Looking for a 4x4 I can tow behind my 2008 tiger camper (4x4 chevy diesel 3500hd). Primary use is for day off road use where my 10000lb, 10' tall camper can't travel, but would like to be ok for some city driving when not camping. Thinking something smaller /lighter for towing, hardtop, good on washboard, and entry into off road travel. Ok to pm vehicles for sale.
New to 4x4 travel, want recommendations, WTB vehicle
- Thread starter jebers53
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flomulgator
New member
Just for something different I'll say lifted Subaru GL-10 wagon or Brat (80s Subarus). Abuseable, cheap to maintain, light for towing, smaller form factor, easy as cake to drive in the city, hardtop, coil springs for washboard all around and better ground clearance than almost anything that is new and stock.
pics of lifted Brats
pics of lifted Brats
addicted56
Adventurer
I'm a Land Cruiser fan so I say FJ40. But I see a ton of geo-trackers being pulled behind big rigs. But a Suzuki Sami would be much better off-road and still be a great around town, camp, and do well on fuel. If you could get them I've been looking at the Dahaitsu F20...would be a great vehicle if we ever got them here.
Ohh yea and dare I mention a wrangler.
Ohh yea and dare I mention a wrangler.
austintaco
Explorer
x2 on the Samurai. They made a hard top, and the soft top models had an aftermarket hardtop available. Finding a clean unmolested one might be an issue.
Wow, never considered a subaru, althou I have owned 3 in the past, outbacks and my first new car was a 91 legacy wagon, just sold it to neighbor with 250K mi. Aye on abuseable and cheap maint.. Thanks for input.
I tow a Sami behind our Sprinter; the Sami only weighs 2100 pounds, so it tows pretty well within the limited towing capacity of the Sprinter.
It has been surprisingly handy and capable for the three of us; even my wife admits it has been a pretty useful addition. That's high praise, indeed. For it's small size, it's roomy, since it's a box on wheels. Not exactly a plush ride, but it is what it is. Very capable, and tons of aftermarket stuff available for it still, which can't be said for most other vehicles of its type.
The hard part is finding a decent example that hasn't been morphed into a rock crawler. The newest ones are still 15 years old; expect some work when you find one. And they do rust, so finding one without some rot might be tough, although you're in a good area to find a nice one. Here in New England, not so much...
How many people will your "toad" (towed) vehicle need to handle? That will factor in, obviously. The Brat is a great idea, if only 2 people!
Good luck!!
It has been surprisingly handy and capable for the three of us; even my wife admits it has been a pretty useful addition. That's high praise, indeed. For it's small size, it's roomy, since it's a box on wheels. Not exactly a plush ride, but it is what it is. Very capable, and tons of aftermarket stuff available for it still, which can't be said for most other vehicles of its type.
The hard part is finding a decent example that hasn't been morphed into a rock crawler. The newest ones are still 15 years old; expect some work when you find one. And they do rust, so finding one without some rot might be tough, although you're in a good area to find a nice one. Here in New England, not so much...
How many people will your "toad" (towed) vehicle need to handle? That will factor in, obviously. The Brat is a great idea, if only 2 people!
Good luck!!
Thanks for the input. Seems like more later model geo trackers are available. Same rig as the samurai?
What are the advantages of a Sami over a tracker?
Tracker/sidekick vs Samurai
Having owned a 97 trackkick dd/wheeler here is my two cents on the tracker vs sammy debate, i will keep it short.....ish
Sammy Pro's: solid axle and leaf springs, small(er), light(er), (more) simple, utilitarian, you can just about build one from a catalog ( they are approaching jeep CJ-esque aftermarket support)
Sammy Con's: someone already posted the rust and age issues, and good luck finding one that hasn't been wheeled or beat for a decent price. Where i am they are approaching collector status $$$. Solid axle and leaf springs mean a rougher ride, but OME can solve that for you.
Trackkick Pros: 1.6 engine thats fuel injected (16 valve has more power than the earlier 8 valve), a human can actually fit in the back seat of the two doors, much more comfortable ride (ifs and coil springs), quiter, better road manners (highway and surface streets), easier to find for cheap and in decent shape, a four door trackkick is down right roomy for a vehicle of its size.
Trackkick cons: ifs can't be lifted more than a few inches without some work, they don't have the cool factor of sammy's, the aftermarket support isn't up to par with the sammy's but its getting there. not as capable out of the box as a sammy
With your needs/wants i would go with a tracker/sidekick. My tracker had two inches of lift, 30's, skids and rear locker and was a fun capable DD/trail machine. The IFS and coils handled washboards, mild-moderate trails, and street quite well. I wouldn't call it a great long distance highway vehicle, but it sounds like you don't need that. I could go on for a lot longer, if you want some more info feel free to PM me.
Mike
Having owned a 97 trackkick dd/wheeler here is my two cents on the tracker vs sammy debate, i will keep it short.....ish
Sammy Pro's: solid axle and leaf springs, small(er), light(er), (more) simple, utilitarian, you can just about build one from a catalog ( they are approaching jeep CJ-esque aftermarket support)
Sammy Con's: someone already posted the rust and age issues, and good luck finding one that hasn't been wheeled or beat for a decent price. Where i am they are approaching collector status $$$. Solid axle and leaf springs mean a rougher ride, but OME can solve that for you.
Trackkick Pros: 1.6 engine thats fuel injected (16 valve has more power than the earlier 8 valve), a human can actually fit in the back seat of the two doors, much more comfortable ride (ifs and coil springs), quiter, better road manners (highway and surface streets), easier to find for cheap and in decent shape, a four door trackkick is down right roomy for a vehicle of its size.
Trackkick cons: ifs can't be lifted more than a few inches without some work, they don't have the cool factor of sammy's, the aftermarket support isn't up to par with the sammy's but its getting there. not as capable out of the box as a sammy
With your needs/wants i would go with a tracker/sidekick. My tracker had two inches of lift, 30's, skids and rear locker and was a fun capable DD/trail machine. The IFS and coils handled washboards, mild-moderate trails, and street quite well. I wouldn't call it a great long distance highway vehicle, but it sounds like you don't need that. I could go on for a lot longer, if you want some more info feel free to PM me.
Mike
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Will be just my wife and I for use on roads we don't want to subject the camper. What is your tow system for your Sami? Your hook up? Do you have aux braking?I assume your Sami is manual, is there a problem towing an automatic?I'm totally new to this, have never towed anything, hehe
My 1995 Samurai is a 5 speed. I tow it with a Blue Ox Aladdin tow bar, connected to the two Blue Ox tow bar tabs I had installed on my ZOR front bumper. I used a Blue Ox tow bumper bar, prior to having the current bumper made. No supplemental braking, although I'm considering it. The Sprinter tows it pretty well, other than the fact that I can't see it behind me. I am going to fit the Sprinter with a tranny cooler, and new brake shoes here soon. The Sami weighs about 2200 lbs; pretty light. But the thing is a mountain goat off road.
To flat-tow the Sami, one puts the transfer case in neutral, and tranny in 2nd gear. The steering wheel must be unlocked, so a key stays in the ignition. Because of some quirk in the Sami driveline, one must start and run the engine every 200 miles or so, to ensure lubrication to the engine (I forget why). I plan to do the Trail Tough "Twisted T" tranny mod to ensure a true neutral transfer case, and thus eliminate the 200 mile requirement, but in practice, I usually gotta stop to take a whiz anyway.
There's also a driveline disconnect that one can install, but it looks kind of intrusive.
Not sure how an automatic would work; you might not be able to flat-tow one, or may need a dolly. I'll check the owner's manual...
One drawback to flat-towing, or towing "four-down", is that you can't back up (although I've seen it done with a driver in both vehicles, with alot of shouting as they tried to coordinate backing up...). Ya have to disconnect everything, reposition, and reconnect. You learn to scope out stuff as far in advance as possible, looking for exit routes...
To flat-tow the Sami, one puts the transfer case in neutral, and tranny in 2nd gear. The steering wheel must be unlocked, so a key stays in the ignition. Because of some quirk in the Sami driveline, one must start and run the engine every 200 miles or so, to ensure lubrication to the engine (I forget why). I plan to do the Trail Tough "Twisted T" tranny mod to ensure a true neutral transfer case, and thus eliminate the 200 mile requirement, but in practice, I usually gotta stop to take a whiz anyway.
There's also a driveline disconnect that one can install, but it looks kind of intrusive.
Not sure how an automatic would work; you might not be able to flat-tow one, or may need a dolly. I'll check the owner's manual...
One drawback to flat-towing, or towing "four-down", is that you can't back up (although I've seen it done with a driver in both vehicles, with alot of shouting as they tried to coordinate backing up...). Ya have to disconnect everything, reposition, and reconnect. You learn to scope out stuff as far in advance as possible, looking for exit routes...
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