Return of the Snowtrooper

[snowtrooper1966]

Greetings, all!
As evident by my recent innocuos posts, I am back. I finally traded in my old one hampster 'puter thingy for a two hampster model;)
It appears my old one died from cancer, as I seem to smoke alot around the PC:(
I mentioned in anoth thread that I recently replaced the worn Nittos for a new set. I asked for an alighnment to be performed at the same time, but the tech said they could not, as one of my centerlink ball joints was too badly worn.
So it looks like I am in the market for a new centerlink......
Any benefit in looking for an aftermarket(beefier?) version, or should I just be looking for stock?
Any help, as always greatly appreciated!

Missed you all, well MOST of you;)

Glad to finally be back and padding my post count like Bart & Ldub;)

Happy Christmas!
Best,

[snowtrooper1966]

Oh yea,
Sorry to Jo for the no call no show Thanksgiving. I know it was my idea, but I just had too much to do in the two days I was down....

See? Already needlessly bolstering my count when I could have just edited my above post;)

[cyronman]

welcome back, dude!

[snowtrooper1966]

Thanks Cy!
Damn, your post reminds me of another thing I forgot to do when I was down. Is that seat still around? I may be going back down in January...

[cyronman]

meh, never picked it up.
Think it's still available though, I can check.

[uncle_asa]

So it looks like I am in the market for a new centerlink......
Any benefit in looking for an aftermarket(beefier?) version, or should I just be looking for stock?
Any help, as always greatly appreciated!

As long as you have to replace centerlink, replace it together with idler arm with the steering dumper kit from Rodeo:
Centerlink: 8-97102-701-2 (older numbers: 8-97102-701-1, 8-97102-701-0, 8-94459-492-0) or Sankei/555 SC-5336
Idler arm: 8-97102-823-0 or Sankei/555 SI-5315
Steering dumper: 8-97161-106-1 (older numbers: 8-97161-106-0, 8-94312-814-1, 8-94312-814-0) or Tokico SD1009
Absolutely clean install, everything is just directly bolt on. I'm currently running with Sankei idler arm and Isuzu centerlink (Sankei is good too and should be cheapier). As for the dumper - the Tokico is just OEM packaged same part.

[nfpgasmask]

Welcome back, brother! How's the snow down there? I would like to come down again. I would love to see Mammoth in all white.

:) Bart

[snowtrooper1966]

Cy, yes, please check on the seat availability when you get a chance.

Asa, you are saying all those components are a "kit"? How much? They are stock Rodeo parts?
I hope you mean damper and not dumper...
I don't want my steering to go in the "dumper";)

Thanks, Bart!
In the past week we probably have 4 feet of fresh powder. It's not gonna get much whiter, until you show up in town;)

Best,

[kodiak]

Good to have you back man.:thumbup:

[uncle_asa]

Asa, you are saying all those components are a "kit"? How much? They are stock Rodeo parts?
I hope you mean damper and not dumper...
I don't want my steering to go in the "dumper";)
Sorry for my poor English :)
In Russia it costs $200-$250 depending on the manufacturer (last kit I bought for my friend was about 6000RUR - $210, IIRC it contained Isuzu centerlink, Sankei idler arm and Tokico damper). It's a stock Rodeo parts (IIRC, it were factory installed from 1993 to 1995), the only difference in idler arm and centerlink is mount brackets for the damper (and the difference in price should not be higher than $5 with VehiCROSS stock parts if any at all).

According to the isuzuparts.com MSRP/their price for the parts:
Centerlink: Rodeo: $192.96/$152.21; VX (8970209513): $238.15/$187.86
Idler arm: Rodeo: $162.84/$128.45; VX (8970353862): $197.55/$155.83
Damper: Rodeo: $179.12/$141.29; VX - none

OMG! :eek: Shouldn't we supply US market with the parts or this just not the mid-market prices? :bgwg:

You will also need two nuts (9-09116-510-0, less than $1.00 each), two pins (9-08112-015-0, around $0.50 each) and one bolt (8-94241-456-0, around $1.20). These parts are more expensive here (around $2.50-$5.00 each) if you go OEM, but the shops usually have similar generic parts in stock or you can get all of them from the salvage yard for the bottle of beer :)

[snowtrooper1966]

Thanks for clearing that up, Asa!
I live in a small town, and have no access to a junk yard or parts store. I need to find this online.
Best,

[uncle_asa]

Thanks for clearing that up, Asa!
I live in a small town, and have no access to a junk yard or parts store. I need to find this online.
Best,
The what I found online (or may be call Merlin first?):
Center link:
http://www.partsgeek.com/images/full/W01331601210OES.JPG
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1994/isuzu/rodeo/steering/transverse_link.html
Idler arm (you will need the last one from the list):
http://www.partsgeek.com/images/full/W01331666260OES.JPG
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1994/isuzu/rodeo/steering/idler_arm.html
Damper:
http://www.partsgeek.com/images/full/W01331606634OES.JPG
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1994/isuzu/rodeo/steering/steering_damper.html

[snowtrooper1966]

Thanks, Asa. That's a great start.
Any reason to look for heavy duty replacements, or will that just wear on the other stock parts?
Best,

[tom4bren]

Troop - welcome back.

Look in Lisa's thread where she is selling parts from her totalled baby.

I posted some links to a site that sells the center link. CSTYLES ordered his centerlink from them so could give you feedback on how his order went.

Here's the link (forgot I had it in my favorites):

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214078&chapter=APO664&appSectionid=21&groupid=10054&subgroupid=60227&componentid=0&make=15&model=Vehicross&year=2001&graphicID=F664070&callout=5&catalogid=1