Help me choose a BUDGET build

[alanymarce]

Ever tow with it?

No, we haven't, we travel as "minimalist" as we can and never tow anything. In Australia we've seen hundreds (probably thousands) of Monteros (Pajeros) towing caravans and camp trailers, so it's obviously not a problem.

 

[CrazyDrei]

How about a 2004 Tahoe LT, Z71 120k miles? Just have to drive 4 hours round trip to look at it.

What did you end up going with? Can't go wrong with a Tahoe.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I'd definitely do a Tahoe, Expedition, or full size truck. All three options are relatively cheap to work on, common in junk yards, and you can get parts in a small town on a Sunday.

 

[phsycle]

No rock crawling, family, towing, cheap. Not sure why I’d look at any of those silly midsize dinosaurs. Get a Suburban. Parts a-plenty, easy to work on, lots of room for kids, plenty offroad capable and SOOOO much better towing vehicle. And probably gets the same MPG as the smaller SUV’s.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

And probably gets the same MPG as the smaller SUV’s.

Yup.
I've had a 6 cylinder WJ, 4.0L 2003 Ford Explorer, FJ80, Nissan Xterra SC, and they were all very close in fuel mileage to the multiple Tahoe / Yukon / Suburbans' I've had.

For me, I found the WJ and GMT-800 buckets seats some of the most comfortable seats I've sat in. Which to me is important for long cruises.

 

[BigSwede]

There's about zero support for Isuzu in America anymore, no matter how good or bad the platform is it's an orphan to the extreme and that's a burden, and if you're talking about budget you don't want an orphan. Go try to track down a new TOD harness for that transfer case if you have any doubts (and yes, those fail)

Fortunately because it is a 5-speed it doesn't have the TOD transfer case.

A manual trans Trooper is a pretty reliable beast. I still miss mine.

 

[Grassland]

Wonder if OP bought anything.