Posted: 5/31/2011 6:43:11 PM EDT
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Trying to get a few ideas for a BOV with the below limitations.
1: Has to fit in a standard garage (no higher than 6'8" (80") and within 15' to 18' (180" to 216") in length and width of no more than 7'6" (90")). 2: Needs to be a mechanical engine, no FI (mainly so I have a chance in hell of working on it). 3: Needs to be 4x4 (2 feet of snow sucks in a car with 6" of clearance). 4: Would prefer gasoline powered, but will take diesel suggestions (car and motorcycle are gas, so easier to drain). 5: Would prefer something under 10K if possible. 6: Would prefer seating for 4 at least. 7: Not opposed to doing an engine swap with a crate motor. What I have looked at so far, broken down by type (SUV and Truck). SUV: early to mid 80s Ford Bronco early to mid 80s Chevy K5 Blazer (CUCV included) IH Scout (probably smaller than I want, but looked nice) Truck: 91-98 Dodge Ram diesel 80s Ford F150 80s Chevy Can anyone think of anything else that might fit the bill? Thanks. |
1988 Jeep J-20 3/4 ton 4x4 w/ac
This little jewel has all we need. More of a tank than a pick-up. I carry 30 gal of fuel plus tool box, chain hoist,gun rack,chainsaw+fuel,fishing gear,shelter system and with PLENTY of room to spare. Go stuff fits nicely in the bed(water/food/supplies) and with the truck being 3/4 ton I can carry damn near anything from a weight perspective that I might need beyond my normal preps. This is a carb motor and I can still get replacement crate motors if need be. I have had ANYTHING rubber replaced on the truck and take great care to "know" this vehicle from a repair point of view. It has just over 80k miles on it . I am the third owner and have had it for over 10 years. All this being said almost all of the choices you mentioned above will work with enough effort on your part. |
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The Chevy's will be the easiest to work on and easiest to get parts for in my option. A lot of parts from the trucks/blazers/suburbans are interchangeable. Chevy's did not come with fuel injection until 1987. Fords got FI in 1985 I believe, and the 2 barrel variable venturi carbs are the biggest POS's ever. |
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With the towing question out of the way, I'll toss in my vote for a FJ60. A completely clean perfect example would be out of your range, but a specimen that is road worthy with a few projects would easily fit into the budget even after projects are done. Lots of folks have also done V8 swaps in them as well if you find the power lacking. If you removed the carb requirement, a FJ80, Toyota 4runner are within your budget, even an earlier Tacoma if rear passengers are little ones. This also opens up Tahoe's (might be pushing size requirements), Explorers and XJ Cherokees. |
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I think people don't realize that on a FI engine, there's a reason you "can't work on it yourself", most of the parts last a REALLY long time. The stuff that does eventually break is no harder to repair, and the same type of parts, that crap out on a Carb'd engine. Also, Modern FI engines have better metallurgy to deal with more modern fuels (to a point) especially compared to engines designed to run leaded gas. Wasn't that long ago a car was "high mileage" before it hit 100k miles. Odometers didn't even HAVE enough numbers to deal with 100k+ miles! Now it's common to not think twice buying a early to mid 90's vehicle with 100-150k miles, and expect them to run out to 200k miles or more, and still run well! Fuel injection on newer gas cars gives you LESS to have to work on, and increased reliability across varying temperature and fuel conditions, not to mention more power, better economy, not to mention tougher motors. You trade a LITTLE less ease of working on it for getting rid of a whole slew of other problems. It's all trade offs. For instance, on my Explorer. There is no timing to set, no points or even distributor to worry about. It's all solid state. From a "I need my car to work right now" standpoint, I'd rather have an engine that tunes its self, and has easy to replace solid state electronics, than an engine that I can "work on myself" (which means constantly tinker with to make run). |
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I love my 1992 dodge W250.....
I sectioned the fenders so I could run 39" military tires with just front leveling springs. It still fits in a standard garage door with the cab high camper shell. For reliability and rebuildability its hard to beat this truck. The Cummins is pretty much a no-brainer. Its all mechanical where it counts and gets 20mpg pushing a 7000lb barn door around on huge heavy tires. The Getrag manual gets a bad rap but I have had no issues, I overfill it with synthetic 5w30 just to be safe. The np205 transfer case is pretty much bombproof. The kingpin D60 front axle with hubs is pretty much cream of the crop. The D70 rear is probably the 'weak' link but mine had held up well to the big tires, towing, and 'wheeling....it also came factory with a real Powr-lok rear diff. I like the regular cab....with the bench seat you can seat 4 across if you need to. With the camper shell I have a nice place to stealth camp on long road trips. Over 300,000 miles and still getting 20mpg if I don't drive like an ass. If you live in a salt state I would hesitate. While the drivetrain and chassis is pretty good, the bodies are pretty........dodgy :) The only real flaw I found so far was that the stock 4wd steering system SUCKS. I ripped the stock steering box bracket off 3 times. I think the huge tires didn't help, but its a known weak spot. I built my own crossover steering conversion that works with VERY little lift...if any really. Anyways....if you can find one, they are worth looking at. The best way to describe it is a 1970s truck with a Cummins and one-ton running gear. It's not a plush new fangled sissy truck ;) |
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From the 70s into the late 80s or early 90s general motors, ford, and dodge/plymouth kept things awfully common when it comes to their pickups or fullsize suv vehicles. Around here the blazers and broncos all have had kids remove the tops and not get them to seal up very well when putting them back on. Come winter I might buy one and redo the gasket or whatever it needs, right now a lot of people don't mind a little water leaking. Come winter with that water freezing up it might matter more. I like the ramchargers and plymouth trail duster because they did not have a removable top, yes I like the idea of a removeable top but I find a nice metal one piece setup easier to plan around when considering sticking a roof top rack or something on it. A whole lot of parts swap between the pickups and the full size suv vehicles. I kind of like the suv vehicles because it gives you a chance to have the seat recline and give you more room. I can live with a single cab pickup but I readily admit to enjoying an extended cab, quad cab, or crew cab a bit more. While I don't plan to tow heavy with one of these suv vehicles they seem to do just fine with something like a single axle or small double axle trailer setup. Enough to tow the 4 wheeler and some stuff along with it since the carrying capacity is not astounding on some of these short wheel base vehicles. There are a lot of websites out there for these vehicles and a lot of weak points are known and easily fixed. With fuel up there are a lot of the last of the fullsize broncos up for sale and I have looked at a few here and there but just can't get the prices low enough for me to buy one yet. I missed a nice half ton older chevy pickup dude traded in for a little foriegn car for fuel mileage, he gave that pickup truck away. If you do some local looking and talking you should be able to find something. Around here I am looking for something that has not been abused at the local off road place and that has been kept up mechanically so I can drive it home without worrying about it breaking down on the way home. I expect to have to work on it and I don't mind that, but some of this stuff is so worn out and neglected that I wonder about taking a test drive sometimes. If you start reading up about the vehicles that really interest you the sites you use can often have an ee with people having to sell their hobby as money gets tight. I decided a cj5 was just going to be too small for me right now but a fella on a jeep site had a decent one that was well cared for not too far from me for a decent price. So figure out what fits your interest and do some reading and looking at stuff. If a toyota land cruiser has been kept up I like them but I dislike reading about them needing timeing chains at set intervals and what not, I am talking about the big suv toyota stuff and not the 2 door convertable toyota mentioned above. If I got the name wrong I apologize. Some needed head gaskets in another model year. There is a lot of quality stuff out there, depending on age I think my choice comes down to who cared for something vs. me being set on a ford or a chevy or a dodge. |