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[dave_mi16]

Hi everyone, I'm interested in starting off roading, and i came across this forum while researching it, i hope its as interesting and informative as it seems  :lol:

where is the best place on here to ask about recommendations regarding 4x4 vehicles?

[sleeplessparadise]

hello and welcome............ you are probably best asking in The Bar, or if you have something specific in mind in the vehicle specific sections ;)

[BK]

welcome matey,it depends on what you are gonna do with your 4x4,daily drive,laning,pay and play,competition stuff? or just a family motor?

[crazymac]

Welcome to the Mad club oops, MUD club!!

There are as many opinions as choices when it comes to what to buy, Landrovers are probably the better off road machines but harder to live with as a daily driver perhaps? Discovery's cover all the bases nicely, Thats what I use, it is a daily drive, a tow barge, and a competant off road toy for green laning, off road even marshalling, setting up trials and trying to break it!! As long as you take an active roll in maintenance you shouldn't have any major problems!

Jap stuff "tends" to be more reliable and more expensive, but not as good in the rough? having said that there are some very competant Jap machines on here!!

It really is horses for courses!!

[BK]

Yup I agree discos are very good in the rough(not as good as a 90 though) but the biggest problem with any landrover is tinworm,if you are buying a landy make sure its not rotten cos if it is it will cost more than the vehicle is worth to put it right(unless you can do it yourself).Jap motors dont suffer with this problem as much but they dont have half as much character as a landy and not as much of a following and parts are dearer,so yer pays yer £ and makes yer choice :D

[dave_mi16]

thanks for the replys  :D

ive been looking into vehicles, to cut a long story short, my gf's car is going to be off the road for a couple of months, so she wants a car to use while its getting work done, and i have managed to convince her to get a offroader so we can have some fun in the mud  :shock:  :lol:. We'll have two cars on the road excl the offroader, so living with it isnt really a problem, but cruising at motorway speeds would be an advantage. If you look on my website you can see our toys and daily car.

anyways, i been looking into different vehicles, and i can see landys seem to be the best, but they are quite pricey, and out budget doesnt really stretch that far, so i was considering something like Suzuki SJ or Daihatsu fourtrack which seem to be the cheaper alternative. Its not going to be used for competitions etc, the local offroading place is called Bala 4x4 Website is http://www.totaltravel.co.uk/link.asp?fid=646172

[BK]

sj,s are good in the mud but to be honest not very good at motorway stuff or 4 families,dont know much about 4 tracks for for the price of a old 4 trak you could get an old disco,they are good at both motorway stuff and they seat 5 or even 7 and they are v cheap at the mo :D

[dave_mi16]

thanks for the reply, i might be completely wrong, but, i cant help but think old discos etc will be full of toys, which are likely to cause problems, where as an sj seems very basic, less to go wrong? how are they for reliability in your opinion?

[BK]

yeah sj,s are VERY basic and dont go wrong often but they are thin on the ground these days and finding one thats not rotten will be quite difficult,when you say toys what do you mean?if u are talkin leccy windows and stuff then most cars have these now.If you want a basic motor that WILL go offroad get a 90 but they are pricey and very basic.I guarantee once you start laning/offroading you will be bitten by the bug and you will want to do it all the time and then your £££ will disappear as you want more offroad bits :D

[dave_mi16]

I guarantee once you start laning/offroading you will be bitten by the bug and you will want to do it all the time and then your £££ will disappear as you want more offroad bits :D

i have been told this, and read it quite a lot, lol, sounds like a 4x4 curse.

A frontera my gf wants to get or a vitara, whats your opinion on these? but there is summat about the SJ i like, i think its just they look unbreakable and basic lol

[BK]

Yeah its the dreaded mud curse(incurable)Vits are ok but you need to lift em if you want to get anywhere,and they dont have much torque,the best offroader straight out of the box is a 90,with a close second a disco but can buy any 4x4 you want but you need to put decent mud tyres on and basically the more ground clearance you have the better.Most people buy sj,s to start off(I did) and then move up to summat bigger and more powerfull and it ends up costing an arm and a leg so you might as well buy the right motor in the first place.No doubt someone on here will disagree with me :D

[crazymac]

thanks for the reply, i might be completely wrong, but, i cant help but think old discos etc will be full of toys, which are likely to cause problems, where as an sj seems very basic, less to go wrong? how are they for reliability in your opinion?

Old Discovery's don't have toys!! They have simple electrics, most have electric windows but they don't usually give problems and they'll have a stereo probably!! :dance:

[dave_mi16]

So you think disco is the best option?

what should we look out for? or any particular model?

[crazymac]

So you think disco is the best option?

what should we look out for? or any particular model?

It really depends on your budget? You can pick up perfectly serviceable 200Tdi's for much less that £1000. a mate just picked one up for £550 off Ebay that has 11 months MOT and an undertaking that all the welding had been done!

Check for holes, as unless you can weld yourself that is what will kill it! Check the inner wings (pop the bonnet and have a look and poke) passenger side is not generally a MOT fail, but the drivers side is due to the brake servo location. Lift the boot mat to check the metal there as they tend to fall apart cos the mat is a sponge! and check the sills!

[dave_mi16]

just had a look on ebay, they are all at least £1000, budget is around £800 max  :(

[dave_mi16]

after talking to the girlfriend, she doesnt want a proper offroader, she wants summat she can use everyday too  :(, so its either a vitara or frontera, what do you guys think of this on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA-SPORT-2L_W0QQitemZ290203742405QQihZ019QQcategoryZ9858QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

[dave_mi16]

 :( no help now coz it aint a landy  :(

[Evilgoat]

Vits are a good choice. I run one as well as a Disco.

Better on road manners than an SJ and ours is used as a daily drive without too many hassles (long story, not the cars fault) It's been through a lot too, with some applied brainpower they can be made pretty competant for not much money. Biggest issues to look out for seem to be cracked exhaust manifold (not seen one without it yet), rot in the rear wings, dodgey freewheeling hubs, and high milage engines. They seem to self destruct at about 100K (well ones I've looked at) but are easilly fixed. I've done two with wrecked valves (days work) and my own, which ate a head gasket.

Can be cheaper to fix and maintain than the bigger toys, but modding it can be expensive. Soft tops are great fun in summer, although getting the mud out takes a while :)

Have a look in my gallery.

Fronties, I really dont know a lot about.

[BK]

Vits are pretty good offroad but you need to lift them at least 2" and they eat driveshafts,my mate replaced 3 on his in 6 months(he has a 90 now),they have ally diffs which dont take much abuse at all but all this can be replaced easily if you have the time and £,for my mind you are much better with summat else(not a frontera, : cavalier in disquise),have you looked at cherokees they are nice and comfy and strong and very cheap at the mo but get the 4 litre petrol........you can pick one up for £750-£1000 :D

[lee celtic]

Hello and welcome to the club

[dave_mi16]

well its the GF thats buying it, shes been put off the fronteras now, i have suggested discos and cherokees etc but she says they are too big  :( so its lookin like a vitara now, im still trying to get her to get a SJ but no luck.

Im a bit concerned about the driveshafts now tho  :shock: how much a problem are they? and any other advice regarding the vits?

thanks for all your help so far  ;)

[BK]

My mate had a 1.6 8v p reg,nice motor(apart from the rust)he popped driveshafts like there was no 2 morrow,he is a gentle (ish) driver and looks after his cars,but everytime he put his vit through serious articulation and floored it POP went the driveshaft usually taking the lot with it,we towed him halfway round once went we went laning cos he popped a shaft and then could only get 2 wd..........marjan!!!you know who im talkin about............as far as laning they will NOT go where a 90,disco,shogun,cherokee,SJ,landcruiser etc will go without serious mods,but if you want a day to day car they are perfect cos thats what they were built for,with a bit of mud fields thrown in.Get a vit,do nothing with it take it to tong or KORC and you will be coming home via the AA..........sorry to be a bit blunt but im trying to be honest and tell you what I think is right :D

[marjan]

My mate had a 1.6 8v p reg,nice motor(apart from the rust)he popped driveshafts like there was no 2 morrow,he is a gentle (ish) driver and looks after his cars,but everytime he put his vit through serious articulation and floored it POP went the driveshaft usually taking the lot with it,we towed him halfway round once went we went laning cos he popped a shaft and then could only get 2 wd..........marjan!!!you know who im talkin about............as far as laning they will NOT go where a 90,disco,shogun,cherokee,SJ,landcruiser etc will go without serious mods,but if you want a day to day car they are perfect cos thats what they were built for,with a bit of mud fields thrown in.Get a vit,do nothing with it take it to tong or KORC and you will be coming home via the AA..........sorry to be a bit blunt but im trying to be honest and tell you what I think is right :D

Accurate apart from it was a 16V mate  :D :D :D

[BK]

sup?gringo hows it hanging?sorry I was 8 valves out!!! :lol:

[marjan]

sup?gringo hows it hanging?sorry I was 8 valves out!!! :lol:

Sent you an email, been cleaning the mud out of my spots this aft  :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Brakes are working fine, thanks for the help on Friday.