NUB looking at a Trooper and would much appreciate some input.

[Sako7STW]

Hello all. New to here but not to Joyner. I bought my kids a 250 Sand Viper a few years back. While not perfect, it was a good ride and they loved it.

Now I am in the market for a sxs and have found a possible lead on a cherry used T2. I have always been intrigued by the Trooper. It has alot of features I only wish the big manufactures had but I have a few questions.

Is the clutch reliable? I love the idea of no CVT but how often do you have to replace the clutch and if you do, how hard are the parts to find?

Do you find the suspension lacking in travel and shock performance? I seen McCoy has King Shocks for an upgrade, are there others that are a little more affordable?

How does the Trooper do in the dunes? I know it is heavier than the others and that has to hurt some performance but I also see where when headed to the dunes, it could go on a serious diet.

[Sako7STW]

System locked up on me....

I also wanted to ask, What are the must do mods to the machine before even leaving the garage? Think reliability and safety here.

What performance mods would you do?

If I get a loan on this machine I could get enough to do a few mods to it like power steering and maybe the ECM or whatever it is I read about on here. If I haven't made my wife mad enough buying it, maybe even go turbo. I am a bit of a power head LOL.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

ohh and P.S. Is Joyner fully running now so parts are readily available again?

[Sako7STW]

I just found the add again and it is a 08' model year. Is this good or bad? I think I could get it for $6,000. Low miles, the nice front windshield, new tires, and snow plow. Probably a few other things but that is all I can tell from the pic. I haven't got to talk to the guy yet as he was headed to work and exchanged a few quick texts.

[charlie]

those are all good questions but some of your mods are gonna depend on your mechanical skills and ability's and what u need for were you wanna ride. I would say first upgrade make sure the front and rear diff has been upgraded they dont hold up I had to do mine and I didnt have many miles on it or ride as hard as others do. I would also make sure you have some kind of snorkle the factory air box is terrible. And do some water proofing with the ecm and fuse box and electrical connectors. I also did the steering box loosnes fix kit think there is still one on ebay. The suspension factory sux at best the shocks are heavy and at first it seems good but it can be improved a lot. I run air shocks but its not for everyone. the king shocks are awsome but its a big price. I would but 30" tires on it thats probally one of my favorite mods made the gearing so much better. there is a lot of cool people on here and info.

[Sako7STW]

Charlie,

where did you get your air shocks? What do you mean by doing the diff upgrades? Thanks for the reply!!!

[charlie]

the bolts that hold the rear diff and front diff together inside are not strong enough. specifically the bolts on the ring gear inside the housing theres a lot info here about it. Sometimes you can just replace the bolts with new stronger ones and make sure nothing is worn out I had to have mine reshimmed but mine actually BROKE. I have fox 2.0 8.5 travel front air shocks from fox I have about 11-12 inches total wheel travel. The rear is sway away (racerunner) thats the company they are 2.5 10" travel I believe. I do all kinds of riding lots lower speed stuff If i was hammering whoops id probally would have done something different. but they work fro me and the ride is great

[2scoops]

If you do mostly dunes I would not buy a trooper. I love mine but I don't go to the dunes often. It does great in 1st gear for short climbs but not tall dunes you have to attack with speed. If you shaved 300lbs off it would be much better, but you are still stuck with a manual gearbox. There are ratio gaps between gears unlike a CVT which by design optimizes the hp & torque to the wheels. On the positive you don't have to worry about a blown belt.

If you get a turbo it will go up almost anything, but then reliability will suffer.

Stock suspension is junk unless you just putt around dirt roads.

Parts availability is pretty good. Especially since you can buy many parts at the local auto parts store.

[Kinarfi]

Definitely snorkel and better air filter, definitely replace the bolts in the differentials' ring gear, I cut mine in half and added 4 inches, great for me, power steering is well worth the money, I like traction treads like the http://ssl.delti.com.../GRABBERAT2.jpg, they last a lot longer than the stock tire, figure out some way to keep the grease in and dirt out for all you hiem joints, other wise, they'll be squeaking and noisy in a month.

Clutch is good, no worries. My Trooper does OK in the dunes, Utah's Little Sahara Dunes, not as well as my son's RZR though, but I have fun.

Where are you at?

Read through the pinned threads, especially the Parts, Pieces and Info one.

Lot of good info can be found amongst all the verbage here, enjoy

Kinarfi

[Kinarfi]

PS do a search for McMaster and check this forum, it'll lead you to several good articles

[Sako7STW]

I am not far from you Kinarfi. I am in Mountain View WY. On your way to Flaming Gorge. Alot of my riding will be up here tooling around in the desert and the mountains. Will use it hunting for sure. I might make it to the dunes once a year, maybe twice if that. Mostly Little Sahara or the Killpecker Dunes North east of Rock Springs.

So I talked with the guy today and he is to be sending me some more pictures but here is the list he has done to it:

Brand new set of Ripsaw 27" tires http://www.sedonatires.com/product/rip-saw-rt

Snow plow (big bonus for me, I need it)

Aluminum custom made roof

Aluminum custom made windshield with safety glass, not plastic

Lexan rear window

Automotive style muffler to quiet it down for hunting (removable, but yet a plus for me)

CD player and speakers

New CV boots all the way around.

Aprox 1200 miles

So what would you think this is worth?

[Kinarfi]

Wrote this last night, but didn't get it posted, I used to like in Mnt View, but it was the one by Casper, but my wife says it was on Mnt view dr in Mills a hundred years ago,. Also lived in Rock Springs, so I'm a little familiar with what you'll be riding on, If you didn't already those wicked looking tires, I'd suggest something like what I have, they've lasted several years, I haven't found a windshield that does not act like a dust vacuum, so I don't have one, maybe the rear window fixes that. If you plan on listening to music, you have a good start with the muffler, but your snorkel will need a silence on it too, or you might be able to figure a way to put the filter up front, I was surprised by how much noise comes from the intake. I have over 16000 KM on mine so far. but I had to do a re-ring early on because of the junk filter, look for a fine dust down line from the filter, BAD, also, if you can do a compression test on it do so, an indication of low compression is hard to start when cold, but once started and warm, it's good until it gets cold again, I used to park on a hill just so I could get it started on cold mornings while camping.

I don't really know what it would be worth, good luck with that, I have been wanting to revisit the Killpecker dunes, Steam Boat & maybe even visit the Tri-Territorial monument again, maybe we can meet up in the future.

Kinarfi

Oh yea, there is or was a trooper in Kemmerer and another in that area also.

[rocmoc]

All IMHO!

First, $6000 is way too much for an '08. The '08 had to have a lot of upgrades. How do I know? I had one.

Second, Don't buy a Trooper unless you like working on it almost more than you play with it. They are not reliable!

Third, The clutch is great and is not a trouble point unless you don't know how to use a clutch correctly!

Fourth, Lousy in the Dunes without a lot of mods & $.

I had a Trooper & a second one for parts. Finally got tired of working on it and sold them. JMHO!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico