high quality vehicle. It had great strengths and great weaknesses. It had a HUGE interior, excellent off-road capability, great visibility. It also was narrow, softly sprung and had a high center of gravity, so with it’s slab sides and being underpowered it was a poor interstate vehicle. The problem was that this was the only vehicle we had at the time and so we frequently had to roadtrip in it. Even the slightest incline at 70 mph and it needed to downshift at which point the long-stroke 4 would be screaming. I found myself taking two lane highways since it was so unpleasant for interstate travel.
For one trip to the Florida Keys I loaded a large sailboard down the middle and two bikes upright on the roof. I might as well have been driving sailboat down the road. We came to the 7-mile bridge and the wind was blowing 15 and gusting to 25 or so—that was a dodgy and very low speed crossing.
As a camping/weekend truck it was really quite ideal. We slept in it quite a few times when the weather was lousy and it held an obscene amount of gear being so rectangular. It had the minimalist interior of the early japanese trucks and so there was a lot of usable space not taken up by a huge dashboard/console or molded interior panels. Just some vinyl glued down over metal.
My 1997 4Runner is absolutely a head and shoulders better compromise for every day use and long trips, but it does not have the absolute utility or the charm of the Trooper.
Fellow 3rd gen 4runner owner here (96 Limited, auto, e-locker)!
I gotta say I LOVE the old Troopers and Monteros with their huge greenhouses and boxy slab sides.
Our 4runners are incredibly utilitarian compared to any modern SUV, but you’re right the ’80s boxes put us to shame. My 4runner has plenty of space for a weekend camping trip for me and my gf and her dog (riding in his big roomy cage in the back). Haven’t tried sleeping in the back of it yet, on my old 1998 Mazda MPV I built a wooden platform to level out the floor (with removed captain’s seats) and it was absolutely luxurious compared to a tent.
My 4runner isn’t a daily driver, it’s exclusively a weekend camping/foul weather/towing rig. If it weren’t for long highway drives to get to some of the places I want to hike/fish, I’d absolutely consider an older Montero or Trooper, just for the aesthetics.
My ultimate camping rig would be a JDM Mitsubishi Delica Spacegear L300. One can dream!
The 3rd gen 4Runner is really an amazing example of the 90s nexus of japanese refinement of their vehicles prior to the cost-cutting that you see in later generations. The earlier 4Runners all had some predictable weakness in form and/or in durability. The 2nd gen 3.0 motors ate head gaskets and the 1st Gen ‘runners were really trucky and lacked back doors, making them more like a blazer and less like a family friendly SUV. In contrast the 4th Gen ‘runners got wider, heavier and the interiors were cheaper in quality.
My ’97 has 240k miles and still doesn’t leak a drop of oil. The only major repair has been an air conditioner compressor at 200k–remarkable durability for a vehicle that is not bare bones. Sunroof, power windows, etc all work perfectly. The upholstery still looks great even with FL sun and years of use.
I have a 2006 Tacoma and the interior materials are not as good, nor is the repair record on nickle and dime repairs, of which I have already had a few at 88k miles.
You’re preaching to the choir my friend! I worship at the altar of “Golden Age” Toyotas.
I sought out my 4runner specifically because I know they are some of the most durable, best built vehicles bar none. My ’96 was owned by a John Deere engineer from new, until 2012, when he sold it to the guy that I bought it from. The original owner got it Ziebart-ed when new, and when he retired in 2002 he moved back to the Philippines. The 4runner sat in a garage with occasional drives in the summer by his brother. So my 4runner hasn’t seen a salted road since 2002, and was kept in fantastic shape by the original owner. Barely any swirl marks in the paint, let alone serious scratches or dents/dings. Interior is literally as good as a brand new car (except made with nice soft touch materials!).
After I bought it I put in about $1500 to replace the brakes front and rear, new shocks and struts, new rear springs, every single fluid has been replaced, timing belt, plugs/wires, new muffler, new fan clutch, new rear axle seals. The 2nd owner (who had it for about 6 months) had just put new tires on it. The only unpleasant surprise has been a fuel injector quitting on me over christmas. A new made in Japan unit off of rock auto was just $52 thankfully. Applied a full Fluid Film lanolin undercoat to the frame and backsides of the steel bumpers.
Just cracked 104k miles on it, she’s just getting warmed up! As I understand it this truck is good for another 300k miles, at least.
I had a 2000 4Runner SR5. It wasn’t a bad truck, but I don’t understand the unbridled love some people have for them. I could write a entire article on the design flaws and problems with that thing. It was fairly reliable and good off-road, I will say that.
My perspective is that they have readily apparent flaws that are all pretty much related to its body on frame, truck roots. I needed those truck genetics for the trailer hauling I do, so it makes sense for what I use it for and it still did a decent job of hauling kids and other every-day stuff in between truck-type use. On the other hand, if you’re just hauling kids to the school and the mall, like 98% of them do their entire lives, then they are not as well suited as something like a modern CUV or minivan.
Well in the minuses column I’d put the mediocre interior space (high floor, low roof, narrow), and the the very truck-like steering/ride/handling (compared to more road-oriented SUVs).
But as far as reliability weak spots, it really doesn’t have any notorious issues, besides axle seals maybe, and that isn’t a catastrophic sort of failure.
Stock out the box, it was probably the most capable SUV of its era: the wrangler, land rover disco with locking diffs, land cruiser with locking diffs being the only other trucks I can think of that could beat or match it. Even now, a 3rd gen with a locker is bested only by a handful of vehicles such as the wrangler rubicon, maybe a 5th gen 4runner trail edition(?)
My issues with it were not related to its body on frame build. I found it underpowered and unstable when towing. I thought the interior was outdated and due to the high floor uncomfortable. There were a lot of niggles as well, such as the hood that flutters at speed and the wheels that require hub-centric balancing, which was unavailable within 250 miles of me 10 years ago, not even at the Toyota dealers, which meant I never was able to get them 100% balanced. It was a poor starter in cold weather (like -20 cold). I also thought it was overpriced for what it was. I replaced it with a full sized crew pickup and don’t miss it one bit. I now have so much more capability AND comfort for the same price and only lost about 1 MPG overall.
It wasn’t bad, but I doubt I’ll pay the “Toyota premium” ever again.
Hmm I’ll keep the wheel balancing in mind, mine are good right now, but seems that Toyota issued a TSB for a lug centric adapter to be used for balancing the factory wheels.
Mine has some of the hood flutter above 60mph, I haven’t gotten around to trying to adjust the rubber nubs by the headlights that the hood rests on.
Yeah for a tow rig I can see it being less than optimal. For bouncing through the woods to a trail head, it fits my needs perfectly.
I’m coming from a 1998 Mazda MPV with 155hp/169 lb ft and an aggressive TC lock up that weighed 4050lbs, the 4runner is a rocket ship by my lowly standards!
@ gtemnykh, nice picture and scenery !
Your 4runner looks like my 2002 Land Cruiser J90, the 4runner is longer and lower though. Also BOF, live rear axle with coil springs, independent front suspension and disc brakes all around ? Maybe these models are technically related.
I don’t have a photo of my J90 on my computer but I found one on the web that’s exactly the same. Mine isn’t that shiny though….
Thank you Johannes! That was its maiden camping trip, in the Hoosier National Forest in Southern Indiana. Not much hardcore offroading, just gravel roads with some big puddles and small streams to cross. This winter I’ve made liberal use of 4wd and the rear locking diff, along with my tow strap, to pull out stuck motorists.
You’re correct on all technical aspects except rear brakes: they’re simple drums. It’s an easy truck to work on, the 3.4L v6 is very robust from what I’ve read. Since replacing my injector, I’m getting a solid 20+ mpg on the highway, have seen much as 22 if I go 65-70 mph. Around town I get 17-ish. A diesel and a stick shift would rock my world on this rig!
I like those “90” series land cruisers (Prado?), they seem like the perfect mix of utility and roominess. Is yours a diesel? We only got the 80 series with a guzzling inline 6-cylinder gasoline engine, and the uber-luxury 100 series with the 4.7 V8.
I’m waiting for the late 80s rigs to start pouring in from Canada now that the 25 year rule has been satisfied. I’d love a diesel Mitsubishi Delica L300, an old land Cruiser, or Nissan Patrol (safari)!
gtemnykh, the engine is the first (163 hp) version of the 3.0 D4D diesel engine, Toyota’s
1 KD-FTV engine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_KD_engine
5 speed manual and a hi-lo transfer case. On the freeway always somewhere between 75 and 95 mph, nice and stable. The J90 is indeed called a Prado in other countries.
152,000 miles on the clock now, I bought it new. A few weeks ago the starter died, other than that only routine maintenance and the usual parts like a battery, tires, brake pads etc. Still has it first set of discs though, something the mechanics didn’t believe until they checked the complete maintenance history in their computer.
Lets look at this argument pragmatically though:
BOF, truck based SUVs definitely are more crude, less comfy and less fuel efficient than the CUVs. When called upon to perform ‘mommy duties’ they may not pamper the kiddies and might use more fuel but everyone will arrive in one piece. Personally, the comfort of passengers who don’t actually contribute financially *coughkidscough* means nothing to me as long as theyre not put at an unreasonable safety risk. If you actually might need to DO something with your rig, then its smart to prepare for the toughest situation it will encounter.
The other side of the coin is, if you ever tow anything over 2000 pounds, or venture off road then a CUV is going to either be completely incapable of those tasks (especially if you don’t get the awd) or you’ll destroy it trying. The flaw here is that it simply CANT do certain tasks either effectively, safely or at all.
If your most extreme demands could easily be met by a sedan or minivan then a CUV can easily be the better choice since its not quite as stodgy or boring as those two and you don’t ‘need’ the BOF version. Personally, Id rather have a level of capability I rarely need than to underbuy and destroy a lite duty car based wannabe as I exceed its limits. As most makes go all soft and flabby, at least Jeep still offeres some real iron that you can beat on and it smiles and keeps rolling. These Isuzus are a nod to that same rugged sensibility.
Poor Trooper, even in a thread devoted to it, the 4Runner manages to block the sun.
Down here in the borderlands of the Southwest there are still scores of 80s Troopers putting around. Most of them have had the tar knocked out of them, but I do see a few well-loved individuals. There are more 4Runners, of course, but in comparison with the Northwest, I would hazard a guess that the ratio is closer here–almost certainly due to the Mexican market for cheap, utilitarian, tough old 4x4s. Toyota trucks/hiluxes, on the other hand, are getting hard to find as Mexico and its southern neighbors but them up in batches and drive them south.
I’ve always wanted a trooper II, but the examples I’ve found are always closer to death than the Toyotas. But having had friends over the years who have had a Trooper, I can say that there is something special about rolling across rural expanses with that amazing view.
I wonder what cheap option the kids of tomorrow will use to rumble up abandoned access roads? Will they be able to cram a week’s supply of beer, ramen, mountain bikes, camping gear, and girlfriends into it? Will they be able to fix it with a $10 socket set?
In 1988 I test drove one of these, but the huge difference between the way it drove (high, tippy) and my car at that time (Celica) was just too different. I got a Nissan pickup truck at that time, which was sufficient for my needs then.
The next round I did get the Trooper (2001) which by then was slightly longer and 3.5 inches wider. Except for the occasional transmission, one of my favorite cars ever. The excellent seating position, huge vastness of carrying ability, excellent sightlines, and finally its mountain goat ability. A poor man’s Land Cruiser if you will.
By the end of the run (2001-2002), it was not hard to get $5-8000 off a Trooper. On their way out the door, Isuzu/GM brought out the Ascender…which certainly helped slam the door.
Believe it or not, these were rebadged as Acuras.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_Trooper#Acura_SLX
Actually, that was the next generation of Trooper. But still a pretty silly re-badge. And they’re very hard to find.
What were these called in Mexico? In Venezuela they were sold as the Chevy Caribe.
Hi Perry,
interesting post; a bit disappointing that none has acknowledged your charity work though.
Thanks for taking those efforts.
I’ve always loved the trooper’s 80s utilitarianism: huge cargo space, great view, moderately capable four-wheel drive. However I don’t love the engines. The v6s were shockingly thirsty for how few horses they run, and the I4 seems too weak for the fullsized , four door model.
The famous and contemporary Cherokee XJ is not nearly as spacious but with similar mpg the efi 4.0, its really no contest. of course, the trooper lost its boxy grace in the 90s, when its engine was finally strong enough for American freeways