new to 4wd.... what truck.. tow,sand,daily

[toy77]

Hi there,

g'day my name is Stew, and i am looking at getting a 4wd.
i want to tow a boat.... perhaps up to 2.5tonne...
as well as my show/race car.

i want to do some sand driving and a trip to fraser, maybe get into other stuff, but pretty mild in comparrison to most you guys.

i want to spend under 10k, 6-8 would be good.

what would you recommend? i am looking at gq patrols... thinking bout cherokees and the like..... i do have to drive it to work..... only 50km a day.

if you can i would love to hear your experience with vehicles, including towing ability, and legal weights. light 4wd ability, repair cost fuel consump etc.

Thanks for your help
Stew

[Suspension Stuff]

Consider a Range Rover.
Cheap to buy.
Fuel is cheaper than Patrol.
If you want big tyres and serious off road than you will need to upgrade axles/CV's but standard it is still very capable off road.
More comfortable to drive than GQ.
Can still do the towing you want and if you are lucky you will get change to add accessaries.
GQ is 2nd best in my opinion
Cruiser too expensive and the rest a distant last.

Shane

[toy77]

thanks for your quick reply....

what kind or range rover we talking? year or model number.... what engine thye have....

Cheers
Stew

[Suspension Stuff]

Heaps fo guys with more knowledge than me but I will give it a stab.
I reckon an EFI model with coil springs. I think that would be between 86 and 93. The later the better. I would get one with a ZF auto but that depends on you. I have one with a 3.5L EFI V8 with a ZF auto. I have to recondition the auto I think but they have a really good reputation. Most say the 3.9L engines have a fair bit better accelleration, but mine does me fine. Hopefully someone can add a bit more wisdom. If not Tonka on the Rover forum.
Shane

[mavdog]

Go to any machinial workshop or if you know a mechanic ask then for there professional and personal opinion of then.stick with the well known
TOYOTA or NISSAN..

[Suspension Stuff]

Go see a LandRover Mechanic

[Hoonz]

i've spoken to mechanics that work at the dealership here in townsville ...
as i look after their phone system ...

wait for it ...
























biggest piles of shit they've ever worked on

but i've never seen any older model rovers in there .. they're all recent models ...

perhaps an older style one would be better then the new stuff they're bringing out

[mavdog]

I work at a dealer ship as well. 25 + mechanics all agree old or new ..
we can not all be wrong????

[Duff]

mate you cant go wrong with a gq patrol. buy a shorty cause there so cheap. like the one im trying to sell. for $7500, you get a mint condition patrol that will do anything you want a 4wd to do. im not biased though

[dibbz]

You can get a good 60 series cruiser for that price, rangies can bite your wallet but the 2 door models are sexy and I would love one.

Patrols are tough also, probably the best value for that price range. I reckon I see more accessories for sale for patrols than cruisers.

Petrols will be cheaper as a diesel engine costs a lot to replace and one in good contition or recently rebuilt can sell for $4k alone.

I looked at a number of 60's bout 2 years ago, all the ~6k ones looked good but showed signs of neglect, soon as I moved up to the 8k price range you start to see ones that have had regular maintenance and in my case I was after diesel, the one I picked up has log books of oil changes every 5k etc.

good luck let us know what you end up getting.

[toy77]

thanks guys.....

my uncle and one of my best mates both own mechanic shops.... and both are fans of patrols....

but i figured it was also good to get advice from people who actually use and own these vehicles....

what about legal tow weights. i am looking at possibly towing a 25ft bertram cruiser. not huge distances, but these are fairly hefty.

keep the comments coming,
Stew

[slowhilux]

Stew mate!! Its Phill from Sydney!!

I'd go a GQ Patrol, can get them for under $10K, they are tough and reliable, especially the diesels, cant kill them with a big stick! If you had double that cash, an 80 series cruiser.

Im fairly Toyota biased (as you know ), but you really cant beat the patrol

Phill
(EFI.20L )

[toy77]

hey Phill, hows doin?

yeah your truck was pretty tough......

but i have spent too much money else wheres.....

it does look like the patrol is the go though....

Stew

[Hoonz]

i bought a patrol wagon mid last year ... 4.2 petrol with 300k on the clock
with intentions of an engine swap later $8500 ST in is in pretty good condition outside the interior was tops

i set out to kill the 4.2 with suscess bout a zillion kms later it took a bit
i've done the engine swap now to a 4.2 diesel with only 150k kms on it prolly added big market value to it

[toy77]

col, i was looking for a petrol, maybe on gas.

how do the diesels go in comparison?

Stew

[Rainbow Warrior]

Consider a Range Rover.
Cheap to buy.
Fuel is cheaper than Patrol.
If you want big tyres and serious off road than you will need to upgrade axles/CV's but standard it is still very capable off road.
More comfortable to drive than GQ.
Can still do the towing you want and if you are lucky you will get change to add accessaries.
GQ is 2nd best in my opinion
Cruiser too expensive and the rest a distant last.

Shane

Rangies are only cheaper to buy if you buy one older than the GQ Patrol.

Fuel is Fuel, same price, didn't really notice much difference in consumption between my 4.2 petrol Patrol & 3.9 Rangie, keep them light helps.
Diesel 4.2 is good, turbo'd is better, avoid the 3.0 petrol and 2.8 diesel, they have weaker Skyline gearboxes.

If you decide to add lockers to play hard, axles upgrade for Rangie add $2k each, not necessary in Patrol.

No major difference in comfort between a 90 patrol & 90 Rangie AFAIK.
Buy a basic Patrol with towbar, don't need any other accessories.

I've owned both and given them a hiding.
Forget Landcruiser, you pay the same price as a Patrol for a weaker driveline.

[Hoonz]

col, i was looking for a petrol, maybe on gas.

how do the diesels go in comparison?

Stew

the diesels need forced induction in my opinion but still go pretty good
my ute (toy)is turbo'd intercooled
my wagon (tow vehical) is supercharged

[Rainbow Warrior]

Go see a LandRover Mechanic

Yep the only ones that can do it full time are Rover Loopy
And always busy.
Parts aren't always cheap or available.
Want your 76 model window to wind up again? That'll be $80 for the part, non-genuine of course.

[Rainbow Warrior]

You can get a good 60 series cruiser for that price, rangies can bite your wallet but the 2 door models are sexy and I would love one.

Patrols are tough also, probably the best value for that price range. I reckon I see more accessories for sale for patrols than cruisers.

Petrols will be cheaper as a diesel engine costs a lot to replace and one in good contition or recently rebuilt can sell for $4k alone.

I looked at a number of 60's bout 2 years ago, all the ~6k ones looked good but showed signs of neglect, soon as I moved up to the 8k price range you start to see ones that have had regular maintenance and in my case I was after diesel, the one I picked up has log books of oil changes every 5k etc.

good luck let us know what you end up getting.

Forget 60 Series, might as well get the previous MQ model Patrol.
If you want to just buy & drive, keep it at least 90 model.

[Rainbow Warrior]

col, i was looking for a petrol, maybe on gas.

how do the diesels go in comparison?

Stew

Slow, but consistantly slow, even with more weight.
Good turbo setup with intercooler is nearly as good as a petrol.
The petrol sucks some juice and ain't lightning either, but pulls well.

[toy77]

cool, thank for the info....

i have driven a couple patrols, i thought they went alright.
but at the moment i have a heavily modifed turbo old school celica and my daily is a rodeo ute with a commodore v6 with 4.3 diff gears so most things i drive feel a fair bit slower.

petrol patrol still sounds good.....

anymajor problems to look out for?

Thanks
stew

[mabsydney]

I agree with these guys, I'm looking for a good Patrol myself now.

I owned a Land Rover for 18 months and what a heap of s**t it was, constant problems, always costing me money and ucomfortable to boot.

From everything I've read and seen, Patrols look like the go.

Have fun,

Martin

[rOd]

petrol patrol still sounds good.....

anymajor problems to look out for?

Thanks
stew

The petrol Patrols are prone to cracking their heads. Especially if its on LPG.
BUT, there are ways of preventing this problem from occuring. It will require modifying the head though.

[Rainbow Warrior]

Yep, check the radiator for bubbling, watch for overheating, run fresh coolant/corrosion inhibitor.
You'll also want to install electronic ignition.

[bruiser]

I personally don't like rovers but if you want any info, my next door neighbour owns his own meccanical garage and deals only with rovers. He's pommy and worked on em all his life.
Let me know?

[hienuf]

For the dollers you want to spend......Gq patrol is the best in terms of doller value/towing ability/comfort/strengh/reliability.

[Rainbow Warrior]

For the dollers you want to spend......Gq patrol is the best in terms of doller value/towing ability/comfort/strengh/reliability.

Yep, if you really like the look of Rangies, then fine, but you have been warned.

[bogged]

For the dollers you want to spend......Gq patrol is the best in terms of doller value/towing ability/comfort/strengh/reliability.

Yep, if you really like the look of Rangies, then fine, but you have been warned.

What about this rangie $1500
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... hp?t=43480

Stu is a great bloke too.. he will tell u how it is.

[toy77]

thanks heaps.... thats an awesome response.

looks like a petrol patrol for me.

people please feel free to leave more comments and advice, the more info the better.

thanks again
Stew

[djr320kw]

You cant go wrong with a patrol. Be careful with a petrol on gas. Also I have been told the diesels are very sluggish on sand so might be best to stick with the petrol. The other issue is you want to tow big loads so it will consume heaps of fuel so it is that you have to weight up both motors.

Keep in mind you want to tow a big load. Depends on what state you live in I know in NSW you can not tow anymore than the weight of the tow car. You want to tow 2500kg so be careful with a SWB.

Just my 2c worth

cya dave