Thread: Budget Family 4WD

Hmmm.. unfortunately nature has just underlined the points above regarding safe preparation and driving in southern river terrain.

Last night a man was killed trying to cross a swollen stream ford in a vehicle at North Taieri near Dunedin. Two other passengers managed to get to safety. And in Lees Valley in North Canterbury at 9pm last night - in heavy rain - a man had to be choppered out of his vehicle when stuck in the Okuku river. One lucky boy! Okuku normally a wee river you can cross in a car.. Someone choppered to safety when they went off the road into Heathcote river in Chch city also..

This happens only too often which is why clubs are very clear on truck types, truck setup, safety/recovery setup etc before you go into these environments. A sad lesson but a real one..

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/129...flooded-stream

Jake - as requested here's couple of pics of present 96 Bighorn with basic mods to make it a competent offroader, and safer in challenging terrain, rivers etc. This one has 2" suspension lift, 8" rims, 32" muds, tight LSD with Redline in it, snorkel, rated tow hooks, breathers etc. A very sound hunter now in all sorts of country - and set to moderate club spec. Went for a potter in it today out by Birdling's Flat up and round some dunes. Went well. Good fun

Cheers @mudgripz, nice to see what a good honest functional vehicle looks like vs. the shiny tricked out units with massive tyres, lots of chrome and big exhausts you see round.

@mudgripz
Very refreshing pictures from what’s starting to be seen as a ‘basic 4wd’ with nothing practical other than big bull bars, light bars and roof top tents.

What’s a set up like that going to cost at the moment?

You don't see a whole lot of modern utes at 4wd club nights though more coming as earlier trucks disappear. But preference is still 1990s to 2000 trucks. Less electronics, much less to go wrong in the rivers, often stronger build, easily modified. For example - of six long term 4wd mates there are two 90s Bighorns modded as mine, one 90s prado modded as mine, and three VX series 80 cruisers - all six are 1990-96. By preference.

A good sound condition 1992-1997 Isuzu Bighorn with 3.1 TD (4JG2) might cost $5k to $15k. Never buy the 97-2000 Bighorn/Wizard with the 3.0 (4JX1) motor - absolute crapper of a motor. In standard road setup the 90s Bighorns will do fine in selected dry conditions, but will be useless once you hit mud,wet clay, snow, wet terrain, soft river beds etc. Setup costs to bring this truck to general offroad competence and club spec safety spec - roughly:

* Rims (wider for bigger tyres) = anywhere from $200 a set on trademe or to $750 for a set of white spoke steels. Must get right offset. Note you cannot change tyre size much without encountering certification issues.
* Set of mudgrips = allow $12-1500 after trade-ins.
* Suspension lift for IFS vehicle (most aren't beam axle now) = Say $600 for taller eg coils and altering torsion bars on front (and if poss doing balljoint flip on A arm to recentre CVs some.)
* Snorkel - often $150 or less from Hawker Supplies on trademe, plus $300 or so to fit = $450.
* Breather tubes fitted to diffs, gearbox etc and run up out of way into engine bay etc to prevent water ingress - $150 tubes and labour
* Rear LSD - Isuzu limited diffs very good esp with Redline Heavy Duty Shockproof oil in them. Have had front and rear lockers, air lockers, E lockers, auto lockers, and a good isuzu lsd 95% as good. Experience. Cost maybe $450 and $150 to fit with oils = $600. Aussie auto Lokka nearer a grand fitted - good value locker esp for rear.
* Safety hooks - rated hooks bolted through front chassis member and held on with 8.8 standard high tensile 12mm bolts. Factory hooks weak. For rear, if you have a heavy duty towbar securely bolted either side to chassis, then remove towball and use a rated D shackle. NEVER try extracting someone in a pressure tow using towball. Low rated, break off like a missile, and kill people - happened in Southland while back. Costs say $250 allowing for some front chassis plate mods.
* Recovery gear - an 8-11meter 8000kg minimum 'snatch strap', and a longer heavy towrope. Also some kind of ground anchor. Cost = $3-400. Note if you're travelling together someone else may have a winch. Winch not necessary - have never had one - but useful on one of the trucks.
* A PLB if travelling alone.

So your truck might cost you say $7k, and mods might be $4.5k - if you don't do work yourself or have a mate to do some. These simple mods - esp if you can fit 32" or 33" tyres - will bring truck up to moderate club spec. Make a very significant difference from standard road capabilities. Chatting with mate tonight who is currently president of Canterbury Combined 4wd Clubs, and he and I would agree on these points. There's a lot more too covering variety of weather and terrain conditions etc which comes with years - but every club man starts with training days. I've just asked him to get Cantab combined clubs to consider a list of offroading advices anyone can access - sites like this one where alot of blokes use 4wds. Help stop some of the 'accidents' that happen so often. We'll see..

Mudgripz has laid it out as well as anyone can.
Fit the basics and essentials first, then learn how to drive your 4wd off road,
Carry a means of self recovery, Spade/shovel grubber, handsaw etc.
Start simple before going crazy on the fancy stuff.
The big tyres, winches, 200 spotlights, lockers etc. probably aren't needed.
Learn to pick what equipment you need for different environments. Not all 4wding requires you to take all the gear you own.
A biggie is knowing how to use the gear you have, whether it be a winch, traction aids or a snatch strap.
Carry a good basic tool kit, spares parts, CVs, belts, fuses, tyre repair kit, spare oil and fluids.
Within our group of 4wds we have a good collection of recovery gear, But not everyone has every item, bar the basics. Any one with a winch also carries shackles, rope, tree protectors, winch extensions.
We have a mid 90s 3.0L Prado, with a bit of lift, 33 inch tyres, a recovery hook on each corner and some bar work for body protection (Quit often this doesn't work).
We often go a bit further off road in our small group and have lockers, winches rock sliders and a few other items to assist us. Often these items get us more stuck than unstuck.



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@ROKTOY have noticed that number plate and truck round the Tasman region.

That towball one is a really valid point, not only is the standard ball not rated for shock loads but if surged a lot of the snatch type straps will pop off the ball leading to the recovery vehicle launching like Apollo 11 due to not collecting the expected weight on the snatch strap. Have seen one wagon doing the full send over a banked corner and landing on a patch of native bush, slowly sliding about 8m down a bank leading to a HEAP more recovery work and a lot more dodgy a situation!!!

The recommended option with a towball when recovering is to not use the towball itself, but looping the tow strap under the towbar tounge and then crossing the loop over the top of the tounge so that the legs of the loop pass each side of the towball shank. That way the load is placed onto the towbar and direct to the vehicle chassis and not the shank of the towball. Biggest risks then are sharps on the bar tounge damaging the tow strap and shock load bending the tounge...

I think the 80 series VX Cruiser is the pick. Solid over engineered dont brake. The 92 with the double difflocks would be the best but impossible to get. Can be dragged out over rocks and logs and come out unbroken.
Value for money the Izuzu is hard to beat but need to be second or third on a crossing - need another vehicle along
Suzuki - fantastic performance in mud, slippery tracks, great in water as long as the floating issue is allowed for and the right ford and fording method is picked - like reversing upstream in the water as far as possible on the near bank before starting a well angled downstream crossing, so that they dont get side on to the flow.
I would buy an old de-reg suzuki and put it on a trailer. Mod it up as a off road buggy

Yeah, nah, the 80 series don't brake alright - I'd second and third that one all by myself... They do break as well, but there is a lot more effort required to achieve a decent bust in them. They are prone to wearing things out like ball joints tie rods and bearings, but that's just machines in general I guess.

The ones that impressed me were the mines units modifed with the sealed wet braking system. They were really very good and a definite upgrade over standard.

Note to self, 'Break' not Brake in post above. Nothing wrong with the 'Brakes'

I was being serious there, one of the worst scares I've had is in the front left seat of an 80 series on a long downhill on gravel approaching a hairpin with a heavy trailer on. Driver was like OK, taking it real easy here - this hill is a bitch... I'm like ??? as we slowly roll over the top, and in 2nd the bloody thing instantly starts sliding down the hill under the weight of the trailer pushing. I'm like oh OK, this is interesting, driver is onto it though. He's holding it well and not overusing the brakes but we get to about 100m off the hairpin and we can smell the brakes. Driver: Yeah, dunno what it is but always does this here... FFS! Anyway got around the hairpin and onto the flat, but far out was a lot more exciting that planned. Funny thing, the patrol and the utes no issue.

I would choose a 1990s Ford Bronco for those purposes, but that’s just me. I like older cars, and I don’t have kids yet. I know that newer cars can provide more comfort for kids and are better (in some regards), but I still cannot defy my love for older cars. They have something special about them.

I reckon you can't beat the old td27 Terranos for bulletproof reliability and reasonable capability as an off-road hack. My experience is based mainly on buying many $5-7k sort of price range trucks over the years and then driving them to their death as farm hacks. The Terranos have always well outlasted anything else and I don't think we have ever actually killed an engine or anything in the driveline in the three or four we have had. Have killed surf's (petrol and diesel) Bighorns, Pajeros, Couriers, Ferozas, Suzuki's of various breeds etc all with relative ease but the Terranos have all well outlasted what we paid for them. Currently in the process of trying to kill a Mitsi challenger

Originally Posted by Cartianin

I would choose a 1990s Ford Bronco for those purposes, but that’s just me. I like older cars, and I don’t have kids yet. I know that newer cars can provide more comfort for kids and are better (in some regards), but I still cannot defy my love for older cars. They have something special about them.

I hope that after I learn how to use ynab, I will save enough money to buy a Ford Bronco in a year. Some people say they manage to save more than 20K with this application and the system of diversifying your budget. A proper system would help me spend less and save more to achieve my goals like buying this car.