Sportrak

[JMJ]

Im 17 and have just a fourtrak as it got written off doing a good deed.iv seen a sportrak for sale for £900 and was wondering whether this would be good.was wondering how it handles on and off road and just generally how useful/fun/practical it is.

I have a budget of about £1000 so would there be anything better?

[Old Warthog]

Hi,
Sportraks are surprisingly good off road.  They are similar to your Fourtrak in the gears i.e. 2wd, 4wd and 4wd low box.  They are probably better than the Fourtrak, cos they have a shorter wheelbase.  The injection model is better than the carb model as it doesn't cut our at severe angles.  As they are quite light weight they tend not to do so much damage, driven properly they go just about anywhere.  Parts aren't too bad to get and they are easy to lift, if you want to go for bigger tyres.

On road, on ATs they are pretty nippy, quiet and can easily keep up with ordinary traffic, they are a 4 seater, you'd need to be good friends to fit 3 in the back seat :twisted:; boot space is small with the seats up, down it is quite a respectable load space.  If your running on MT's like me, ear defenders or a loud stereo is recommended.

I would say on your budget you should get a decent example and still have money left for a bit of modding.  I would also say that insurance wise they will be better for you, than say a Defender.  Mine costs me £110 fully comp, up to 5000 mile, off roading covered.  Mind you I am several thousand years older  :lol:

Have a look on EBay to give you some idea of the prices.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Keith

[JMJ]

Thank you so much!

That was all really helpful and just what i was looking for.Is there any particular problems to look for when buying one?and iv heard that the rear is easy to lift by adding fourtrak springs but what about the front?

Thanks again

Josh

[mill2020]

The front is torsion bars, so just crank them up to match the rear - very carfully i might add!

Sportrak's are great little motors, i miss mine

If your looking for info on modding or tech stuff try looking on www.daihatsu-drivers.com

Sensible mods -  ie a 2 inch lift would allow you to fit 31's or 7.50's 16, don't go with extended shackles on the rear to get lift, there a bad idea. Go for proper uprated spring either 4trak or i believe jeep YJ springs will give a good lift, you'll need extended shocks, procomp es3000's are really good and cheap.
 
If your spending £900-1000 you should get a very good inj version, but check the chassis for rot which is a daihatsu weakness.

[Old Warthog]

Just to add a bit more.

I've got 235x75 R15 Dakars MTs on mine, without any lift, but am thinking of going for stiffer springs and longer shocks.  I'm getting my mate to do the torsion bar in his garage, simply because it looks well and truly locked up.

I've just had a problem with a bearing collapsing in the front diff.  I don't think this is normally a problem though (the bloke I got this off wasn't the most sensible of drivers, when he met me he had driven about 3 miles with it in 4WD high, so it's probably stored up trouble from his time.

Regarding rust, I have a little superficial rust on the rear chassis, nothing to worry about and everything else seems very good (this is an 1990 model).  I've seen quite a lot with rust on the bottom of the doors, but that seems to be about it.

Cheers

Keith

[JMJ]

The one im looking at currently has wide alloys with road tires so il bee needing to change them. Do fourtrak wheels go straight on or would it be better to get new wheels with bbiger tires instead of just putting bigger tires on old wheels?
also do fourtrak engines fit in if i needed to in the future?

Thank you for answering all my questions

JMJ

[JMJ]

Iv heard  that sportraks are very uneconomical today, i was just wondering if this is true as because im about to become a student this will be a reasonable factor.

[Old Warthog]

Well, regarding wheels, you can fit Suzuki, Niva and Fourtrak wheels on with no problem.  On my old fourtrak I had 31x10.50 15 wheels on, although I did fit spacers so I could keep the turning circle reasonable.  They came off a Suzuki Samurai, whose owner had gone up to 33 x 12s or something equally daft.

You should be able to find reasonable steel wheels and tyres on ebay.  As I said before 235x75 R15s go straight on and equate to about a 2 inch lift in real terms -i.e. diff above ground., over the standard tyres.

Economy wise I get 25 to 30 in ordinary driving, probably a bit less off road.  On the odd long drive I probably get a bit more on motorways, but that's not something I do a lot as MTs at 70 are a bit deafening.  I think this is about as good mpg you are going to get with a petrol engine.  If you put MTs on remember that in onroad terms there is a lot less rubber touching the surface, so don't be too enthusiastic around bends in the wet  :lol:

Regarding fitting a 4Trak diesel, could be done (probably) but a lot cheaper to buy yourself a Fourtrak in the first place.  Also as diesel is now dearer than petrol you've got to weigh up the advantages - fourtraks are not that economic, so you won't gain anything economically, although they in many ways a better choice for off roading (low down torque, not so prone to being stopped by water etc).

Hope all this helps.

Regards

Keith
the mobile old warthog :twisted:

   (Cheeky PS)  If you are interested I can pm you pictures of mine which will be available after this weekend when I am doing the Bedford Levels in it.  It's old but has MOT to Sep and Tax to October.  Fitted already with  big tyres (2 brand new), MP3 player, but this is an off roader, so a few bangs and scrapes.  Had new rear brakes  fitted 2 months ago.  I am looking for plus £400, sub £500 for it.)  

End of Advert  :lol:

[bravo669]

hi, ive got a p reg sportrak and run it on a set of 235?75?R15 grizzly claws with no major dramas. they arent bad vehicles at all. id most definitely reccomend them.
only trouble is that most companies dont do mods for them, and you have to adapt alot of things. as regards economics, its all down to your right foot. if you hammer it you wont get a good return. if youre quite happy to pootle along you'll be fine