Thread: Budget Family 4WD

@308 someone's been doing their research!! Plenty of information here for the OP

Safaris mentioned but 80 series not ?

That 3RZ is a good motor, had one in the 2wd Hilux. The unfortunate thing with that combo is the pilot shaft on the transmission had a fault and sounded like it was encased in gravel. There were a few campaigns on it from the dealers but it remained the weakness of that combo. Also definitely did not like water, hit a section of surface water one day during a weather event (not particularly deep either) and the water getting up into the engine bay stopped it cold. Managed to get it restarted after half an hour or so, but what a piss off. That remains the weakness of the petrol engines...

Those toyota vans are OK, but for the love of anything mechanical don't reverse into anything or get rear ended. Seen several written off from that now...

Had an L300 van - the early more rounded shape with the petrol donkey. Quite good off road, effectively the same running gear as the equivalent model pajero. Weighting was considerably different which meant the weight was shared more evenly front to rear, and it was surprising what you could tackle with the thing and drive straight through. Should have kept it, as the rust was not too bad (was the one thing that killed them). Some idiot backed into it at a shopping mall carpark and destroyed the rear door and bent the door frame piller out - luckily found a spare three doors down on my street and did a bit of amateur panel beating - good as new...

Was for a long time, considering a shortened one of them with the rear door and frame moved up to make a double cab effectively and stick a tray on the back. Would make a somewhat weird looking but very useful little truck.

Had good chat with Marllon (MBraga) this morning. We'll help him get sorted with right vehicle for the grade 3 outdoor, mountain and southern river terrains he wants to visit. Also had a good yarn with hunting team members last night - all of whom are also 20-30 year canterbury 4wd club members - all done 100s of offroad tracks. Guidelines same from all of us. One of these boys is head mechanic for big diesel workshop in Chch - works on the 4x4s every day.

Advice - No cars, crossovers, softroaders in this country. Not even Suzuki Grand Vitara with partial ladder subframe and hi/low ratio - too many limitations. Limitations that could get you into serious trouble. These soft SUVs have limited suspension travel, poor articulation, low ground clearance, thin spindly CVs/steering rods/tie rods etc, water susceptibility, small thin tyres. In short they're unsuitable for often rutted tracks, banks, wet conditions, uneven ground, deeper and rocky rivers - with boulders you may not see. Old landies also no. Landrover club wouldn't even have them on its club trips as they are too fragile - special outings for them. Know them very well - learned to drive in them back in the south Waikato.

Marllon needs a 4x4 truck or he stays home. I like the toyota petrol 6s - 2.7 (3RZ - thanks for that tip No 3), 3.4 and 4.0. Possibilities - but very hard on petrol as day to day drivers - though this equation changing by the day. Key issue is water susceptibility. Would need it proven electrics/electronics can be 100% water sealed as at times rivers can be 3 feet and more in spots. Not No 3s experience. Mountain rivers no place for sudden limp mode. Diesel shop mate gets drowned trucks in and can easily be $15k fix. And no quads except in select terrains - Canterbury rivers may be 1 foot deep on way in, and with storm in mountains be 3 feet deep on way out. Even lightweight trucks like little suzukis can be seen doing 180s in the current.

Recommendation given terrain and requirements and budget is 90s to early 2000 trucks. Much better ground clearance, ladder chassis, stronger drivetrains, often LSD, less electronics, better entry/departure angles, better articulation, much bigger tyres - in short designed for this terrain - with mods. And models we've given him to think about are 92-96 (4JG2) Bighorn, Mitsi Challenger, Toyota Surf/Prado e.g.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...9?bof=XpnYWRcF

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...6?bof=XpnYWRcF

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...7?bof=XpnYWRcF

Not a fan of Surf 1kz motors - they really are prone to cracking heads. But risk can be much reduced by keeping radiator/cooling system flushed then fitting bigbore to reduce EGT/pyros. Challengers parts now - something to look into.

Old 80 series VX Cruisers good wagons - three of our team run them. Their's are set for very tough terrain with modified suspension, 4" lifts, front and rear lockers, max articulation (ramp index 700+), full recovery setups, tuned motors, 33s-35s tyres etc.. In the terrain in which we offroad, and even in some of our hunting areas in the mountains it is good to have all the advantages

An interesting thing that I had happen on the 3RZ hilux was the vacuum sensing hose falling off half way through a short drive. That wasn't ideal to be honest, I thought I had killed it - it started running that roughly. Wasn't too easy to spot as well, but plug it back onto the tail and good as new!

Not an issue with the diesel powered ones haha.

Water ingress is a potential major, it's not just inlets and breathers that you need to worry about now as there are a heap of oddball sensors that can stop things outright if they start feeling out of sorts from a swim. Some of the DPF systems with an extra injector down aft get severely testy with the sudden temp drop from immersion, and there really isn't anything you can do about that even though the basic system is fitted to a vehicle with a nominal 600mm wading depth. I think we are going to see a lot of pricing increases on older solid 4x4's as the newer electric everything ones take over. ABS systems are another that can give problems from swims.

Ouch... good to hear about water issues. Really prohibits them from many terrains as alot of our south island 4x4 tracks may have multiple riverbed crossings.

Yes club guys really like the 90s trucks. Club night carpark full of them.. Often tough, durable old girls (with good maintenance), with adequate power and bugger all electronics. Just have to watch the model you're keen on still has good supply of new and if poss 2nd hand parts. Good to be able to pick up 2nd hand box or transfer case etc rather than face cost of rebuilds.

Its not something that happens on every immersion, I've taken the ranger through three swims getting out of flooded areas during weather events - everything below the door sills which is my self imposed limit (no prep other than factory breathers etc) and not had an issue. A couple of Iveco's I've had somewhat to do with have weird issues with wet roads, one refuses to select reverse... Fine once it dries out.

On the other hand, if you are unlucky enough to experience a water related issue it can stop you cold on the side of the road with a 'red' dtc.

Absolutely agree. My mistake.

Just wondering what the new Ineos Grenadier will be like, not that I will ever be able to afford one or even need one. It does look like a Landie but is supposedly all new designed from the ground up.

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies, especially to Mike for a great chat over the phone.

Although I haven't decided yet, I am tending to get a petrol one, which is more suitable for the intended usage.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/3603748383


I have added to the equation the below 2006 Pajero

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/3383016022

Now I'm wondering what the risk might be (if any) if the previous owner has used the truck for heavy towing.

Again, thanks for your time and input.

Originally Posted by MBraga

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies, especially to Mike for a great chat over the phone.

Although I haven't decided yet, I am tending to get a petrol one, which is more suitable for the intended usage.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/3603748383


I have added to the equation the below 2006 Pajero

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/3383016022

Now I'm wondering what the risk might be (if any) if the previous owner has used the truck for heavy towing.

Again, thanks for your time and input.

that surf is way over priced
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/3669119090 - $9,000 cheaper, same amount of km's, just been serviced fresh cambelt only 10K old, snorkels are only afew hundred dollars and you have $8500 to upgrade what NEEDS upgraded if it needs it, repaint the bumpers maybe 1000$ and you have the exact same car
just my view

I've got one of those surfs and apart from liking petrol it's one of the best things i've bought. done a lot of miles towing heavy boats/trailers and never had an issue. the one on trademe with a bit of a tidy looks like a good buy

In a similar situation to the OP, curious what the recommendations from the experts are on manual vs auto in the early 90’s bighorns etc? Not looking at anything too extreme in terms of off-roading. Like the idea of teaching kids in a manual but they seem fairly light on the ground compared to autos.

Originally Posted by Jake77

In a similar situation to the OP, curious what the recommendations from the experts are on manual vs auto in the early 90’s bighorns etc? Not looking at anything too extreme in terms of off-roading. Like the idea of teaching kids in a manual but they seem fairly light on the ground compared to autos.

Yes, thats a thing now. You have to go looking to find a manual trans vehicle. Mostly utes but even they are almost all Autos now.