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Aug 22, 2011 11:47:53 GMT
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fronteras probably one of the best cheap real 4x4 around although we had reliability issues with ours. Vitaras come up cheap when they are tatty and other than bround clearance issues are fine off road with just added knobbly tyres, a proper 4x4. Dunno why people suggesting scoobies, they aint great for pay and play days without serious mods (money) If your gonna abuse it off road you need a proper offroader, anything else will destroy itself, exhausts get flattenend and ripped off as do bumpers, wheelarches, dampers, brake pipes etc etc, the cars bound to get dunked in the water as well so somthing high up on a seperate chassis is a must really. A guy turned up at my local pay and play with a Range Rover sport, he managed to do it 20k worth of damage in 15 minutes apparently. Had plenty of fun in my 100 quid Vit.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Aug 22, 2011 12:03:02 GMT
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The Jeep club I used to be in used to do pay and play days with a Suzuki club.
Being so small and light well modified SJ's and Vitaras can be -very- impressive off road.
The last of Popuptoasters pic shows the benefit of such a short breakover angle, most other 4x4's wouldn't be able to tackle that obstacle in that fashion.
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Aug 22, 2011 12:16:20 GMT
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Actually its stuck in that pic, i did get over it twice after that but it needed LSD in the back really, had the handbrake half on and it drove over it fine after that, scraped the belly everytime though.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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bigrod
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,654
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Aug 22, 2011 12:31:59 GMT
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Another +1 for the Shoguns but the V6s are thirsty bvggers. The diseasels aren't great either but I understand they're much better for torques. If I was shopping for another one I'd be aiming for a 3.5 V6 personally.
I'd put a good word in for Fronteras too my 3.2 V6 was quick and capable.
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If I have to explain, you won't understand. Maximum signature image height = 80 pixels
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Aug 22, 2011 12:47:19 GMT
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On road or off ? off suzuki or a lada very cheap and VERY capable. On road disco cheapest of the LR and capable off and on road, if i didn't get my P100 i would have kept my 200TDi, great engine if a bit of a plodder
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R.I.P photobucket
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Aug 22, 2011 13:06:28 GMT
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Another good thing about the Shoguns/Pajeros is a lot came with electronic rear lockers, which, when working can be invaluable, particularly if you run one with road tyres.
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Aug 22, 2011 20:41:07 GMT
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The Jeep Chrokee Facelift with the 4.0 is good but MPG pretty poor. They're smaller than they look though. The pre-facelifts weren't galvanised and are now all turning into rot boxes. The Diesel is pretty dire. Pajero/Shogun are very good Vitra very good Frontera very good Patrol very good Have considered Chrokee as a mate had a 4lt and that thing shifted, only thing was I was considering the diesel for economy reasons so whats so dire about them? All I'm hearing on Land Rovers is rust rust and more rust speaking to people,now considering SWB Pajeros, what are the diesel like on fuel? Thanks for all advice so far guys
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Aug 22, 2011 20:44:59 GMT
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Lada niva !!! Nuff said.
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1980 mk2 escort 2 door 1979 mk2 escort 2 door 1990 mk2 orion 1.6, Now written off !! 1986 mk2 orion 1.6 i ghia 51 plate Rover 25
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Aug 22, 2011 21:11:04 GMT
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Suzi, all day long. SJ or jimny for off road, Vitara for on and off. Simples.
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10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,253
Club RR Member Number: 204
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Best 4x4 On A Budget10mpg
@10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member 204
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I'd not worry too much about mpg, in my experience all 4x4's are poor, i don't think i've ever had one top 30mpg in any sort of normal use, certainly once you stick MT's or similar on it mpg goes out the window.. My Frontera 2.8 TD is probably the best I've owned doing low 20's consistently with up to mid 20's if you baby it, a customer manages 28mpg in his swb 90 with 200tdi but i've never managed than in any Land Rover product (and I've had loads) I've had a 2.8 shogun and it did about 22-24 mpg also had Mitsi L200's which used to do mpg on a par with my 4.6 Range Rover so TDi's are no guarantee of economy.. Jeep TD's are chronic, slow noisy unreliable, overheat, horrid to work on whats to like? also knowck out back axles and bottom ends with annoying regularity, tbh the whole cars fairly unpleasant to work on.. Surprised no-ones mentioned the Fourtrack yet, tough, cheap 2.8TD has loads of grunt, confy enough esp in 'independent' IFS flavour, mine was pretty unstoppable in the rough stuff..
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The Internet, like all tools, if used improperly, can make a complete bo**cks of even the simplest jobs...
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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The Jeep Chrokee Facelift with the 4.0 is good but MPG pretty poor. They're smaller than they look though. The pre-facelifts weren't galvanised and are now all turning into rot boxes. The Diesel is pretty dire. Pajero/Shogun are very good Vitra very good Frontera very good Patrol very good Have considered Chrokee as a mate had a 4lt and that thing shifted, only thing was I was considering the diesel for economy reasons so whats so dire about them? All I'm hearing on Land Rovers is rust rust and more rust speaking to people,now considering SWB Pajeros, what are the diesel like on fuel? Thanks for all advice so far guys See 10mpg's post above, they are a real dog of an engine, underpowered and unreliable. While the Cherokee XJ is awkward to work on they are a great route to cheap luxury with good off road capability. They are getting more popular in the off road scene now and getting parts is a lot easier. I loved mine to bits. As 10mpg says, 4x4's and mpg don't go together and engine type and size don't always translate directly to economy. The biggest issue being that you have to flog a low powered engine so hard to make progress. Generally the more modern you can go the better. My 4.7V8 Grand (WJ) was getting nearly 20mpg before the lift and mud tyres. Fourtrak is a good suggestion, Sportraks are also quite good.
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i know they're only small , but i have a sportrak, been a few play days in it and it really surprised me how good it is cheap to buy, i paid about 600 for mine 2 or 3 years back. only 1.6 and switchable from rear or 4 wheel drive. so not too thirsty when its on the road. has never not started (other than me leaving the lights on. jumpleads and fired up immedietly. mot is just up on mine. gotta do some welding on rear chassis leg near the rear spring hanger. think its a common thing. id deffo buy another in some of its many colours!
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I'm not curse word, i just fell off my shoes
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I borrowed my neighbours 4.0l Cherokee yesterday to go fetch my latest tat purchase. Just under 260 mile round trip and nearly £90 in fuel! That's about 17mpg I reckon! Definitely not one for the budget conscious
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1962 Datsun Bluebird Estate - 1971 Datsun 510 SSS - 1976 Datsun 710 SSS - 1981 Dodge van - 1985 Nissan Cherry Europe GTi - 1988 Nissan Prairie - 1990 Hyundai Pony Pickup - 1992 Mazda MX5
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Aug 24, 2011 11:47:41 GMT
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That looks like a scaled-down version of something Colonel Decker off the A-Team would drive
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" East bound and down, loaded up and truckin' "
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Aug 24, 2011 12:23:06 GMT
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Trawling through ebay the Fronterra seem about the best value for money that can tow, just not the nicest looking
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Aug 24, 2011 13:18:19 GMT
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Trawling through ebay the Fronterra seem about the best value for money that can tow, just not the nicest looking If you do get one bump this thread up, I know a chap with at least two and could point you in the direction of useful information sources.
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Lawsy
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Aug 24, 2011 14:57:56 GMT
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i pickd up mine for reasonable money - been a constant money pit ever since
MPg is less than 20, parts are expensive blah blah
but i love it, and if i had left it alone and not abused it off road it'd still a reasonably cheap motor - however, I haven't and its constantly costing me...
Surf's are good fun, one of the best ground clearances from standard and most drive like a car due to the high floor and low roof line..
The 3.0 are better engines and are dropping in prices now..
Depends on what you want it for tho Mick..
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,632
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Best 4x4 On A Budgetskinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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Aug 24, 2011 16:38:54 GMT
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The Jeep Chrokee Facelift with the 4.0 is good but MPG pretty poor. They're smaller than they look though. The pre-facelifts weren't galvanised and are now all turning into rot boxes. The Diesel is pretty dire. Pajero/Shogun are very good Vitra very good Frontera very good Patrol very good Have considered Chrokee as a mate had a 4lt and that thing shifted, only thing was I was considering the diesel for economy reasons so whats so dire about them? Thanks for all advice so far guys I believe the heads crack really easily and they are all separate heads because it's some curse word poor old design.......do a search for Cherokee's on here I seem to remember a thread about them a while back, it's probably where i got this info from!!
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Aug 24, 2011 16:48:31 GMT
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seems to be a few troopers on ebay,reasonably priced too...
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1984 Subaru GLF Hatch 1983 Skoda 120LE Super estelle 1977 Subaru DL Wagon 1978 Datsun 120Y Coupe 1995 Skoda favorit estate
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Aug 24, 2011 17:06:21 GMT
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You say cheap/budget, but you don't mention a price. Giving an actual budget will always help.
Combining the words '4x4' and 'cheap' can often be a recipe for a world of pain and big expense. Not always, but probably the majority of the time.
As mentioned, fuel will always be an issue in terms of poor economy when compared to most cars. Diesel isn't a surefire ticket to good MPG's when you're pushing +\- 2tons of 4WD around.
SJ's are an obvious choice as cheap entry into very capable off-roading but are very, VERY basic/crashy/agricultural on the road and this can put a lot of people off. Series Land Rovers and to some extent Lada Niva's fall into this category too.
Frontera's and Troopers are a good call. So are Sportraks and Fourtraks. And Hilux Surfs, but my money, however, would almost certainly go on a 2.5TD Mk2 SWB Pajero/Shogun. Not quite as powerful as the later 2.8TD Mk2, but a much more reliable & bullet proof engine as long as the coolant system has been looked after. Very comfy on road and very capable off-road.
They can also be modded quite easily and cheaply, lots of parts available 2nd hand and new with a good range of aftermarket supplier plus a whole plethora of them being broken on eBay all the time.
If I wasn't so firmly sold on the whole Delica lifestyle thing (camper van/work van/off roader/tow vehicle/people carrier/parts hauler/day van all in one) then I would 100% have a SWB Pajero and stick one of the UK spec Shogun air locking diffs in it for ultimate off-road get you out of trouble fun.
They are also a lot cheaper than they used to be, so take your time and find a nice one for not a lot of buck. Stick some meaty MT tyres on and hunt down one of the Shogun air lockers and you'll have a very capable off-roader but with good on road manners and great reliability. No brainer.
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