bfdiesel
Explorer
Don't forget you have OBD II.
Why does "size matter" in N.America???
- Thread starter 4Rescue
- Start date
Don't forget you have OBD II.
78Bronco
Explorer
I would like to see the OP address the GCVW rating of the Jeep XJ because I think he has raised the most important issue which is overloading a vehicle. AFAIK...the XJ is rated to tow a maximum of 5000 lbs and a "large dump trailer" + "Kubota" sounds like a lot more then 5000 lbs to me. I could be wrong. Another issue for me is his dad could be driving so slow down the road that he is causing a bigger hazard by not being able to keep pace with traffic.
JCMatthews
Tour Guide
I will avoid anything rude, or replying to those statements that are hinging on rude. I personally do not like large vehicles. I would love to have a 1 ton 70 series. I wore out an XJ Cherokee pushing beyond its limits. I don't like computer controlled vehicles. I do need four full doors so that my truck can haul my family. If there had been anything midsized from the 70's that fit my needs, I'd have spent the money on a restoration than on something new.
That said, we can't get a small 1 ton truck, and there is nothing too early that was a decent midsized 4 door. We can't do what we want in the US, if we could some of us would be driving 70 series trucks, but they are not allowed here until they are 25 years old. Our vehicle purchases are determined by what the government and the auto manufacturers make available to us. There is a need in all counties for trucks that can handle heavy loads, ie capacity, engine, and breaking. Trucks that can handle such loads are available here to anyone who can make the payments. In other countries the trucks are either not available, to expensive, or commercial vehicles. My brother married a girl from NZ. When here family came, all they could talk about was the size of our SUVs ie. Durangos and Excursions and how they would love to have them over there. They too are controlled by government and manufacturers.
I don't see a need for any vehicle to run 37s, but we are the land of the free. This all said, I drive an '05 Tundra. I almost went with a Dodge Dakota. I wanted a 1st gen Taco, but with a family not so easy.
That said, we can't get a small 1 ton truck, and there is nothing too early that was a decent midsized 4 door. We can't do what we want in the US, if we could some of us would be driving 70 series trucks, but they are not allowed here until they are 25 years old. Our vehicle purchases are determined by what the government and the auto manufacturers make available to us. There is a need in all counties for trucks that can handle heavy loads, ie capacity, engine, and breaking. Trucks that can handle such loads are available here to anyone who can make the payments. In other countries the trucks are either not available, to expensive, or commercial vehicles. My brother married a girl from NZ. When here family came, all they could talk about was the size of our SUVs ie. Durangos and Excursions and how they would love to have them over there. They too are controlled by government and manufacturers.
I don't see a need for any vehicle to run 37s, but we are the land of the free. This all said, I drive an '05 Tundra. I almost went with a Dodge Dakota. I wanted a 1st gen Taco, but with a family not so easy.
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Cards81fan
Osage Hilltopper
I know you added some qualifiers that I omitted, but if you look back a couple decades, there was a tiny "One Ton" being imported to the states:
Though towing 5,000 pounds with that 22RE had to be interesting!
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
Crazy how my posts keep getting deleted.
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toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
911regular
Adventurer
Why does size matter??!! Lol
If I could put a pop up on Bigfoot I would,,,, just wouldn't know where to mount the spare. Why does size matter!?! What does it matter why size matters? If it makes you happy then it's all good,,,
If I could put a pop up on Bigfoot I would,,,, just wouldn't know where to mount the spare. Why does size matter!?! What does it matter why size matters? If it makes you happy then it's all good,,,
southpier
Expedition Leader
so if i drove a F-550 with 37's every day of the year my carbon footprint would still pale by comparison.
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
Crazy enviro nazis trying to control everyone.
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Between the early 80's and 1996 I had a succession of medium sized import 4x4's that would fit in to the OP's framework of what we really need. The major stars were a 1974 fj40,an 85 trooper and a 91 Montero. They either had 4 or 6 cylinder motors and none of them got any better then 17 or 18 miles to the gallon on a good day. I loved my imports and sneered at the big trucks even though I had already owned a few. What changed my point of view was a trip we took to raft the Smith River for 4 days in 1996. With my wife,son and a 90 pound golden retriever on board I had every nook and cranny packed to the bursting point.I was carrying the rowing frame ,oars and cooler on the roof. I was cruising along under the speed limit when a pickup that had just passed me lost his topper and deposited it in the middle of the road. More by luck then skill I managed to avoid a collision but it brought home the fact that I was pushing the limits of these designs and the results were niether safe or efficent. When I got home I put the Montero up for sale and ordered a one ton crew-cab powerstroke f-350 with a 5 speed. I put a platform and drawers in the bed and covered it with a cab-high topper. Compared to my past vehicles this truck was a revelation. I could carry six full size adults,I never managed to come close to filling all of the dry secure storage and I consistantly got twenty miles to the gallon on the hiway. The brakes and suspension were unfazed by the biggest loads I threw at them and the truck was rock solid and comfortable at hiway speeds or 50 miles of bad roads back in the Missouri River breaks. While it was'nt quite as nimble as the Montero around town it was never a problem in the small city where we lived. After eight years and a 100,000 miles I sold that truck for half of what I paid for it and it was just as tight as the day I got it. In thinking about why I followed the path I did I realized that the trucks that I owned in the 70's were standard cab gas motored half -tons that got ten miles to the gallon, rode bad but couldn't carry much and were for me a poor alternative to something like my first Trooper. I think that the thing that finally ended up turning me off on these smaller rigs was the dismal fuel mileage. Unlike the rest of the world where they would have been available with diesel motors we were saddled with inefficient gas engines. Considering that my crew-cab got better mileage towing one of these utes then they got on their own it's pretty hard to make a strong case for them. By the way during the time I owned the F-350 I also had a Suzuki Side Kick Sport. It was a great little ute for running around town and handling the light duty tripping chores but it paled in comparison to the truck.
bfdiesel
Explorer
I always love these rant threads, which is really what this is. I understand; my temper would be high after almost getting creamed by something big.
Frankly, I love how some people can justify that whatever THEY consume is an acceptable level, but anything above that is excessive. One night when I was gassing up my 10 year old Expedition, a woman at the pump in front of me, gassing up her new Prius, took me to task for driving such a big truck solo. Now, I'm not a noble person by nature, but it just so happened that I had the rear seat down and was carrying a pile of stuff to a church fundraiser, mainly because I was the only person that actually had a vehicle that could even fit the stuff, or pull the trailer full of hay bales. I pointed this out to her, and remarked that it would have taken her 10 trips to haul what I got in 1 trip, and she still would have been stuck with the hay bales.
Didn't matter... she had her mind made up; I was the wasteful one. But to her, it was perfectly justified to buy a new car, with a huge "footprint", and tool around solo, as long as it got 30 mpg.
For the record, I split my commuting time between the Expedition and a Suzuki Samurai. I generally like my stuff small, not because I'm frugal, but probably because of my nautical nature. I found 9 years of submarine duty enlightening on what one can do with tiny amount of space. But for all the times I've thought about ditching the Expedition, and there have been many, the truck has been extremely useful in a way that no small vehicle can ever replace. (And here's a little known fact: the Samurai really doesn't get as great a gas mileage as one would think for a 2100 lb truck. Well, 2150, after I added the veritable steel cage for the back so I could fit my little girl's gi-normous booster seat back there... Even after all that, I think she's safer in the Expedition...)
To the OP: Honestly, what kind of fuel economy does a 89 Toyota 4Runner (with a stock 22RE, 5spd, 33x10.50 BFG At's, Marlin rear Bumper, OME Dakar / BJ Spacer lift + OME Shocks all around (and the SS),4.88's) get anyway? I bet not any better than today's "full-size" trucks? And Lord knows emissions have come a long way in 23 years...
We ALL have an impact on the planet. You, me, everyone on this board. The trick is to minimize it to the extent that we can. Even if your impact is smaller, it hardly makes you "right", and others "wrong".
Stimulating topic, of course, and it's nice that we can converse as gentlemen. Thank you for that!
Frankly, I love how some people can justify that whatever THEY consume is an acceptable level, but anything above that is excessive. One night when I was gassing up my 10 year old Expedition, a woman at the pump in front of me, gassing up her new Prius, took me to task for driving such a big truck solo. Now, I'm not a noble person by nature, but it just so happened that I had the rear seat down and was carrying a pile of stuff to a church fundraiser, mainly because I was the only person that actually had a vehicle that could even fit the stuff, or pull the trailer full of hay bales. I pointed this out to her, and remarked that it would have taken her 10 trips to haul what I got in 1 trip, and she still would have been stuck with the hay bales.
Didn't matter... she had her mind made up; I was the wasteful one. But to her, it was perfectly justified to buy a new car, with a huge "footprint", and tool around solo, as long as it got 30 mpg.
For the record, I split my commuting time between the Expedition and a Suzuki Samurai. I generally like my stuff small, not because I'm frugal, but probably because of my nautical nature. I found 9 years of submarine duty enlightening on what one can do with tiny amount of space. But for all the times I've thought about ditching the Expedition, and there have been many, the truck has been extremely useful in a way that no small vehicle can ever replace. (And here's a little known fact: the Samurai really doesn't get as great a gas mileage as one would think for a 2100 lb truck. Well, 2150, after I added the veritable steel cage for the back so I could fit my little girl's gi-normous booster seat back there... Even after all that, I think she's safer in the Expedition...)
To the OP: Honestly, what kind of fuel economy does a 89 Toyota 4Runner (with a stock 22RE, 5spd, 33x10.50 BFG At's, Marlin rear Bumper, OME Dakar / BJ Spacer lift + OME Shocks all around (and the SS),4.88's) get anyway? I bet not any better than today's "full-size" trucks? And Lord knows emissions have come a long way in 23 years...
We ALL have an impact on the planet. You, me, everyone on this board. The trick is to minimize it to the extent that we can. Even if your impact is smaller, it hardly makes you "right", and others "wrong".
Stimulating topic, of course, and it's nice that we can converse as gentlemen. Thank you for that!
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Can only speak for myself...
Anything lighter duty than the 3/4 ton I have would have been crushed under the weight of our mid-size slide in bed camper. Towing a loaded trailer behind said truck/camper combo up western US mountain passes requires all the power any of the big three have offered and more. Not getting stuck at the typical beach, dune type deep sand destinations we regularly set with our load requires balloon traction tires. Fitting my choice of balloon traction tires on my truck required a lift.
Because certain upgrades don't fall within your scope of understanding doesn't mean there aren't good reasons for their existence. I'm sure paying a special purpose tow truck driver to rescue a truck with a blown motor, sunk up to it's broken axles is pretty fun too. To each his own.
Anything lighter duty than the 3/4 ton I have would have been crushed under the weight of our mid-size slide in bed camper. Towing a loaded trailer behind said truck/camper combo up western US mountain passes requires all the power any of the big three have offered and more. Not getting stuck at the typical beach, dune type deep sand destinations we regularly set with our load requires balloon traction tires. Fitting my choice of balloon traction tires on my truck required a lift.
Because certain upgrades don't fall within your scope of understanding doesn't mean there aren't good reasons for their existence. I'm sure paying a special purpose tow truck driver to rescue a truck with a blown motor, sunk up to it's broken axles is pretty fun too. To each his own.