Az Bound

Although this is a late response, it may help someone in the future. My engine belt also developed a noise which I attributed to a loose fan belt. Over time I just keep tightening it and the noise went away for a while, but it always came back. Finallly, I remove the alternator and pulled it apart. Both bearing were bad. I dropped it off at a starter and alternator repair place and in about two hours the guy called me and said it was ready, fifty dollars to him and I was back on the road. Happy Trails

Lenny: Sign me up for both. Please let me know where to forward your payment. Thanks Az Bound

We were riding the majove trial in Arizona about four hours into the ride when the front end on our trooper developed a clicking sound in the front end. Pulled the right front wheel and took a hard look. Turned out to be brake pads riding up on the disc and then falling down against the stops. Only noticed this at low speed. Pulled all the wheels next day and applied anti squeak to the back of the discs. The noise was gone. Just a thought. Happy Trails

Have you had any luck with this? Do you have a compression problem?

Do you still retain the old rack assembly or is it completly eliminated?

So are you saying that they ended up with a taller 5th or a lower 5th gear? Happy Trails

Iam happy to report that there seems to be no differential or frame damage after close inspection. The only explanation I have as of now is that the locker engaged just as we made the downhill turn and that the bang noise was a result of the gears locking up hard. Anyway Iam keeping my fingers crossed. Ran it out in the desert a number of times with no grinding or strange noises and the rear end didn't fall out so I think Iam good to go. Kinarfi I already stole those ideas from you. Got any more? (EDIT) They were a gift, Enjoy! Kinarfi Happy Trails Dennis

I would never have thought of differential support or frame damage as the source of the noise. I'll pull the skid plates and check, along with draining the oil and checking for metal chips. Thanks for the input, I'll keep you advised. Dennis

We we riding the Majove Trail this past weekend (on old wagon trail running thru the Majove desert in California) when one rib of my alternator belt deceided to shread off. I was able to cut off the one rib and continue on my way. Unknown to me the belt had pulled on the rear end locker cable and engaged it. Part of the route back was over asphalt and then a hard u-turn down a sand enbankment. Just as I made the transistion from the asphalt to the sand downhill there was a large BANG from the rear of the trooper. Sitting in about 2ft of sand at the bottom of the hill, I punched the throttle and the buggy leaped out of the sand and on to a hard pack two track. The final few miles back to the staging area everything seemed normal, no additional noise except for the fact that I could tell the locker was in when backing it onto the trailer. Next day I located the locker cable problem and unlocked the differental, installed a new belt, jacked up the rear end and turned the tires by hand listening for any noise or grinding. Drove it around the neighborhood forward and backward with a friend listening for noise. There was none, but I believe that I had to have damaged the unit and that it's got to come apart. I have not drained the oil to check for metal, but will when I return to Arizona next week. Do you think the differential is still serviceable or will it have to be replaced/repaired?

OUCH! That sucks. Did you hit something? Az Bound

My neighbor is Arizona has a T-4 with an upgraded clutch. I've driven it a few times. Can't tell any difference between his and mine which is stock. Happy Trails

Now that I think of it it could have been on line at Buggy News.com , try both.

Look at Joyner Forum on line. I believe that someone there post pictures and info about one of the VW transmissions being a direct replacement. Happy Trails

Start with the rear first. Set them so that they have approx. 1 1/2" of sag. Jack up the rear and get a measurement of the exposed center chrome shaft, then take it off the jack and measure the exposed shaft again. Although this seems like alot I believe you will be happy with the ride. Run it over some large bumps and see how you like it, adjust from here. You should be able to run over bumps and just feel a soft movement with no abrupt or harsh movement. Make sure you run your tire pressures low, it will take a lot of the harshness out when running over fist size rocks. Happy Trails

Mine was dry as a bone except at the point where it enters the head. Even at the nipple where it enters the head there was only on oil mist . All of the hoses had dust in them. The canister was dusty and the oil drain hole was clogged with dirt. In the hose fitting at the head where the dirt mingled with the oil mist there was about a 1/4" of crud. So it apears that mine sucks instead of blows. There was no oil in the canister. For me relocating the canister seems to be the best solution. Happy Trails

This past week I was going over routine maintenance on my Trooper and decided to check out the crankcase breather/oil seperator unit and see if it need any attention. The thing is a mess. The fine dust from the desert where I ride hardly even slows down as it goes past the cheap paper filter under the nice chrome cap and enters directly into the top end of the motor. After taking every thing apart and blowing out dust and muck where oil mist from the engine combines with the dust running past the filter I decided to relocate the unit up into the clean air. Although it looks like a chrome martini shaker mounted to the side of my roof rack I'd rather have people ask me what it is and tell them I drink alot than have all that dust being sucked into the engine. Pull it apart and take a look, I think you'll be surprised. Happy Trails Az Bound

Chalkstk: I also had a similar problem to yours. Turned out to be a small rock that had been thrown up into the accelator pedal craddle and the pedal itself. Couldn't see it without pulling the hood fiberglass. I installed flat metal over the entire pedal craddle and haven't had a problem since. Hopes this solves your problem. Happy Trails Az Bound

I see from your posts that you seem to be happy with Ruesch. Why didn't they take off like the Joyner line? Better marketing? With a unit that produces those kind of hp numbers although not cheap to purchase, I'd think these would sell like popcorn particularly with the 0% down as offered on their web site. I might have to burn down my Joyner and cross over to the dark side. Az Bound

Is he in Arizona? Az bound

I not fimiliar with this brand but just happen to come across and ad for a 150hp version with long travel. Seems to me this would be a hot setup. I have a Joyner Trooper now that I love, but something about that 150hp number starts to get my interest. Is this still a viable brand? Are there any dealers or has the recession taken its toll on this company as well? Az Bound

I was looking to upgrade my worn out tires and finally settled for the new ITP SS212 15" rims with BF Goodrich LT235/75R15 AT tires. The 29" diameter tire seemed a good compromise between the smaller 27" and the larger 30" tires leaving me a little more room for wheel travel. Since I have a T-4 model I was concerned with the weight carrying capacity of both the tire and rim. Each of the new ITP rims has a 1000lb rating with the load carrying capacity of the tire well over that. With an occasional load of overweight 50 year olds, myself included, you've got to be careful. When aired down they just envelope and roll over rocks instead of bouncing over them. In deep sandy or gravel the tire gets on top of the material instead of plowing thru it like the originals. There is hardly any rock throwback into the cab and the best part is if I want to take a short cut home at the end of the day, I just put it up on the road and it runs smoooth on the asphalt. This has turned out to be a sweet setup for the Arizona desert where I ride and I would highly recommend it.

Kinarfi: My headache just went away. A new Lowrence Baja GPS HDS-5 just got delivered. If thinking about insurance can do this, I'm gonna start thinking about my fereral tax bills! Az Bound

rocmoc Now that you've got me thinking about insurance I've developed a headache. Thanks. If I stopped paying for this stuff just think of all the extra money I'd have to say get those larger tires and rims, turbo, GPS system, power steering, and air conditioning for the hot Arizona summers. Yeah man I can only dream, but I still have a headache! Az Bound

Mine is also in Arizona and street legal. Carrier is Farmers. I try not to think about how much insurance preminums are, just let the wife handle it and go enjoy the toys, otherwise I'd go nuts. Happy Trails