2scoops

You can get all that stuff from Silverbulletmotorsports. Next time I look into tie rod ends I will be looking for something better than OEM. I bought new ones a few hundred KM's ago and they are already starting to get a little loose and the boots are cracked--again. I may go to a rod end with high misalignment spacers. Silverbullet sells ball joints with zerk fittings and better rubber boots. For the biggest improvement in steering slop, I HIGHLY recommend Lenny's steering improvement kit. He usually has these on EBAY. If you move your steering wheel back and forth you will notice the forks of the steering box move up and down prior to the tires moving. This is the source of most of the play. Lenny's kit will elliminate 90% of that. I have also seen that Silverbullet is marketing an upgraded steering box, but I don't know much about it. It is inherent in the design of these boxes that they will wear out internally. Lenny's kit allows you to keep tightening as the housing of the box continues to wear (it is adjustable).

Make sure you have the rear CV drive shaft. The stock one with U-Joints can go at any mileage. I would put the diff upgrade on your list of things to do, but it isn't a no go on driving immediatley if you do a quick check of your diff bolts. Jack up the front & rear of your Trooper and look through the oil fill plug. If all of the bolts are there and they don't appear to be loose then I would drive it and do the upgrade when you get some downtime. My Trooper has 1300 hard kilometers on it and they are still holding strong, but I will be doing the upgrade soon.

Good to have you fellow Vet. I just watched a pretty powerful story on CNN's website about a returned Veteran struggling with the horrors from war--pretty powerful. As an Air Force guy I never had to go outside the wire while I was there, yet it still left a profounding life-long affect on me. I served at Balad Air Base during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Daily, they tried to kill those of us that were on the base. I could'nt imagine what those who went off base were subjected to. I quickly gained a deep respect for those who did--thank you. This is an excellent forum for information about your Trooper. Without it, many of our Troopers might be in the boneyard. There are few questions that go left unanswered.

Yeah, keep me posted on October. Have you done Porcupine 4X4 trail? Is it any good? Did you ever find a 20% incline to test your machine on? Mine has been tore down getting ready for Moab, so I am not sure if when I will get to it--if ever.

There is nothing in that video the Trooper can't do. The obstical that the RZR rolled over on is called Tip Over Challenge. I went up this with my family of 5 without a fear. The Trooper is far more stable than the shorter and narrower RZR. I had to hook a line to my buddy's RZR S as a just in case because he took the wrong line as did the RZR in the video. One day I would like to try the Devils Hot Tub (obvious which one that is in the video), but I would prefer to be without the family and the rear seat installed. I think the Trooper could do it un-assisted. The next most difficult one in the video is called Escalator. The video only showed a short glimpse of this one. I believe Banjo Minnow said he has done this in his Trooper. Everone MUST go to Moab at least once!!!

Just wanted to post some FYI on CV boots: Well, the only issue I have run into with my new long travel front suspension is my CV boots binding at full droop & full turn. They bound up so much so, that the last time I went to Moab my left front CV boot kept kicking off. So, I contacted Gorilla Axle and they sent me a pair of their long travel CV boots. Now, I gave them the dimensions of our axle and the salesman said the ones he was sending would work. Well, they showed up and they were tiny. So, with only a short time till Moab I looked in the parts/pieces thread and went down to the ol' Autozone and picked me up some 95' Geo Metro boots. The worked great! It is a uni-boot style that will fit a few different vehicles. They are thinner material than stock which is exactly what I was needing. However, that means they are more suseptable to tearing as well, but I am sure they won't crack like the stock rubber. With the stock boots when I would perform a compound angle on the CV it would pinch the boot. With these other boots I can feel the metal internals contacting instead of the boot. I am running Moab this weekend and I will update with more info after I test them.

I will be camping in Sandflats if anyone wants you meet up for a ride.

Just throwing a cheap option out there. Could you use your trooper winch?

And, there is a distributor in NZ: Below is the name of the distributor in New Zealand; please contact them and they will direct you to their dealers. Name: Air Power Systems Region: New Zealand Telephone: +61 3 9720 4211 Facsimile: +61 3 9761 7665 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.airpowersystems.com.au

Just a quick update. I took the Trooper around the neighborhood ,and when I came back I decided to watch the RPM gauge again while it crawled up my driveway (20-23% incline). It actually dropped as low as 500 RPM but then began to pick up to 700-800 rpm as it crawled up in 1st gear. No pedal input necessary. Banjow Minnow is going to try and find a similar grade hill and see what would happen with his stock set up if he attempted to idle up it. If it stalls out, it would give everyone a little more tangible data on the fuel controller.

I can't walk by my Trooper without taking a second look! I have never bought a single thing in my life that I didn't later modify from stock form. I have always put my signature on everything I owned, something to seperate it from the rest of the herd. When researching UTV's I read all of the problems with the different models. It did just so happen that the Trooper did seem to have the majority of them, but it was also far less money. With everything to consider there was one key word that seperated it from all of the other UTV's on the market: TUBE CHASSIS! That was all I needed to know. With that I knew that no matter the problem I could modify, customize, and retrofit anything my mind came up with--the sky is the limit! Add in the great 85hp Chery motor and it was a done deal for the price. Would I like to have a RZR XP? Sure, but not for $20k after taxes and fees. Besides, I would get bored being the king of the hill and not having something to shoot for. My original goal was to compete with my buddy's RZR4 & RZR S. We currently go tit for tat in everything we compete in with our UTV's--except for sticker price I can only imagine the improvements I could make to my Trooper if I invested the money that they had into their RZR's. ITS DIFFERENT! When I go out with my buds, nobody goes up to see their UTV's. RZR's are a dime a dozen. They all walk over to see the massive 30" tires on my Trooper. Then they comment on the 4 cylinder motor, then the axles, then the stick shift, then the lockers, then the size, etc, etc! I just felt I had to share my enthusiasm for my Trooper after some of the bashing we have given it lately. If and when Joyner USA gets up and running again the values of our Troopers will increase significantly. I wish them the best of luck! The only dowside is we won't be the only Troopers out there anymore Heck, maybe our 2008 & 2009 Troopers will become collector cars--JK--LOL

You still have a Joyner dealer up by you?

So will you be marketing the supercharger kit? A ball park price would be nice, so I can start saving my pennys.

First of all, I wanted to say I am absolutely impressed and amazed at the resolve it must have taken you to complete all of those engine upgrades. I hope it exceeds your expectations! So, when can I drop my Trooper off to Lenny's race factory? How much? Second, I hear all of the concerns with our rear diff. Now, considered if we do the upgraded kit, get everything aligned properly, is it still considered a weak diff? I mean it is HUGE. It has to be twice the size of a RZR's. Are we saying it is overall just weak, or are we just saying it is the weakest link in the chain? Cause even on the best built rock crawler, the differentials & axles although beefed up, are still the weakest link due to the torque applied on them. Is that what we are saying about ours? Or, is there a better option our there for strength in the UTV market? Last, am I not supposed to rev the engine and let the clutch fly? Is it bad to constantly bounce off of the rev limiter? If that is bad then I don't want to be good

Thanks for the info. I was actually wondering if just the head might bolt on to our motor, but it sounds unlikely. Funny story about the Chery cars: A buddy of mine used to work for Autoliv which is an airbag manufacturer. His wife still works for them and is pretty high up. Well, she is always going to China, so I asked him if they make airbags for Chery. He chuckled and said yes. He proceeded to inform me that all airbags are specifically timed to the speed of the crush zones of each specific car. He said they were unable to make one deploy fast enough for some of the Chery cars

Brostars post on the 1.9L diesel motor prompted me to research other motors. I found this: http://cheryengine.manufacturer.globalsources.com/si/6008830697655/pdtl/Gas-engine/1040376248/1.2L-Gasoline-Engine.htm It appears to be basically the same engine as ours but is listed as a 1.2L. It has the exact same dimensions but has 12 more hp and 12 more ft/lb of torque. Different head perhaps? If that is the case, I am curious if it would bolt right up and how much it would be? Brostar, do you have any idea?

Thanks to Mike for answering my questions and taking the time to communicate it so well. I think sometimes question marks get overlooked on posts if you even slightly stray off topic.

I was leery the first time I took mine out too, but mine had 4x's the number of miles yours does and they were all HARD miles--condition of the underneath of your trooper can tell you how hard they may have been. I would just say good air filter (I think you said you had one), chaffing wires, verify you have the rear CV driveline, then go beat it up! Mine has never left me stranded. My confidence has only increased since I purchased it. The last time I got stranded it was on my Honda Foreman. Right now I carry two extra parts (not including consumables): Coolant T-line (Gumball had his crack & explode). Mine is plastic, but if you have the upgraded metal one you should be good. Tierod joint

Prior to purchasing I did check my bolts on both the front & rear diffs. They both look good. My first concern, as you mentioned, was that the bolts were backing out and hitting the housing. My rear diff has the tabs and the front has safety wire (mechanics wire). In my opinion, safety wire should be better at holding the bolts tight. If safety wired properly, it will actually hold tension on the bolts in the tightening direction. If the problem is the safety wire breaking then it was probably done incorrectly (overtightened). Another fix would be to use thicker wire. My front diff does not have nearly the same amount of particles as the rear. It must be due to the greater stress being put on the diff. I showed Banjo Minnow your steering tightening kit when we met up in Moab. He was impressed and noticed a significant difference between mine and his steering play. I believe it is the most cost effective and efficient solution out there. You did a great job fabricating it, and that is why I felt confident in purchasing your diff kit--good job!

I have to be honest, I am getting a little confused on the big picture of Joyner. Here is how I understand it, but I may be way off: Joyner factories in China are still building vehicles and parts, but there is no major Joyner Importer in the US; however, other countries are experiencing no problems? Are the gentlemen listed above trying to get it going again? If so, to what extent? Small importer or large (similar to what it once was)? If it does get going again, there needs to be some serious quality assurance over in China making sure things are being done right. In the last three years we have identified nearly every single issue which can fault a Joyner. If ALL of these items were fixed they would rival anything out there. All of my friends that have checked mine out say they would rather have it than any other UTV (price being considered of course). Then, I explain the inherant issues with it...I almost feel like I am talking them out of buying one. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my machine, but I got it for a very good price, so I feel all of the fabrication and uprades I have done are justifiable. If I paid sticker price I would feel very different. If 90% of the issues are fixed with new models it would be a steal @ $12k.

I told you he was a good dude. It kind of makes me wish I would have waited on some AFCO shocks. Even though I didn't purchase a single item through Makintrax he has still spent hours with me on the phone helping me get the right set up. If I didn't go dual rate I would have long since been done. I have found that dual rate shocks can be an enigma trying to figure the correct spring rates and an enima on my pocket book.

I think the trooper diffs are far more advanced than we give them credit for. They seem to be spitting out the stuff they don't need.

Looks like a great deal. Cammo is a sweet color. I thought you said you didn't have to be sneaky? Maybe the wife won't even notice it in the garage

Just got off the phone with my man Steve at Makintrax suspension. He is waiting to hear some feedback from Quig on the AFCO shocks he buit for him. Also, he said that someone in Orange County is going to bring him a Trooper to take measurements on (is that you ricksb?). He should be able to come up with a single rate near bolt-in solution on shocks for the Trooper. I say near bolt-in because our shock mount holes are a gargantuous metric bolt hole diameter and his shocks come with in 1/2" bolt hole rod ends (most UTV shocks do). I suggest using a 5/8" sleeve (available at Lowes) over the 1/2" bolt. You will just have to drill the Trooper shock mounts out to 5/8" and cut the sleeve to fit. The sleeve will not only center the shock & hold it in place but act as a misaligment spacer. We are getting closer