Most affordable, fuel efficient 4x4 set up

[Deleted member 9101]

... this is not a "full boost launch" sort of motorsport forum? You ever get a tire in the air while crossing some moguls and suddenly make contact with the ground under throttle? That's when axles snap, shock load is vastly greater than any street racing tomfoolery.

Sorry... I'm an adult, as are my friends and we keep our shenninagns on the track.

Also... if ya have say 500hp and do a full boost launch in 4hi... that's no different than the scenario you pointed out. Your drive trane goes from zero force applied to a whole lot almost instantly.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Dude, no offense but you're talking out of your ******. There is no free lunch. If you tune an engine for massive horsepower gains there will be a decrease in reliability. The guys and gals who have been fiddling with turbo diesel 3/4 tons and turbo gasoline performance cars already know this. Most engines aren't overbuilt to reliably handle that kind of horsepower increase, and let's not forget that most of the other chassis and driveline components weren't engineered with that power.

Since your opine starts off with an insult and then devolves using the phrase "most engines" I am just going to assume that you have zero first hand experience with a modified EcoBoost and let this be my last reply to you.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Actually...I think the price of the LC200 is ridicolous too. Not crazy about a bunch of crap hanging off the sides and roof of "expo" vehicles ether...really, who needs that much stuff to go car camping!? It is more about portraying a tough outdoorsy image than anything.

Trying to figure out what image the luxo-truck demographic is trying to portray....all hat and no cattle? No way that guy is getting his hands dirty. Perhaps his wife won't let him have a Porsche. Figures he can't get into too much trouble with young women driving a pickup truck...

Yeah... some people bring more stuff to go camping than they would use if they were doing the same task at home...lol. This website seems to have evolved over the years from guys who go camping, to guys that like to spend a lot of money to look like they go camping.

My step brother has a 2015 Limited. It's a beautiful truck, absolutely gorgeous. He also owns about 3,000 acres of orange groves, 350 acres of pasture land, 100 or so acres of other random crops, and is an avid hunter. His truck gets used 7 days a week off road.

His truck does everything from dragging equipment, to getting groceries and has done so comfortably.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Can get a brand new CC truck everywhere for under $40 000. Just have to forego the chrome plated door handles.

Here in Fl you can get a Supercrew, XLT, 4x4 for that price if you wait for a sale.

 

[skyfree]

I'm super late to this thread, but I'll throw in my opinion on a Colorado ZR2 Duramax. I realize this is over your budget, but keep in mind that a lot of "overlanders" buy a stock vehicle and then proceed to add thou$ands in modifications to bring it up to the capabilities and comfort they are looking for. My approach was to go purely stock and minimalist. My 2018 ZR2 has exactly 3 modifications: A power outlet in the bed for a fridge ($20), an undercover bed cover ($1,100), and Fab589 Shock skids ($99). This is one of the few choices in a new vehicle where you don't have to immediately upgrade tires.

This thing works great and I can hang with my friends off-road without issue. I'm no longer the weak link and the stress level is low. We do mostly desert and dry mountain trails, but it gets regular use in the snow in the winter on roads and the stock A/T tires work great on snow and ice.

No, you won't be sleeping in the bed in the shortbed version unless you get a cap and one of those tent extensions that extend over the tailgate. My cheap/light solution is a swag, but there are tons of other better options if you want to spend more $$. Maybe later when I have more time to camp and travel.

One thing that isn't well known is that it has a larger than 21 gallon fuel tank. At about 23 mph average, I always get at least 500 miles between fillups. The trick is to slow fill the last 2-2.5 gallons because Chevy intentionally did something to make the pump shutoff early. I have put in as much as 23 gallons after the reserve comes on. I've gone as far as 550 on a single tank, which would be almost 24 mpg for 23 gallons. My off-road average is between 15-18 depending on the amount of low speed crawling.

 

[Clutch]

Yeah... some people bring more stuff to go camping than they would use if they were doing the same task at home...lol. This website seems to have evolved over the years from guys who go camping, to guys that like to spend a lot of money to look like they go camping.

My step brother has a 2015 Limited. It's a beautiful truck, absolutely gorgeous. He also owns about 3,000 acres of orange groves, 350 acres of pasture land, 100 or so acres of other random crops, and is an avid hunter. His truck gets used 7 days a week off road.

His truck does everything from dragging equipment, to getting groceries and has done so comfortably.

Yeah, believe a lot of those guys like to see how much crap they can bolt on to their rigs.

Wife's stepfather has a farm in SC. He likes those luxo-barges too. Has an uppper trim Chevy of some sorts, but it is freeway cruiser. All of the farm trucks are beaters though, as he is the kind of guy that chucks feed bales into the bed with reckless abandon. His luxo-truck will never see muck boots covered in cow manure, that is a guarantee.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

... as he is the kind of guy that chucks feed bales into the bed with reckless abandon.

The horror!!!?????

 

[Clutch]

The horror!!!?????

ha ha!

That, and he has a bull that likes to ram body panels.

 

[Dalko43]

Since your opine starts off with an insult and then devolves using the phrase "most engines" I am just going to assume that you have zero first hand experience with a modified EcoBoost and let this be my last reply to you.

Do you have any experience with a modded ecoboost? Because from the way you talk, it doesn't sound like it.

I've driven and seen plenty of modded turbo gasoline engines....they're great when they're working, the problem is they don't always work. The OEM's designed these engines and drivetrains with certain horsepower levels in mind; there is absolutely no need to fiddle with that especially in an overlanding context.

 

[D45]

What's next?

Not sure, maybe a used Power Wagon....a 6.4L sounds nice

 

[Rove Adventures]

@Rove Adventures, do you need a crew cab or are your open to the extend/super cab? It seems like the new Supercab Ranger fits the bill fairly well. Decent MPGs and you aren't going from a compact SUV to a full size truck. I just priced the XL w/ FX4 package at about $36k in Canada.

Full size trucks are great, but if you don't want or need the size, why get one?

I would be looking at a super cab/extend in a full size truck only, I think the extend/super cab would be too small on the mid size truck. If I were to go with a mid size truck would def need a crew. Thanks for the input!

 

[D45]

The interior cab size of the F150 super crew is highly impressive

 

[jrgraveyard]

Yeah..about that. Your mechanic is 100% wrong. The filter is $8.00 and there is zero service requirements for the turbos.

It never ceases to amaze me how people flip out over turbo on a gas motor and then demand them on a diesel.

Here is an article from 2005. Turbos have been used for a long time, I don't get what scares people about them.
https://newatlas.com/go/4848/

 

[Dalko43]

Here is an article from 2005. Turbos have been used for a long time, I don't get what scares people about them.
https://newatlas.com/go/4848/

I don't think anyone is scared of turbo's on a gasoline engine, but they undoubtedly add complexity over a naturally-aspirated engine. Plenty of people said the same thing when OEM's started introducing turbo's to the diesel engines...yes turbo-diesels have gotten a lot more reliable over the years, but the old, tractor-like naturally-aspirated diesel engines still have a legendary reputation for reliability and ruggedness compared to the newer turbo-diesels. I think Toyota may still offer some variant of its naturally-aspirated inline 6 in certain markets where reliability is prioritized over power delivery.

Also, the relevance of turbo gasolines to the truck market is debatable, as they offer little, if any, mpg advantage when a truck is actually put to work.

Perhaps more relevant to the F-150's case, the reliability question wasn't purely focused on the turbo's, but rather the overall design: direction injection gunking up the intake valves, turbo's going out prematurely, timing chain issues. To Ford's credit, a lot of those issues were addressed in the later engine versions, but they did exist nonetheless with the early versions of the ecoboost. So it's not all drama and hype when people raise concerns about reliability with these engines.

 

[rruff]

This thread has meandered in many interesting directions. But if we go back to the original question regarding an affordable 4x4 for mild overlanding and camping, there are a few major considerations:

1) Initial cost vs resale.
2) Cost (and hassle) of maintenance and repairs.
3) Cost of fuel.
4) Cost of insurance and registration.

1 and 4 favor used vehicles most of the time. But if we stick with new trucks, the best values are usually found on "tradesman" models with V6 NA gas engines. Plus the V6 will return an extra 1-2 mpg. Look for last years model that has been sitting on a dealer lot too long. Do nationwide searches. Flying there and driving home isn't a bad idea if it's the right truck for the right price.

People seem to focus on MPG too much IMO, and ignore depreciation. Depreciation may work against that V6 (versus the same truck with a more powerful engine), so make sure the deal is quite good to start with. A $50k truck will depreciate more than a $25k model. 10 years and 100k miles later the first might drop $25k in value while the other drops only $10k, a $15k difference in cost. People buying old trucks are more concerned about utility than bling. Different makes will also tend to depreciate differently. When I was looking, a 10 year old 100k mile Tundra was worth about $5k more than a comparable F150 (book value). I didn't look at Ram, but they were probably worse.

How much is MPG worth? In 100k miles ($2.50/gal) the difference between 16 and 18mpg is $1,736. Pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Nice if you don't have to pay other "costs" to get it, however.