Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I'm in the market for a Rangie and don't know too much about them. I'm looking at the early to mid '80s, preferrably a 2 door, with a budget around $5000, less if possible. Is this a realistic figure? I've heard the 85/86 models have the better suspension, is this true, and what year was the 2 door built up to? I'm keen to know if there's any common faults I should look for, and the type of engine I should lean towards. I'm new to all this so thanks heaps to all for any help you can give. Marty

if you can settle for a 4dr an 86 in that price range will be sweet.
You get EFI, LT230 and the revised rear suspension (not much different at all) you also get flat bottom diffs i beleive (for just that little bit more clearance).

If you want 2dr an 83 will be a good choice, just have to start looking at gearbox and tcase options and also no efi, but alot of the older units already have engine conversions and 4.4s or 3.9 efi etc etc.

Other will give better ideas, and opinions.

either a late model 2dr 83/ 84 or a 83- 85 4dr i think would be your best bet, you can get later models for $5k but you will be looking at high k with aged electrics so you would soon spend more on the wiring and electrical repairs.
It depends on what you want it for, if you want an offroad beast get a 2dr or if a budget comfortable family wagon is your need then an 85 4dr would be my pick- these are the best of the early rangies and come in auto and manual and are very easy to maintain and work on.

Cheers, I probably should have given more info. I will in want to make the Rangie more of a 4wd in due time (suspension, tyres, power, ect). Just unsure of which is the most realistic & workable in this regard. Marty

Our 88' 4dr Rangie has no electrical problems .
It also seems to be much more comfortable on road than our HSE ,but its alot louder
From factory it was a Turbo Diseasel but now has a carburetted 3.5L V8 in it.

Just another option depending if you are considering petrol or diseasel

Saw this thread on page two , not wanting to hijack it ,
but thought i might ask a few very relevant questions aswell
i woudlnt mind knowing a little bit more about this either , i ve checked the sticky's above and HSVrangie and the others have put some great information in them ,

the difficult thing is that there are so many options available , so it makes it a bit hard for the novice to pick one to build up for some pretty serious off roading,

from what little i know is that the electrics are pretty bad
* so what would be the year or year's to stay away from ?

the 4 speed's are stronger than the 5
* is this true , and what years are best ?

*whats the better motor pakage to go with and things to look out for ?

is there a particular year that had better transfer case and diff options ,
ie: bigger axles , stronger centres , stronger transfer case , better gear ratios , and so on ?

also should we worry about vehicles with air bag suspension , or is it just a straight forward and cheap mod to get rid of them all together ?


any advice given would be great to help steer us in the right direction .

Cheers
Hey Charger

It really comes down to what you want it for, if its mostly offroad then a 2dr or early 4dr will be fine, electrics are few and easy to fix or replace with better, the 4spd is the strongest manul box but there is no o/d and limited options in changing ratio's in the t/case as they are cast as one unit. The 5spd is weaker but if maintained they will hold up fine and the t/case is the lt230 with lots of options for ratio changes. 86 up have EFI and a 4spd ZF auto, these are nice and smooth if running correctly but do have more electrics to stuff up, again fine if maintained. In 89 they went to the viscous center in the transfer case which made for a quiet and smooth t/c but when stuffed cost and arm and a leg to replace, most people fit a lt230 in its place.
Not sure what year but in 90? or so they fitted 24 spline axles in the diffs which made them slightly stronger but no LR product apart from those with salisbury diffs had what could be called strong axle/ centers etc, but it comes down to what you are doing and how you drive - if you plan on driving hard an axle/ center conversion is a must. There is lots more i could add but i would be here all night - i have 2 rangie, an 81' 2dr ( now a ute ) and an 85' 4dr auto that will be getting a 4.4 P76 engine transplant soon. The 2dr i have owned for 11 years and apart from a set of head gaskets and a clutch kit, have only needed to replace the usual wear and tear items like bushes/ shocks etc. The 85 i have owned for 3 years and had previously had twice what i paid for it spent on repairs lucky for me, its a carb model with 3spd auto soon to be ZF and 4.4.

Regards,
Nick.

My advice is to buy the best example at the right price

A good 2 Door Rangie (vintage regardless) will relieve you of $2.5-3K with rego and roadworthy. Earlier 4 doors (82-84 vintage just say) will set you back a bit more and so on.

Unless you want to spenjd countless weekends rebuilding one, spend a bit more on an older model than buy a bargain priced later model and find out the hard way why it was cheap in the first place. Cheap ones are out there, they take some finding that's all.

My brother-in-law just bought an 85 Rangie (std spec, no electric windows, etc..) which was pertty straight and no rust for $2K. This Rangie was a little raggerd around the edges, mainly from daily use (20 years worth) rather than off-road bashing. Running gear is in good order with a few small jobs to do, nothing major though but a good buy.

Keep looking, drive a few, have a good look at them and you should get the one you're after.

Trav

Thanks very much to all for your input, it's been much apprieciated. After careful consideration I decided to go for a 4 door as most 2 doors seemed too far gone, or an engine change at some point has turned out a can of worms.
That left me wanting fuel injection in a clean car. After checking out heaps of rangies, '86-'89, I found an excellent example of an '89 model and managed to pick it up for $4,500. R380 box, ARB bar, driving lights, all the beeps and whistles.
I've learnt a lot about these cars in the last few weeks, a lot of that is acredited to this forum. Different boxes, diffs/axles ect., but knowing how to tell the difference or knowing exactly which size engine you are looking at took a bit more digging (ie; The R380 5 speed is the good box and reverse is down to the right... The LT77 is the weaker and reverse is up to the left).
Not sure if it's my place to say, but maybe some of these basic facts and figures could be posted in the relevant places... Maybe they are there but I had no luck finding it.

Thanks heaps all again, cheers Marty Go Rangie!

fark you got an 89 for 4500 .

3.5 or 3.9?
pics?

Well done mang, welcome to the DARK SIDE

AnthonyP wrote:fark you got an 89 for 4500 .

3.5 or 3.9?
pics?

Well done mang, welcome to the DARK SIDE

Pending on month, 'bout Sep-Oct 89 when 3.9 was fitted

Trav