how many of you have a 4x4

[HeadsUp]

i have been looking for a Hilux 4x4 xtra cab for the last 3 months , just cant find the configuration i need at a price that reflects MY reality in this dimension ;p)

( Hilux hold their resale value very very well )

The newer diesels get around 8.5 litres / 100 Km and even though you cant quite carry as much weight as a troopy they make up for it being lighter and more nimble in both rough terrain and for the rush to work.

hopefully i get one that somebody else spent too much money upgrading with winch . diff lockers . 2 - 3 " inch suspension lift , dual batteries , inverter and big mud tyres that i can fit if i am going bush or just run standard hilux rims and tyres for city driving to and from work which would save a few thousand a year in diesel .

rooftop tent to keep safe from snakes , roo's , pigs and foxes , lockup toolboxes for the detector and a strongbox bolted to the floor to hide my um.. to hide my chocolate

all that to replace a clapped out flogged out Holden rodeo 4x4 diesel ( Rodeo's hide when they see hiluxes coming )

 

[AussieTreasureDigger]

Halflinger, now we're talking, best of the fun fourby's in my books. Ugly as sin but go anywhere, and what fun playing in the mud. Love to catch up mate,

Cheers Wal,

Yeah the old Haffy, more fun than a barrel full of Monkeys

I will keep an eye on your travels Wal and if your coming on down to Mexico
i will definately make the trip for a catch up.

cheers
Tony

 

[casper]

Ahh i wasnt trying to say anyone was surmising anything, i was just saying how some people get themselfs stuck in all sorts of vehicles big and small, and thats usually lack of knowledge of how to drive to conditions.

My experience is i am an ex Army driving instructor, had my Army truck license at 17, was driving 6WD F1's with crash boxes in the Central Highlands of New Guinea at 18, and Series IIa landies all along the beaches of the Bismark sea near Bogia and up along the Sepik river, treacherous stuff. Then back home and all through outback NSW and a crossing from WA to Alice Springs through the sandhills, no roads out there, with a landrover series IIa that kept breaking axles, we were running spinifex in our tyres after we ran out of spares. In that time i learnt a little about what can and cant be done with all sorts of cars and trucks, yes a Subaru Forester is not designed to go hardcore, thats why i took mine up the Sunset track in Bunyip SP, since closed because its too dangerous, because i wanted to know what I could do with it, not what the general concensus was. The guy in his GU asking what we were doing deep in BAW BAW NP? but thank god the little Subees turned up so we could tirfor him upright, he had slid off the track and on his side. I took the car when it was stock into Baw Baw and ripped the front bar off it, i also did 10 crossings of the Aberfeldy River over the bonnet, replaced all the damage a week later with a bull bar a skid plate, AT Tyres and a 2" lift then did Sunset.

In 1976 we took an ex rally car, an EH Holden from Newcastle NSW to the top of the Old Telegraph line of Track, in those days you crossed the Jardine as best you could, we crossed using 44's as floatation devices and a tirfor was our compantion day in day out.

Today i am a transport superviser running 30 semis, driving is my life and i have done it along time, under all conditions and in vehices that arnt meant to go where they have, so i dont cut the mines bigger than yours caper that is the general concensus when dealing with small cars against bigger 4x4's on some car forums, watch out i will get one of my 450HP semis to sort you out .

You would be surprised where in capable hands how deep in the bush even a 2WD commodore can get to, and a capable driver will always outdrive a novice under all conditions, the novice doesnt know his tyre pressures his lines, how to read the terrain, how to do a reverse stall recovery, how to snatch, how to winch out with snatch blocks etc etc.

I enjoy my driving and i dont care what anyone else drives as long as they are doing what they enjoy and safely and like above i am not a brand basher unless of course i had a few bad memories of a particular model

My pick for my next truck within the next 3 years?

A Troopy of course, one of the new ones with the rear passenger doors and that sweet V8 diesel

Ditto

Yes it's the "nut' behind the wheel that makes all the difference not the badge on the grill - an intelligently driven vehicle will go just about anywhere you want. Just think about it ... many of the tracks that we love to drive for adventure were first traversed by vehicles like the T model Ford and if forward motion became difficult you'd turn it around and continue on, or up, or thru, in reverse gear.

CASPER

 

[WalnLiz]

Ditto

Yes it's the "nut' behind the wheel that makes all the difference not the badge on the grill - an intelligently driven vehicle will go just about anywhere you want. Just think about it ... many of the tracks that we love to drive for adventure were first traversed by vehicles like the T model Ford and if forward motion became difficult you'd turn it around and continue on, or up, or thru, in reverse gear.

CASPER

Just trying to point out a simple analogy.

A mini minor will pull a 40' caravan, :/ ...so will a Ford Bronco,... just some vehicles are more suited to different environments.

Cheers Wal

 

[Heatho]

Looking into a 4x4 myself now, willing to spend about 10-12 grand.

How do you guys rate the Prados? A lot around here that look like they have never seen a dirt road. Need an auto too as I've got an injury that makes a manual bloody difficult to drive.

My good mate is a top notch mechanic and rates them quite highly. Glad he is keen on prospecting too, will take pity on me and help if I break it.

 

[WalnLiz]

Can take them anywhere Heatho and they drive like a sedan. Had a few with us on some serious terrain and they handled it with flying colours. Get an " A+" from me mate.

Cheers Wal.

 

[Heatho]

Good stuff Wal, I'd buy a troopy if I could drive it confidently, but..... Really keen to get one for spring so I'd better start looking seriouslynow. Could probably even get 1 cheaper than 10 grand but hoping to get one with under 200 000k on it.

 

[ChrisM]

Good stuff Wal, I'd buy a troopy if I could drive it confidently, but..... Really keen to get one for spring so I'd better start looking seriouslynow. Could probably even get 1 cheaper than 10 grand but hoping to get one with under 200 000k on it.

Hey Heatho I got 350000kms on mine [prado] at the moment and its running dual fuel
Like I tell people....If my missus cant break it, its gotta be a good thing.....

 

[Heatho]

Good stuff Wal, I'd buy a troopy if I could drive it confidently, but..... Really keen to get one for spring so I'd better start looking seriouslynow. Could probably even get 1 cheaper than 10 grand but hoping to get one with under 200 000k on it.

Hey Heatho I got 350000kms on mine [prado] at the moment and its running dual fuel
Like I tell people....If my missus cant break it, its gotta be a good thing.....

 

[HeadsUp]

i have been looking for a Hilux 4x4 xtra cab for the last 3 months , just cant find the configuration i need at a price that reflects MY reality in this dimension ;p)

( Hilux hold their resale value very very well )

The newer diesels get around 8.5 litres / 100 Km and even though you cant quite carry as much weight as a troopy they make up for it being lighter and more nimble in both rough terrain and for the rush to work.

hopefully i get one that somebody else spent too much money upgrading with winch . diff lockers . 2 - 3 " inch suspension lift , dual batteries , inverter and big mud tyres that i can fit if i am going bush or just run standard hilux rims and tyres for city driving to and from work which would save a few thousand a year in diesel .

rooftop tent to keep safe from snakes , roo's , pigs and foxes , lockup toolboxes for the detector and a strongbox bolted to the floor to hide my um.. to hide my chocolate

all that to replace a clapped out flogged out Holden rodeo 4x4 diesel ( Rodeo's hide when they see hiluxes coming )

quoting my own post here after having a discussion with friends tonight who think landcruisers will go places that a modified hilux cant go . so i am correcting myself

pity a landcruiser of the same age will suck alot more jungle juice ( diesel )

 

[casper]

Ditto

Yes it's the "nut' behind the wheel that makes all the difference not the badge on the grill - an intelligently driven vehicle will go just about anywhere you want. Just think about it ... many of the tracks that we love to drive for adventure were first traversed by vehicles like the T model Ford and if forward motion became difficult you'd turn it around and continue on, or up, or thru, in reverse gear.

CASPER

Just trying to point out a simple analogy.

A mini minor will pull a 40' caravan, :/ ...so will a Ford Bronco,... just some vehicles are more suited to different environments.

Cheers Wal

..... can't argue with that :/ :/

 

[HeadsUp]

Good stuff Wal, I'd buy a troopy if I could drive it confidently, but..... Really keen to get one for spring so I'd better start looking seriouslynow. Could probably even get 1 cheaper than 10 grand but hoping to get one with under 200 000k on it.

If you watch the auctions you can see ex mine vehicles that might have panel damage but sometimes low k's

problem with that is some mines have corrosive environments like coal mines for example , and the vehicle could have rust in the chassis so avoid ones that come from coal mines or salt mines in Port Hedland expecially . lol

ones from underground mines are usually worse , or civil projects like tunnels because they can be in acidic slush every day and get smashed and bashed by guys who care 0.00000001% about them ( i have worked down there i know )

If you want a cheap one and dont mind some cosmetic damage then you might get lucky but its buyer beware , check them out thoroughly , eliminate the 75 % that you wont touch with a barge pole and you might get exactly what you want

i have seen 5 year old troopy's used as an onsite ambulance in mines with only 20,000 k's on them and they are in awesome condition mechanically , but covered in dust and scratches on the outside - that wouldnt bother me at all.

not all of them get flogged like a rental car , you just have to be fussy

as an example , i saw some Nissan patrols sold a few weeks ago at auction

2005 - 2007 model diesel 4x4 tray backs with 170,000 odd k's sold for only $ 9500 and $ 10,700 , the following week a 2008 model sold for $ 28,000

go figure , some days you can just get lucky

 

[Heatho]

A bit of cosmetic damage would be no big deal for me either, but yeah having a good look at the chassis for rust and other damage would be my main concern too with a mine vehicle. They would certainly get a good flogging.

Been having a good look while saving, won't be jumping on the first one unless it's spot on.

So many in Sydney that have just never seen dirt. If I can get 2002 that's just had the timing belt and everything done for 10-12 grand I'd be very happy.

That big service is quite expensive. A mate just had his done and was 3 grand. I can get it done cheaper but still
expensive.

 

[HeadsUp]

one of these would be okay with a 10 inch lift and 32 inch tyres

you can see at the end his rims are a bit lacking

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4TshFWSsrn8&vq=medium#t=35

 

[Rastys 1964]

That is one of the best video of that type I have seen

 

[Heatho]

Awesome vid.

 

[Redfin]

Very Glad I had mine on Friday, went into an area in the GT.
On the way out and god knows hows many mm of rain later, water over the bonnet.
Dams that had been dry for years were overflowing.

 

[AussieTreasureDigger]

I was just looking over a troopy pop top camper, wheres the drool button

 

[kemjak57]

Mazda BT 50 2010 model, great car very good on the dirt with foam cell shocks, heavy duty tortion bars and an extra leaf in the back springs.The only drawback when you upgrade the suspension you have to be very careful to centre the springs properly or you can get a slight shudder in the clutch on take off but nothing too bad. Overall I am very happy with the car.

 

[mdv]

Mine's more of an SUV (on steroids) - 4X4 Hi/Lo (8-speed), locking centre and rear diffs, air suspension (gives 4" lift), lots of grunt and many more comfort goodies ... but there aren't any after-market offroad acessories for this one.

Where I camp when I prospect on in-laws' property

Near Kalumburu in the Kimberley. Yes, it's a V-dub