Older (oldish?) 4x4s

Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 14:37
ThreadID: 65307 Views:2215 Replies:3 FollowUps:3
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My '96 Falcon blew up. While this isn't good, it does give me an excuse to look at 4x4s again.

I'd like to get an older (early 90's?) dual-cab and fabricate a slide-on camper box (I've built something similar in the past) with a roof-top tent.

The trays on such vehicles are pretty short (otherwise the vehicles would be pretty long). I'm trying to get a little more length out of the box without hanging too far out behind the rear wheels.

I notice that a lot of dual-cabs have the rear wheels pretty close to the rear of the cab (particularly the Ssanyong!).

The Hilux doesn't seem too bad, what else should I look at?

Is there somewhere I can get some spec that'll help (the only one I can think of is departure angle ...is there a web-based source for such info across 4x4 dual-cabs available in Aus)?
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Reply By: The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 16:03

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 16:03
Hi Bigj

This is what we have done to our Defender 130 twin cab.....1995 TDi300

Cheers
AnswerID: 345376

Follow Up By: BigJ - Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 18:59

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 18:59
Love it, and would love one, but as it'll (sans camper) be my daily driver and parking spaces at work are kinda short, unfortunately I think a Defender isn't an option for me ... :-(

Very nice rig though, and it illustrates the concept very well.

Thanks,
J.
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FollowupID: 613375

Follow Up By: The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 20:05

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 20:05
Yes...doesn't work to well as the daily commuter. We only use it for trips, which are all too infrequent at present.

Cheers
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FollowupID: 613388

Reply By: Member - Tour Boy- Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 17:14

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 17:14
Be careful, some of the dual cabs bend the chassis above the rear axle if there is too much weight rearward. The rodeo was the worst for this. Have a look the chassis on most of them. They don't look very strong.
Cheers
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
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AnswerID: 345389

Follow Up By: BigJ - Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 19:00

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 at 19:00
Ah! Yes, with very little of the weight forward of the axle, I can see that this would be a problem if the chassis is too light-weight.

Thanks for the tip,
J.
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FollowupID: 613376

Reply By: disco driver - Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 at 00:44

Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 at 00:44
Hi Big J,
Do you really need a dual cab, would an extra cab do.
The reason for asking is that most dualcabs are fairly limited in the back seat space, and not that comfortable there either.

Unless you need the seating for the kids you may be better off with the extra cab style vehicle. It will give you a bit of inside storage and a longer tray length than a dually.

There is not a lot between all makes, Hilux will be a bit dearer and should retain its price a bit better than the others, but that's no good reason to buy one.

My advice is to look around at all makes, drive as many as you can and then make a decision based on your gut feelings about any particular vehicle.

Disco.
AnswerID: 345460

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