Isuzu Cabovers?

[CumminFast]

Anybody have any helpful information on these trucks? I am considering buying a couple of these trucks... a 94 Isuzu npr diesel and a 95 isuzu npr gas both w/ auto trannies. Anybody know what year models to avoid? Is there anyway to get more power out of the 4banger diesel? Any info would be great.

 

[Todd G]

I've owned 6 over the years. RUN from a used gasser NPR! They wear out quickly and are used up after the typical 3 year lease. The diesels are much better. I sold one with 350k and it still ran good. I would think a 94 and a 95 would have extremely high miles on them. I'd get something a little newer.

 

[CumminFast]

The diesel has 120k and the gasser has 95k and they want 5k each.

 

[JHerr]

We had a '87 Isuzu rollback at work. It tended to be used for longer trips. But our 4-cylinder had something like 125 hp. and it drove like it had no more than that. But, you would think that the fuel mileage would be decent. No way, only about 13. 5 mpg.

It rode rough, shifted terrible, had a noisy, drafty cab, and continually disappointed. Everyone at work was glad to see it go when it was replaced with a Chevy Kodiak with a Cat 3116. Not a perfect truck, but FAR better than what we had before.

The NPR turned short, but that was about it.

My experience with Japanese iron has been poor. Between the Isuzu and the Toyota forklift that we had at work, the negatives outweigh the positives. I would not buy Japanese rolling stock for a long time. My experience has taught me that their reputation exceeds reality.

 

[Todd G]

Based on my experience, the diesels get around 14mpg and the gassers 10mpg. The diesels are 135hp or 175hp and the chevy 350 is around 190hp. The gas models acellerate faster but you pay at the pump and at 95k miles will be used up if it has a box on the back. A flatbed may do better at the pump also. Those are pretty good prices on both trucks. I'd go with the diesel if I had the choice.



P. S. Isuzu NPR's are not built to be very comfortable. They are cheap, reliable work trucks. You can get parts for them at your local chevy dealer.

 

[CumminFast]

A furniture store has owned both of them for their complete life. It just doesn't seem like they could be abused too much. I mean 50% of the time they are running empty. I am prob gonna offer him 8k for both. Are the automatics really $3500 to rebuild?

 

[ndurbin]

I had a few friends that worked for a furniture store back in high school and they were not easy on those trucks. They ran them at the governed speed ALL the time. I do know it was an Isuzu gasser w/ a 15' box on it but not much else.



Nathan

 

[JoeBioDiesel]

I've worked on a few of those. I don't like the gassers and wouldn't own one. The diesels are nice and can go a long time before wearing out. The 4 cylinder turbos blow head gaskets with some regularity. They are a relatively easy fix though. I don't recall ever having to fix anything else on the motors. The transmissions are pretty expensive to fix. The converters are a large chunk of that price tag. I've never found a cheap source of those that I trusted enough to install. If you drive in the snow, avoid spinning the wheels... the diff will scatter, and they are pretty costly too. A few Snap-on guys run them as Tech Trucks, loaded to about 15K with a 14ft box. They get about 13 MPG on average.

Joe

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Have you looked into the UD line of trucks?



They make a sweet little ~6L I6 diesel... and allegedly have a good track record.



Matt