Offroad-Express

Hi I am currently about to purchase a 4wd, manly for the beach/ dunes & forest 4wd out Muriwai...
Now I dont know much about 4wds in general, so I need some help with models etc...

I have narrowed it down to a 2 door 4wd

1.4 SJ413 Suzuki

2.5 turbo diesel Mitiz Pajero

Jeep CJ4 with a 4.1L petrol

Isuzu irmsher 2.8 turbo diesel.

Daihatzu Rocky/rugger


Now does anyone have any recommendations/warnings about these models? Or suggest one that I get?

Any help would be great.

Or if anyone is selling their 4WD let me know!

steer clear of mitzi diesels.... they arnt the most reliable. but pajs are great! the petrols seem to be ok, well mine hasnt died yet anyway. do you want a truck that will just chug through at low revs or do you like to scream motors? bigger engines (pajeros jeeps etc) will plod away while smaller one sometimes need a little more coaxing... but my mates sj 413 will go anywhere on the beach and i tend to stay on the tracks. but then parts like cvs for them are geting very hard to find now.... im probly not helping much with what i just said. my 2c.

Yeah not very helpful!

So stay away from the diesel mitizs...any other advice?

how bout a series landy or a 2 door rangy? The rangy has coils and a v8. There is a prob though. You can't fit 35's without a lift. Some 3" extended coils on the rear and some 80 series coils on the front would fix that though

Thought about it...but then I thought about parts etc...they would be a bit hard to get hold for a land rover wouldnt they? rangy? I assume you mean Range rover? again for the same reason but even more so...

Any one have thoughts on the power of the 2.4 Diesel vs the 2l on the surfs?

I havent had any probs with parts for the land rover. I don't imagine it would be hard to get them for a range rover.

hmmm land rover s3 3300cc but not as light/ nimble as teh suzuki?

or the mighty suzuki...1300cc but nimble...

suzis- people seem to be having trouble geting cvs and axels i think, deffinatly hard to find cvs tho.

or a jeep 4100cc

but what about parts for the jeep? i would have thought they would either be expensive or hard to get?
i say get a swb pajero. it was one of your short listed and if your thinking of a 4.1 jeep fuel consumption prob isnt a worry for you, so gat a petrol pajero. they are fairly capable and there are parts everywhere.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=50467265 this is a mean truck!

I think if I go for ANY older car thats not a toyota, nissan or mitzi teh parts will be hard& costly to get...

So I may be forced to get a hilux...

ah the beuties of jap crap. parts everywhere! what about a crusier? swb prado?

I dont have a huge budget!
like under 4k...

hmmmm... vitara? mate had a 1600cc one, put kings init and did a small body lift on it, then 31s and it went very well. parts everywhere, swb, cheep to run,

Nissan terrano V6. Goes real good along the beach with tyres at 20psi. Handles dunes well being a medium weight 4wd with plenty of grunt, and the wheelbase and width is just enough smaller to get through tight corners in forests that hilux's and surfs can get through but with more risk/damage. My 2cents worth.

Shitload of part for Rangies/landies (I deal with them at work). Suzuki CVs are hard to find, but in all honesty unless you are doing something stupid you shouldnt break them. Failing that you can pick up complete axle assemblies for bugger all its just a matter of keeping an eye out for them.
My preference is a Zuk (I run one off road), however I have owned and off roaded numerous rangie and discoverys and they are well set up off the showroom floor for 4 wheeling.
What ever one you pick, lost of beach work will take a toll on bodies/chassis's so try and start with something that has a sound body/chassis otherwise you will be chasing rust every warrent.

On a side note, you say you want to use it to use in the beach/dunes and forestry of Muriwai. You are aware that alot of places off the main beach are out of bounds to us 4wders?? Not being an killjoy but there have been a lot of people that have stuffed the whole area for our 4wd clubs round there. We have a piddly little area we can use for off roading now that costs each club vehicle $40/day to use... Hardly worth it compared to huge areas in teh past that cost $10. Was probably going to happen regardless but some individuals have sped the process up.

Anyway back on topic...... Go the Zuk :thumright:

no I wasnt aware...I was planning on going out with my friends who live out there...I would have assumed they know where they can/cant go...
suzukis have enough power? to drag themselves out etc?
Thats the only thing thats worrying me about tit...its only a 1300cc...
and I hate the vitaras etc...to girly for my tastes..

I'd go for the landy or the jeep. Common 4wd's are boring. For the landy I'd go for an EFI coversion onto the holden motor. And then go for some 32" mud tyres. Ive got a couple of old pics of mine in my album. Its in users albums on pg 11. Series 3 axles were te strongest I think, but series 2a gearboxes were the strongest. Mines going hilux axles (when I can find some) on coils or a spring over on my saggy leaves. I would stick with landrover stuff but theres some maxxis creepy crawlers sitting in the garage on 6 stud rims (from my dads truck) that wont fit on the landy at the mo, couldnt use em full time as they're still inuse on the patrol. You dont want to buy a surf by any chance do you? ive got one of those to sell (after I didnt either bother checking if it was IFS before I agreed to buy it)

whats the problem with IFS? what is it? Indepentant F system? Details on the surf?

independent front supension is what ifs stands for. Problem with the surf is that its been in the sea. Would probably sitll go well but I cant get spark at the mo. Has a 75mm bodylift, and extended shackles with wound up torsion bars. Has a 2.0 l engine. PM me if still interested but I suspect the being in the sea bit would have put you off. No structual rust I can see though

ifs- independant fron suspension. zuks are great offroad/beaches, so light they just sit ontop of the sand.

hmm.. wouldnt recomend a Jeep. I mean they are great, i bought mine a few months ago, but their engines tend to overheat and if you dont take care of it right away it messes up the cylinder rings and all that stuff. Can be quite costly. Got mine at an auction for 4600 but had to spend 2000 on repairs for head gasket, new rings, etc. And since they're American the parts arent too cheap. Recently smashed my indicator covering thing and am having a terrible time finding a replacement. So yeah, pretty much just stay away from Jeeps if you're on a limited budget.

no_8wire wrote:no I wasnt aware...I was planning on going out with my friends who live out there...I would have assumed they know where they can/cant go...
suzukis have enough power? to drag themselves out etc?
Thats the only thing thats worrying me about tit...its only a 1300cc...
and I hate the vitaras etc...to girly for my tastes..

Thats sweet, as long as your mates know where to go....

A lot of it is power to weight ratio, Zuk in standard trim is well under 1500kg (correct me if Im wrong anyone), so the motor can move that mass quite easily. When you start getting into teh mid sized vehicles - pajeros/rangies etc, then you are going to need more power, so within reason a zuk can be better of because its power to weight ration is as good if not better than the bigger engined vehicles. The drawbwack with Zuks is you just cant carry as much comfortably. Thats about it to me. Everyone has there own preference in vehicles (some wont agree to what I have just said - but thats expected) take each bit of info and think it through.

Vitaras arent as girly as you think, I go 4wding/compete against a few and they are far from a hairdressers car....

Rex

yeah its got a holden 202 motor in it..

so it looks like teh little suzuki is cleaning up at this stage!
What are they like on the roads though? slow?

lilpigzuk wrote:
Vitaras arent as girly as you think, I go 4wding/compete against a few and they are far from a hairdressers car....

Rex

Your saying this to a guy with a MR2...
I just dont like the round shape...I know they are good, but not for me...

zukis rock but i like to have torque ant just chug through stuff. then stab the gas when needed. dont like the idea of screaming its head off going up hills and stuff.

A 3 litre paj does not have torque to chug through anything.
Go the 413 zuk, most capable std 4x4 available though a little slow on the road.
J Top

Have had a couple of Zuks and haven't had a problem with them off road. Even without any mods, put 'em in low ratio and they will go just about anywhere. They skate over mud 'cos they are light and chug up mountains no problem. Only thing I wouldn't recommend them for is high/strong water crossings - easy to get swept away.
Oh - and it's easy to roll them .........

Had the same budget as you just recently and ended up buying a Rugger for a change. Yet to try it out properly off road so not sure how it compares to the Zuks - but it's certainly nippier on tarmac.

go the 2.5td mitsy (had to put my vote in, own two of them one at 170K the other at 140K), the 4d56 motors are ok, the older 4d55 are the problem engine. cheap to run (compared to a petrol), acceptable down low grunt, if you need more, stand on the brakes and spool the turbo up.