off road/ winter beater project suggestions...

[sasquatch]

hey, im starting to think about getting a winter beater/ off road project... what i want the thing for is to be my winter car for when the snow hits and my festiva will be parked... also seeing as i got my firearms licence i have been TRYING to get out to the bush and go shooting but the last time we left my friends b2200 at the start of the trail cause it couldnt do it, 2wd and gut-less... so im gonna need 4x4 and low range... i would like it to be good on gas so im thinking ill get a 4 banger of some sort... (in low range the power should be fine for the hills... i think lol...) but trying to figgure out what i want is very hard... i havnt been "in to" the off road stuff at all so i dont know much about it... some of the trucks and small suv's i have been looking at are:

all of the toyota trucks
gmc tracker/ suzuki sidekick/ samurai
mazda b2200 and b2600


is there anything else that i should look in to? any that i should stay away from? i want somthing thats tough as heck and can take a beating... and somthing i dont have to mod up like crazy to make it tough... i just want to leave it alone for the most part... (i may paint it with truck bed liner, add some off road lights and a winch or somthing, and MAYBE a hocky puck lift if its easy and wont cause alot of problems lol...)

what do you guys think i should get? i dont think im gonna buy one right away but it dosnt hurt to look on craigslist for good deals...

[thered56]

To me it sounds like what your after really is the gmc tracker/suzuki sidekick/samurai. From what I hear the take a beating and are still small and economical. I don't consider Toyota's to be worth their cost. They go for ridiculous $ imo. You can get the same truck for half the money in other brands. If it were for me I'd be looking at a Ford with a 300 I6.

[1988festivazoom]

ford ranger 4x4 with a 2.3...... turbo later :wink:

[thered56]

After owning a 2.3L and 2.9L Ranger I'd only buy a V6. That would be a nice choice though.

[1988festivazoom]

Yeah and I don't think they even used the 2.3 in the 4x4 models, I have a 3.0 and its really peppy it will burn one tire up to 40 mph on dry pavement and I'm getting 20 mpg all in town. Haven't done any highway runs but my buddy is taking it to seattle wa. This weekend so I'm gunna have hime see what kind of mpgs it will get on all highway.

[sasquatch]

ya im kind of liking the tracker/samurai things... the only thing is that i cant carry that many things in them... a truck bed would be SO handy to haul stuff around...

[bhazard]

Justy ...lol

[Ford Fester]

I've got a 4 runner with the 22r motor. Fun as heck in the snow. 2657515 tires. Milage is mediocre at around 25 to 27. Decent power. The topper comes off and you can haul about as much as a festy with the back seat out. As far as durability wise. We park it in the summer and go throw a battery in it in the winter and drive the heck out of it. They are hard to come by and sorta pricey.

[Banana Bonanza]

I'd be looking at a Ford with a 300 I6.

After owning a 2.3L and 2.9L Ranger I'd only buy a V6. That would be a nice choice though.

Yeah and I don't think they even used the 2.3 in the 4x4 models

I couldnt find a 4wd Ranger with 2.3L when I was looking, rare as hens teeth though seen couple since then for sale. They only made them up into very early 90s. Then only V6 in 4wd Ranger from that point on. The 4cyl was never offered in the BroncoII.

My Ranger came with a 2.8L. Talk about crappo engine for a truck, very little low end torque, you had to downshift and rev heck out of it to do anything. And Ford had them geared wrong too. Gearing little better for the 2.9. 2.9 wasnt any great improvement, just geared better. I think 4cyl too was geared wrong. It however is OHC engine and can rev without complaining, so if you had say 5:1 axle gearing, it would be plenty powerful, you just wouldnt have even theoretical possibility of high top end speed. Ford spent great deal of money and finally made a silk purse out of a sows ear with the 4.0L big brother to the 2.8 and 2.9. Same Cologne German Ford engine design. They'd been so much better off either starting from scratch or keeping the old 200/250 cube inch straight six and just adding fuel injection or whatever it took to make it meet emissions. It was already a decent engine. Look at what AMC did with their old 232/258 straight six when they modernized it with fuel injection, became very popular option in Jeep lineup.

The 3.0L was the front drive Taurus V6 which Ford offered in Ranger while they were re-engineering the 2.9L into the 4.0L.

oh and since I really really hated that 2.8, I replaced it with a 6-300 that I had as spare for my F250. Big time overkill for a Ranger but it has all kinds of torque so can at least keep up with traffic on the hiway and amazingly accelerate UP hills, the 2.8 couldnt even dream of doing such. Good 200-6 or 250-6 alas is hard to come by anymore so 300 it was. And yes Virginia, you can shoehorn a 6-300 into a 4wd Ranger without using a body lift kit. Mine looks very stock from outside. The 300 is more a tractor engine (low rpm torque, great for 4wd), if you want fast high revver, then many people have stuffed 302/351 in Rangers or BroncoII. There are even after market kits to do this.

[Eaglefreek]

"Four banger, low range, decent mileage, and tough as heck." I'm not sure if your're gonna find that in one package. I think Fester's mpg with the Four Runner is unique. The few guys that I knew with 4 cyl. Four Runners were lucky to touch 20 mpg. Since it is a beater, maybe not consider the MPG part as much of the equation and you can get a decent older fullsize pickup for much less than a Toyota or Suzuki. The lower cost will offset the MPG savings you would get with the higher priced vehicle and with the right tires will take you into the bush.

Banana, I'd love to see pics of that 300 in the Ranger. I was considering a 300 for a project in the past but sold it.

[bhazard]

Amc eagle wagon?

[crazyrog17]

Mazda B series with a BP dropped in?

[Eaglefreek]

Amc eagle wagon?

No low range and not what I would call "decent" mpg. I installed a low range case in mine though.

[sasquatch]

Mazda B series with a BP dropped in?

i have been thinking of this one for some time now... only with a fe3, not a bp... anyone know if the b2200 has low range? and can take a beating? lol...

[blkfordsedan]

I can't imagine any modern 4X4 truck (not SUV) not having a low range, unless it's a full-time AWD concept like my 5.0L V8 Mountaineer (which BTW is impressive off-road).

I grew up with Ford Couriers (Mazda) from the '70s & '80s and they were dead reliable and tough as nails. IMO, better than when Mazda adopted the Ranger platform. I wouldn't be scared of any Mazda truck at all!!!!

What you need is a '66 thru '77 Bronco with a straight 6cyl and 3-speed.
They were the Festiva of the SUV world. Only problem is finding one without paying an arm & a leg. An older Suzuki would be a good choice as well.