Starting out, vehicle choice help

Fro

New member
Hi There

rather new to all this, having never owned a 4x4 truck before or really gone off road (we are doing an experience day soon followed by a course to cover the basics), but me and my girlfriend are getting pulled in to the whole over-landing traveling scene, we have met and spoke to the owner of www.landroveradventure.com and got some really good tips. but now back to the point of this post,

truck choice, now this is a tall order as i need the vehicle to be my day to day(i generally do one long drive for work and lots of little trips during the week, more info can't hurt) as well as a green lane, overland machine, with the ambition of driving to america and Canada the long way round of course. a list of a few vehicals we are looking at

Landrover discover MK 1/2

300tdi am aware of the body rot that seems to plague the disco 1, and the engine faults of the disco 2 but i have been informed they can be kept at bay with good servicing, and replacing the injection loom from injectors to the main loom,22+vat i am told,

toyota landcruiser

don't really know much about these apart from the "word bombproof" subject to service history, what are parts and maintenece like on these?

mitsubishi shogun lwb/ old l300 delicia

been advised on the 2.5 for availability of spares (fully mechanical engine) has anyone used or turned one of these into a long distance overlander, are they equipped with diff locks? electrical reliability?

two wildcards

toyota hilux pickup

with a truck top and roof rack could this be a viable option 2wd on the road as it is not recommended running it in 4wd until off road, anyone know if this is a good option

i have a small budget of around 4-5k but as time goes on this will increase slowly, auto or manual, for the road i would prefer auto but if there is a fault that equals a lot of money and a stuck truck whilst a manual there are options,

any help will be massively appreciated
 

Gren_T

Adventurer
Hi & welcome to Expo.

you have lots of choice,all can do a bit of green laning & will work as a daily driver, with the disco if you want an auto look for a Japanese import they are 300TDI and normally autos and as japan does not salt their roads they are normally rust free,though if you are handy with the spanners & welder Discovery's can be had very cheap needing work.
Landcruisers are excellent though hold their price for good reason, parts and servicing are reasonable at independents like Milner's http://www.milneroffroad.com/toyota-uk.

The shogun in the uk spec will be pretty tatty or a Japanese import in the form of the pajero is a good truck the 2.5 has few vices apart from being a bit long in the tooth, the S2 Paj with the 2.8 is more common. The 2.8 auto is quite thirsty as it's heavy & normally an auto, mine did about 25mpg but was reliable and a comfortable truck.
Although the delicia shares the Pajero's running gear you will be lucky to find ones with rear diff locks but they are out there at a premium no real worries with the electrical side and plenty of parts available.

Again the hilux is a great vehicle however they hold their price for one not abused by a builder or farmer and security can be an issue in the pickup though I've seen lots in morocco and Mauri. Another choice is the import hilux surf lots about, cheap comes in manual and auto and is a 4/5 seater so plenty of secure storage and shares the Hilux running gear so few problems with parts

hope this helps a bit.

regards
Gren
 

Sirocco

Explorer
From that list I would go Disco 2 or Cruiser.

Prices of cruisers are fairly high in the UK though. 100 series diesel would be nice, 80s are getting a bit old now.

Either way, buy one thats in good overall condition and does not need much work with a good solid history.

G
 

ColinTheCop

Adventurer
Delica would be a good choice as you can actually sleep in it without any problems.

And it'd be within your budget.

Something like this ticks a lot of boxes,

clicky Ebay link

$_12.JPG
 

OddTraveler

New member
I would say all of these sounds good. My only tip is : avoid anything too complexe ( electronics etc). I drive a 06 Ford Ranger. Its as stock as they come I would say. I know this is not a as "common" vehicle for overlanding and expedition use, but I would have no problem jumping in it and aiming for far away any day. Its all about the adventure in my opinion ;)
 

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