Gumball

Yesterday my Trooper blew the fan circuit fuse. The book says it should be 25amp and it had a 20amp installed. If anyone can tell which wire under the hood is the fan wire I would really appreciate it. The instrument power has been intermittent at times and I suspect the two failures may be related. As a side note: I did my first oil change - - boy was that fun!!! My car has the welded in skid pan so I had to cut a hole to allow the oil to drain without creating a mess. After trying several ways to make the hole I finally ended up cutting it with my die grinder with a 3" cutting wheel. To contain the oil I got a canning funnel (has high sides and a wide mouth) to direct the oil unto the catch pan. I was real proud of myself - didn't spill a drop ---- until I kicked the dirty oil can. Oh well! Murphy lives at my house. Any words of wisdom will be appreciated. Gumball

Another part that my be useful. http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/motor/k166.htm Gumball

Hi Lenny, I must be missing something in the steering setup. How is power to the power assist removed after the turn is initiated? The steering wheel is still turned but no more assistance is needed. Probably the easiest way to state the concern is to assume the steering wheel is turned half way to the left or right. What tells the motor no more assistance is required. The attached URL shows simple variable resistors (pots) that could be used if you can figure out how to put a neutral in the system. One pot could turn one way and other would turn the other. http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/vres.htm Just a thought. Gumball

I've been looking for a Lowrance GlobalMap 540C. After much searching, without success, I decided to look at the Eagle IntellaMap 502C. They are available and much cheaper than the 540. About the only difference is the screen resolution and the fact the screen is not square. I bought one for $339.00 delivered on eBay. It's brand new with the factory warranty. For an additional $35.00 I bought a three year extended warranty from Square Trade. It is a marine unit so it's waterproof and should handle the vibration. It's really a nice unit. It can be read easily jn the full sun, is a chart plotter so you really don't need to construct routes if you don't care to. I bought MapCreate 7 topo software so I can load detailed maps of anywhere in the US and see where to go by just looking at the map on the GPS. The software company LEI is a mickey mouse outfit, paranoid about someone stealing their software, but the actual product is pretty nice. You do have to buy their software to use with the Lowrance or Eagle products. If you have old tired eyes like mine you might want to check it out. It beats the heck out of small hand held units and does everything you'd like in a GPS. Gumball

Hi mouser58 & rocmoc. I sent a message to Ken Morris at Joyner suggesting it might be in their best interest to reconsider having to buy a whole tail light assembly just to get a small plastic lens. He agreed and said he would look into it. I told him about this forum and suggested he look at it as there are some good ideas here. He has been doing that has found it interesting. I don't envy him is job. Getting our friends over seas to move is sometimes a major undertaking. If you've read you Joyner manual you know what I mean. I may end up doing as mouser58 suggested, at least until I can get a proper part. Gumball

As hard is it is to believe, I backed into a cactus and broke the amber section of my Trooper tail light. I called Joyner and was told I had to buy the whole assembly --- for $39.00! Just on the very slim, outside chance, maybe someone else might have broken the red or white section on their lens, I would be more than happy to buy the amber section. If you have one let me know and I'll put money in an escrow account to cover the purchase. The only reason I said that is the ones from Joyner are apparently made of gold! Gumball

ksimpsy, If you can produce reliable power steering for $300.00 made for the Trooper that's great. I'll be one of your customers. I only offered this website as a source of information. The attachment shows a manual rack. You're right, their power steering is a lot more than $300.00. Gumball

Check out my answer to clean windshields. It's in the Joyner Trooper section on the forum. Hope this helps. Gumball

Saturday I was exploring and all of a sudden the engine quit. I thought "ah shucks" or something like that. After a brief cool down I turned the key to start and it sputtered and quit. After that zilch. None of the instruments had power so I checked for power at the battery and there I found the problem. The 50 amp fuse had gotten hot and MELTED INSIDE THE FUSE HOLDER! Apparently there was a intermittent open that caused some arcing inside the case, to the point that it had continuity at times and other times it went open. The fuse itself wasn't blown. I cut the fuse block out and pigtailed the wires together and everything worked fine until I could do a proper repair. So! Be aware this could be an isolated incident - or a potential problem spot. Gumball

For those working on power steering, there may be another way to improve Trooper steering. Check out this website www.unisteer.com. They have some very interesting products that are a lot less costly than a power steering unit and they may do the job. In any case they might be a valuable source of information. One of the service they offer is building custom rack & pinion setups. If you download their catalog it may give you some good ideas. Have fun! Gumball

I saw an earlier post asking about windshield cleaners and I can't seem to find it, so here is what I found works well. It's called Blackfire OneStep Plastic Cleaner, Polish & Glaze. It's Aviation quality and is used there as well as in auto detailing. It's expensive but takes very little to do an excellent job. For those interested, here is the URL where you can get it. http://classic-motoring.stores.yahoo.net/blonestplclp.html. Gumball

I asked a friend about power steering and here's what he said : Go to Char Lynn Power Steering. The easiest to install is what they call "Torque Generator", it has a shaft to attach the Steering Wheel to and the out-put shaft to the Steering column. All you need would be a shaft coupler, power Steering Pump with reservoir and maybe a in-line filter. There is a picture of the what you need in their ad. You might want to call up their website to see what they have been doing. Gumball

Hiya, If you look at Webshots you'll see the tires on the Zinn muffler setup. I'll send you a couple more pictures to you email address. Gumball

The Super Swampers are 28x8.50x14LT. They are a little more aggressive than a normal truck tire. You can see the specs on the Super Swamper web site. http://www.intercotire.com/. The picture is the TSL bias. I don't know where you're located but if there's a Costco nearby they will dismount and remount your tires for $11.00 a tire. That includes balancing and a new valve stem. They definitely need balancing. Each tire took around 3 ounces of weight. If you don't balance them it's hard on the suspension as well as the tire. Gumball

I'm running Super Swampers and they seem to get the job done in our sandy rocky terrain. I paid $499.90 for 5 tires including shipping from JC Whitney. In order to run them all around I had to get a couple of rims as the stock rear rims are to wide. Now I have a spare that will fit each corner. Gumball

Some top pictures - Uploaded them on Webshots but don't know how to link them to here! Gumball I'll help you, Kinarfi

I'm taking my Trooper to the White Mountains for the summer, where there's lots of rain so I thought I better make some kind of a top. I had the material for a Bimini top but decided something more substantial was in order. Instead of fabric I bought a 48"x48" piece of 1/8" ABS black plastic. The top took a piece 48"x33". The remaining piece I used to run behind the top down to the spare tire mount. That should keep a bit more of the rain out. I used 1 1/2" foam pipe insulation around 3 sides of the top and attached the plastic sheet using cable ties. Using ties I can remove the top quickly. To stiffen the top I ran a piece of square aluminum running fore and aft along the center of the top. Total investment was around $40.00. I'll let you know how it holds up in the Arizona sun. Gumball

A hardy thank you to JG's UTV. He was able to get me an actuator and told me what it took to install it. He mailed it and it got to me fast. With his input I installed it with no hassle. The only thing that was a bit surprising is there isn't a bracket on my Trooper for the bolt under the actuator. I made sure the other two were tight and I don't see the missing bolt as a problem. Thanks again for every ones help. Gumball

Hello Kinarfi, Thank you very much for the picture. I'm sure it's something others can use considering all the things we like to add to our machines. All I need now is a Lowrance Globalmap 540c to add to my Trooper. Gumball

Hi rocmoc, Great pictures taken by your friends. Living near Chiva Falls I must say the pictures really don't tell how knarly the area is. For those interested in riding the area you have to LOVE ROCKS. The scenery makes it worth while. Thanks for the pictures. Gumball

OUCH!!! Called Joyner today. The actuator looks like plastic but it must be gold. They want $190.00 (US). Needless to say I have a 4 wheel drive Trooper. I did talk to the engineer to see how high on his list the mechanical actuator is. He said it's moving up rapidly. Maybe Lenny will start making them and I'll get one from him. Gumball

Thanks Lenny, It looks like you are on top of the Trooper problems. If it's OK with you I'm going to pass your information on to the engineer at Joyner that's working on upgrades. He and I talked about the actuator problem and he's looking into a mechanical setup to get rid of the electrical unit. You can reach me on [email protected] if you'd like to avoid having to post messages on the board. I'm really impressed with the group and how helpful they have been. As an aside, what kind of a GPS are you using? I'm thinking of getting a Lowrance Globalmap 840C. My tired eyes have trouble reading the small screens. Gumball

Ho Ho it's off to Joyner I go! Thanks for all the good information. The pictures told the story. The guy that had the car before me must have had a problem. He took everything out of the actuator case except the little motor. When I was at Joyner a couple days ago they told me they are looking at changing this arrangement to get rid of the electrical problems they must have had. I'll call Monday and see about getting a new unit. I hope I don't have to come out of retirement to afford it. Thanks again for all your help. This is the finest forum I've ever been on. You people are AWESOME! Gumball

Thank you JGS, The part that is puzzling is there isn't anything that fits against the small gear. The little motor is like something you would find in a toy car. Ah, the mystery deepens. I'll look again to see where a pin could be. Gumball

HELP! My Trooper is locked in the 4 wheel drive mode. It still runs OK but I can't put it in 2 wheel drive. I disassembled the actuator and it doesn't make sense to me how it works. It has a small motor with a gear output but I haven't found what the motor drives??? If it had a matching gear it's nowhere to be found. What am I missing?? Gumball