Thread: 4-wheeling on a budget. What would you choose?

For what you can now pick them up for a D1 would be a good all round fun vehicle, or the very early model pajero , the 1 that had the aero dynamics of a brick. A zook would also be up there as well.


Cheers Ean

Yep, D1s are cheap and capable.

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From the Land Rover Stable a Series 3, D1 or RRC. From elsewhere, the ever loved Zook. My first car (and first 4wd) was a Subarau wagon - boy I took that some places it shouldn't have gone - and got it stuck in plenty as well, but had a blast doing it. . Nice and light so easy to recover most of the time.

Zook
D1 or RRC
Old cherokee
Old hilux

I think a decent zook is the most expensive to buy in that group!

For under 5k you could have a pretty capable truck from any of those.

Mine would definitely be an xj grand chekka, went out with this weapon a while ago, total build cost him 4k including purchase price, wheels and tyres, and suspension.

What sort of 4 wheeling?

I had lots of fun and touring with a Moke (at around $20k now so probably a poor choice). Had a ball when we went out with a group of Suzukis.

I know some people who have gone to interesting places in Holden and Ford utes. There was even a Ford ute that had a locking diff.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

What sort of 4 wheeling?

I had lots of fun and touring with a Moke (at around $20k now so probably a poor choice). Had a ball when we went out with a group of Suzukis.

I know some people who have gone to interesting places in Holden and Ford utes. There was even a Ford ute that had a locking diff.

I was actually in the market for a Falcon RTV , thats the Falcon Ute with the manual locker, also has raised suspension, That plan went awry when I spotted the Lightweight for sale .

But first choice for a budget 4x4 for me like so many others in this thread , Suzuki Sierra / Gimni / Lj .

Originally Posted by komaterpillar

Mine would definitely be an xj grand chekka, went out with this weapon a while ago, total build cost him 4k including purchase price, wheels and tyres, and suspension.

That's pretty rad.
There's a few jeep haters here, but for the love of 4wd, they deserve a solid mention. Depreciation has surely taken its toll on the old cherokees, which makes it prime pickings for a entry level 4wheeler. The jeeps sure do have the ability to go from mild to wild pretty easily, as there is a tonne of aftermarket support for them (albeit moreso in the states)

Mick, If I were to miraculously have room / permission for another car (I live in hope!), it would be something cheap, ugly as sin, and it would be wheeled as hard as I could drive it. I think there is a lot to be said for the satisfaction of kicking the ass of a 'simple' obstacle in a grossly incompetent car (meaning no disrespect to the vehicles proposed above though).
Similarly, breaking a 'cheap' car would be way more bearable than damaging or rolling a $40+K build. In short, I'm hoping to have people think about the 'fun per dollar' or 'bang for buck' aspect of 4-wheeling.