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I'd appreciate your input on this:

My wife and I are preparing to buy a fairly large chunk of land; roads are likely to be "logging" quality, but we are sure to want to be able to go off road as well. Mind, we are not contemplating "wheeling". It has been over 10 years that we've had a 4wd vehicle, so I am a bit out of the loop, so to speak.

We've formerly owned a 1979 Suburban K20 (sorry I sold that!) and we really like the utility of it, but might want something a little smaller. Pickups are fine, not sure about SUVs as most do not seem perform well off-road.

Above all I want it to reliable and dependable. Reasonable purchase price is nice, decent mileage does not hurt either.

Ideas?

Thanks
 
I'd try and buy something with a solid front axle, not IFS. The 90's 4 door Toyota Landcruisers do really well, so to Range Rovers and Land Rovers. A Ford Excursion would be my first choice American choice, but they are even a bit bigger than a Suburban. You can get a nice '99 or '00 V10 Excursion for well under $10,000, a diesel will cost a few grand more. In my opinion for a truck that can take off roading, you can't beat a Ford Superduty series (F250 and up), and Toyotas do pretty well if you put some 33" tires or so on them.
 
4th or 5th gen Toyota hilux 4x4. Reliable and damn near unstoppable.

I have an old chev 4x4(pretty much the same rig as your old burban) and I love it--reliable, built like a tank(dana 44 front and GM 14 bolt rear), parts are everywhere, but it is a bit large and not very good on gas(although I do routinely get 14mpg pulling 6 quads and camping gear to the coast).

I have a few friends/relatives that have had crazy good results with for rangers too....
 
I'd try and buy something with a solid front axle, not IFS. The 90's 4 door Toyota Landcruisers do really well, so to Range Rovers and Land Rovers. A Ford Excursion would be my first choice American choice, but they are even a bit bigger than a Suburban. You can get a nice '99 or '00 V10 Excursion for well under $10,000, a diesel will cost a few grand more. In my opinion for a truck that can take off roading, you can't beat a Ford Superduty series (F250 and up), and Toyotas do pretty well if you put some 33" tires or so on them.

I am not so sure about an Excursion -- I think they are too big. I fondly remember how "big" the 'burban was...king of the road...until I saw an Excursion!!! $10k is a nice price though...

I'll have to go look at the F250's -- have not really noticed their size; have to take a look at the Toyota's too.

Thanks,
DJM
 
90's landcruisers or 4runners. They are excellent vehicles. Stay away from Land Rovers, way too many problems.

Landcruisers and 4runners seem to get the knod from lots of folks. A friend, who is Scottish (and quite loaded $$$!) has driven Land Rovers for years and he compains ALL the time about that d$mn thing. Always needs something and parts are a fortune! No thanks!

Cheers,
DJM
 
I know it's kinda old, but 85 and older 4runners have solid front axles, which is a lot stronger. I'm pretty sure all Land Cruisers do also.
 
An 85' toyota 4runner or pickup. They are the first year of fuel injection and last year of the solid axle for the 4runner or toyota pickup. They can easily be built to go anywhere and still be reliable. A locker or welded differential would be a plus. The 22re motor is proven. Could easily get a nice, capable, reliable solid axled toyota for well under $10k...
 
I picked up a 95 4runner with the 22re 4cyl and I am pretty happy with it. That was the last year for that motor in the 4runner. I have yet to really hit the trail or anything, but at the times that I have needed the 4wd it has been there and worked beautifully. Its not a fancy pimped out trail machine or go fast power house. But it will go anywhere and will eventually get there. It also has AC :s0155:. I like the 22re as you can work on them yourself. Heck I rebuilt the motor 6months after we got it and only needed 2 "specialized" tools to do it. And that was the first motor I have ever rebuilt. There are some complaints about the IFS and the ADD (some automatic doohicky that locks the axles into 4wd), but I have yet to have a problem with that. If you are ambitious or have the money, you can do a strait axle swap but if you are not going to be abusing it I wouldn't even bother. But the 22re has not a lot of power. It was built for the long haul. Anyway, I would not hesitate to recommend a toylet to someone. I have owned 3 and all of them have been great. Only thing they lack is a space (I am pretty tall) and the ability to carry a lot of weight. But if you don't need to haul tons and tons of stuff around they are great.
 
I'd suggest a Toyota 4x4 Pickup. If you have a lot of land, you'll need to haul something around at some point - wood, building supplies, furniture for your cabin, whatever. While I can stuff a lot of things into my (4th-gen) 4Runner, a pickup would be a better for hauling many things.

If you have people to haul, you might consider a 4-door model. However, their bed is much smaller than a standard version so I'd just opt for a SUV (4Runner, Land Cruiser, etc.) in that case.
 
I had an '84 4runner with a 22R, and while it was reliable and did decent offroad, it was slower than a pack of obese snails, and still got crappy gas mileage. It was carb'd (weber), and had a header, but the people I know that have had FI 22R toyotas didn't get much better mileage either.

The best 4wd for the money is a 4.0 jeep cherokee. 4runners have better build quality and paint (about the only things that are crappy on cherokees), but they also cost twice as much.

My dad has an '01 tacoma TRD with a V6. I have an '01 cherokee with a 4.0. They're both about equal in power, handling, and fuel economy. His truck has better brakes and headlights. My jeep turns sharper and has more comfortable seats. The engine compartment on cherokees are cramped, but at least I can work on my jeep. There's not much stuff I'd try and fix on my own on his toyota, and another thing, parts are actually affordable (and plentiful) for cherokees. There's tons of aftermarket support for them as well.

They also made a pickup version of the cherokee (commanche), but they're not very common.

Toyotas and the 22R engine are legendary for reliability, but most people consider the 4.0 to be just as reliable.

If you go full size, chevys with the TBI/vortec 350 get good mileage and have great power for the cost, but the transmissions on most of them (700r4) aren't very durable.

Fords with the fuel injected 300 6cyl are reasonably priced and are fairly economical as well.
 
My father in law who has past away now had a large piece of land. One truck or SUV wasn't enough.

He had a flat bed truck, a 4x4 truck, a water truck, a tractor, a D-6, a small Cat, various trailers including a hydraulic trailer, a concrete mixing machine, a portable welder generator... Starting off with a flatbed or a truck with a king cab would be great. We have a Suburban and we love it. But I want just throw wood or bags of concrete in it.

Good luck!
 
Do they even sell Hilux's over here? I saw the Top Gear show where they tried to destroy one...

Along those same lines, an old Toyota Landcruiser, 4Runner or Blazer would be my choice. I've owned all 3 and all were great, although the Blazer isn't as serious an off-roader (stock) as the others. My 4Runner had >9" of ground clearance on stock wheels/tires. And we sometimes took the Landcruiser out in fields with no roads, tracks, or flatness...
 
Mid 90's toyota's are very popular... but having considerable experience with them, I wouldnt trust them for anything more than target practice. We currently have 3 4-runners waiting for new motors, or transmissions, or both. That's just currently. Over the years they've proven themselves to be a nightmare in general.
If you do get a toyota, make sure to find a 4cyl... They may be a little underpowered, but so is their v6... at least their 4cyl has decent reliability.

4.0l jeeps are a reliable and inexpensive option with plenty of power for whatever you need. A wrangler or a cherokee with the 4.0 would be my first suggestion.

OcelotZ3 said:
Do they even sell Hilux's over here? I saw the Top Gear show where they tried to destroy one...


They thought the term "hilux" was too confusing for us simple Americans.
Around the mid 70's, they retired the name "hilux" only in North America. We still have Toyota Hilux's, but for us simple folks they have been officially renamed the "Toyota Pickup". Then, around the mid 90's, they decided to throw us a bone and re-name it something more marketable than "pickup" but less confusing than "Hilux". Thus, we have the Toyota Tacoma.

Of course, like the one you saw on top gear, the rest of the world also gets a diesel/turbo diesel option. If only diesel engines would catch on here. There's american cars that you see on american roads everyday that are available in other countries with diesel engines.
 
I had an '84 4runner with a 22R, and while it was reliable and did decent offroad, it was slower than a pack of obese snails, and still got crappy gas mileage. It was carb'd (weber), and had a header, but the people I know that have had FI 22R toyotas didn't get much better mileage either.

The best 4wd for the money is a 4.0 jeep cherokee. 4runners have better build quality and paint (about the only things that are crappy on cherokees), but they also cost twice as much.

My dad has an '01 tacoma TRD with a V6. I have an '01 cherokee with a 4.0. They're both about equal in power, handling, and fuel economy. His truck has better brakes and headlights. My jeep turns sharper and has more comfortable seats. The engine compartment on cherokees are cramped, but at least I can work on my jeep. There's not much stuff I'd try and fix on my own on his toyota, and another thing, parts are actually affordable (and plentiful) for cherokees. There's tons of aftermarket support for them as well.

They also made a pickup version of the cherokee (commanche), but they're not very common.

Toyotas and the 22R engine are legendary for reliability, but most people consider the 4.0 to be just as reliable.

If you go full size, chevys with the TBI/vortec 350 get good mileage and have great power for the cost, but the transmissions on most of them (700r4) aren't very durable.

Fords with the fuel injected 300 6cyl are reasonably priced and are fairly economical as well.
dunno about you, but before I put on the 31's (have yet to re-gear the diff's) I was getting between 20 and 23 on the hwy and 18 in town. Not bad at all for a 4wd. Power is pretty blah, but a little cam and some exhaust work and it gets a bit better.
 

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