Hi Timbo,
Firstly, thanks for the reply to my message about the tyres. I am currently running the standard Bridgestone Dueller 693 A/T’s on it which aren’t bad but I am planning on changing in preparation for
the desert trip next year. I was looking at the BFG’s and thanks to you it has reinforced my decision.
Now to the truck. I have owned it from new for about 8000Km’s and have nothing but praise for it. So far I have done numerous day trips to
Appin and Newnes state forests as
well as Wollomi national
park and more significantly a weekend trip from
Sydney to Kempsey via the national
park and forestry tracks, you can see my trip blog written in 2 parts on this site.
That trip was a great test for the trucks capabilities as it was soon after the 2 bouts of heavy rain that went through that region. The truck performed flawlessly and although I pushed the boundaries, deliberately, on access to some of the tracks, it didn’t once look like getting stuck. There was a large amount of low range driving through these areas and on more than one occasion I found myself descending 30-35 degree declines on various surfaces ranging from heavily eroded rocky and muddy tracks to tracks strewn with branches and leaves from the wet weather and winds. Even on the most treacherous of these tracks, low range 1st gear was engaged and the truck gently crawled down these tracks, without brake pedal once having to be applied. A fantastic combination of low gear ratio’s and torque.
Ground clearance is excellent with 225mm below the diffs and the standard hi-lift body really helps. Driving position is very comfortable as is the rest of the cabin both front and rear with heaps of room. There is no “second” gear stick rather switching between 2x4 and 4x4 modes is done by push button with 2x4 to hi range 4x4 done on the fly at up to 100Kmh. Hi range to low range the vehicle must be stopped. I have just bought an Eezi-Awn econo rooftop tent that will be mounted on the ute hard cover, below roof line. I have engineered the logistics of this myself and it will be fitted by T and C here in
Sydney in August. This leaves the roof line free and still the whole tray and back
seat area to store shelving and gear. The current
suspension is good with nice beefy rear leaf springs, although I will be replacing the shocks and beefing up the rear with airbags for the trip next year.
Now, I have had a couple of minor issues. Rear brakes had to be bled after 300K’s, but hasn’t been a problem since. A few weeks ago though I had just left home for yet another day trip to Newnes
state forest when 5 minutes down the road during an upshift, (bitumen, 2WD) I lost power and the check engine light and service light came on. As it picked up power again the fuel
water trap light came on briefly before the engine shut down in “protect mode”, a handy feature designed to protect the engine upon encountering an error. Having read the manual I knew that I couldn’t attempt a restart for 6 seconds, at which point I started it and got it off the road. I called Isuzu roadside assist and 10 minutes later the NRMA turned up (go figure) and he disconnected the negative battery terminal to clear the error and I got back home in “limp mode” another handy engine saving device. Monday morning Isuzu roadside assist organised a tow truck for me and Miss
Turtle was towed to Isuzu where they downloaded the data and sent it off to Japan. The diagnosis was a loss of fuel pressure in the rail, cause unknown although probably a glitch, hmm I thought. So with everything on record, I have driven the vehicle since without an issue, including more forestry adventures, without a hitch, has run like clockwork. I suspect I may have some dirty fuel or possible
water caught in the
water trap which will be investigated this weekend, although I must admit I am hesitant to start bleeding fuel traps as I have never done this before but I guess I need to learn.
Aprt from all that my only other complaint is the useless cup holders, yes I am a coffee addict lol. Apart from that, fantastic truck, purpose designed for offroad work, tough, solid, brilliant full length chassis, plenty of torque and power in the 3.0Lt Turbo Intercooled engine and comfortable enough to drive to and from work everyday without feeling I have done a
Sydney Brisbane trip. At $40,000 it is a far cheaper alternative to the similar model popular Hilux yet in my opinion (and I did an inordinate amount of research before purchasing), a far more capable touring 4x4.
After reading all that I sound like an Isuzu salesman. I assure you, I am in no way affiliated with Isuzu or any car dealer, just a guy that bought a great truck. Oh, one more thing, it wont be going back to Isuzu for regular service, nice guys, but don’t have a clue lol. Good luck and if you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know.