Used 4X4's with room to spare?

[Beaver]

Are you looking for a sport futility vrhiclr or a truck? If you are looking for a truck GET A DIESEL. Cheep cheep on fuel, tons of fucking power, a huge toybox on the back so that when you decide you want a camper/trailer/boat/sled/dirtbike/load of lumber/18 innertubes for the river...... you are set.

[lemon boy]

The way he made it sound, Crinkle wants a Ute not a truck. Tahoe's are nice, my dad's got one and it has proven itself to be reliable steady transpo.

Actually, the other thing that is IMVHO a really attractive option: Suburban. Should be able to find a nice one for about the right coinage. They're good "trucks"

And of course the beav's right. If you get a pickup. Don't fuck around. Just get a diesel. (Ford or Dodge).

while you can't buy it, if you want you can take a test drive in my pickup see if it is too "big and powerful" for you or "just right"

[Crinkle]

I am leaning more towards a Ute, plus that is what the wife would like. Cloth interior and automatic.

[lemon boy]

pussy

[A-wreck]

get the tahoe or a pickup...............
cherokee's are cheap but will leave you wanting more room...........
all other suv's are the same with respect to size......except for the t-ho........................

[Crinkle]

Originally posted by lemon boy
pussy

yeah LB, sorry i didnt respond to your message earlier, I was watching Days of our Lives and baking a nice cake.

A disel truck would be sweet, but the 4 door disels are not cheap and hard to comeby, as thier owners love them.

[1080Rider]

If you are going to do serious off roading buy a land rover. Disco's are had for less than $15K and you can get an older range rover (90-93 is what you want- newer than that and they have a viscous coupling which isn't as reliable as gear driven diff) for around $5K. You can get all parts at NAPA. I've got 100K on my disco and have done nothing to it but changed the oil and battery. You will not get good gas milage but you can go anywhere and w/ a roof rack you can take anything you want with you. I've packed 1 wks worth of luggage for five on my roof rack. Had nothing in the vehicle but people, pretty nice way to travel.

If you're only going to cruise down gravel roads these vehicles may be overkill.

[lemon boy]

did you mix yourself a nice pina colada?

[skiguide]

Originally posted by 1080Rider
If you are going to do serious off roading buy a land rover. Disco's are had for less than $15K and you can get an older range rover (90-93 is what you want- newer than that and they have a viscous coupling which isn't as reliable as gear driven diff) for around $5K. You can get all parts at NAPA. I've got 100K on my disco and have done nothing to it but changed the oil and battery. You will not get good gas milage but you can go anywhere and w/ a roof rack you can take anything you want with you. I've packed 1 wks worth of luggage for five on my roof rack. Had nothing in the vehicle but people, pretty nice way to travel.

If you're only going to cruise down gravel roads these vehicles may be overkill.

had issues w/ the rear diff & front axle on my '98 disco- from what i hear, that's a quirky year too, so be careful. hopefully the 2000 i just picked up will be better.

but I'd say the rear space isn't likely big enough for 2 big dogs plus potential kid and camping gear (even with a roof rack) - i have a 125lb rott, and worry about adding a second large dog to that as it is, will probably have to take out the jump seats.

but from what it sounds like, "serious off roading" really isn't the goal here anyway. you gotta ignore the gas mileage factor in anything like this though, and just accept that it sucks unless you get a diesel, quad cab p/u with a cap which i think would be the way to go, but like you said, isn't going to be easy to come by.

my friend got her '98 4runner with 70k for around $12K, it was off-lease- pretty stripped, but her brothers with more options was just a little more, and as far as mileage goes, you'll get the most bang here.

[Crinkle]

Originally posted by lemon boy
did you mix yourself a nice pina colada?

yeah but it was non-alcoholic

[1080Rider]

Not to get into a pissing match with ya (ski guide), but yeah, a roof rack will carry everything you'll never need. I'm not talkin' a yakima rack, I mean a full length roof rack. I have a platform on mine and 5 people can sit comfortably (to watch motorcycle races). I've had up to 8 sheets of plywood along w/ 2X4's on my rack. I have three kids and a lab, no problem. I could pack up enough camping gear for 10 people on my rack. It truely is huge, does he need it- I don't know, I'm just giving an option.


This is what I'm talking about. Not mine, mine is green but looks pretty much like this.
http://68.49.91.161/andysmith/camel3.jpg

[natty dread]

1987-1990 Toyota Landcruiser FJ62 or 95-97 FJ80 (these came with optional locking front and rear diffs!). Toyota reliability, off road pedigree that goes back to the 50s with the FJ40 (solid axles with leaf springs all around and almost the equivalent of a 1 ton axles), enough size for your needs (6' room in the back with seats down, easy to sleep in), argueably burlier (definitely more reliable) drivetrain than the disco, auto with cloth seats, you can get a clean/rust-free one for less than 10K. Throw a safari rack on top for all your gear. Great truck, I'm on my 3rd landcruiser, an '89 FJ62, it rocks.

My Rig:
http://biglines.com/photos_large.php?picid=25069

I'm a photo jong and don't know how to make my truck appear here...

[skiguide]

no worries, 1080. i knew you meant a cargo rack like that. (but those kill the use of both sunroofs!!

as much as i love rovers, i still don't like how (relatively) small the rear space is, that's all i was saying. especially if you wanted stuff back there in addition to 2 dogs. (things like strollers, or similar that you may not want on the roof) that's all.

[1080Rider]

Yeah, sometimes you don't want all your shit out in the elements.

Natty, I dare say the disco has more clearance than the two newest models of land cruiser. I lifted mine for $130 to add another 2 inches. The center locking diff is bulletproof. The running gear is exactly the same as a D-90, one of the best off road vehicles in the world. I personally think you would need to dump a lot of $$$ into a land cruiser to bring it up to the off road ability of a disco. That being said, would it be total over kill? Yep, do I use my rig at its full potential- rarely. That's what you need to take into account. The toyota would be perfect in stock form for 95% of the population. Its prolly a better long term rig than the disco too. And I have seen full roof racks for the lc's that would provide tons of storage space.

[iceman]

Natty's rig is about as burly as you're gonna see. Check out the air intake.

[natty dread]

LC and Disco/Defender junkies can argue the off road/durability of their respective rigs forever. They both kick ass off road and are both easily modified to kick more ass. Safari companies/military/relief organizations and terrorists value both LCs and Land Rovers for their solidity (although it seems the terrorists just love them 'yota pick-ups). A lot of it depends on where you get your truck--overseas, both manufacturers offer options that make US bought rigs look pretty wimpy. For example, my rig has a full float rear and cable lockers, both from australia--these options are exceedingly rare here, but were quite common over there.
Also you can't compare the pansy luxo-ute that is now the LC with the 80s vintage ones--apples and oranges.
That said, I'll take toyota reliability over the rover's british mechanical gremlins anyday!

[Viva]

Looks like your rig spent some time in SoCal, Natty...or perhaps I never noticed the palm trees growing in Hood River?

[tonghands]

Heh, how's this for space? Holds 4 windsurf boards, 2 surfboards, kite gear etc. and still room to sleep comfortably. Chicks, however, do not dig it.

[Viva]

Originally posted by tonghands
Heh, how's this for space? Holds 4 windsurf boards, 2 surfboards, kite gear etc. and still room to sleep comfortably. Chicks, however, do not dig it.

Install a waterbed.

[1080Rider]

Natty- good lookin' rig. I was contemplating an arb for a while but I'd have to change my front springs (to stiffer ones for the added weight). I've never got around to it and prolly never will. I'd also like to do some frame sliders as well but prolly will never happen. I've thought about the snorkle but I figure if I get that deep I'm going to be replacing stereo equip and interior stuff so I prolly shouldn't even add the temptation.

You're right. Both are very competent rigs even in stock form. I hate what the american populace is doing to these rigs. We're such a large buying group that every mfr has changed design to cater to the god damned soccer moms. Once the disco II is dead I don't think there will be a sport ute w/ solid axles anymore (well, not a real one anyway). It pretty much sucks. If people want a suv that handles like a car, BUY A CAR!!! I want a suv that will take me where I want to go and back... pisses me right off.

[lemon boy]

1080rider -

I can see you've got a hella dark (no pun) set of ferrin car blinders on but Jeep will always make live axle vehicles and don't be blaming 'Murikan manufacturers for this trend either. If not for foreign "trucks" we'd still be using leafs at all four corners like god intended. Also, Ford offers an SUV that still comes with live axles and will continue to do so as long as the greenies don't get their way. Also, I've got it in my head for some reason that the new Bronco might be coming with live axles (dare to dream perhaps, it will for sure have a live rear).

[mr_gyptian]

Originally posted by Ski to Be
You can get a really nice AWD Astro van 2002 or so that has tons of cargo space & can haul a 6000 pound trailer in the budget your talking about. I use them in my business and they are very reliable.
Only downside would be clearance issues if you are doing serious off roading.

[cough] bullshit [cough]


the new Tundra is rated at 6800 lbs.


edit: Tong, how is your insurance on that boy? my fleets won't touch those with a 10' pole.

[iceman]

Crinkle, what you need is a van from Quigley. They are badass. There's a couple listed in the used vehicles that fit your price needs.

[tonghands]

Insurance isn't bad at all, a little bit cheaper than I pay on a '97 Cherokee.

It's big though, real big. Only really comes in to play when parking it, which can be kind of a hassle. I'll see how it does this winter, may convert to 4x4 for skiing/baja trips.

[mr_gyptian]

I can't find their name, but there's a sick conversion place in cali. The Quigley's are nice, but they get a pretty nasty vibration post 40K in the front end. They use 97 Dana's which had/have numerous issues.