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02' Rodeo Vauxhall

69K views 266 replies 50 participants last post by  ZuminaZX 
#1 ·
I've decided to edit this thread to include a little history about my truck. A prequel to what it has become.

I'll start with a little history about it. It's a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo that I purchased used in 2004. It had less than 45000 miles on it then. I paid approx $15500.00 for it at Carmax.

My first mods were simple inexpensive ones. I put 31" tires on with a simple t-bar lift and valley spring works springs. the Yakima rack was added around the same time. I had some old 31" Firestone MTs from an old Pup that I ran for a while too.

Roof rack installed




31" TOYO ATs with shiney 15" snowflakes


Then I got some wheels off a wrecked Vehicross


Got an OEM brush guard on Ebay





Took it wheeling on several occasions:

Badlands in 2006


Exploring The Adirondacks in 2006





Philadelphia summer of 2007


Louisiana fall of 2007


Camping with Father N Law in 2009


I did a few other mods in this time:
I made a custom skid plate out of a thick piece of aluminum. It has held up really well and gives me more coverage than stock.


Rancho RS 5000's and some lift pucks were added after I fatigued the Valley Spring Works springs with a heavy load of landscape rock.


Post install


Hard mounted power inverter on passenger side


CB


Used it for a mobile office at work a time or two


It was my daily driver for most of that time period but was idled from about 2007 to 2010 while I was on the west coast for work. It's primary duty then, was dog hauler.

Although idled, it wasn't forgotten about. I had researched, planned and dreamed of what I wanted to do with this truck. Inspired by this picture and several builds on this site, I started planning for the mods.


Even tried out different color scheme ideas


And in time, found several e-bay and classifieds deals which I stockpiled for a later install. Then, I was finally able to make it happen!
See original post below.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now that I'm actually closer to home, I was able to get some time to work on it. For the conversion, I wanted to make it a Vauxhall but I didn't want it to look like a re-badged Rodeo. That became a reality when I was told about a TJM bumper in Atlanta. (Thanks to Jesse and this forum!)

To do the conversion, I started with the bumper 1st cause if it didn't look right, what would be the point. Being made for the Australian Rodeo, It wasn't an exact fit. Apparently the Rodeos (4 door trucks) over there kept the 1st gen frame a bit longer. To make it work, I had to notch it and redrill it to fit the American Rodeo. Once fitted, I was good but the grille did not match up. it didn't look bad but it didn't look right either. There was a large gap between the two. Luckily I had some scrap aluminum lying around. I sized it to fit under the grille. Hella fog lights were hooked into the factory wiring to complete the look.

Original bumper (picture courtesy of Beagler)


Test fitting


Areas that needed notched ( I also had to remove the bullets on from of the frame rails)




I took apart the bumper to paint match to the Rodeo. Before reassembly, I repainted the grille to match the filler pieces and bumper since the color wasn't an exact match. And since I was in the painting mood, I also painted the black trim pieces on my rear doors. I'd been wanting to do that for a while!

Final fitment after the bumper was painted and reassembled.


Some time ago, I had gotten some tail light guards. They were used and had been collecting dust so it was time that they were installed. The drivers side was broken and needed a little work, not having welding skills or a welder, I made a bracket to sturdy up the guard. The bracket looked funny so I figured it may as well be functional. So I made it capable of mounting a CB antenna to.



I damaged my OEM factory roof rack. Rather the fix the old, I decided to remedy the situation with a heavy duty rack that will support more than 100lbs. I used a few pieces of pipe and some aluminum grab bar ends. They needed some adjustment to fit correctly but looking at them, you wouldn't think they were originally meant for a bathroom. I painted them to match everything else. Xterra cross bars complete the look and fix the Yakima rack to the rails. Fearing that a lot of white might be too much of a good thing, I kept the rack black.

New roof rail mount


New rail with Vauxhall badge on door


Lastly was the Vauxhall Badges. They took a while to find, I had gotten them one by one over the course of a coupe years. I had three different types, one large, three mediums and two smalls. I put the mediums in place of the Rodeo badges and the large on the front bumper. The chrome griffin went on the rear, the black and chrome on the front.

Vauxhall Badge collection


Rear Badge


How she looks now









To complete the detail of the conversion, I blacked out the Isuzu center caps. The only other give away to the true identity are the airbag and radio. I have a Vauxhall airbag and can black out the cover on the radio. The only problem is my Vauxhall airbag is black. My next plan is to swap the brown steering wheel and column cover with a black one, but to look right, I'll need to put in a black console, get black seat covers and trim, install black carpet and get some door inserts made. That's for a later update.

All and all, it may be a bit blingy, but I'm overall pleased with the look. Now to get some better tires and get it out on the trails.
 
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#4 ·
Wow. That bumper really gives you an impressive angle of approach. What size shoes do you think you'll end up running? Are you going to stick with the "blingy" wheels or go to something else?
 
#6 ·
I noticed yours has something that mine (the first picture you have posted) doesn't - - those "T" spaces for the the hi-lift jack.

I wish the clear lights on the bumper provided more light than they do, but I guess they are just clear versions of the running lights. It's tempting to modify that space for projection beams. :D
 
#7 ·
That looks killer. I like the bumper painted to match verses black.

Me likey a lot.
 
#8 ·
Thanks everyone. I really like the way it turned out. Had a guy pacing me earlier trying to figure it out.....Boy, one thing is for sure, I can tell the bumper is on there. Rides a lot smoother though.

Basejob said:
I noticed yours has something that mine (the first picture you have posted) doesn't - - those "T" spaces for the the hi-lift jack.

I wish the clear lights on the bumper provided more light than they do, but I guess they are just clear versions of the running lights. It's tempting to modify that space for projection beams. :D
Yeah, kinda weird. Mine was all one piece too. Yours was two pieces with a separate mounting bracket. Is that correct? One must be an earlier version of the other.

You know, speaking of lights. I saw something in the auto parts store "JC Whitney" section the other day. They sell low profile LED fog lights that are about an inch tall. They might just fit PERFECTLY between your bumper and grille. Filling the gap and providing extra lighting. Just an idea.

stusvend said:
Wow. That bumper really gives you an impressive angle of approach. What size shoes do you think you'll end up running? Are you going to stick with the "blingy" wheels or go to something else?
I'm going to install the rims and tires that I put on the RS. Mainly to see what they look like. They're 17" Nissan rims with 32" BF Gs. Also may install some wheel spacers to get the stance a bit wider. I'll probably run these as street tires though since most of my driving is highway. I'd hate to wear out the good tires....
 
#9 ·
cronk said:
Basejob said:
I noticed yours has something that mine (the first picture you have posted) doesn't - - those "T" spaces for the the hi-lift jack.

I wish the clear lights on the bumper provided more light than they do, but I guess they are just clear versions of the running lights. It's tempting to modify that space for projection beams. :D
Yeah, kinda weird. Mine was all one piece too. Yours was two pieces with a separate mounting bracket. Is that correct? One must be an earlier version of the other.

You know, speaking of lights. I saw something in the auto parts store "JC Whitney" section the other day. They sell low profile LED fog lights that are about an inch tall. They might just fit PERFECTLY between your bumper and grille. Filling the gap and providing extra lighting. Just an idea.

Yeah, mine was two seperate pieces.. which is excellent, I realized I can do a 2" body lift and just drill a new set of holes whereever I need to and bolt it up higher.

I definetly like how you have those hi-lift points though. Guess we can't have it all. :D
 
#14 ·
Basejob said:
I think if you painted your mirrors to match.. you'd complete the scheme.
Didn't notice that at first but yeah.. x2 on that :thumbup:
 
#15 ·
stusvend said:
Basejob said:
I think if you painted your mirrors to match.. you'd complete the scheme.
Didn't notice that at first but yeah.. x2 on that :thumbup:
Yeah, I tried to win some Passport ones on E-bay some time ago. Got sniped at the last minute. I sent that guy Ron found a message about the ones he has, we'll see. Otherwise, what I was planning to keep the black ones and black out my doors between the windows.

Edit:
Kinda like this

 
#18 ·
I do like the scheme with the black between the doors. I like painted mirrors too but with all that white you defiantly need something a different color, so go with the black b-pillars and black mirrors in my opinion.
 
#19 ·
beagler said:
I'm jealous of how good that looks. The matching paint was a nice touch. Also, I'm sure that you'll enjoy being able to put some substantial weight in the roof basket.

Good job!
I couldn't have done it if you hadn't found the smokin deal on the bumper! I appreciate the heads up there. And besides, mine is more of an urban crawler unlike yours which will go places mine won't. I still need the lockers, terra lows, dif drops, heavy duty tie rods and most importantly, to hit some trails again. It's a shame Moab occurs during my anniversary. I at least hope to make it to uwharrie this year. We'll see what work allows!
 
#20 ·
Added the Yakima roof rack using some modified Xterra cross bars. It still needs some work but it is pretty sturdy now! I will be freshening it up with some hammered steel paint.

I finished the CB antenna mount mach up. Still need beef it up and add a spring in case I hit something like a tree limb, it won't rip my entire tail light off.



And most importantly, I did a test swap with the wheels and tires that were on the RS Trooper. Mainly to see how it drove on the 32's but also to see how it looked. I'll probably go back to the VX wheels but I like the look.




Had a few people ask me about it so far.
One guy asked if it was a Honda, another thought it was a souped up Subaru and one guy knew what a Vauxhall was but was wondering how I got it into the states.
 
#21 ·
That looks awesome! I'm still kicking myself for missing out on the TJM bumper sale. I have always preferred the TJM look to that of the ARB.

After seeing yours, I'm now convinced that my new bumper will have to be color matched as well. Nice job.
 
#22 ·
Have a few updates:

Hooked the fog lights to the factory harness. All I needed was a switch and the relay for the fuse panel. They don't work with the brights though....What's up with that? Edit: Just saw apgamer's post, yellow wire with the red stripe, you are doomed.........
The Hellas are pretty darned bright though, I may end up switching things around.

Got my sliders welded on in prep for Uwharrie. :D I cheated and paid a guy to do it so they wouldn't fall off..... (my welds would look like chewing gum.....)



Also added Lin-Ex to my old grey Husky Line floor mats. It really freshened them up! I always hated the fact that they were gray and my truck had a tan interior. I tried the bumper black stuff before but it all flaked off over time. I think the linex will stick pretty well. It took all weekend to get it off my arm....Gives me ideas about my scuffed up interior trim pieces.




You can see my white face upgrade from an Amigo Sport that installed a little while back. They dropped my miles back down to 39000 though...... :lol:

And...... I decided to spend a little and upgrade my seats! I know, kind of hoaky to have leather seats in an off-roader but I do more on highway driving than off. Might as well be comfy! Didn't expect to win them but I made an offer and they accepted. They came from a wrecked Axiom. They should arrive this week, not sure I'll get them installed in time for the trip but we'll see. Anybody know how to tap into the power seat wiring harness? I'm hoping the harness is already there like the fog lights.


I'm going to have to black out the Axiom until I can get some Vauxhall patches sewn in. Also going to have to get the door panels upholstered to match..... Now to get that Vauxhall airbag installed, get a black carpet kit, black trim pieces, and finish my cargo area storage system.......
 
#25 ·
I think it looks awesome with those 17" wheels, Nice rack setup btw. Looks good fully loaded.

Can´t wait to see some action pics!

Have fun!
 
#26 ·
Here are some action photos from the trip to Uwharrie. None of the trails I took were that complex but it was fun to watch the others take the hard lines. I had a great time meeting everybody and hanging out.







Unfortunately, on a night run. I was trying to avoid a tree stump and wound up turning into a 3' drop off. Right front tire went in, left front tire stayed out. End result was the truck kind of spinning to the right on the front bumper and flipping end over onto its roof. Right into 2 feet of gooey, sticky mud. The damages were to the rear quarter and a bit of the roof. Luckily, neither me nor Leland (Reran) were injured. we were wearing our seat belts. My biggest injury was to my pride! :oops: well that and my *** after my wife chewed on it for a good twenty minutes.........

I owe a big thanks to everyone who helped. We no more than rolled down the window and Peter, Billy, JP & Jason were all there to help! A crack team of winch experts had the truck out with no additional damage.







Fortunately I do have full coverage and it will cover me on the use of forestry service roads. Had I been in a race or some kind of competition it would have been a different story.

I'm working with the insurance company and body shop to determine how the repairs will be handled. I fear it will be close to total loss do to the kink in the roof but I'll pay out of pocket to avoid the salvage title status if that is what it comes to.
 
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