Newbie Questions??????

[mbeach]

Rims are 7" wide. Recommended to stay below 31" overall diameter for tires. Many members are running 285 width tires on the stock rims. Kinda balloonish IMO (I have these as well).

Routine maintenance items are fairly easy to come by online and through a good dealer. Talk to Merlin for good deals on VX particular items.

The shocks are poop, they are most likely blown out already. Get some Bilsteins or at least some Ranch 9000s.

There are many knowledgeable VX owners in FL, you should have no trouble finding someone to give you a hand.

I used to have an 86 Fiero GT -great fun car, except for the time that the headlight cover ejected into my windshield at 100+ mph.

[Raque Thomas]

If she's driving a Fiero - she's used to a ride that is not Cadillac quality. The VX is firm - those who like sports cars like the ride. You feel every twig or line in the road - I like that, Cadillac drivers do not. My assumption is that being a Fiero driver - she will.

General maintenance parts are pretty much off-the-shelf for other Isuzu/Honda products, and since there were so many made, the maintenance parts are easy to come by. At some point, the VX specific parts (body, etc) are going to get tough to find; but suprisingly enough, they have not becaome that way yet. There are usually a few in the scrap yards that can yield the parts you need as well.

Tires - I'm running 285/55/18 Pirelli Scorpions right now - that is wider than is suggested for our rims, and I did have some problems with proper seating of the tires, but a qualified, up to date tire shop should be able to fix you up. Looks like you are considering a 2001, and the 285/55's are very close to stock diameter - eliminating all the issues with speedo correction, etc. Oooops - just noticed it's a '99 - don't know about tire sizes for those - but if it were mine, I'd go with larger diameter wheels with lower aspect tires - I just think the VX looks better with "more wheel". Good luck - and welcome to the family!!

[Moncha]

Here's specific info on Tires & Wheels

Not all shocks are shot.. Mine are fine 32k miles..there are some that don't care for the ride of the VX but, like Raque said, if you like a sports car ride, you'll like the VX's.

[mndwgz]

Thanks for the feedback.
So.. are the stock shocks really that bad? I'm used to putting 300,000 on a set of struts on my mercedes, 3rd set on now... Are the factory VX shocks rebuildable if they're that hi-tech? Haven't found a thread yet on that subject. Test drive T- 1 1/2 hours...

[Raque Thomas]

[QUOTE=mndwgz]
I'm used to putting 300,000 on a set of struts on my mercedes, 3rd set on now QUOTE]

Wow - you've got 600,000 miles on that baby???

Factories are rebuildable - there was a thread here before on that subject, someone had found a shop to do it - I'll look for it later & see if I can find it.

[Moncha]

Here's a couple of threads I pulled up by search...

Stock KYB Shocks Rebuilt
KYB Shock Rebuild

[mndwgz]

Anyone have any history on this one? The dealer said he bought it at auction just because he liked it. Things I found: 74,000 mi, hood insert hardware is rusty and one corner is loose/broken, hood latch is sticky, some of the brackets in the engine compartment are rusty, windows passed the up and down test, shocks are still firm, no evidence that it was ever off road, feels like it has 150-160 HP at the wheels, antilock brakes work, headlight lenses are sun faded and need a polish, couldn't do the bondo knock below the belt line but overall it just needs tires. I suspect it might have been from the north. And the price is right.

Mark