1999 isuzu MU/ vauxhall frontera: project tow car

[darrenh]

with the red astra gte sent off for "environmental disposal" and the white merit earmarked as shell donor, i had a space on the drive. in august i spotted a mate on mk2 forums selling vauxhall frontera for great price. after a few PMs exchanged i took the train oooop north to pick the truck up. it made the 177mile journey home to kent with ease, it ate the miles and its very quiet solid truck. very pleased with the price and the condition, its been well looked after. its got a few little bits that need sorting, mostly rust bubbles on the door lips and i'd like to add back some of the extras you could've ticked when new, cargo restraint net and such like. its X22SE engine, 77,300 miles (genuine) midnight black entry level estate with style pack. everything electrical works including 4wd and low range, the only "modification" its had is a cat back hand made stainless steel exhaust system 8)

my intentions are to keep it well, some offroading/laning and as a tow vehicle for my track day car(s)

for those interested the frontera was built/assembled in collaboration with isuzu at the luton IBC plant. its based heavily on isuzu MU (rodeo in USA) and uses almost identical underpinnings to the trooper (which was also rebadged by IBC to vauxhall monterey)

engines were mostly isuzu derived except the 2.2 petrol and diesel engines which we are familiar with in vectras/omegas. front has double wishbone independent suspension with torsion bars, rear is solid axle coil sprung with 5 link. axles are salisbury/dana and very robust. drive train layout is engine, gearbox, transfer box with low range. its rear wheel drive and a button on the dash uses vacuum/actuator system which engages/disengages output to the front prop AND locking system in the front diff. so its a true part time 4wd system. (unlike old leaf sprung land rovers for instance where the front prop and shafts still trundled along despite being disengaged from the transfer box)









a few immediate purchases were a new old stock lockable GM roof bars in unopened box ! went for buttons and about a 1/4 of the estimated thule setup





also picked up a rubber load space mat, only just noticed it has the dimples aping the rear bumper 8)



Lastly it was bang on cambelt schedule which these 2.2 are fussy about, i did a quick search on ebay and saw a gates kit for 75 quid which is a brand i trust. even has its own display case its all about the first impressions i guess



here's the start point



new idlers and tensioner installed, engine timed up and belt loosely installed. note high end cam locking tool





heres with the belt tensioned to "new" on the autotensioner. then i rotated the engine over by hand and re-checked the timing marks. believe it or not this picture is taken with the engine running, on the ecotec the tenioner needle tends to vibrate left to right slightly, so here you can see it averaged out

[qwerty]

Must admit to having a soft spot for these.

Want to build a slightly dropped one on some wide wheels with meaty tyres, kinda muscle truck style.

[darrenh]

looking at it, they would deffo tollerate being saloon car height. value for money is astonishing tbh, they are around the 1000 quid mark around the millennium sort of age, this one was less ! similar age defender you are looking at 5k+

couple of weekends ago i tried the first bit of proper offroading (in this) at a local place, well contained and supported site. over all i was very impressed with the performance for what is nearly an S.U.V (rather than dedicated offroader). it had zero traction problems, zero articulation problems, no entry or departure problems but did struggle badly with break over angle and general ground clearance. it kept shaving the tops off rutted areas and got beached on the middle cross member going over crests or breaking the top of ascents.











this was the one DOH moment, got properly beached on the crest of a hill climb, like literally 4 wheels off the ground rocking back and fourth. first attempt at recovery was a tow, that didnt work. attempt two was double vehicle winch attempt with a snatch block using one vehicle as anchor. that didn't work it was dragging the two winch vehicles, so then tried again with four vehicles and two snatch blocks, that got it over, phew !

[goingfinn]

I worked at a Vauxhall garage when this version of the Frontera came out. It was SOOO much better than the previous one...they're actually quite nice!

Glad you're having fun with it

[darrenh]

thanks G, i agree, when i bought it i thought well whats all the fuss about? i think the frontera A was a bit of bad apple that spoilt the barrel

[THE_Liam]

Oct 10, 2014 20:36:49 GMT darrenh said:

thanks G, i agree, when i bought it i thought well whats all the fuss about? i think the frontera A was a bit of bad apple that spoilt the barrel

To be honest I had a Frontera A for 6 months that I bought for peanuts and it was a great motor if a bit agricultural.

[omega]

oops

[omega]

Oct 11, 2014 11:07:37 GMT omega said:

a long time ago my mate bought one to tow his caravan then found out it couldn't leaglly tow it so check it out.he just towed it anyway and had no trouble with it then sold it for a landrover that was nothin but trouble.

[darrenh]

towing limit is 2.6 tonnes, what was his caravan made from lol !

[omega]

Oct 11, 2014 13:35:21 GMT darrenh said:

towing limit is 2.6 tonnes, what was his caravan made from lol !

maybe we got it wrong then,might have been a swb was a long time ago.

[darrenh]

might be license related ? swb is 2.4 tonnes.

in other news on wednesday i started noticing a puddle under the truck below the steering relay, nearly shat myself as the corner of high pressure steering hose looked a bit scabby. as it turned out it is actually coolant and the top of the radiator is cracked, :evil:



did a quick ebay search found a new plastic/alloy crimped which i genuinely hate. then noticed in the write up the same place sold copper brass versions for a bit of extra beer money so i bought one of those instead



the rad arrived lunch time friday which is great turn around. its made by a company called GS Radis which i've not heard of, googling it didnt fill me which much confidence either with headquarters in india (eek flash backs of britpart) but OEM for punjab tractors and swaraj was the official "that'll do" seal of approval for me in the hand it looks great build quality so we will see. here it is after i drained the coolant and removed the broken radiator



fitted the fan assembly which lined up spot on



then slid back into the truck, two hoses refitted. here i am re-using the old coolant, i wouldn't normally be so tight but it was changed recently.   I used a square of muslin as a filter to refill.



whats the point you say ?

[darrenh]

remedy for the beaching incident, + 3 rear springs with matching lengthened shocks, which i googled and turned out to be fronts from ford ranger and fronts from dodge ram

no front springs required as you just clock the torsion bars, within reason, as you start getting a bit of pos camber if you go crazy due to double wishbone.

[kenb]

Have to say I loved my 2.2 Diesel Frontera, mine was T plate. I also think it was the best tow vehicles(car based) I've had and I've tried lots. I had to get rid as it got to a point of needing far too much work for my wallet. It was replaced with a 2007 Ranger but if I'm honest, apart from towing capabilities which the Ranger is hard to beat, the Frontera was much more comfortable vehicle and was better equipped.
The only ongoing issue I had with the Frontera was the rubber vacuum pipes perishing usually denoted by turbo not kicking in, 4x4 not engaging, and EML light coming on under load. There seems to be miles of rubber piping,some hard to find and get at but once all renewed it was fine.

[darrenh]

Oct 21, 2014 11:09:20 GMT kenb said:

Have to say I loved my 2.2 Diesel Frontera, mine was T plate

thats good ken, its nice to read a few more "that'll do" stories, rather than the die hards who are predisposed to liking it for underdog reasons! i have read the 2.2dti is the "B series" achilles heel, not a terrible engine but seem to be the most talked about and temperamental

[darrenh]

p.s

Oct 21, 2014 11:09:20 GMT kenb said:

best tow vehicles(car based)

how very dare you i'll have you now these are separate ladder chassis trucks !

[camper damper]

I have a neighbour who as had 20+ of this I think they all live in his back garden still

[kenb]

Oct 21, 2014 12:17:50 GMT darrenh said:

p.s

Oct 21, 2014 11:09:20 GMT kenb said:

best tow vehicles(car based)

how very dare you i'll have you now these are separate ladder chassis trucks !

Ha ha I know they have- but still classed as car as far as insurance goes (and going to the tip!!) unlike the Ranger which is commercial.

Anyway all this has got me looking at Frontera's on the bay again, and its your fault!! Last of the line 53/04 still seem to be commanding a good price though.


As for the DTi lump being an Achilles heel, not sure on that one, mine had 140,000+ miles when I sold it and it didn't burn a drop of oil. Never broke down to the point we couldn't get home either just those silly vac pipes. Sadly I'm sure previously to me it had a hard life wading in salt water, as the tin worm started to appear everywhere and it got to the point either find another better one or get something else.

[darrenh]

since i bought the fronty i've been on the look out for a "cargo restraint net" to use as a dog guard, pretty standard issue 1990s/2000s item seem to be used on tonnes of cars, seen them on bmw, renault, vauxhall...



for some reason genuine frontera ones are hens teeth, i did try humouring my local vauxhall parts department for a price on a new one, they returned the unsurprising verdict of "425 quid, to you" (which is trade price too, eek)

so plan B, ebay seems to be awash with vectra and sintra estate versions which use the same fixings. i pestered a few sellers for the dimensions and was surprised to hear most of them were 20-30 cm too narrow for a frontera, that gives you a good indication how big these vehicles are despite looking a bit "mk3 cavalier"

so plan C, retro rides arts and crafts sunday! whilst on ebay i saw a guard listed for a renault megane estate, 35 quid buy it now, i thought i'd take a punt on that and strip it down for the hardware.



half hour with the stitch unpickerererer i was at this stage, i just need the bars and the straps.



as above its way too narrow for frontera, i needed to halve the top and bottom rails then extend them



6 quid of 20mm tube from wickes, approx 30cm for the bottom and 20 for the top



then i used the shonky 70s workmate, the V groove in the jaws proving useful to keep the tube sections straight and centred, i put spots of mig weld, rotated it, spotted and so on.



you can see the extension piece is slightly bigger outside diameter than the original, but wont be seen so it doesn't matter



then onto the net. i found a supplier online selling 1 inch square netting for 7 quid a meter, 2.5mm thick. as you'll see from the next few pictures it arrived flattened. i.e the holes were diamond shape, not square. when i pulled it on the diagonals to make the holes square it was trying to return back under tension. not a problem when its fitted as the tension on the straps will pull it square, just a curse word to work with. i got this far after putting the net in boiling water and pulling it square.



then i bought some black leatherette from dunelm mill, 7 quid a meter (noticing a theme here lol) this will be used to wrap the sides and provide loops for the bars, much same as original construction. bit of a test run here using the trusty old singer 141...



then onto wrapping the sides of the net, which was fun as every few inches you hit a knot



top and sides finished



then the bottom sewed on plus all the hardware fitted, not bad for about 55 quid all in, got a tonne of materials left over too

[brachunky]

Well done Darren,nice truck indeed! I have off roaded/green laned an A series lwb in the past and found it to be a cracking bit of kit after a few mods were done. I found early on,that removing the side steps was essential (before they are crushed!) and you may want to find the underbody steel protection plates from an A series as they are made from steel instead of yours which were plastic from the factory. I cant remember exactly the spec of your model, but if they have auto front hubs, replacing them with a pair of AVM manual hubs is a worthwhile mod as they are much stronger than the auto's!

[darrenh]

Nov 23, 2014 13:07:46 GMT brachunky said:

Well done Darren,nice truck indeed! I have off roaded/green laned an A series lwb in the past and found it to be a cracking bit of kit after a few mods were done. I found early on,that removing the side steps was essential (before they are crushed!) and you may want to find the underbody steel protection plates from an A series as they are made from steel instead of yours which were plastic from the factory. I cant remember exactly the spec of your model, but if they have auto front hubs, replacing them with a pair of AVM manual hubs is a worthwhile mod as they are much stronger than the auto's!

thanks bra. i think you are right, a bit of ground clearance brings them right into their own.

B series 98 onwards have a steel diff guard from the nose to the engine, but then a plastic tray under the engine. steel skid plate under the fuel tank too (well it used to be steel, usually oxide now ) the front hubs are direct drive, the 4wd control disengages the front CROWN-wheel from the diff (some how, vacuum/solenoid operated locking system)