Can you purchase a new 4wd and just drive it?

[alnjan]

Really depends what you personally want from the vehicle and just where you want to go.  If you just want to do a lap around the country to say you have done it and don't venture too far from the black top then pretty well any vehicle is capable of it. 

If you have a more specific agenda or itinerary then a little bit more homework might be needed.  But honestly I think too many people for whatever reason just over complicate things and in the end we feel we need to this and that to be able to do something, when really all you need to do is just do it. 

[Moxley]

What is considered over the top?  Surely not decent suspension and tyres. That'd pretty much be enough wouldn't it?  Perhaps a couple of jerrys if your girl tank is a bit small. 

[J.R]

When I was posted in NORFORCE, we would bounce around Arnham land or the Kimberlys in stock standard troop carriers. Only fitted with an ARB Bullbar and roof rack.

Does this make it a proper 4wd that does not require additional mods to do what it's designed for?

Why does every body say a NADS must be fitted to a Patrol when buying?

[Joff]

Of coarse you can. Given the right care and a bit of mechanical sympathy you could buy any 4wd and go anywhere you want so long as you have traction.

That said, If I'm heading bush (or moreover, desert) I will take my 98 model 105 Cruiser with LR tank, bar work, drawers, lockers, 33's etc etc over my 3 month old XLT Ranger every time. Why, coz it's more convienient travelling with all the added bits.

[J.R]

My wife and I were just talking about that today.

We discussed the Cape. To use our current 4wd with all the fruit and worry about it? It's set up for long rang towing in comfort and towing the camper. Not so much deep river crossings and mud.

We don't want to be stopped by the possibility of scratches or dents. It's too good for that.
I know it's a 4wd, we have to much money invested. We would do the Simpson in it tomorrow, just not the Cape amd what we want to see.

Or, buy and old 2.8 NA live axle Hilux dual cab and enjoy the Cape and not have to worry about dents, damage or scratches.

 We are leaning towards the Hilux. Give it a good service, replace what needs replacing. Fit a set of 31inch muddies. Fit a rear locker, fridge, recovery gear, swags and a change of jocks and enjoy it.

That's what we are thinking of doing.

[Jakster1]

My wife and I were just talking about that today.

We discussed the Cape. To use our current 4wd with all the fruit and worry about it? It's set up for long rang towing in comfort and towing the camper. Not so much deep river crossings and mud.

We don't want to be stopped by the possibility of scratches or dents. It's too good for that.
I know it's a 4wd, we have to much money invested. We would do the Simpson in it tomorrow, just not the Cape amd what we want to see.

Or, buy and old 2.8 NA live axle Hilux dual cab and enjoy the Cape and not have to worry about dents, damage or scratches.

 We are leaning towards the Hilux. Give it a good service, replace what needs replacing. Fit a set of 31inch muddies. Fit a rear locker, fridge, recovery gear, swags and a change of jocks and enjoy it.

That's what we are thinking of doing.

Not having a dig directly at you JR, but my thoughts after reading your post

Why buy a "Flash 4wd" if you want to use it but are too scared to use it in case of damage?  Snorkel and good tyres and your tow rig also becomes a water crossing rig with minimal sacrifice.
And the idea of buying another 4wd to go 4wding in, well it baffles me a bit, when people go out and get the latest model, add everything so it can go everywhere, and take it nowhere a Camry won't go.
WHY?
But there are LOTS of people I know that do the same.
One would think you'd be better off maybe spending a bit less money if that's the driving motive to not scratch it, getting a nice capable vehicle say a few years old setting it up and using it for everything.
Just my 2c

[Joff]

My wife and I were just talking about that today.

We discussed the Cape. To use our current 4wd with all the fruit and worry about it? It's set up for long rang towing in comfort and towing the camper. Not so much deep river crossings and mud.

We don't want to be stopped by the possibility of scratches or dents. It's too good for that.
I know it's a 4wd, we have to much money invested. We would do the Simpson in it tomorrow, just not the Cape amd what we want to see.

Or, buy and old 2.8 NA live axle Hilux dual cab and enjoy the Cape and not have to worry about dents, damage or scratches.

 We are leaning towards the Hilux. Give it a good service, replace what needs replacing. Fit a set of 31inch muddies. Fit a rear locker, fridge, recovery gear, swags and a change of jocks and enjoy it.

That's what we are thinking of doing.

What do you think will happen to it on the Cape that can't happen on the Simpson? Dents and scratches? Simpson is hard on a car in a dry year and worse in a wet one? You can drive to the top of Cape York in a Hyundai Getz.

If by your post you mean you want to buy a dunga to flog it down every track on the Cape and not care if you damage it then I get that coz I did it a few years ago. But you can see all that the Cape has to offer without doing any more damage than you would towing a caravan to Darwin if you take even a little care.

If this stupid iPad worked like a PC I'd put up a pic of the Simpson 2010. You want mud

[oldmate]

My wife and I were just talking about that today.

We discussed the Cape. To use our current 4wd with all the fruit and worry about it? It's set up for long rang towing in comfort and towing the camper. Not so much deep river crossings and mud.

We don't want to be stopped by the possibility of scratches or dents. It's too good for that.
I know it's a 4wd, we have to much money invested. We would do the Simpson in it tomorrow, just not the Cape amd what we want to see.

Or, buy and old 2.8 NA live axle Hilux dual cab and enjoy the Cape and not have to worry about dents, damage or scratches.

 We are leaning towards the Hilux. Give it a good service, replace what needs replacing. Fit a set of 31inch muddies. Fit a rear locker, fridge, recovery gear, swags and a change of jocks and enjoy it.

That's what we are thinking of doing.

Just so you know, we did the cape last year, old tele, old coach rd blah blah blah, i dont go out to try and damage my car, but if i get it scratched by going or doing something i enjoy i dont care, thats what i got it for.  But in all of the 31 days on our cape trip, the car did not get one extra scratch on it. The trailer came home with a couple but not the car.  Go Late in the season, very little mud and rivers are all low, some dont even have water in them. Just go mate and enjoy it. 

[oldmate]

What do you think will happen to it on the Cape that can't happen on the Simpson? Dents and scratches? Simpson is hard on a car in a dry year and worse in a wet one? You can drive to the top of Cape York in a Hyundai Getz.

If by your post you mean you want to buy a dunga to flog it down every track on the Cape and not care if you damage it then I get that coz I did it a few years ago. But you can see all that the Cape has to offer without doing any more damage than you would towing a caravan to Darwin if you take even a little care.

If this stupid iPad worked like a PC I'd put up a pic of the Simpson 2010. You want mud

Agreed.

[GeoffA]

Agreed.

Yes. There's a world of difference between "use" and "abuse"......

[doc evil]

If this stupid iPad worked like a PC I'd put up a pic of the Simpson 2010. You want mud

And who was it that did it with front drive only.......

[Joff]

And who was it that did it with front drive only.......

Just shows how tuff the old girl is when it'll cross in front wheel drive. The Fat Corola, we called it 

[Bird]

Just remember BMW X5 got 4wd of the year several years ago LMAO... and apparently the ford Everest according to tele ads won it this year..

lets take 1 of each and hit Toolangi!

[glenm64]

Just remember BMW X5 got 4wd of the year several years ago LMAO... and apparently the ford Everest according to tele ads won it this year..

lets take 1 of each and hit Toolangi!

Ahh
but that's not what 4wding is all about these days.
You need a car that can take you from work to the beach (car park) to the mountain bike track. And it must be able to do it all not spilling the soy latte mocha chino.

[Joff]

Actually, that's never been what 4wd's were all about. The vast vast majority of 4wd's ever sold, even those that actively engage low range, were never bought - certainely by their first owners - with climbing that sort of terrain as their main objective. Even in the 'good old days' when 4wd's were bought for ability over comfort and bling it was mostly about getting off the beaten track and exploring new horizons or by farmers that needed to access near virgin country. Old 4wders, when faced with that sort of thing would either find another route, turn back or expect a long winching session. In fact, tracks like that only exist because of a small minority of folks who own 4wd's specifically to challenge themselves and their vehicles (and their is nothing wrong with that).

It's all well and good to drive around in a 4" lifted and locked old girl on 33's or 35's beating our chests about capability but driving them 2 or 3000km along tar roads, dirt roads and even 99% of tracks is still like driving a boat with vague tiller steering coming into their own only at a place like that. If a newer 4wd can't get up that sort of thing then that is hardly a reason to scoff at them given that they do everything else eminently better.

[rotare]

What happened to dropping a lot of coin an a new 4wd and just drive it?

It seams everyone is saying you need to modify the EGR, fit a NADS (Patrol), use manual mode in the Challenger instead of just leaving it drive.

I'd suggest that most new cars are pretty competent straight out the show room.  A lot of the suggested mods you read about for a certain vehicle provide some added benefit, but aren't always critical or a dead set necessity.  It comes down to personal choice really.

Were the cars from 20+ years ago any better in this regard?  I don't think so.  How often did antipollution gear ripped from motors to give better fuel economy and power?  On some models removing the automatic choke to extend the life of your plugs was just a standard mod.  I reckon sales of after market thermos fans and external transmissions coolers for those that towed were never so great as they were in the 80's and 90's.....

It's always been the same, just the stuff removed, replaced or modded has change over time.

[rellbell]

Just so you know, we did the cape last year, old tele, old coach rd blah blah blah, i dont go out to try and damage my car, but if i get it scratched by going or doing something i enjoy i dont care, thats what i got it for.  But in all of the 31 days on our cape trip, the car did not get one extra scratch on it. The trailer came home with a couple but not the car.  Go Late in the season, very little mud and rivers are all low, some dont even have water in them. Just go mate and enjoy it. 

The last 2 trips to the cape with our patrol and trackabout we  returned dirty and not damaged as such.  The first time we dragged the trackabout up the Tele track and had a great time.  The second time we did the Tele track without trailers as the people we were travelling were too scared to take their trailers so we left them at Bramwell Station.

There are tracks around the "supposedly" tough tracks and the Tele track is mostly cleared about a chain either side.  It's a beautiful bush trip to do.  We can sustain more damage in the Coles car park then out on some tracks.

If your vehicle is well maintained there shouldn't be any problems.  In saying that we put new shockies on and got up past bamaga and hubby end up replacing the new rubbers with the old rubbers he had thrown in 4 just in case. Cheers rellbell

[doc evil]

lets take 1 of each and hit Toolangi!

aahhhhh memories.......rocky track. Have a pic of my old gq about 15 yrs ago with wheels in the air over the ledge about half way up.......

[Bird]

aahhhhh memories.......rocky track. Have a pic of my old gq about 15 yrs ago with wheels in the air over the ledge about half way up.......

Then onto Vicrange Track But alas that's been closed for many years

[Beachman]

10 years ago I bought a new dual cab Rodeo and 8 months later we did 6 000 kms driving Cape York and Central QLD. Only mod was a Bull Bar (Personal choice) snorkel, UHF radio and extended diff/gearbox breathers.

Factory supplied suspension and AT tyres and didn’t even have a dual battery. I did get a cracked windscreen on the trip and a few stone chips, but nothing that hasn’t happened even when driving sealed roads.

[GBC]

I did 10 years belting fleet 80/100 series around the place, and hilux/75 series from 4wd hire service. Apart from play areas there's not a lot of places a standard fleet vehicle hasn't been in this country.
We got a standard coil cab patrol ute back from Cape Flattery to Cairns during the wet season one year - mostly underwater on nearly bald grandtreks - can't believe I used to get paid to do that stuff.

[Footy Shorts Shane]

I did 10 years belting fleet 80/100 series around the place, and hilux/75 series from 4wd hire service. Apart from play areas there's not a lot of places a standard fleet vehicle hasn't been in this country.
We got a standard coil cab patrol ute back from Cape Flattery to Cairns during the wet season one year - mostly underwater on nearly bald grandtreks - can't believe I used to get paid to do that stuff.

There's not a lot of places ANY hire car can't go. Especially Tarago's. Those things are indestructible

[GBC]

There's not a lot of places ANY hire car can't go. Especially Tarago's. Those things are indestructible

I pre ordered a 4wd at syd airport one time for an outage at Pt. Perpendicular during a storm. Flew in and there's a brand new magna sitting there........ Less than 24 hours old by the time I got it back to Sydney airport and it was stuffed. I won a bet with the sentry at the navy base who reckoned I couldn't make it to the lighthouse and back haha.

[Andrew_C]

I did 10 years belting fleet 80/100 series around the place, and hilux/75 series from 4wd hire service. Apart from play areas there's not a lot of places a standard fleet vehicle hasn't been in this country.
We got a standard coil cab patrol ute back from Cape Flattery to Cairns during the wet season one year - mostly underwater on nearly bald grandtreks - can't believe I used to get paid to do that stuff.

Yep, there are not many places a standard fleet car, with a bit of skill, mechanical sympathy, luck and enthusiasm will not go. Hire cars will mostly go there, but are far better if they are paid for on someone else's credit card.

[shanegtr]

Yep, there are not many places a standard fleet car, with a bit of skill, mechanical sympathy, luck and enthusiasm will not go.

You forgot to add a rev limiter to that list