It's starting to happen... No more new parts.

[biju]

If you read my car audio post, Triathlete brought up a good point. Where in the heck will I put all my stuff for Zu? Right away I contacted Merlin to see about getting the OEM roofrack that I had called about two months ago. His response:

"I'm sorry, but that's been discontinued, along with the rear cargo mat and OEM floor mats".

Plan A. No worries, I thought. I'd have him do a nationwide search for one that's sitting in a parts room somewhere. He came up with two part departments. I called them both (TN & NH), and both said they didn't have the rack, and that the inventory listing was an error.

Plan B. I scoured the internet, and found all places that claimed to sell the OEM roof rack. Everybody said the same thing. "Sorry, it's discontinued".

Plan C. Did a nationwide search on auto recyclers to see if anybody had one. Unfortunately, the OEM roof rack isn't (at the places I called anyways) an inventoried part. It's not one they put into their systems - so when you have them do a search in the computer it comes up with nothing. I pleaded with most places to step away from the computer and go out and take a peek at the roof and see. Some agreed, and said they'd call me back. It's been days now, no calls back, and follow-up calls don't seem to help...

Plan D. Contact every VX seller I could find and see if they'd be willing to part with the roofrack before selling. No luck.

Plan E. Contact ZEUS for information on his fab job for the Thule rack/basket. He gave a great response, detailed, etc. I might have to have one fabricated at a metal shop?

The question is, aren't these things (parts) supposed to be available for 10 years after the manuf. date? And, what's next on the chop block? How are these things decided by isuzu?

-biju.

[VR4-Quest]

Did you try contacting Yakima directly, they are the ones that made the rack for Isuzu.......plan F maybe........
plan G, you could probably rig up one of the popluar racks (like yakima, Thule, etc.) to fit the stock mounting points.

[Triathlete]

Do a search on the board. A while back someone listed the part#'s for a round bar rack (either a thule or yakima) and posted pictures.
As far as the parts for 10 years I don't think that applies to optional equipment, which the rack was.

[biju]

yesterday after work I went to RackAttack here in Golden, CO.

They tried to fit several racks, and the only thing that remotely came close was the Thule 300 (new version of the 1A). It simply didn't fit right at all (not secure enough).

I haven't tried to contact Yakima directly... Good point! I'll letcha know what I find out...

-biju.

[VehiX]

So what would happen in the event you had an accident with your roof rack or it was stolen. Insurance wise, I'm sure a body shop could hunt one down for ya

[VehiGAZ]

If it gets stolen or crushed, you get a check to buy yourself dinner with.

At some point, this had to happen, I guess.

[Triathlete]

Tried finding a basic part today...a U joint. No local parts shop caried them. The joke of a local Zu dealer said they don't have them, can't get them, they are no longer available. OH, S*%$. I needed one by this weekend!
Called Merlin. He said a lot of the parts can not be ordered by dealerships/parts stores to put on their shelf. Must be an order for a customer requiring a VIN #. My U joints will be here in 2-3 days!

Merlin is the man!

[jimbo]

I believe the factory rack is a modified Yakima WingRider with special towers for the VX. I just put a Yakima Cobra bike rack on my VX, using Yakima Mighty Mounts, and was told by RackAttack that the WingRider was discontinued (not sure if this is true), but you can certainly still find many parts online. I'm not sure if any other parts besides the towers are custom for the VX, more experienced VXers here probably know. Also: Maybe the standard WingRider towers could be modified to fit the VX somehow?

[Joe_Black]

Tried finding a basic part today...a U joint. No local parts shop caried them. The joke of a local Zu dealer said they don't have them, can't get them, they are no longer available. OH, S*%$. I needed one by this weekend!
Called Merlin. He said a lot of the parts can not be ordered by dealerships/parts stores to put on their shelf. Must be an order for a customer requiring a VIN #. My U joints will be here in 2-3 days!

Merlin is the man!

I got a set of Isuzu OEM u-joints recently online for about $60 each. They're the same part number as the Trooper.

Folks, y'all gotta realize most of our parts are identical to those on Trooper/Rodeos/Amigos and even some of Isuzu's medium trucks. The unique stuff will be difficult, like body panels and interior trim. But even a lot of that stuff comes from other more common Isuzus.

[Triathlete]

When I get mine I'll post up the part # for future reference.
The local parts store told me his computer showed no part# for a '99 VX and showed differant part#'s for '00 and '01. I thought they would all be the same. Either way, they didn't carry any of them.