2000 Isuzu Hombre - A Grumpy Truckling For the Streets

I'm afraid you're getting through this much too quickly, you'll make the rest of us look bad.

Still too slow.  haha  I have other projects begging for attention too.

Thoughts on the U Joint so far:

Not a fan of the set screw design, but I see why they do that.  If I had an extra shaft to modify or wasn't trying to swap out in an afternoon I'd probably drill out and tap the upper half of the joint for a stock sized bolt and a through hole in the stock shaft.  A 1" DD shaft instead of stock could be a great option for a more race oriented truck.

Ryo and I were discussing and concerned about the lower part of the joint lining up right as the steering gear is keyed for the stock shaft.  This joint and I'm assuming it is similar for the flaming rivers is not keyed and can spline on in any orientation.  Locking the steering wheel and immobilizing the steering is recommended while installing to keep everything straight.

I kept the lower steering joint plastic cover, but had to cut off most of the smaller diameter at the top as it interfered with the set screws.  Most would probably toss it, but being a street driven truck, rain or shine, I'm inclined to keep protection from the elements of this sort.

Driving impressions: would have been nice to drive the mod back to back, but I had about 48 hours in between any real driving.  Everything seems tighter and with the lower ratio steering gear I get to the desired steering angle sooner.  There is no obvious play in the steering shaft/joint now, but I did notice while under the truck that the gear itself still has some.  I'll have to see if I can dig up the instructions for tightening up the Saginaw steering gear Ryo mentioned to me several years ago.  Everything does feel tighter, more responsive, and more direct, but that is all subjective.  Once I get the black extended cab driving again I'll have to do a back to back drive between the two trucks and compare steering feel and reaction.

sounds like i should be ordering this u joint too then, seems like a non-shiny FR cheaper option.
pretty happy with the spline fit itself then i presume?
does the set screw sit correctly in the "groove" where the stock clamp bolt sat (on the steering gear side)?

as for slop in the box itself, you can try tightening the little set screw, but i don't think you'll get a whole bunch of slop out of it.
with a recirc ball box like these, it's not quite as simple as crunching together the rack/pinion mesh to reduce backlash.
i think it is more like just adding to the barrel preload....

sorry, hard to explain. but imagine a ball inside 2 slightly oversize C shaped cups. clamping the 2 cups closer together won't remove a whole lot of slop.
as opposed to a rack/pinion, where tightening the mesh is more like bringing triangles together, where backlash actually does effectively get reduced.

sounds like i should be ordering this u joint too then, seems like a non-shiny FR cheaper option.
pretty happy with the spline fit itself then i presume?
does the set screw sit correctly in the "groove" where the stock clamp bolt sat (on the steering gear side)?

I'd say it is certainly a cheaper non-shiny FR option.  Spline fit on great and there are plenty of splines.  Even more than stock because there is no cut out for the key and no screw clamp.  The set screw hits the groove dead on.  I made sure of that when I put it all together.

I follow you on slop.  Reading around it seems the best option to get the tightest box is to pick up a rebuilt unit, but also sounds like those can be hit or miss in terms of getting the original specifications for feel and weight even if the gear ratio is right.  I also checked the slop when the P/S system was dry.  It may be better now that it is full and bled.

I did the u-joint swap 5 or 6 years ago and I still think it's one of the best mods I've done for the money.  I posted a video of how much slop there was in my rag joint in the FR swap thread on S10F, it was crazy for a low mileage truck.  I ditched the plastic cover and have been driving it year-round since and it hasn't loosened up at all.  The splines were quite tight on mine, I needed to tap it onto the box.

Not worried about it loosening up, but would rather keep as much water and mud off of it as possible.  I'm more worried about corrosion than anything especially with the cheaper joint haha.  I remember seeing your video several years ago.  Ewwwww hahaha.  I pulled mine on by hand.  Put some weight into it, but nothing out of the ordinary for working on one of these trucks.

Progress is progress?

Swapped on the Crager's from the Blazer over an extended lunch break on Friday while I waited for my work computer to calculate an FEA model I setup.  Pictures TBD.  I'll try to wash the truck up some night this week.  I can finally take full advantage of all the suspension parts I have been swapping on.

Speaking of cleaning, the underhood got a much needed bath in preparation for replacing the exhaust manifold that has 2 stuck bolts and won't seal to the downpipe.  Also had a great Saturday morning adventure at the local pick and pull yard.  Spent $85 which is quite the large sum for me.  Installed the wiper spindle and interior door handle which were both broken all winter.  Aforementioned exhaust manifold will hopefully be on this week and also found a set of ZQ8 sway bar brackets and end links.


Untitled by TheHarley, on Flickr


Untitled by TheHarley, on Flickr

yay progress, just in time for more snow this week too!

You can thank Al and I for the snow as we both swapped our summer tires on this weekend.

You can thank Al and I for the snow as we both swapped our summer tires on this weekend.

i drove the rx7. that probably didnt help either

I'm still going strong on this even while it snows.  My gasket set showed up a few days early, so I decided I'd also replace the exhaust manifold sooner than later.

Also found some roadkill on the way home    Mind you, my commute, while being short, is on some of the busiest roads around and there was an enitre swing set in the middle of the road.  I'll just call it a good citizen award of scrap metal.


Untitled by TheHarley, on Flickr

Tore the engine bay apart and turns out it was a good thing if only to replace the belt.  There wasn't much left to speak of.  Also changed plugs and wires while I was in there as I already had a spare wire set.


Untitled by TheHarley, on Flickr

Hopefully all of that with a new O2 will clear the Engine Codes and improve fuel economy some.  Still have a vacuum or intake whistle somewhere.  Most of the rubber seals are in real sad condition, so not much of a surprise.

While I was walking out to the truck after work today I grabbed a couple full pictures to show off the wheels, drop, and not beat to hell hood.  It's her worst side, but for a beat up truck it looks sharp.


20140417_184412 by TheHarley, on Flickr


20140417_184420 by TheHarley, on Flickr

Not pictured and nothing too exciting as far as performance goes, but last night I swapped in a set of component speakers; tweeters in the stock dash plates, and mid drivers in the doors.  Turns out one of the old speakers was frozen and the other blown... Much better now. Tonight I polished up the driver head light, so they both look presentable now.

She looks good. Very nice. Now just a turbo?

looks cool!

must say thats the best looking hombre ive ever seen

She looks good. Very nice. Now just a turbo?

She certainly needs something to back up the looks.

must say thats the best looking hombre ive ever seen

Have you seen any others? 

Just whoring it up with some more pictures after a wash.  Finally found my stash of GMC hub caps and in the last picture I put on the mud flaps I picked up for free with the fender last summer.  Thought I'd keep going with the ugly work truck look.


20140426_185849 by TheHarley, on Flickr


20140426_185926 by TheHarley, on Flickr


20140426_185954 by TheHarley, on Flickr


20140426_193639 by TheHarley, on Flickr

I picked up a sway bar from a 4 door blazer a few weeks back and decided I didn't want it laying around.  Thought I'd throw the ZQ8 frame brace on at the same time, but couldn't with the bed on, so out came the cherry picker and off with the bed.  Surprisingly, all of the bolts came out with no trouble.  I ended up using the rusty set of sway bar end link brackets instead of the shiney new ones, but they match the rest of the truck better.  If I ever update the end links with a fabricated pair I'll swap the brackets, but this is perfect for now.

Truck feels much more planted now.  It could handle well before, but it was real scary at the limits.  I'm pushing it much further now with a whole lot less drama with the rear planted firmly.  Not sure when I'll do any more suspension updates, like the sliders and hop shock, as they require welding and fabrication.  Ran out of bolt up suspension upgrades at this point and the lift is tied up at the moment with a truck I'm trying to flip.


20140522_200516 by TheHarley, on Flickr

The Blazer brakes and spindles were collecting too much rust, so they fell onto this truck on the 4th.  I cleaned up an extra set of the Blazer calipers and brackets before dropping them off to get powdercoat for when the Blazer goes back together.

20140706_160445 by TheHarley, on Flickr

I did this same upgrade on my Long Bed 1st gen, but kept the S10 brake hoses and brackets.  Never mocked up the Blazer brackets as they angle the line down instead of forward.  I had bought all new hoses for this truck to try and alleviate any sources of spongy brakes that I was feeling at the pedal.  Turns out the Blazer front brakes use a larger hard line than the S10s to match the larger brakes up front, so even after bending the lines to meet the brackets I couldn't use the new hoses.  Turns out the hoses don't spline the same way between the SUV's and trucks either, so the S10 hose won't clip in like stock.  I've got it rigged up for now, but will have to come up with a custom brake line solution of some sort.  So much for GM Legos...

20140706_160512 by TheHarley, on Flickr

Did a full bleed and still had the spongy pedal.  Decided to go take a few ABS panic stops on the gravel to get any air out of the ABS module.  Another quick bleed on all 4 corners and the pedal is firm and responsive.  I'm quite happy with the improvement.

Finally and after, probably, too much money I got my Isuzu Hub Caps put together.  They're in storage for the winter, but will be going out with fresh tires on 17x9's at all 4 corners once the weather turns nice.  I'll probably wash the truck before then too...

20141124_210107 by TheHarley, on Flickr

20141124_211134 by TheHarley, on Flickr

This is what I started with: