Saturday, Apr 05, 2008 at 14:31
DoJa
If you intend keeping the back
seat clear so it can be used for passengers, then the rear section of even the larger cars like Cruisers and Patrols will start to look very small and it will be even worse if you put bikes in there. If you mount them on a carrier out the back, they will be a nuisance when you open the door and they will always be covered in a heavy layer of dust on unsealed roads.
In view of this I agree with Barnesy that a dual cab ute would be perfect for you. I noticed in the Shippshape tent company web site there is a photo of a tent on the roof of a late model Hilux so it looks like they are available for these types of bodies.
These vehicles have a lot going for them. First of all they smaller, lighter and usually easier to drive than the larger cars but they are not toys. They have been designed for serious work in forests, rural properties, building sites etc. They do not have heavy spare wheels mounted high on the back. They have a fair amount of ground clearance and in stock standard form will take you into some very rough areas. I could not imagine you wanting to go anywhere they would not go. This means you will not have to go to the expense of modifying them apart from fitting inexpensive high diff and transmission breathers for water crossings and maybe a screen to stop the fan touching the radiator in deep water. The standard size wheels and tyres will be fine. If they were not suitable for work in those areas, the manufacturer would have fitted something else.
The standard ute back with tail
gate and canopy has a lot of storage space. The tray back version is about 1500 mm long and around 1800 wide and with a high canopy or even a basic
home made wooden box with a couple of good fitting rubber sealed doors, it would hold more gear than you are ever likely to need. You have to carefully watch what you are putting into large spaces like that because it is easy to get carried away and overload it.
In very bad weather with high winds you could even transfer some of your gear into the car and sleep in the back where you won't have to worry about the tent getting damaged. Just make sure you have some air in there though.
There are plenty of these cars in Government auctions. They have usually been used in relatively easy conditions and have been properly serviced. You should have no trouble finding an excellent one in your price range.
Don't worry about repairs and parts in the bush. The mechanics should be familiar with any car from the major manufacturers. Dealers have work
shop manuals on CDs these days and it would not surprise me if the major bush repair centres have access to
information off them by email, that is if they don't already have their own copies.
Spare parts always seem to have a question mark hanging over them. The last car dealer I worked for was back in the early 1980s and they sold Toyota, Renault, Peugeot and Alfa Romeo cars. We had no problems with the European cars but the Toyotas nearly drove us crazy waiting for parts and we were always sending "Vehicle Off Road " reports to the State distributor in order to try and speed things up.
If you start with a good car and don't overload or abuse it, you would have to be unlucky to need parts anyway.
Brian
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