I hate doing this. I love ford, and above all I else I love American made cars. BUT... To help my brother out I bought his rodeo, and due to my current financial situation I wouldnt be able to buy a new off road rig for a while (Im hoping next year).
My initial thoughts on the Isuzu sucked. Wimpy engine, tires that hydroplane if someone spits on the road, but at least the AC was cold.
Long story short Ive taken it off-roading as-is twice now. Once through a rainstorm with mud and all that great stuff, the other through some very (very) sketchy trails with rocks, ruts, sand, and even a river crossing (I have pictures to prove all this!). I am committed to believing if it can endure what I have put it through as a 2wd, I want to make it 4wd. I know conventional wisdom is just buy it because it costs more to convert it. I was ready to just swallow the price of fitting this out for 4wd, but then I got to thinking, the 4wd for stock is IFS right? And many people do a SAS for various reasons, why wouldnt I be able to put a solid axle on my rodeo, and just get the front driveline components from a junk yard? Not counting small stuff, I would need a SAS kit (or piece one together myself), the axle, and then a t-case nad front driveshaft right?
Its a 1995 3.2l manual. Far as I can tell they never made a 4wd manual with this engine at least for this year, which means I dont know what to do about the t-case. The autos had one, and I could pick those up, but I dont know how that would bolt on to my tranny.
Other than that I figure if it could work and I do it, it would also be a good time to lift it and add some better tires...
I found a thread someone posted on another forum about doing a SAS on a 4wd rodeo, and another thread about converting a bronco II 2wd to 4wd. Thoughts?
My initial thoughts on the Isuzu sucked. Wimpy engine, tires that hydroplane if someone spits on the road, but at least the AC was cold.
Long story short Ive taken it off-roading as-is twice now. Once through a rainstorm with mud and all that great stuff, the other through some very (very) sketchy trails with rocks, ruts, sand, and even a river crossing (I have pictures to prove all this!). I am committed to believing if it can endure what I have put it through as a 2wd, I want to make it 4wd. I know conventional wisdom is just buy it because it costs more to convert it. I was ready to just swallow the price of fitting this out for 4wd, but then I got to thinking, the 4wd for stock is IFS right? And many people do a SAS for various reasons, why wouldnt I be able to put a solid axle on my rodeo, and just get the front driveline components from a junk yard? Not counting small stuff, I would need a SAS kit (or piece one together myself), the axle, and then a t-case nad front driveshaft right?
Its a 1995 3.2l manual. Far as I can tell they never made a 4wd manual with this engine at least for this year, which means I dont know what to do about the t-case. The autos had one, and I could pick those up, but I dont know how that would bolt on to my tranny.
Other than that I figure if it could work and I do it, it would also be a good time to lift it and add some better tires...
I found a thread someone posted on another forum about doing a SAS on a 4wd rodeo, and another thread about converting a bronco II 2wd to 4wd. Thoughts?
lol
