Transmission Rebuild in Progress: I'm in the really school now for VX OWNERS! WANTED!

[Cobrajet]

Last edited by CowboyErik : Today at 02:50 AM. Reason: spell check

English as a second language?

Is it just me and bartman or does everybody have a very hard time following this post, as well as many of the previous ones, trying to guess at words that are spelled wrong, and missing words?

Actually I was going to post earlier, but I felt it inappropriate during the holiday season. But since you ASKED... Yes!

My comment in response to Bart's post was:

Spell check doesn't work!!

(file this one in the "Huh? What?" folder...)

[vt_maverick]

From the time I got it, my tranny never ran right, shifting was sanding, slow, clunking, I thought this was simply the way VX was, my VX is my first truck/SUV; I servied the tranny multiple times; looked good, pans normal, no worse the what's Ive seen in my Nissan or buick tranny pans, cleaned it up, filled, cycled, filled and checked again, no leaks; what finished me off, was intercooler failure, after market part, spring a leak, I limied home a few miles, tranny light came on, drove low speed; 4L30E manual states there is a "limp home"feature, well, I did that; upone taking my tranny down, it's totally on the insided, shiims, pads, seaals, all totalled; there was a part of the case, where a large plunger or piston seated in to it, a fine fit, this shaft rotated and was also self sealing; a nasty grove was work into it; so I even had to get a replacement case; CLASS III/II hitching had ruined it by shop said. I called around shops, not saying I had an Isuzu, just that I had a General Motors 4L30E that needed rebuild; qouted $1200 to $1500; I was at $1500 cuase of all the extra parts and work that are not routinely totally wasted like they were in my case; I got a 12K/1year warranty; so far, so goot, shifts like Lexus, never did that before; millagage up about 2o percent; next tackling these rotton bumpers, bad O2 sensors; oil burning, ABS issues, serviing my axciles; maybe do a 3rd roller bearing repack; there cars were made to runforever at all; lots of short sites. rotted numper bars gotta to go, when I take off claddimg, I should be prour, not embarrased at whats under neither there; and my license plate lights, those need to be address; I have new lights, holders and OEM bracket to put in; shirts crazy, LOVE MY VX!! Did my brakes right, rotors are forever; checking pads soon; need to soften my ride, someone put super hard springs on my BV, they suck; ; need worn rear srpings to install; and I love my fogging headlight again, I've polished them 5 times, yellow haze always comes back; pealing center caps suck,cant get the logo's off them to get them down to chrome, bought a set of 4 new Rodeo rims, late model, great condition, hopefully they are same bolt configuration; new hood words, old one rusted out, still have it, trying to restore the bolts so I can put different logo on it and be able to swap; I could do on, but I'm tired, good nite! My VX is WARM and in his garage happy with plenty of insane tire shiine on his plastic cladding!

I think based on all of the above it's obvious someone beat the hell out of your VX, including and especially the tranny. When half your truck is in need of this much work how can you fault the tranny's design but blame everything else on abuse?

[Marlin]

The key factors to my success are as follows. I'm the original owner. It has not suffered neglect and abuse like so many VX trannys that are bought used. I've had preventive maintenance done five times on my tranny.

Our VX version of the 4L30E absolutely belongs in a VX. It's not the same trans used in all those other vehicles over the many years it's been around. The 4L30E gets different internal components based on what specific vehicle it's gonna be used in. You can't even swap in a Rodeo or Amigo trans in a VX. It's has some different internal parts. It may work, but for how long?
That is strange, I have had a rodeo tranny in mine for 3 years now. No problem. Joe Darlington has a rodeo tranny in his as well, I helped him pull it out at the junkyard. I wheel mine and I tow occasionally with it.

Isuzu says the VX trans was beefed up to handle the extra HP of the 3.5L. The only Isuzu that has the exact same 4L30E is the 3.5L Trooper. That's it.
The VX is not rated for towing. I am gonna have to call this one incorrect. The Trooper comes with a Class II hitch mounted on it by Isuzu. Even my wife's 3.2l has a class II hitch on the back. It is prewired and predrilled for just that application, meaning, it was meant to be able to tow. Since the VX is nothing more than a fancy looking short Trooper, that means it should have the ability to tow as well.

You should not drive it like ya stole it or beat the hell out of it or rally race it.Isn't that exactly what it was built for, a Performance Utility Vehicle? Yet lots of people have bought a VX and not realized that the previous owner(s) have done just that to it. All the problems of the trans and engine and everything else caused by that abuse and neglect get dumped on to the new owner.
I bought my VX 4 years ago with about 114K miles. It was pristine, obviously garage kept and well maintained. I had the tranny serviced at an Isuzu dealership. A few months later, boom, tranny dead. Been with the Rodeo tranny since.
Mark Griffin

I will say, based on the specs for the tranny, we are hovering right at the max torque ratings for that setup. That means our lucky brothers with S/Cs might be over that rating. Isuzu put the GM crappy tranny into a truck that is way too heavy and has too much power for it to handle. Hence our ridiculous tranny failure rate.

I agree, you had wonderful success with yours, but of your fantastic high mileage, how much of that was freeway/highway? I would guess your commute is no joke?

[Marlin]

I think the no towing is due to the requirements for testing that the DOT demands of manufacturers. With a limited run of vehicles, it would not be worth the cost. Mechanically, the tranny is the same as the 3.5L trooper, which once again, comes with a classII 5500lb hitch. That means at a drivetrain level, it (tranny) is designed to tow. I agree neglect and abuse can contribute to issues. My truck gets worked hard, but I meticulously maintain the old girl. Premium fluids and routine maintenance. I am on my 3rd set of wheel bearings and so on. I pay to play so to speak. Right now I am DDing 70 miles a day in the old girl. Not fun, those kevlars get louder every trip!
I love my VX,(obviously) short of a fire, flood or major collision, she isn't going anywhere!

[BigSwede]

My old 99 Trooper was rated at 4500 lbs towing...2WD models were rated 5000 lbs.

[Leon R]

You guys seem really paranoid of towing! There are many people on planetissuzu.com who tow 4000-5000lbs trailers without any problems... Many of them are using the same automatic tranny!!!

[johnnyapollo]

Yeah I don't know if I agree with the whole towing thing - I've towed in excess of 5K pounds (weight of trailer plus cargo) behind the VX (not sure about hitch/tongue weight which I would presume would be less) without any issues with my tranny - going on 160k miles as the original owner. I've also done meticulous maintenance on my truck AND had it supercharged for a year or two before removing the unit. Still no tranny issues. I can also say I don't baby my truck, however most of the miles is stop-and-go highway commuting less than 10 miles and back from work, with an occasional trip out-of-state to camp, vacation, etc.

I'm more inclined to agree with Mark Griffin, though, regarding abuse-and-neglect, as I've seen how many drivers tear up their vehicles "YOLO!" Driving a vehicle "hard" is much like driving through adverse conditions - if you look at the service manuals, that means more frequent maintenance intervals - most casual owners don't take the extra steps - heck it's hard enough to get many to do regular oil-changes, much less more frequently. Even driving in higher-than-average heat, dust or polution takes a pounding on any car or truck and you should do maintenance more frequently as a consequence.

Just my 2 cents, for what they're worth...

[Triathlete]

I think part of the reason it is not recommended to tow with the VX is because of the short wheelbase.

[Leon R]

I think part of the reason it is not recommended to tow with the VX is because of the short wheelbase.

Yes, true, but I hear a LOT sentiment that "this tranny is barely strong enough for just the VX, so you can't possibly tow with it" and I am not sure that I agree with it!

[Ldub]

I think part of the reason it is not recommended to tow with the VX is because of the short wheelbase.

I'll trow down 2 cents of short wheelbase towin' info, though it has no bearing on the trans...sorry...

Back in the day, I lived @ 2k ft elevation, a few miles from the ocean. Towing an 18' Bayliner with a 350 volvo penta outdrive (chev) down to the boat ramp, with a Toyota 4WD pickup can get REAL interesting coming down a relatively steep curve in the road. Let's just say that the big heavy boat wanted to go straight, trying it's best to push the rear of the tow rig into a drift/roll scenario.

Y'know how hard it is to convince your right foot to hammer the skinny pedal @ that moment in time?

I'm just glad I had it in 4-Hi.

[PK]

Yep - the tail starts to wag the dog.

All to do with short wheel base and the weight of the towed item being close to, or more than, the towing vehicle.
When you compare the light weight of our VX's to other "proper" 4wd vehicles, our light weight makes it harder to tow anything.

PK

[Triathlete]

And a toy pickup has a bit longer wheelbase than the VX. Toy is around 108 and ours is 96 I think.
Some day when the $ gods are my friend and the d44 in my garage gets put under my VX I plan on adding about 6 inches to the wheelbase.

[VX KAT]

Yep - the tail starts to wag the dog.

All to do with short wheel base and the weight of the towed item being close to, or more than, the towing vehicle.
When you compare the light weight of our VX's to other "proper" 4wd vehicles, our light weight makes it harder to tow anything.

PK

Hope it's OK to tow my "KAT BOX"…460 lbs + 190 lbs cargo?
Other than cross winds, what other issues might I encounter at highway speeds? …sorry minor thread hack in progress….

[Marlin]

Yep - the tail starts to wag the dog.

All to do with short wheel base and the weight of the towed item being close to, or more than, the towing vehicle.
When you compare the light weight of our VX's to other "proper" 4wd vehicles, our light weight makes it harder to tow anything.

PK

Not sure who told you she is a lightweight 4x4. I had to weigh mine for my military move last year:
"I did weigh her yesterday. 4420 lbs empty. I took out all parts, tools, sub, backseat...heavy toy for sure"

That was empty tank,no spare and so on.That means, normal rolling weight with me in it is close to 5000lbs. I weighed my 4dr, diesel F250 weighed in at 7200 lbs, and I didn't take anything out at all. So almost twice the truck, not even 50% heavier.
An F150 doesn't weigh much more than the VX, and they are rated to tow 9000lbs. (not sure what the new ones are rated for, probably even higher) Of course, they have WAY better brakes. Wheel base may have some negative aspects, but the Trooper RS has the same rated tow capacity as the regular 4wd trooper.
Like I said, I bet there are DOT tests to be performed for tow ratings, and with so few built, was not practical to spend the money on the testing.

[PK]

Not sure who told you she is a lightweight 4x4. I had to weigh mine for my military move last year:
"I did weigh her yesterday. 4420 lbs empty. I took out all parts, tools, sub, backseat...heavy toy for sure"

That was empty tank,no spare and so on.That means, normal rolling weight with me in it is close to 5000lbs. I weighed my 4dr, diesel F250 weighed in at 7200 lbs, and I didn't take anything out at all. So almost twice the truck, not even 50% heavier.
An F150 doesn't weigh much more than the VX, and they are rated to tow 9000lbs. (not sure what the new ones are rated for, probably even higher) Of course, they have WAY better brakes. Wheel base may have some negative aspects, but the Trooper RS has the same rated tow capacity as the regular 4wd trooper.
Like I said, I bet there are DOT tests to be performed for tow ratings, and with so few built, was not practical to spend the money on the testing.

Marlin, I have to admit that I have never weighed mine, so am just going by the published curb weight for the JDM VX, and that is 1794 kg, or 3950 lbs.
Most other true full chassis 4 wds in Australia are well over 2500 kg, so the weight difference is significant.
I also agree that all government DOT requirements could have had a lot to do with Isuzu not recommending towing with the VX. It wasn't only in America.

Sue, you won't have any trouble towing your toy box provided the draw bar is full length to keep it stable, and that is the trailer builders work, not yours.
I tow my boat on a dual axle trailer - 1350 kg all up - with no problems, but I have been towing boats and caravans all my life, and drive accordingly.
I agree the VX can be used for towing - just have to keep it realistic.

PK