help with purchasing a ute

[bigmick]

hey i was just wondering wat a good 4x4 ute is that u can bye for around $9000. and wat are the first cheap and easy mods to do if u are just starting out. and if any one knows of any one who has a good 4x4 utes for around that price could u please give me some details. any help would be apreciated.

[mickyd555]

do you want a 6 cylinder or 4? diesel or petrol. does the 9K include the mods? do ya need a dual cab? and are you gonna use the tray for anything?

[muppet_man67]

Buy the newest best condition live axel hilux you can afford.

[bigmick]

yeah the 9000 includes the mods i was looking at about 84 onwards with some mods done or about a 90 with out them. im looking for a single cab but would realy like and extra cab cantr seem to find many around. yeah i was also looking at a 6 cylinder conversion but i dont know if that would be more trouble than it is worth. but i dont raely want to lose my licence to quick so i dont raely need speed. yeah and i need to me able to put a bike on the tray.

[bigmick]

dont know that much about 4x4 yet trying to learn tho is live axel like the solid straight through ones on the older hiluxes or is like the ones on the new hiluxes.

[muppet_man67]

otherwise known as solid axel. yes on the older hiluxs. Much more modifiable.

[toughnut]

Solid axle is a normal type of diff, wheel to wheel. IFS is independant front suspension. (not as good off road as a live axle.) Go for a ute that is newer and hasn't many mods. You'll usually find that these haven't been abused as much and will be more reliable. The more mods you do the more maintenance and money is needed. Go for something simple to start with and learn the basics of 4wding then as you get better you'll start looking for mods that will let you do more.

[bigmick]

yeah thanx for the help i will be looking for a newer one now. wat do u recomend that the first few mods would be.

[toughnut]

A licence and a 4wding course. Depends on what you get. Good tyres are a big thing. It doesn't matter what else you do you can't go anywhere decent without good tyres. Safety items like a UHF radio, fire extinguisher etc.

[bigmick]

plenty of natural terain courses near me so i will be using them to my advantage. thanx for all of the help it is apreciated.

[muppet_man67]

A licence and a 4wding course. Depends on what you get. Good tyres are a big thing. It doesn't matter what else you do you can't go anywhere decent without good tyres. Safety items like a UHF radio, fire extinguisher etc.

Also if you want to keep it neat body armour is invaluable. Ie bull bar, rocksliders (side steps but very heavy duty and not nessasarily good for stepping on) and bashplates. On a hilux one for the trasfercase is a good idea.

[bigmick]

thanx for that i was looking at the one that tuffnut built for his ute and was thinking than i would have a go at trying to get one going my self first. do u have any idea how much underbody protection would cost for a hilux.

[toughnut]

That bash plate that I built cost me about $300. If you can weld or know someone who can(and do it well) You can save lots of money. Especially on all of the little brackets etc. that people use for hi-lift jacks and shovels.

[bigmick]

yeah i do some part time work with my brother inlaw he is a boilermaker so that should make stuff a lot easya.

[muppet_man67]

My uncle bought a tranny bashplate for a hilux for around $120 if you end up buying a hilux send me a pm and I will find out where he got it.

[bigmick]

is there any way that i can keep ur name in a list or any thing like that so it will be easyer to find. sort of like a friends list thing.

[toughnut]

Later on when you get your ute just do a search with your user name as the author and you'll come up with this thread

[bigmick]

oh ok thanx

[largesuzy]

A licence and a 4wding course.

licences are always good i get mine (edit:learners) on the 18th of september

[bigmick]

i get my learners on the 16 of september.

ive got a while to go yet.