lenny
formerly known as PokeyYJ
- Location
- Bountiful, UT
Thanks for humoring me haha
Real life costs of a dedicated trail vehicle?
- Thread starter lenny
- Start date
Thanks for humoring me haha
lenny
formerly known as PokeyYJ
- Location
- Bountiful, UT
Not that anyone cares, but I'm bored so here goes
When I originally posted this I was driving an 01 Xterra with a poor mans lift. About a month after I had an opportunity to buy back a 1999 Land Rover Discovery that I had owned a few years before and had loved it. So I bought it back, and had to recondition some stuff the last owner let lapse. I told myself over and over that I would use the disco more offroad than the X. Well after a year of ownership, that fails to be the case. The Land Rover is a pavement pounder. And now I'm thin king I should get a dedicated trail rig again. But re reading this thread I'm doubting I should do that
When I originally posted this I was driving an 01 Xterra with a poor mans lift. About a month after I had an opportunity to buy back a 1999 Land Rover Discovery that I had owned a few years before and had loved it. So I bought it back, and had to recondition some stuff the last owner let lapse. I told myself over and over that I would use the disco more offroad than the X. Well after a year of ownership, that fails to be the case. The Land Rover is a pavement pounder. And now I'm thin king I should get a dedicated trail rig again. But re reading this thread I'm doubting I should do that
( i know this is an old thread lol)
my thoughts are like a few others, I have an XJ on 35's locked D44's, hydraulic assist, stoker, (building a cage) ect thats currently my DD, its actually fun to drive on the street, but It is a pain with a car seat and my wife hates it lol. Its fine for long drive as far as comfort is concerned. My only real worry is driving it home, or breaking somewhere I can't get a replacement part soon enough to drive it home after beating on it for a week/weekend and make it to work Monday. I plan on getting a 1/2 ton truck or 3/4(ideally) to tow it with for the "peace of mind factor" and my own comfort day to day, as well as I need something for home projects...
I think it really comes down to the wheeling you want to do, and the money you can justify in vehicles/actual use.
my thoughts are like a few others, I have an XJ on 35's locked D44's, hydraulic assist, stoker, (building a cage) ect thats currently my DD, its actually fun to drive on the street, but It is a pain with a car seat and my wife hates it lol. Its fine for long drive as far as comfort is concerned. My only real worry is driving it home, or breaking somewhere I can't get a replacement part soon enough to drive it home after beating on it for a week/weekend and make it to work Monday. I plan on getting a 1/2 ton truck or 3/4(ideally) to tow it with for the "peace of mind factor" and my own comfort day to day, as well as I need something for home projects...
I think it really comes down to the wheeling you want to do, and the money you can justify in vehicles/actual use.
I think this is something that needs to be evaluated case-by-case. For me, I have roughly $65K in toys/vehicles that sit and rarely get used. A big chunk of that is my Tundra which only gets used as a tow rig for my camper, dirt bike, etc. For me, it's cheaper to have my 2012 GTI that I drive every day than it is to not have the car and drive the truck every day. Just in fuel costs and maintenances (tires, oil changes, etc) I still have insurance on the truck so that doesn't go away or drop by not driving it. So, taking the cost of my car (I did it over three years, a normal person would probably own it longer 
), fuel, insurance, maintenance (free for the first 36K miles), etc it was still less expensive.
Now, the peace of mind I get by knowing that if for what ever reason, one of my vehicles is incapacitated come monday morning, is very nice as well. I can just jump in one of the other vehicles and go to work. No matter what anyone claims, driving your wheeling rig every day sucks. It's definitely a compromise any way you look at it. When I have another wheeling rig, I'll have a dedicated rig, like you it will most likely still be street legal, but being able to get it home from a good weekend and not worry about the breakage right away is worth more than the little extra costs, if any, of having the extra vehicle.
), fuel, insurance, maintenance (free for the first 36K miles), etc it was still less expensive. Now, the peace of mind I get by knowing that if for what ever reason, one of my vehicles is incapacitated come monday morning, is very nice as well. I can just jump in one of the other vehicles and go to work. No matter what anyone claims, driving your wheeling rig every day sucks. It's definitely a compromise any way you look at it. When I have another wheeling rig, I'll have a dedicated rig, like you it will most likely still be street legal, but being able to get it home from a good weekend and not worry about the breakage right away is worth more than the little extra costs, if any, of having the extra vehicle.
Its hard to evaluate and get a good answer. I have a tow rig, crawler, trailer, sports car, and those are all once in a while drive to work kind of rigs.
Then there is a old beater truck that the wife and I use to commute, and haul parts. We will soon be adding another car to the fleet, just for reasons caleb stated.
Its cost effective to buy another, than to put the wear and tear, fuel, etc on the other rigs.
Then there is a old beater truck that the wife and I use to commute, and haul parts. We will soon be adding another car to the fleet, just for reasons caleb stated.
Its cost effective to buy another, than to put the wear and tear, fuel, etc on the other rigs.
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
I had a Blazer that I really liked, didn't cost much, and was a DD too. Took it on a bunch of trail runs, liked it, but it needed more capability, and that's where we had to part ways: it was too damn big and top-heavy to make me happy on the harder stuff, and too small and full of little issues to take the family in. So, I sold it and got what I've got now, after years of hemming and hawing: a large Suburban, w/22.5" under the frame all the way down, seating for like 8 people, and a 60/14 bolt with a Detroit. This will get me through probably every trail I'll take the wife and kids on, and still tow and haul stuff. Then I picked up the YJ I'm working on, which will end up costing >10k and should be a LOT more fun than the Blazer ever was for the money.
That said, I'm having fits thinking about making it street legal enough for Moab runs. Fenders. ugh.
That said, I'm having fits thinking about making it street legal enough for Moab runs. Fenders. ugh.
mombobuggy
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Highland
I just wish our state did not have such strict lift laws. I have lived where sandrails and big trucks had licence plates. And fondly remember the days when I D.D. an f350 with 44 inch tires. I generally had another vehicle for a backup when some thing got torn up on the ford beating on it up in corner canyon. Man I really miss that stuff it seems like we are being pushed further away to go play. I feel lucky to have a dedicated off road rig and trailer. But there are times I would love to have a street legal trail rig as well. Early bronco scout or CJ8.
rondo
rondo
- Location
- Boise Idaho
Was fun to re-read the thread.
My Frontier served my daily driver needs from 2001-2011 and has been on plenty of hard core trails from Pritchett to Habanero Falls (Las cruces). But now it has a busted main leaf, hole in the fuel tank, rotted out muffler, busted coil (king coil up front) and ARBs don't work well(that's nothing unusual they have always sucked). I put it in storage because i didn't feel like putting a bunch of cash in it. I haven't had to fix a thing on the YJ in many years and it really takes a pounding but requires a trailer. So i'd suggest to you if hard core stuff is in your future, don't use the daily driver. Otherwise by all means like Bryson said: no tow rig no trailer less insurance = a lot of $ saved.
My Frontier served my daily driver needs from 2001-2011 and has been on plenty of hard core trails from Pritchett to Habanero Falls (Las cruces). But now it has a busted main leaf, hole in the fuel tank, rotted out muffler, busted coil (king coil up front) and ARBs don't work well(that's nothing unusual they have always sucked). I put it in storage because i didn't feel like putting a bunch of cash in it. I haven't had to fix a thing on the YJ in many years and it really takes a pounding but requires a trailer. So i'd suggest to you if hard core stuff is in your future, don't use the daily driver. Otherwise by all means like Bryson said: no tow rig no trailer less insurance = a lot of $ saved.