Have you tried adjusting the clutch pedal linkage? Often, it feels like there's no more clutch left but after threading that adjustment pin in, it works great again. Clutches can last forever (or no time at all, depending on how they were driven).
Keep an eye out for a 4wd class-C motorhome. I know there's a forum member here using one, but can't remember the screen name. Or find your favorite motorhome and then sent it over to ujointoffroad.com for a conversion!
This thread may be my new favorite--read through the whole thing today, and now I'm feeling kind'a down that I'm at the end.
Here's the '85 4runner that's been with me since I started college 18 years ago. We went through the engine internals around that time. Lately, it's just been...
I'm not a fan of built-in water systems. I find them hard to keep clean and unreliable. I removed the tank and lines in the truck camper recently and much prefer using portable containers and gravity.
If I were taking showers remotely, the system I'm most interested in is the Nemo Helio solar...
Wow--that's great that you were friends with Ed Abbey. I'd like to reenact his Desert Solitaire experience someday...just post myself out in the red sand in a trailer for a while.
Is that a Super Digger as a spare on the back?...or maybe a Desert Dueler?...cool pattern.
Increadible '8 and story! I love the old photographs. Have you passed by Ed Abbey on the roads? How about those overloaded FJ-55s that Tag-a-long schlepped the tourists around in? It's hard to believe MT had been making the Baja Belted for that long. It seems like just yesterday that they...
Since I discovered this place, it's been a pasttime just looking at the photos and videos and imagining going on adventures with some of these. Many of them are listed as "driver restorations" rather than "show restorations", and the prices seem quite within reach on many of them. It sounds...
You'll probably want to look at a Quigley conversion (they convert Transits and NVs) if not a Sprinter 4wd. The NV is available with the 5.6L (this engine appears to be used for the Quigley conversion examples) but the turbo-diesels in the Transit and Sprinter would also likely do what you...
I wouldn't limit yourself just to the Vitara. There are plenty of other possibilities. Some that are fairly inexpensive to get a hold of include the Montero Sport, Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport, Kia Sorrento, etc. If you're open to a CUV, there are also numerous possibilities there.
I aways prefer skinny unless you need the width to stay on top of the terrain. In a Taco, you usually don't need the width. I think the 33x10.50s look cooler than the wider ones, myself. 10.50 is even too wide for me. I prefer 9.50 or 235.