What would be your 'guilty pleasure' 4WD vehicle?

[Greg]

This isn't really about an unlimited budget or your ideal rock crawler, but that 'extra' vehicle you'd like to have. What would that be for you?

For me it would be vehicle that would be that nice to have around, a Swiss Army knife kinda thing. A vehicle that was good at multi-tasking, a true dual-sport 4x4 that could handle daily driver status if needed. Herzogs thread about 4x4 Trends got me thinking about this, I have thought about it quite a bit but never really vocalized it.

I'd like something that could go from Moab one weekend, explore the coast of Baja the next, climb the mtns above Silverton & Ouray, CO & hit the freeway at 80 MPH in between. Something that could drive in comfort with the A/C on & cushy leather interior. I would like to build a mid-90's 4 Door Chevy Tahoe / GMC Yukon with a 12 Valve Cummins 5.9, built Dodge 47RE automatic trans and a 241 T-case. Do a solid axle swap with a GM Dana 60 & 14 Bolt, run about 4-5" of lift and 36-37" tires. Add some beefy bumpers, rock sliders, a big 12,000# winch and a snorkle. A rooftop tent would be great to round it all out!

Here's what I'd look for... new enough that it would have the creature comforts like A/C, power windows, leather, etc. They can be found with high miles for around $4000. Rip out the drivetrain & sell that to recover $$ for the new drivetrain.

Something like that would have enough room for family, camping gear, the dog & be comfortable on roadtrips. Plenty of power to turn the tires, get decent mileage & handle most anything offroad. Yeah... that's what I'd build. :greg:

What about you?

 

[BCGPER]

I'm driving mine......

 

[NE_Utah]

I have 3. One i already own

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and the other two I really really want.

And the mini truck from Japan

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Here's what I'd look for... new enough that it would have the creature comforts like A/C, power windows, leather, etc. They can be found with high miles for around $4000. Rip out the drivetrain & sell that to recover $$ for the new drivetrain...

Reminds me of this build... not the best of execution but the same idea
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CUST...oryZ6155QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm pretty happy with my current setups, though I'm always dreaming of the next

 

[Tacoma]

My absolute guilty pleasure vehicle would be a Unimog camper, one of the newer ones, if I had the $120k for one.

Besides that, I'd love a late-80's old body Burb with a 4" lift, a Cummins, all set up for camping with a roof tent and everything.

 

[trevortoyota]

The TURD

only three posts into this thread and i like it already....

i think i would prolly consider that my previous wheeling rig would be my "guilty pleasure." i had the same plans to build it to be a all-around wheeler. it had tons of room and a huge gas tank so traveling was no problem. it was very close and it just ended up being a bad time to finish what i had planned.

it was my old TURD, a 1975 Dodge Ramcharger. i had already had a nice flexy supsension and a good drivetrain but had some minor/major problems. i had swapped the 5 lug front and rear for a 8 lug D44 front and a 9.5" 14 bolt rear and a shackle flip. and was on my way to one hell of a budget build cuz i only spent around 300 bucks for all of it.

what it needed was some steering mods and some deeper gearing, along with some fuel injection or a better carb.

good news is that a fellow wheeling buddy ended up with it and he is doing the rig some justice. nothing better than your old rig getting flogged and built by a friend

pic from when i had it....

 

[gijohn40]

I really loved my FORD Expedition with 4 inch of lift and 35" tires... regeared to 4.56 and locker in the rear... have a ramsey 12,000 on the front... no rear seat so plenty of room for toys!!! And it had plenty of power but would love to find an newer excursion with the diesel and convert it all over to include the front axle assembly IFS didn't do that vehicle justise.

Rondo will testify about taking it wheeling up in colorado springs area... I lead the way down with 2-3 Jeeps behind me and only had to bypass one obstical due to it was a 4-5 foot drop off... I think the trail was C456 but not sure...

Still got the beast with 220,000 miles on her... but can't afford to drive her anymore due to gas at $3 a gallon...

 

[Greg]

Reminds me of this build... not the best of execution but the same idea
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CUST...oryZ6155QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm pretty happy with my current setups, though I'm always dreaming of the next

Yeah, I've heard about that 'Burb. It would be fun to check out, it's definitely over the top. And yaah, do seem to have your bases covered pretty well, :greg: .

I hear you on the next build, I have a hard time concentrating on what's currently in my garage, while I day-dream about the next possible rig.

My absolute guilty pleasure vehicle would be a Unimog camper, one of the newer ones, if I had the $120k for one.

Besides that, I'd love a late-80's old body Burb with a 4" lift, a Cummins, all set up for camping with a roof tent and everything.

Those Mogs are way cool, we saw a newer one crossing a river... 4 door with a camper on the back. It was a neat looking rig. A 'Burb wouldn't be bad, I think it's way too big for me though.

 

[Tacoma]

Yeah, I've heard about that 'Burb. It would be fun to check out, it's definitely over the top. And yaah, do seem to have your bases covered pretty well, :greg: .

AHHH! didn't see that, but that's the one I was talking about. I love that thing.
.

Those Mogs are way cool, we saw a newer one crossing a river... 4 door with a camper on the back. It was a neat looking rig. A 'Burb wouldn't be bad, I think it's way too big for me though.

I saw a really sweet one in the parking lot of IKEA the other day. They're enormous, but I wouldn't be crawling in it, so big deal.

Burbs are a lot more nimble than you'd think they should be, really... but they're WAY TOO BIG if you don't have some kids and a bunch of stuff to haul around. Tahoe-sized is about perfect, I think. With the third seat up, we've STILL got about the same amount of cargo area as a Tahoe, it's ridiculous.

 

[RockMonkey]

A trophy truck. Going fast and jumping would be fun. I want to build a desert rig one of these days.

 

[Bodine]

I would go for a Mega Cab with this suspension setup http://www.spirsonoffroad.com/
Canbak shell,Warn 16.5 TI ,37 inch Toyos,Edge Box,yada yada yada you get the
idea

 

[Greg]

I would go for a Mega Cab with this suspension setup http://www.spirsonoffroad.com/
Canbak shell,Warn 16.5 TI ,37 inch Toyos,Edge Box,yada yada yada you get the
idea

Holy crap, that's a sweet suspension! You might have just changed my mind... we already have an '03 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, that Spirson suspension would be cheaper than building another rig... :guilty: Damn!

 

[Greg]

only three posts into this thread and i like it already....

i think i would prolly consider that my previous wheeling rig would be my "guilty pleasure." i had the same plans to build it to be a all-around wheeler. it had tons of room and a huge gas tank so traveling was no problem. it was very close and it just ended up being a bad time to finish what i had planned.

it was my old TURD, a 1975 Dodge Ramcharger. i had already had a nice flexy supsension and a good drivetrain but had some minor/major problems. i had swapped the 5 lug front and rear for a 8 lug D44 front and a 9.5" 14 bolt rear and a shackle flip. and was on my way to one hell of a budget build cuz i only spent around 300 bucks for all of it.

what it needed was some steering mods and some deeper gearing, along with some fuel injection or a better carb.

good news is that a fellow wheeling buddy ended up with it and he is doing the rig some justice. nothing better than your old rig getting flogged and built by a friend

pic from when i had it....

View attachment 30802

Sucks that you had to get rid of it... mabey your buddy will let you thrash on it!

 

[Jared]

A trophy truck. Going fast and jumping would be fun. I want to build a desert rig one of these days.

Trophy trucks are neat stuff... but recreation is all about spending time with family and friends doing what you love. Seating for two just wouldn't cut it. I'd love to have a 4 seater desert buggy with a custom heavy duty IFS 4x4 setup up front. Something with about 24" of wheel travel and 400 or so HP, running 35" tires. I'd use it for everything from sand dunes, to desert roads, to mountain trails, to light rockcrawling.

Jared

 

[Bodine]

Holy crap, that's a sweet suspension! You might have just changed my mind... we already have an '03 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, that Spirson suspension would be cheaper than building another rig... :guilty: Damn!

That Spirson setup is cheaper than a Kore but it is still spendy If you want to know how much PM me or I will post a ball park just dont know if thats legal

 

[Bucking Bronco]

This is my old excursion I would love to get it back

The little one in the pic is my niece and the pic from the inside is from getting stuck in about 2 feet of thick mud and only a bunch of light weight jeeps who had no chance of pulling that beast out of the mud

I sold it when gas hit $2.00 a gallon (I wish it was still $2.00 a gallon)but I would love to get another but with the diesel
I actually ran into this while back but someone let the thing go and everything on the chassis was rusted out

 

[Greg]

That Spirson setup is cheaper than a Kore but it is still spendy If you want to know how much PM me or I will post a ball park just dont know if thats legal

You can PM me...

I was looking at KORE & some others & ran across this pic... :wtf:

[YOUTUBE]DvLMwAImyIs[/YOUTUBE]

Carli suspension, 7.5 feet of air. :freak::freak::bow:

 

[Spork]

And the mini truck from Japan

my dad has one of those (Suzuki Carry) the right hand drive takes some getting used to, fun little truck though. :greg:

 

[yellowbronco]

The 86' Subaru Gl Wagon that I just recently aquisitioned is my guilty pleasure. Great economy, 2 speed t-case, you can sleep in the back if you go diagonal, but most importantly :my 1st car was an 86' Gl so I have very fond memories of the ol' Suby!!

 

[Greg]

The 86' Subaru Gl Wagon that I just recently aquisitioned is my guilty pleasure. Great economy, 2 speed t-case, you can sleep in the back if you go diagonal, but most importantly :my 1st car was an 86' Gl so I have very fond memories of the ol' Suby!!

Good to hear you got it!