Did anyone mention exposition portal?
Did anyone mention exposition portal?
Jeep Commander ?
You want simple suspension and the XJ has it. Power to weight, the XJ is good here too. Find a woodgrained XJ Wagoneer with the tiny quad headlights and you'll find a factory Dana 44 (as opposed to the c-clip Dana 35. Slip a spool in it and use YJ Wrangler brakelines (longer), 3" Rusty's Off-Road with the full-length add-a-leaf in the rear and new coils and shocks and tubular LCA to avoid the death wobble on the highway. A nice roofrack, on-board air and you could well be under 4k$ if you shop wisely.
Tom Suddard wrote: But seriously, Trooper is the answer.
He said quiet and comfortable was not a bad thing....Trooper?
Not bashing, but the last Trooper I rode in was 100% stock and far from either being quiet or comfortable
XJ is the answer 
Uh... NAXJA.com?
Think GRM but the answer is XJ.
Your wallet will run and hide 
The wife has to approve and I forgot about her aversion to XJ's. We've had a few friends with them and they are not what I would call spacious.
In that case, the only thing that could be considered spacious without going to the whole "Let's build a Suburban" phase would be the 80 or 100 Series Land Cruisers.
Break out the wallet.
ebonyandivory wrote: You want simple suspension and the XJ has it. Power to weight, the XJ is good here too. Find a woodgrained XJ Wagoneer with the tiny quad headlights and you'll find a factory Dana 44 (as opposed to the c-clip Dana 35. Slip a spool in it and use YJ Wrangler brakelines (longer), 3" Rusty's Off-Road with the full-length add-a-leaf in the rear and new coils and shocks and tubular LCA to avoid the death wobble on the highway. A nice roofrack, on-board air and you could well be under 4k$ if you shop wisely.
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92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: In that case, the only thing that could be considered spacious without going to the whole "Let's build a Suburban" phase would be the 80 or 100 Series Land Cruisers. Break out the wallet.
I don't know, $5k for a decent vehicle doesn't seem outrageous to me....then again I'd prefer something not something held together with duct tape and mechanics wire.
z31maniac wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: In that case, the only thing that could be considered spacious without going to the whole "Let's build a Suburban" phase would be the 80 or 100 Series Land Cruisers. Break out the wallet.I don't know, $5k for a decent vehicle doesn't seem outrageous to me....then again I'd prefer something not something held together with duct tape and mechanics wire.
$5k is the low end for something that's worth buying at all from what i see.
Sometimes they'll show up for less local to me. So you can take a road trip and visit here or something.
For $5k in the "not-an-XJ" league, i still like the idea of buying a $1000 Range Rover Classic and spending the $4k on tearing out all the crap that makes them "unreliable."
Don't know if you want to do that kind of work, though...
Definitely not afraid of that kind of work.........is it more mechanicals or electrical that make them unreliable?
z31maniac wrote: Definitely not afraid of that kind of work.........is it more mechanicals or electrical that make them unreliable?
Electricals all of them. Get plenty of this.
z31maniac wrote: Definitely not afraid of that kind of work.........is it more mechanicals or electrical that make them unreliable?
The mechanicals are largely durable and reliable if not neglected.
It's the electronics. Gut out all the stupid luxury crap, and get the thing running on megasquirt with a built-from-scratch harness.
If it has the air suspension, REMOVE IT.
This is a build that i would LOVE to do, but don't have the time at the moment.
These trucks START at SRS BZNS and skip straight to I'M A BAD MOTHERberkeleyER GET THE berkeley OUT OF MY WAY without a ton of work, otherwise.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: It's the electronics. Gut out all the stupid luxury crap, and get the thing running on megasquirt with a built-from-scratch harness.
OK, I have to admit. That is a bit intimidating.
But I do like the idea of buying something CHEAP because people are afraid of it and making an unstoppable beast out of it.
What year range should I look into? And what is a good resource for more info and things like you're talking about, in other words, making what was unreliable.......reliable.
I'll say +1 for a 4runner, the '85 with the solid axles is the best model, after that they go downhill. You can solid-axle-swap the later models, but remember, the later from '85 you go the worse the truck is.
z31maniac wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: It's the electronics. Gut out all the stupid luxury crap, and get the thing running on megasquirt with a built-from-scratch harness.OK, I have to admit. That is a bit intimidating. But I do like the idea of buying something CHEAP because people are afraid of it and making an unstoppable beast out of it. What year range should I look into? And what is a good resource for more info and things like you're talking about, in other words, making what was unreliable.......reliable.
I doubt it would be all that bad... just more time consuming than anything.
Really any Range Rover classics... later ones got the better/bigger 4.2 V8, but also usually have more luxury items in them, so it's a trade off.
If you look at older ones, (mid 80s or so) you CAN find them with really no options. Cloth interior, hand crank windows, etc etc etc...
I'm not sure what forums to look at... you'd have to do some digging. I think most people try to keep the luxury stuff, unfortunately. I'd take this one over to Expedition Portal as well. 
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Gut out all the stupid luxury crap, and get the thing running on megasquirt with a built-from-scratch harness. If it has the air suspension, REMOVE IT. [...] *without a ton of work, otherwise.*
Sounds like a ton of work.
RossD wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Gut out all the stupid luxury crap, and get the thing running on megasquirt with a built-from-scratch harness. If it has the air suspension, REMOVE IT. [...] *without a ton of work, otherwise.*Sounds like a ton of work.
Well, hence the ",otherwise."
The air suspension thing probably didn't need to be mentioned. If you're going to do anything with the truck, you'd want to re-do the suspension anyways.
Or maybe i have a twisted view on what seems like a lot of work at this stage in my life. Sounds way easier than what i've been slamming my head against for the last two years.
I would go FJ80 with factory lockers. Just a much nicer vehicle than an XJ and a lot less of the issues of a range rover
check out www.ih8mud.com for lots of good info
and they look awesome with lights/snorkel/racks
^I love everything about that.
I've been putting off getting new shocks for the miata because of low funds, and that guy has a tug boat / landing craft for his FJ.
If you had an XJ, it'd be cheaper.
I paid $268 for my Rancho lift kit with Rancho RS9000XL shocks all brand new.
Seriously.
Yes, but wasn't that some kind of crazy on-sale special?
GameboyRMH wrote: I'll say +1 for a 4runner, the '85 with the solid axles is the best model, after that they go downhill. You can solid-axle-swap the later models, but remember, the later from '85 you go the worse the truck is.
This is 100% wrong. Yes, the solid axle stopped after '85 but IFS is not the great evil you make it out to be. He's asking about an expedition type vehicle, not a rock crawler. Solid axles ride worse and handle worse at speed than IFS with all that unsprung weight. Later models have coils springs in just the rear, and later coils all around which is far better than leafs front and rear. The only reason the 85 4Runners are so prized is because they were the only year with the solid axle and fuel injection. The stock front axle isn't even that much stronger than the IFS.
http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-suspension/jeep-suspension-lift-kits/xj-cherokee-84-01-jeep-suspension-lift-kits/rustys-xj-cherokee-3-add-a-leaf-kit.html
Link for a $265 3" lift for an XJ with shocks. And let me tell you this kit will let the suspension flex like crazy (trust me here). I'm a Super Swamper guy but any good Mud Terrain tire will do 30-31". (I have a new adjustable dropped track bar if anyone needs one for 1/2 price never used). Get a Walker cat-back kit and it'll even rumble a bit.
As for size, I'm 6'-3" 255 lbs and had no issues at all with mine. Plus, do you realize how cool these look with a lift, mud tires, black steel wheels and a few 6" lights on the bumper?
Expedition Portal XJ thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/6482-XJ-Expedition-Rig
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