Thread: Utes - Parts and servicing

Hmmm - here's the options I can see:

New and replace every 3 years - just about zero risk except downtime if it shits itself, however while affordable I hate new and shiny, leave that for the Jaffa's and Tron poofters (eh PK), also fencing is pretty robust and the new utes seem to be made of cardboard so resale is a risk due to body damage etc.

Truck on 6 tonne sticker (3T payload = digger on deck) so towing isn't much of an issue. Pair that up with an older bulletproof light ute. Issues are modern trucks are all now common-rail shit as well and my budget would be Gen one of these so quite risky. Running two vehicle's has advantages (if one is in dry dock the other is usually usable) but two lots of rego, wof's servicing etc. 4wd light trucks are around too but driving one for "run-about" purposes doesn't appeal.

Convert a Safari or Landcruiser - has a lot of appeal and is within budget, gets me down to one vehicle

Buy a Landcruiser F/D - I would prefer a 4.2 rather than the V8 I think (any thoughts on the difference in operating costs between the two ??) - however these are pretty sought after and command a premium price by about $10K - which I hate to pay on principle.

I've not owned a Yank 4x4 but drove a Silverado a fair bit offroad with mining gear, they are too wide and long for a lot of tracks and perform poorly in soft going

There's no answer really but it helps to chew things over . . . .

I would divide and conquer personally and buy a 4x2 light truck and a 4x4. Look mid to late 90's ish. Easier to work on, they can do big mileage. If it breaks down parts are not too expensive and they were designed to last longer than 10 years. They are not as comfortable, lower on power and not as fuel efficient. The difference in pretty won't last long in your line of work.

Originally Posted by Tentman

Hmmm - here's the options I can see:

New and replace every 3 years - just about zero risk except downtime if it shits itself, however while affordable I hate new and shiny, leave that for the Jaffa's and Tron poofters (eh PK), also fencing is pretty robust and the new utes seem to be made of cardboard so resale is a risk due to body damage etc.

Truck on 6 tonne sticker (3T payload = digger on deck) so towing isn't much of an issue. Pair that up with an older bulletproof light ute. Issues are modern trucks are all now common-rail shit as well and my budget would be Gen one of these so quite risky. Running two vehicle's has advantages (if one is in dry dock the other is usually usable) but two lots of rego, wof's servicing etc. 4wd light trucks are around too but driving one for "run-about" purposes doesn't appeal.

Convert a Safari or Landcruiser - has a lot of appeal and is within budget, gets me down to one vehicle

Buy a Landcruiser F/D - I would prefer a 4.2 rather than the V8 I think (any thoughts on the difference in operating costs between the two ??) - however these are pretty sought after and command a premium price by about $10K - which I hate to pay on principle.

I've not owned a Yank 4x4 but drove a Silverado a fair bit offroad with mining gear, they are too wide and long for a lot of tracks and perform poorly in soft going

There's no answer really but it helps to chew things over . . . .

If doing towing avoid the 1HDT cruiser engine (12valve) the 24v is soposidly better but I would never buy another 6cyl turbo cruiser....to the point I would rather turbo a non turbo Safari/Patrol

Good luck with your search. I know a 2008 Triton with 178000km costs $6984.58 to exchange transmissions with a 2nd hand one. Only came with 3000km or 3 month warranty. When it went, it went well, pulled like a school boy, but kept the bank balance in the red. It depreciated heaps as well.
Hopefully the Hilux I picked up today will give me the yrs of trouble free motoring I'm looking for...,

Thanks Guys for the thoughts.

My daughters mans father is a fairly big time balage contractor . . . we visited on them on Christmas day and had a good talk about vehicles. Currently he has a Landcruiser (6 cyl turbo) and two Rangers (one auto PX and one manual PX) on towing duties, mainly the big rakes they use, which are over 3 tonnes, and they usually have a deck-load of wrap in addition. He has run other Landcruisers previously.

His conclusion - Ranger every-time now. He has had just as many issues with Landcruisers as Rangers (one blown auto trans in 180,000 kms between the two Rangers) and they are both expensive to fix. He reckoned that the Rangers do have the odd "lemon" but given the numbers they have been sold in as a percentage its probably a pretty modest failure rate.

We tow 3.5 tonnne most days and more off road.Any of the trucks capable on a cof will cost you alot more to run both in ruc charges,cost to run per km and lost time for cof renewals.We have trucks on cof and 79 series Landcruiser.American utes aside (to big for what we do)None of the modern utes have the torque or chasis strength that these do.But you do have to do some things to get them there.Change the brake booster,exhaust,clutch and a proper tune and you will have something that is reliable with upwards of 650nm depending how far you want to go.Also a 3 tonne digger leaves you only 500kg for a trailer that is not alot of steel for something strong that will last.Alot of friends here have had afew issues with the rangers.There is no perfect answer.

Theres a crowd at Auckland airport who use a LR Discovery 1 for towing aircraft, they tow a 12 tonne aircraft with it frequently.
They are also a dime a dozen on trademe, be cheaper to buy the whole vehicle than change the injectors on a modern vehicle.

Well - its to be a BT50, 2013 with 103,000 Kms, full service record with two owners both of whom spoken to, and two sets of tyres for $25K.