Lifted, oversized tire Suzuki SX4.
Not so cheap off-road vehicle
Its 2023,how old would a cool sx4 be , one of them cool Toyota PU's would be 25 yrs old, an early gen Ranger would have been so 12 yrs ago since Ford hasnt made the Ranger since 2011 when they were only 19K for an ex-cab/ 6 ft box/ 4 L V6/ 5 spd and they got 25mpg, you could probably still find a reasonable Ranger
at least nobody still asks why toyota doesnt still make a hilxu PU, hint : its cuz of those fucking chickens
Last edited by: XXX_er on March 18, 2023, 6:32 p.m., edited 3 times in total.
Jeep cherokee
Agree on XJ if driving on roads is important.
RZR + trailer if it isn’t.
For what purpose? You mention hunting and adventuring on a mountain bike forum.
For Hunting - depends what you're hunting. If its bear or moose, full sized double cab PU. If its grouse or squirrel, can the hunting gear fit in a backpack, or do you need a long gun, therefore space to carry it?
Adventuring - how do you plan to camp? Tent? Van? Rooftop? Basecamp? For literally just hooning around to mountaintops in the interior, a dirtbike was our best “adventure” weapon. The base camp camper-van and trailer hauled them. By basecamp, I mean the camper is only driven on 2x4 gravel roads to set a camp.
Mountain bike shuttling backcountry, obviously only a Tacoma full size and lifted with a rooftop tent will do. Although I have always preferred a 4x4 SUV or camper-van and friends with pickups,
So before you chose a vehicle type, define what you need it to do. Is it your only vehicle, will it also be a commuter?
PS - adventure vehicles as a second or third spot in your driveway are money pits if you don't use them, or if you abuse them. I scrapped a $30K lifted oversized tired Jeep Patriot with only 90k km, because the CVT didn't handle the abuse. Our 42 year old camper van sits and costs ICBC and repairs while getting out there (mostly paved) 10-20 days per year. Paid only $6K for it in 2001, but have easily put $30K into it since (incl ICBC).
So before you chose an adventure vehicle type, define what you need it to do, and who you are doing it with. Keep in mind backcountry rescue.
PPS - buy this before you buy a vehicle, for the area(s) you will adventure in.
Posted by: heckler
PPS - buy this before you buy a vehicle, for the area(s) you will adventure in.
Why won’t the above open on my phone? Seems the maps have gone digital, but don’t forget - likely no cell service ‘out there’
I'd use a paper copy.
Last edited by: heckler on March 19, 2023, 2:58 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
05+ Xterra, Frontier or Pathfinder with the 4.0L.
Mid 2000d chevy or gmc truck with the 5.3
Posted by: heckler
Posted by: heckler
PPS - buy this before you buy a vehicle, for the area(s) you will adventure in.
Why won’t the above open on my phone? Seems the maps have gone digital, but don’t forget - likely no cell service ‘out there’
I'd use a paper copy.
You can download the map ahead of time to your specified zoom level.. works really well. I use Gaia maps premium that lets you enable the backroad maps baselayer for the entire province.
Especially around where i live the maps need to be taken with a lot of common sense and cross refferenced to recent satellite imagery.. lots of roads that dont exist anymore lots of roads that donexist and arent in the maps.. not so easy to navigate with a paper copy.
Last edited by: Adam-West on March 19, 2023, 7:27 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
Fair enough, I’m a cheap luddite with a 42 year old Westy with no phone charging outlet, who took a spare car battery and an inverter to solve the dead phone problem.
The point stands - F-O should know what he wants the vehicle to be capable of doing, and where he wants it to get to (and back). BRMB is an easy low cost first step.
For Adventure Vehicle, when I described this thread to her, the better half instantly blurted “dirt-bike”!
These are surprisingly capable 4wd vehicles including having a low range transfer case, decent clearance stock and good approach/departure angles. They are true body on frame trucks. The seats fold flat in the back to easily sleep two people side by side. Lots of head room in front seats. Super strong motors. You'd want to get certain things looked at to make sure they are ok, but it's not too difficult to work on and there are plenty of tutorials/vids for the few known issues. You could pick up some stock 18" wheels for cheap on Fb to throw some good offroad rubber on. Torsion bar front makes it easy to gain another 1" of height and you can get blocks for the rear struts to do the same for $100. Wheels, rubber and new suspension would set you back maybe $4K for some good stuff and if everything else is good you'd have a decent rig for under $10K for sure.
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/bnc/ctd/d/2003-mercedes-benz-ml500-awd-local-bc/7599360555.html
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/144793435274?fits=Model%3AML500%7CMake%3AMercedes-Benz&hash=item21b65c7c8a:g:UjYAAOSwLsljYu4c
Posted by: heckler
The point stands - F-O should know what he wants the vehicle to be capable of doing, and where he wants it to get to (and back). BRMB is an easy low cost first step.
For Adventure Vehicle, when I described this thread to her, the better half instantly blurted “dirt-bike”!
OK I can clarify some of my needs I wanna start hunting which means being able to navigate as many fsr roads as possible. I have the backroads map you were talking about already. This vehicle will do no commuting as I already have a sedan for that. For this vehicle I just want it to be able to get around on some of the rougher fsrs for cheap.
So far I've been heading out into the west Harrison/Chehalis area for plinking quite a bit in my mom's Forrester which is decent enough most of the time but I ran into problems with some sections where I guess it got washed out and there are these kind of ditches you have to get through. I was bottoming out on the bumper and having to back out so something that's more capable at that than a Forrester would be cool.
The largest thing I'd ever hunt for would be an elk but I'd want to get some deer under my belt first. I would skin, dress and at least quarter them before driving out so no need for a huge bed for an entire animal.
I sleep in either a tent or a hammock under a tarp roof so I don't need the vehicle to be a part of the shelter but I'm also not against it either. It
Last edited by: Fast-Orange on March 19, 2023, 9:02 p.m., edited 1 time in total.
Nissan Xterras and frontiers can be had for under 10 grand and are everybit as good as toyota equivalents that sell for twice as much.
Not a fan of Chrysler products and although ford's are pretty much the standard work crummy id never want to own one
Posted by: syncro
These are surprisingly capable 4wd vehicles including having a low range transfer case, decent clearance stock and good approach/departure angles. They are true body on frame trucks. The seats fold flat in the back to easily sleep two people side by side. Lots of head room in front seats. Super strong motors. You'd want to get certain things looked at to make sure they are ok, but it's not too difficult to work on and there are plenty of tutorials/vids for the few known issues. You could pick up some stock 18" wheels for cheap on Fb to throw some good offroad rubber on. Torsion bar front makes it easy to gain another 1" of height and you can get blocks for the rear struts to do the same for $100. Wheels, rubber and new suspension would set you back maybe $4K for some good stuff and if everything else is good you'd have a decent rig for under $10K for sure.
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/bnc/ctd/d/2003-mercedes-benz-ml500-awd-local-bc/7599360555.html
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/144793435274?fits=Model%3AML500%7CMake%3AMercedes-Benz&hash=item21b65c7c8a:g:UjYAAOSwLsljYu4c
Aren't those cheap because multiple expensive things on them are about to break? I'm not really into anything German. So far I like Adam West's xterra suggestion best.
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