Chris Goehring
New member
Hi all, Ive been looking for a vehicle to build into a backwoods expo vehicle and contemplating a couple different platforms and could use some advice. Ill be in deep snow, muddy trails, and slightly rocky terrain.
-My first choice would be a 1st gen cummins: I like the 12v, 5 speed, sfa, manual lockers, load capacity, and torque. Their simple to lift, work on, and are as reliable as it gets. But my main concern is weight, How do these things do in deep snow when aired down? I know you can burry them easily in mud if you loose momentum. Any of you had these things at somewhat high speeds off road? These are the feather weights of diesels and I figure it would handle the equipment I need to carry the best. I do full bumpers front and rear, 12,000 lb winch, cross over steering, and a 4in alcan spring lift. Only looking for around 300-350 hp nothing crazy just as efficient/ reliable as possible.
-fj80: reliable, sfa, load capacity/ interior room, lockers, and the tire size you can stuff under there is impressive. But these are also heavy, wide, and a pig for mpg, plus only available in an auto which i dont like. Are they pretty torquey in mud? and does loading up with bumper and gear affect this power much?
- First gen runner: bulletproof, sfa, light, interior space, fit in tight spaces. But I would feel under powered with 110 hp is my main concern and a engine swap is not in my book at the moment.
-3rd gen runner (I currently have one) 3.4 is very reliable, good power to weight ratio, space for gear, pretty good tire size, 5 speed. and I beat the **** out of mine, wrecked it acouple times and still runs pretty damn good. Downside is the ifs, which to me is a major problem, espically since my front ends looser than a french whore. its got 240xxx miles and had a ruff life being my first vehicle and all I dont really want to dump any more money into it..
Please give me some input and open to other suggestions, jeeps arnt really an option because the wranglers dont have enought cargo space for a girlfriend and a dog plus gear, and I dont see a unibody xj holding up too well the way I drive..
-My first choice would be a 1st gen cummins: I like the 12v, 5 speed, sfa, manual lockers, load capacity, and torque. Their simple to lift, work on, and are as reliable as it gets. But my main concern is weight, How do these things do in deep snow when aired down? I know you can burry them easily in mud if you loose momentum. Any of you had these things at somewhat high speeds off road? These are the feather weights of diesels and I figure it would handle the equipment I need to carry the best. I do full bumpers front and rear, 12,000 lb winch, cross over steering, and a 4in alcan spring lift. Only looking for around 300-350 hp nothing crazy just as efficient/ reliable as possible.
-fj80: reliable, sfa, load capacity/ interior room, lockers, and the tire size you can stuff under there is impressive. But these are also heavy, wide, and a pig for mpg, plus only available in an auto which i dont like. Are they pretty torquey in mud? and does loading up with bumper and gear affect this power much?
- First gen runner: bulletproof, sfa, light, interior space, fit in tight spaces. But I would feel under powered with 110 hp is my main concern and a engine swap is not in my book at the moment.
-3rd gen runner (I currently have one) 3.4 is very reliable, good power to weight ratio, space for gear, pretty good tire size, 5 speed. and I beat the **** out of mine, wrecked it acouple times and still runs pretty damn good. Downside is the ifs, which to me is a major problem, espically since my front ends looser than a french whore. its got 240xxx miles and had a ruff life being my first vehicle and all I dont really want to dump any more money into it..
Please give me some input and open to other suggestions, jeeps arnt really an option because the wranglers dont have enought cargo space for a girlfriend and a dog plus gear, and I dont see a unibody xj holding up too well the way I drive..