1998 Isuzu NPR Tow Rig/Race Support Truck

Well, in my continuing quest for a "better" tow rig, that has resulted in buying increasingly larger tow rigs, Im now the owner of a 98' Isuzu NPR, with the GM 5.7l V8/4L80E combo, bought sight unseen from an auction. As is tradition here on GRM, im starting the thread before getting the truck home. Ive been scheming about building one of these trucks for a while, finally happened across one at the right price to send it on.  Plans, currently, involve swapping the front axle for a dana super 60, giving me 4WD, and replacing the 5.7 motor with some form of turbo LS, since you basically have all the room in the world for engine swaps in these, and they came in later years with a factory 6.0LS, so i know it fits. if the body thats on the back allows it, id like to try and build some form of sleeping setup in it, to save having to get hotels, but i have no idea whats in the back, could be anything from 3 bodies to all the lost 10mm sockets in the back, i wont know until tomorrow morning when i go to sign paperwork.  In the mean time, heres some pictures from the auction listing

If this doesn't wind up with the BOV routed through a rubber chicken im gonna be mad. 

Hey, neat. This should be cool.

Are these things okay on the highway, or are they geared too low?

Your row rig has no tow hitch...yet?

Run_Away said:

Hey, neat. This should be cool.

Are these things okay on the highway, or are they geared too low?

IIRC, in stock form, they are geared a bit low, and the 4 cyclinder diesel versions are no spring chicken, but they will get there. if i stumble upon the correct rear axle, a re-gear could be in it future

John Welsh said:

Your row rig has no tow hitch...yet?

definitely a "yet". that entire rear bumper setup just isnt gonna work for what i have in mind, most likely it will be entirely removed and replaced with a hitch plate, and the lights relocated up top where they wont drag or get smashed in to things. 

I never knew the model name for these things.

Looks like it'll be a useful rig when you're done with it.

Plus, for a modest pledge of $40, you can get the matching tote bag:

Funny, we were having work done on our house earlier this week and the guys were driving one of these and I thought, 'Hm, I wonder how that would work as a hauler'. I guess I'm about to find out. 

How much lift do you need for the 4wd swap?

In reply to Gaunt596 :

I drove one of the 4 cylinder diesels brand new ( in '99) as a delivery truck from Seattle to Portland and it really moved well.  80 MPH was not uncommon for me. But, from what you've said, a turbo LS is in the cards for it anyway. This should be fun.

I was wondering how those would work as a hauler as well. How do they drive on the highway?

thatsnowinnebago said:

How much lift do you need for the 4wd swap?

None at all, actually. Theres nothing above the front axle but the cab, and theres a good 10" or so of clearance between where the diff would be, and the cab floor. The biggest issue is front driveshaft clearance, or lack therof.

Took a jaunt up to the copart lot, did some paperwork today. tow company cant get the truck until Tuesday, so ill have to wait a bit before i can dive into it, but i did stop and take a look over it while i was up there. 

No bodies, no 10mm sockets either. does smell like wet dog in the back, so the carpet in there needs to go, and it definitely could used a good cleaning in there.

well, the frame up front isnt too terrible, considering its a PA truck, the cab is exceptionally clean too, dosent have the typical cab rot around the door sills that they all seem to have. Motor and trans dont appear to have any catastrophic failures, fluids look decent in both. 

battery tray is in an interesting, if inconvenient spot. its up front under the cab, vs the more typical passenger side frame rail under the box.

underside of the cab looks alright, a few rusty brackets here and there, but theres no holes in the floor that i could find.

hmmm, smashed coolant bottle, and subsequently empty radiator. wonder if it was run out of coolant, and thats why it got parked? air filter housing looks like its seen better days too.

frame definitely has a date with a soda blaster in its future. but its not totally delaminated, and i didn't see any gaping holes that weren't there from the factory. Also interesting that it has a board between the box and frame on both sides, wonder if that was for frame flex?

passenger frame rail is in about the same shape, the Ubolts holding the box look due for replacement as well. also looks fairly easy to remove the box from truck.

Overall seems like i got a fairly decent one. totally forgot to take pics of the outside or the interior, but no real suprises there, the pics from the auction lot were pretty representative of the truck as a whole. Not a ton to do now but wait until shes delivered to the shop. 

In reply to Run_Away :

I drove a dumptruck one, that did 75ish

In reply to Gaunt596 :

I always assumed the wood was for cushion, it's common on box and straight trucks. Every Uhaul is like this, too.

JaxRhapsody said:

In reply to Gaunt596 :

I always assumed the wood was for cushion, it's common on box and straight trucks. Every Uhaul is like this, too.

that makes sense, didnt think about that. and they will definetly do highway speed, im sure throwing a few more boosted ponies in this one will help it greatly

It looks like NO is spelled out on the windshield.  Is this truck a runner?  

John Welsh said:

It looks like NO is spelled out on the windshield.  Is this truck a runner?  

no, it is not. battery in it is flat, didnt bother jumping it in the yard to see if it would crank. im thinking it was overheated and seized, and then parked/sold. 

I bet a stripper pole will fit nicely in the back. 

They had a flat bed one of these at my old job. I got to drive it once from a sand pit in south jersey back to our central shop in bucks County PA a tad over weight as I was hauling a bucket for a Cat front end loader (might have been from a 980) that need to be rebuilt. It cruised at legal speeds just fine, believe it was the diesel engine. 

I drove a similar utility body for years on a different chassis. It wasn't an NPR, it was a van cutaway. 
 

It was an incredibly awesome rolling workshop. 
 

Yes, you can fit sleeping area in it. I put a bed side to side behind the cab above the tool boxes. 
 

My only reservation with these is that it is easy to load the tool boxes fully and find you are pushing the GVWR. There is a LOT of volume in there, and tools, etc get heavy. I found I never off loaded the unnecessary stuff, and often rode heavy. Heavy enough that my towing capacity was limited. 
 

Also, the weight sits pretty high. It affected it's handling.

Fuel economy eventually did me in. It was hard to get better than 5 or 6 mpg with a 5.7L Vortec. With a 53 gallon tank it was a nightmare pulling up to a gas pump. 
 

I still miss mine sometimes. The confidence of having the entire shop rolling with me can't be beat. 
 

Congrats, and good luck!

felony_bemboozlement said:

I bet a stripper pole will fit nicely in the back. 

Strippers have a hard time keeping their balance in a canoe

I had the Hino diesel version which are common up here. It was a workhorse. Seventy all day long loaded with tools and pulling my rubber tire backhoe on a trailer. Quite peppy in the lower gears and a lot of fun to drive.

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

felony_bemboozlement said:

I bet a stripper pole will fit nicely in the back. 

Strippers have a hard time keeping their balance in a canoe

That just makes things more interesting

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Hinos are a different truck.