Anybody else want a small USEABLE 4X4?

[Buliwyf]

I had a nice YJ. It was so small, that I accidentally ended up on ATV trails in Ocala Nat Forest.

It was great for the super tight trails that don't exist by me anymore. Great break over angle to cross obstacles that don't exist. Feisty little sport suv thing, perfect for getting off the beaten track to a remote campground filled with........................ fullsize trucks.

The need for a little truck, for little trails never appeared for me. Eventually I got tired of being covered in dust while fellow truck guys were clean, soaked in rain, stuck in mud that big trucks crossed easily, and 28 pounds cargo capacity is hardly enough for just my boots. Not to mention, sometimes it's exhausting steering a Jeep with a 24'' wheel base on the hwy, or washboard sand roads. Trucks with 160"+ wheelbase track so much nicer.

They still make 2 door Rubi's, get them before they're gone. Just make peace with the fact that they'll pee on you every time it rains. I'd love to buy a 2 door 2.0l.........but I can't think of a single rational reason why. And the 2.0 isn't available with a manual trans either.

 

[shade]

my biggest (and sadly unrealistic) dream for the absolutely ideal, fun DD Truck for me (which won’t ever get built, sigh...see 1st quote above), is a simple 4wd single cab, LB with some expanded extra room behind the front seats for my gear.

Why doesn't one of the current mid or full size options with a slightly extended cab meet those specs?

 

[Buliwyf]

How much gear behind the seat? I can fit quite a pile of junk behind the seats of my work truck.

 

[shade]

If a CEO says shareholder value is no longer their main objective then they should be fired immediately!

It's one thing to say it. It's another to mean it in a measurable way.

From reading the linked article, I think the point being made is that taking a long term approach to management (investing in your workers, developing manufacturing locally instead of moving it overseas, etc.) may be a better approach than bottom line - every time, short term decision making. I don't think we'll see any of those companies going non-profit.

 

[billiebob]

If a CEO says shareholder value is no longer their main objective then they should be fired immediately!

That is way too short term a goal. Sometimes every industry needs to invest in changing markets. And change is what every good CEO is gearing up for right now. Stability sometimes trumps return on investment. Change always means putting profits back into a business to meet that change. Sometimes that investment is in image, culture, green, sport. But the big one today is meeting the market desire for better environmental choices.

And without doing this....

• Investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers and supporting outside communities are now at the forefront of American business goals.

Those customers driven to shop with companies who share their goals will quit shopping there.... and yer precious shareholder value, return on investment, will evaporate.

None of those values are new. They have just been driven into the ground over the past few years and guys like Trump on "Yer FiRED!" or Kevin O'Leary on Shark Tank have coloured our perspective of what really counts.

 

[AbleGuy]

Why doesn't one of the current mid or full size options with a slightly extended cab meet those specs?

Mostly, I’m being just whiny and lazy and unrealistic, which admittedly has become a more frequent, expanded lifestyle trait that’s been growing in my second childhood days, er.....my retirement days.

But anyway, I never wanted to have to yank out that rear bench seat, only to later have to reinstall it when I sold the truck (lazy). And folding up the rear bench seat uses way too much of the gear storage room there (whiny). Plus I have only the SB and I’d rather have the extra room of a LB but don’t want the longer WB (unrealistic).

But OTOH, the ex-cab models do make it easier to fit bodies behind the seat... and that better avoids the risk of them being spotted laying out in the open bed of my truck as I drive through town and go out into the woods to do some gardening ?

 

[shade]

Mostly, I’m being just whiny and lazy and unrealistic, which admittedly has become a more frequent, expanded lifestyle trait that’s been growing in my second childhood days, er.....my retirement days.

But anyway, I never wanted to have to yank out that rear bench seat, only to later have to reinstall it when I sold the truck (lazy). And folding up the rear bench seat uses way too much of the gear storage room there (whiny). Plus I have only the SB and I’d rather have the extra room of a LB but don’t want the longer WB (unrealistic).

But OTOH, the ex-cab models do make it easier to fit bodies behind the seat... and that better avoids the risk of them being spotted laying out in the open bed of my truck as I drive through town and go out into the woods to do some gardening ?

I was talking about cabs like the Tacoma Access Cab. Not much rear seat to yank, room for gear inside, 6' bed - for your long handled shovel. If folding them up isn't good enough, those seats are only held in place with a few bolts.

 

[billiebob]

I was talking about cabs like the Tacoma Access Cab. Not much rear seat to yank, room for gear inside, 6' bed - for your long handled shovel. If folding them up isn't good enough, those seats are only held in place with a few bolts.

if a regular cab with room for a clipboard behind the seats meets my goals, why would i want a cab with room a folding shovel.... which I regard as useless anyway. Regular cab, short or long box is all I'll buy. So used it is.

 

[AbleGuy]

I was talking about cabs like the Tacoma Access Cab. Not much rear seat to yank, room for gear inside, 6' bed - for your long handled shovel. If folding them up isn't good enough, those seats are only held in place with a few bolts.

Hence, my current negotiations to try to buy a used Frontier king cab LB.

 

[shade]

if a regular cab with room for a clipboard behind the seats meets my goals, why would i want a cab with room a folding shovel.... which I regard as useless anyway. Regular cab, short or long box is all I'll buy. So used it is.

I was suggesting that to the Roads Scholar, not you.

 

[Paddler Ed]

is a simple 4wd single cab, LB with some expanded extra room behind the front seats for my gear. No second set of rear seats there please (I’m never going to need to haul other folks) but I’d like the extra gear room and to not have that damn folded up seat be in my way.

Mate has a Holden Colorado (RC) that has that - 2 seats in the front, extra cab body and a 6' tray on the back. Vinyl floors, no back seats (but enough room to store chainsaws etc securely) and to get the seat back to a comfortable position.

Coming back to the single cab discussion, every ute on our bit of road (8 houses) with a total of 6 utes between them is a single cab (my HJ45, a couple of hiluxs, a Mazda BT50 and a Holden Commodore). Another mate has 2 single cabs (a HJ47 and a BT50), another has a GQ Patrol.

All these run single cabs because they take their tools (be it hand tools or a quad bike) as many of them are working farm utes or site utes.

We're spoilt sometimes in Aus for being able to get stuff that just works in many cases.... Although I suspect it'll get harder as the utes move into more lifestyle vehicles.

 

[billiebob]

Mate has a Holden Colorado (RC) that has that - 2 seats in the front, extra cab body and a 6' tray on the back. Vinyl floors, no back seats (but enough room to store chainsaws etc securely) and to get the seat back to a comfortable position.

Coming back to the single cab discussion, every ute on our bit of road (8 houses) with a total of 6 utes between them is a single cab (my HJ45, a couple of hiluxs, a Mazda BT50 and a Holden Commodore). Another mate has 2 single cabs (a HJ47 and a BT50), another has a GQ Patrol.

All these run single cabs because they take their tools (be it hand tools or a quad bike) as many of them are working farm utes or site utes.

We're spoilt sometimes in Aus for being able to get stuff that just works in many cases.... Although I suspect it'll get harder as the utes move into more lifestyle vehicles.

I'm incredibly envious, always have been of you guys living where water swirls in reverse.... and you live 20 years behind us northerners... I often think I was born 50 years too late.

Hope it is OK that I cut in on this conversation....

 

[shade]

should have sent a private message if you don't want input from the rest of us.

Good grief. I quoted the guy, and responded to him.

You quoted me, and responded to me as if I had responded to you.

Sorry for the confusion, but I had no reason to send a PM, and I'm not refusing input from anyone.

 

[docwatson]

Hence, my current negotiations to try to buy a used Frontier king cab LB.

Yeah but Frontier’s are old. Why would you buy one of those. They don’t have 13 way power seats or Apple Car Play. Just a reliable drivetrain and a reasonable bed height.

Also the KC P4X can be had new if budget allows.

 

[Deleted member 9101]