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A couple weeks back I got out to Big Creek, which is a private deal out near Uwharrie Nat'l Forest in central NC. First time out with the new tires and RCV's. Even with 3:1 in the case and 5.38s in the diffs, with the manual, it's not low enough for the technical stuff. An auto would help, or a diesel, or a crawl box to bring the low range down another 2x. I'll probably go auto + doubler over the next year. But aside from having to 3-foot it through the rocks, the drat rig did awesome. Ate up everything we threw at it. Great day trip.
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# ? Nov 21, 2015 04:15 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 08:36 |
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What are some options for a cheap, reliable-ish 4x4? I'm in need of something that can haul more gear than my miata and would like to get back into some kind of truck. My offroading wants aren't too strenuousmy old subaru could do pretty much anything I'd want if it had a better approach angle and a little more ground clearance. I loooove Cherokees but any of them around here are either way overpriced or completely rusted out thanks to road salt. Ford Rangers seem plentiful and cheap, and I see a few 4Runners, but don't know enough about either to know what I'd be in for on potential maintenance issues. SUV would be best for what I'm carrying (mostly camera gear) but pickups seem more plentiful around here and I could probably make one work.
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# ? Nov 22, 2015 22:32 |
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Just go buy a cherokee from the south.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 03:00 |
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wilfredmerriweathr posted:Just go buy a cherokee from the south. get a 4.0L/4 door - manual or auto : doesn't matter.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 13:38 |
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powderific posted:What are some options for a cheap, reliable-ish 4x4? I'm in need of something that can haul more gear than my miata and would like to get back into some kind of truck. My offroading wants aren't too strenuousmy old subaru could do pretty much anything I'd want if it had a better approach angle and a little more ground clearance. I loooove Cherokees but any of them around here are either way overpriced or completely rusted out thanks to road salt. Ford Rangers seem plentiful and cheap, and I see a few 4Runners, but don't know enough about either to know what I'd be in for on potential maintenance issues. SUV would be best for what I'm carrying (mostly camera gear) but pickups seem more plentiful around here and I could probably make one work. I want you to get a Ranger because I've got one I haven't taken off-road yet and we can learn together! I can tell you that maintenance on my Ranger so far has been not terribly expensive, but I could be speaking too soon because I've got a CEL on and a hestitation issue and no time / space to work on it so off to the shady mechanic down the street it goes! Honestly though, if you "looooove Cherokees" then that's the way to go. Where are you? How difficult would it be for you to get a non-rusty one from a place without winters?
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 20:48 |
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I'm in Nebraska and not sure how far south I'd need to go before they stop being rusted to poo poo. A 98-99 4 door is my ideal but there aren't many on CL to begin with and those I've found so far have been in rough shape. I can afford to be patient for the time being thoughmaybe something will turn up.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 21:53 |
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powderific posted:I'm in Nebraska and not sure how far south I'd need to go before they stop being rusted to poo poo. A 98-99 4 door is my ideal but there aren't many on CL to begin with and those I've found so far have been in rough shape. I can afford to be patient for the time being thoughmaybe something will turn up. What about a ZJ Grand Cherokee? They're usually way cheaper than an XJ in comparable condition in my neck of the woods, no idea what pricing is like in your area though. Bonus points for a ZJ Grand "Wagoneer"
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 22:22 |
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jonathan posted:Wheeling in Alberta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDY6bWT5oTM
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 22:30 |
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:What about a ZJ Grand Cherokee? They're usually way cheaper than an XJ in comparable condition in my neck of the woods, no idea what pricing is like in your area though. Bonus points for a ZJ Grand "Wagoneer" The transmissions are craptastic, the front (not a big concern) and rear differentials are lame, and some of them have lovely transfer cases. Other than that ZJs are alright. If you get a 93.0 with a 4.0L/AW4 powertrain or a 93-94.0 with a 4.0L/AX15, most of my dislike for them goes away, at that point you can run it till you have issues, then swap in an NP242/NP231 from an XJ, a ford 8.8 with a weld-on truss kit from Artec, and an XJ high pinion d30 and have a capable, reliable rig on 33s or so.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 22:45 |
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:What about a ZJ Grand Cherokee? They're usually way cheaper than an XJ in comparable condition in my neck of the woods, no idea what pricing is like in your area though. Bonus points for a ZJ Grand "Wagoneer" Grand Cherokees also seem to be more common in decent condition here. Maybe people were more likely to garage them? Edit: Howbout one of these? http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/5327035149.html "F.Y.I. This baby is so clean you could eat dinner off the engine so there you have it again Serious Replies Only Or Need Not Respond" or http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/5329209745.html powderific fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Nov 23, 2015 |
# ? Nov 23, 2015 22:50 |
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I posted this in the "Post Your Own Ride" thread, I wasn't even really looking for an off-roader when I found it. Just wanted a cheap winter beater so I could park the Mustang. But what the hell, since I've got it I might as well use it. Anyone in this thread near the Louisville KY area? Know of any good spots?
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# ? Dec 5, 2015 18:54 |
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I just bought a BJ73 Landcruiser, 1986 model. Has the 3B engine - NA 3.4 diesel. Mid wheelbase, factory PTO winch, 5 speed manual, 270,000km. It's going to be my daily driver (replacing a problematic KZN130 Surf) and hunting truck, mostly bouncing up braided riverbeds for back country tahr hunting access. Looking at a snorkel, new suspension with a 50mm lift (considering EFS brand? but have no experience with this stuff), and new tyres - BFG ATs. Also probably going to get the PTO winch and giant front bumper that houses it off. Anyone have any experience with one of these? Will the 3B have the grunt to spin 33s? gimpsuitjones fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Dec 14, 2015 |
# ? Dec 14, 2015 06:31 |
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Q_res posted:I posted this in the "Post Your Own Ride" thread, I wasn't even really looking for an off-roader when I found it. Just wanted a cheap winter beater so I could park the Mustang. But what the hell, since I've got it I might as well use it. Anyone in this thread near the Louisville KY area? Know of any good spots? I am halfway between Louisville and Evansville. Close to me there is Interlake state recreation area in Lynnville, IN. It's an old coal mine with off road trails. Haven't tried it myself, but it's the only legal area I know of around here, unless you have a landowner friend.
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# ? Dec 14, 2015 21:48 |
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cross-post from pyor. i've been on the hunt for something along these lines for months now and finally the right monstrosity turned up for the right price. currently accepting any and all advice as it's been close to 20 years since i last sat in the drivers seat of a land rover.
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# ? Dec 14, 2015 22:32 |
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gimpsuitjones posted:I just bought a BJ73 Landcruiser, 1986 model. Has the 3B engine - NA 3.4 diesel. Mid wheelbase, factory PTO winch, 5 speed manual, 270,000km. It's going to be my daily driver (replacing a problematic KZN130 Surf) and hunting truck, mostly bouncing up braided riverbeds for back country tahr hunting access. Looking at a snorkel, new suspension with a 50mm lift (considering EFS brand? but have no experience with this stuff), and new tyres - BFG ATs. Also probably going to get the PTO winch and giant front bumper that houses it off. Anyone have any experience with one of these? Will the 3B have the grunt to spin 33s? Those Toyotas PTO winches are the best. They're actually Thomas units, well are in Australia at least. They poo poo on electric winches. EFS is ok, not a lot of companies make leafs so you're a bit limited. It'll be slower than a wet week with 33's.
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# ? Dec 15, 2015 10:07 |
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Either EFS or Old Man Emu- I ran OME on my leaf sprung hilux and they were good.
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# ? Dec 15, 2015 10:47 |
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Ok, planning on a turbo add or 13BT swap at some point in the future, will leave the 33s for then... Probably have to muck around with diff ratios anyway yeah? The PTO winch and bar stick out a loooong way, will have to investigate something a bit lower profile
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# ? Dec 15, 2015 19:25 |
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If it's a stick-shift you'll probably be fine with 33" tires. I just have to downshift to 4th when I want to go uphill on the highway.
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# ? Dec 15, 2015 19:37 |
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It's a 5 speed manual, yeah. H55 maybe? I haven't picked it up yet, need to fly to the North Island and drive it home. Will see how gutless it is with 31s first
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# ? Dec 15, 2015 19:53 |
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gimpsuitjones posted:
Yeah it shows in the pic, the winches just mount to the chassis rails if I recall correctly. Hopefully you can get a nicer bar and keep the winch.
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 04:41 |
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THEORETICALLY a 1HD-T from an 80 series will fit in one those...
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 05:03 |
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Ferremit posted:THEORETICALLY a 1HD-T from an 80 series will fit in one those... It should, they made a HZJ73 I think But I Have no idea where I'd find a 1HDT here hah
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 07:59 |
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How the hell did NZ not wind up with the turbo 80 series? Even a 1HZ with a turbo kit would FLY in something that light.
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 10:04 |
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When out and got a little dirty. Bridgeport, TX
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 10:34 |
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Ferremit posted:How the hell did NZ not wind up with the turbo 80 series? We got more of the turbo 80s than 1hz actually I think. Probably could find a wrecked 80 with a good engine. They all seem to be autos over here though
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# ? Dec 16, 2015 18:33 |
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BJ73 update: owns On the Interisland Ferry on my road trip home. Got a back full of 3 extra mismatched wheels (2 of em are factory alloys with worn out wrangler muddies). The 3B is hilarious to drive after having a 1KZTE. There's a really optimistic over speed beeper at 105kph. Definitely not putting 33s on this thing. It's higher than I remembered with 31s anyway, clearance is really good. Interior is super good condition for a 30 year old truck. 24v cig lighter is a drag, I've got 8 hours of driving through South Island highways with crap radio reception in front of me and I can't use my 12v FM transmitter for iPod
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# ? Dec 20, 2015 20:25 |
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I don't do enough to start an actual project thread so I'm going to just keep posting in here. Have done about 1500km of highway miles in the BJ73 so far. Chilling out at home today after a heap of driving over the Xmas season. Had a bit of rust on the chassis: So I stripped it back with a wire brush, hit it with some rust converter and some black zinc rattle can There's the odd bubble in some of the panels too. Will deal with that later Also pulled off the lovely foot pedal covers that came with it, pulled off all the chrome from the front bumper which looks waaaay better, and pulled off the side steps. Going to get onto the winch housing with the angle grinder and remove the bumper brackets to tidy it up a bit. Looking at a set of "as new" 32/11.5R15 BFG ATs right now. Will respray the rims when I change tyres. Tried the alloys off the KZN130 but the offset is way wrong e: also got a leaking rear diff pinion seal to change and a hole in the exhaust to fix. gimpsuitjones fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Dec 27, 2015 |
# ? Dec 27, 2015 06:19 |
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Went out to a favorite spot in the easternmost edge of the Mojave for a one-nighter with a friend. It was cold and windy as hell, but we had a blast. The old Cherokee loved it and handled everything I put it through on some old mining roads. I hadn't really tested the Cooper ST Maxx tires in the sand yet, but they worked fantastic and bit hard - only really had to engage 4Hi for the straight uphill sandy wash exits, and a couple of gravelly uphill skree sections. Had one hairy moment early in the first day when I wasn't paying attention and hit a steep, downhill off-camber corner that looked solid but was really just crusted-over sand... the Jeep went into a slow sideways slide and I felt it wanting to roll (full camp load with firewood etc) so I steered straight downhill and rode the slide ten feet down to the bottom of the wash. Really appreciated the XJ departure angle getting out of that because gently caress - my hitch still bottomed out a couple times turning back and getting out. Would not have been fun with anything longer. Wish I had brought along the gopro and had it running for that one. It was windy as hell during the night; we lashed the tent to the Jeep and still had a snapped pole. The tent was mostly collapsed when I crawled out the next morning. Didn't take many photos, but got a few on the cellphone: You can actually drive to the top of Opal Mountain (super steep, guessing 4Lo unless you've got engine), but we hiked up the backside Panorama shot from the top Found a nice road through an area full of Joshua Trees. Really pretty. Was nice to get out and find some silence after a Christmas holiday filled with too many relatives
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# ? Dec 28, 2015 07:10 |
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crutt posted:
beautiful 3rd gen! i just took mine out in the snow yesterday to try out my new duratracs
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# ? Dec 28, 2015 17:28 |
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I took mine out for a bit of unintentional off roading given that snowbird apparently doesn't mark the edge of their parking lot. Dug in and before I knew it it was all over. The lot ends about 5 feet before the snowbank. You can see my passenger side wheels were a good 2-3 feet from the edge but once they hit the soft stuff that's all she wrote. Finally got somebody with a tundra to tow me out. Parking lot staff just kinda shook their heads and said "hmm, they are supposed to mark that... you should just go ride and maybe someone can help you out later." Then they marked it off with cones. (Those are roadgoing snow tires, great for driving on icy rear end roads but terrible for getting through the deep stuff.) wilfredmerriweathr fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Dec 28, 2015 |
# ? Dec 28, 2015 18:19 |
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wilfredmerriweathr posted:I took mine out for a bit of unintentional off roading given that snowbird apparently doesn't mark the edge of their parking lot. Dug in and before I knew it it was all over. The lot ends about 5 feet before the snowbank. gently caress around, they should have at least called their plow or used a snow-cat to pull you out.
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# ? Dec 28, 2015 20:11 |
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That's what the lot attendant said (get a cat to pull me out in the afternoon), but when asked what time they'd be willing to do so he mumbled something about "I don't know, we go skiing in the afternoon usually..." Which to be fair is something I'd expect to hear from a guy whose whole job is to direct folks where to park. Luckily someone had a nice recovery rope, as did I, and a guy in a tundra decided he'd make it his personal goal to pull me out.
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# ? Dec 28, 2015 21:14 |
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I posted in the A/T cars thread asking for advice on an ultra-compact 4wd truck for traveling in the bush in West Africa. The Landcruiser, Patrol, and various Landrovers are the go-tos around here for NGOs, UN, etc but I have a few colleagues who swear by little light off-road trucks like the Wrangler for getting into really small/shoddy rural roads where the big trucks bog down. Jeeps aren't hugely common here so I'm taking a hard look at the Suzuki Jimny/Samurai as an alternative. If anyone has a stance on what tiny trucks would be good in Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone etc for rural wandering, your input in the thread would be appreciated: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3213538&pagenumber=294#post454357306
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# ? Dec 30, 2015 11:28 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:I posted in the A/T cars thread asking for advice on an ultra-compact 4wd truck for traveling in the bush in West Africa. The Landcruiser, Patrol, and various Landrovers are the go-tos around here for NGOs, UN, etc but I have a few colleagues who swear by little light off-road trucks like the Wrangler for getting into really small/shoddy rural roads where the big trucks bog down. Jeeps aren't hugely common here so I'm taking a hard look at the Suzuki Jimny/Samurai as an alternative. James May drove a Jimny/Samurai through South America on Top Gear I would imagine the best selling points are the simple 4wd system, light weight and price. A Jimny is WAY lighter than a wrangler. Sandbagger SA fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Dec 30, 2015 |
# ? Dec 30, 2015 14:08 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:I posted in the A/T cars thread asking for advice on an ultra-compact 4wd truck for traveling in the bush in West Africa. The Landcruiser, Patrol, and various Landrovers are the go-tos around here for NGOs, UN, etc but I have a few colleagues who swear by little light off-road trucks like the Wrangler for getting into really small/shoddy rural roads where the big trucks bog down. Jeeps aren't hugely common here so I'm taking a hard look at the Suzuki Jimny/Samurai as an alternative. drat, I wish I was you right now, that sounds like a lot of fun. A few pointers - - stick with something common in the area. Spare parts availability is key. Given that, I'd stick with some variety of Toyota. Know what the weak parts are on your particular drivetrain and pack spares. Don't expect RTV, seals, gaskets, etc to be available anywhere, they're small and light so bring plenty. You can even find clever spots to pack them if you run out of space, like inside the rear fenders, inside the dash, etc. - bring something to filter your fuel before putting it in the tank if possible. - lockers are going to do you a lot of good, but be careful about going too oversize on tires with a locker or you'll need to carry more spares. - a winch is worth its weight in gold. - carry a high lift and know how to use it without dying, and when something else is better to use. - don't expect anyone to have any good tools or consumables. Pack basically any tools you could need to make your vehicle go again. In one case in the thread I linked below, they end up putting a diff and axleshafts back together with a lovely flat blade screwdriver, a hammer, some random wrenches, and bathtub/shower caulking. A Jimny/Samurai is a really cool vehicle, they're incredibly small and lightweight while still being capable offroad, but I don't know what parts availability is like for them in west africa. If it's good, go for it. If it isn't, either bring a LOT of spare parts or use something else. Remember that not having the same wheel track width as everyone else using the roads can help or hurt you - you can drive somewhat offcenter from where everyone else does and straddle the really deep ruts, but it can also leave you perched on your axle tubes high and dry. A perfect example of stuff like this that no one thinks of is the Land Rovers - when they switched from passenger side diffs to driver side, or from two on one side to the rear being centered (I forget which) they suddenly couldn't make it through their own testing grounds because decades of testing only land rovers there had left differential trenches on only one side. The new ones with the diffs located differently constantly got hung up on obstacles that had never been a problem before. Here's a similar story, which you should read end to end and not make the same mistakes they did - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/50799-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo-Lubumbashi-to-Kinshasa I'm very jeep biased but there is absolutely no way in hell I'd take a jeep into the bush in Africa, not without several other jeeps and an immense spare parts collection. Meanwhile you can find parts for toyotas all over africa because everyone else uses them too. kastein fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Dec 30, 2015 |
# ? Dec 30, 2015 15:23 |
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If there were more Jeeps in Africa, they'd be my go-to also. Sadly, there aren't, so you gotta stick with what is there.
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# ? Dec 30, 2015 15:28 |
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Wouldn't a toyota hilux be the way to go there?
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# ? Dec 30, 2015 15:57 |
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kastein posted:drat, I wish I was you right now, that sounds like a lot of fun. It's got some significant ups and downs. To one degree I'm delighted not to be sitting in a windowless DC office for eight hours a day twiddling my dick because I'm legally contracted to be there for eight hours regardless of whether I do zilch all day or brief a senator. Also thrilled that I'm doing a job that's at least vaguely "making the world better" vice "making the American military slightly less destructive". On the downside, I'm in a startup so there's a lot of "we have basically no benefits and we'll pay you with whatever we have left over; take one for the team here and if we blow up big you'll be golden." Also pretty routinely getting minor illnesses (my boss has caught malaria at least once this year), constant shakedowns from Liberian cops, etc. And at the risk of sounding shallow, I'm a pretty big foodie nerd, so while I enjoy eating local cuisine, it does get annoying that there's a pretty finite number of dishes I can ever find to eat on a given day here. Plus I'm a beer snob and there are like 6 kinds of beer total sold in this whole nation. But yeah, I am really enjoying getting to roll around in the bush in a truck, watch projects get constructed with massive amounts of hand-labor, go on little adventures like when we bought up every single steel nail in the entire district and I had to go on a multi-hour road trip on the back of a motorcycle to find literally a half-pound of nails we desperately needed. So I'm definitely trying to enjoy it for what it is, and take the suck as life experience. It helps too that most of my coworkers are combat vets, so whenever things are lame we just pause and are thankful that nothing is exploding and nobody is actively trying to kill us out of professional obligation. If you want to see some cool footage (including some amazing shots taken with a backpack drone), HuffPo did a cool documentary about some of the Liberia sites I've worked supporting roles at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAxViACuBwg (13-minute docu). quote:A few pointers - I was never much of a car guy before moving here, so I've been learning a lot, and some of the items you mention I'm only dimly aware of but are probably things I need to learn more about. I am slowly acquiring more basic tools to lug around with me, and zipties have saved our truck at least once. I do need to do some more reading up about offroad-type stuff just to get a better feel for the concepts, but it's a general educational process. Though I didn't know cars well (partially since in the military there are always full-time drivers/mechs so I didn't need to know squat), I did know a little about motorbikes, which has come in surprisingly handy applied to trucks. People have constant trouble here with bad battery connections, especially on the coast with the salt-air, so it's totally routine to have your car fail to start, you pop the hood, some passerby leans in and wiggles the clamps until they light up, and you pass them 25 cents out the window as thanks. I got sick of that, so just did what I know from motorcycles where you clean the posts with baking soda and then slather on some lithium grease, and that's been a 95% solution on our trucks, so every little bit of knowledge is helping me. quote:A Jimny/Samurai is a really cool vehicle, they're incredibly small and lightweight while still being capable offroad, but I don't know what parts availability is like for them in west africa. I'll drop by some dealerships that carry Suzuki products to ask about that, and when I get some time and funding permits, I'll start looking around more seriously at the used-car lots for a Jimny. quote:I'm very jeep biased but there is absolutely no way in hell I'd take a jeep into the bush in Africa, not without several other jeeps and an immense spare parts collection. Meanwhile you can find parts for toyotas all over africa because everyone else uses them too. Yeah, my Wrangler-owning friend has a lot of trouble finding parts and knowledgable mechs, and I've seen her truck go down hard a number of times for random poo poo. And she has to have friends bring back spares whenever they rotate in from Europe or South Africa. I'd imagine you'd have to go way the hell to at, bare minimum, Morocco to the north or even as far as Nigeria to the south to find a true Jeep dealership. CFAO Motors is a big chain in West Africa and they deal in Suzuki, and the Jimny in particular, in at least some of their branches, though maybe not definitely the Monrovia one. But at least that would mean the parts exist in a nearby ECOWAS trade-zone country, so still way better than Jeep. Toyota, definitely, parts everywhere for everything I'm sure. The Landcruiser is absolutely omnipresent everywhere here; name any given NGO or foreign government agency and I'd guess they prominently deploy LCs. Very frequently all bush-kitted out with cool-kid stuff like snorkels and HF antennas, though I'm sure a huge chunk of them never leave the paved road. But I suppose if you're a huge organization it's just easiest to buy all the same vehicle, and qualified for worst-case scenarios. Nissan Patrol has a lesser but significant following, and for urban/paved use I see a ton of 4Runners, even more so the Pathfinder, and then smatterings of the Rav4. quote:Wouldn't a toyota hilux be the way to go there? Btw, here's a good photo off an NGO page that shows the kind of roads and bridges they have out by my worksite: The above is in Dry Season (roughly October-March), but in Wet Season even some of the major dirt roads just get insane for any vehicle. Here's a USAID pic: TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Dec 30, 2015 |
# ? Dec 30, 2015 18:02 |
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kastein posted:
I'm just over halfway through reading this thread you linked, but congratulations on causing my work performance to suffer on of our busiest days of the year. I kept stopping to obsessively read it on my phone. All I can say is what the gently caress - I'm all for a good adventure but this guy's brass balls are crossing firmly over into brass brain. As far as I can tell he didn't even have a socket set or a tube of RTV, but he brought his wife/girlfriend???? loving crazy, but what a fantastic story.
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# ? Dec 31, 2015 07:42 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 08:36 |
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Did a bit of work with the angle grinder on the winch housing, need to get a new bit fabbed up, nylon rope and a hawse fairlead, will take another 50mm off the approach angle. Also been de-rusting and repainting the bash plates, lots of stuck/broken bolts with the rust. Also changed the rear diff pinion seal which was seeping. Note improvised impact wrench. And patched the exhaust. Won't pass a WOF when it's due I assume, want to get a new 2.5" stainless exhaust, whole thing from the manifold back
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# ? Dec 31, 2015 09:28 |