On Jan 28, 8:39 am, Andre Jute wrote:
On Jan 28, 1:18 am, " wrote:
I drive a regular cab 4x4 "off-road" model ranger. It's economical
enough that it makes more sense than having 2 vehicles. It's small
and nimble enough to be a plenty relaxing drive. I like being able to
go wheeling on a whim and explore any trail that catches my eye. I
also like to have a bike, dirt bike or kayak with me in decent weather
and a truck in bad weather. I wouldn't want a box truck or a cargo
van as a daily driver, but I really like my ranger.

Back about 1972 or so, the Australian Volvo importers made up a
socalled "Surfer's Special", which was a Volvo 144 (or perhaps by then
already a 244) estate car with the rear seats removed, one of Volvo's
superior roofracks (I know it is superior because when our son was
born I bought my wife a Volvo estate to keep him safe), and suchlike
utilitarian fittings. It sounds to me like you need something like
that surfer's Volvo estate.

I don't think it'd be all that easy to load a dirt bike into something
like that. While kayaks can go on the roof, the ease of just tossing
them into the bed is really nice. Then there's towing larger boats,
and the constant home depot runs that come with owning a fixer upper
(although finally almost done!) of a house. Also, I live in NH - 4x4
is nice for the really snowy days. And this is without factoring in
the 4-wheeling. I've done some in cars, but a truck, especially one
with good sized tires (31" from the factory on mine) and good ground
clearance is really preferred.

I don't expect or want to make a vehicle choice for anybody else, but
for me a small pickup makes sense. I think I paid 2500 for my 98 a
couple years ago without the tree and rock shaped body modifications
it has now - if I could have found it with those already installed I'd
have gotten it for even less.

Cost since then has been very minimal. I've replaced a drive shaft, a
control arm, U-joints and the 4x4 hubs. Total cost is well under $1K,
and the first 2 were results of abuse off-roading. You play, you pay
– can’t hold it against the truck. It had bad hubs when I got it, but
the vacuum pulse system in that year (and the year after) are of
horrible design. The new hubs were around $150, installed in an hour
or two at a leisurely pace and are worth 3x that to me. I broke one U-
joint with the shaft and decided to do them both while I had the shaft
out anyway. For a 3-year cost of under $3500 and a vehicle that's
still going strong, it'd be hard to beat.

I don't drive a ton, and the 20ish MPH it gets when not in 4WD is fine
for me. When it is in 4WD it needs to be and fuel economy is not a
factor. I've never driven it in 4WD long enough to know what it gets
for mileage in 4x4, but whatever it is it's better than being stuck or
wrecking it.

http://tinyurl.com/7qmb9l
http://tinyurl.com/ach9um

Yup... I love my truck.