trade Troopy for Suburban???

Second that by a mile
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Third that idea by a mile as well.

You might not know that a H3 Hummer is built on a suburban chassis. So you could potentially get after market gear to do it up. I think that it is also the same chassis as a Chev silverardo, Cadillac Escalade but I might be wrong on that one.

Carl that would be a H2 Hummer as the H3 that was sold here is more Prado sized.

I'd say keep the Troopy too!

No, H3 is a suburban. H1 is military version, H2 same size but built for yuppies to pick up the kids from school and a H3 for want-a-bees, that really want a H1 but cannot handle one.

H3 was made after and by GM after they bought Hummer.

Carl sorry I beg to differ having had my Humvee before any of the wannabies came along and having driven them all I'm well aware of the differences between them.
The original is the HMMWV (humvee) first made by AM General (nothing to do with GM purely a defence contractor) in the early 80's going into production in 84/85.
In 1992 after the world saw them in action in Desert Storm everbody wanted one so AM General decided to make a civilian version which was called the Hummer.
The Hummer/H1 was sold here in Oz by a company called Hummer Australasia from the mid 90's and in fact they were the first to develop a RHD conversion and most of the RHD Hummer/H1's were converted here and shipped on around the world.
These two versions were produced side by side until 2006 by AM General.
In the early 00's GM saw a chance to make a buck on the Hummer name and bought the rights to the name from AM General which led to the production of the H2 which is based on the Chevy chassis used in various forms by GM in utes and the Suburban. The only thing the H2 had in common with a proper Hummer was the name and the tow points. As part of the deal it was assembled by AM General in their purpose built factory. GM supplied the components and did all the marketing including spares and service, the original civilian Hummer now called the H1 by the marketing guru's.
As we know GM then brought out the H3 which is based on a smaller Chev chassis about the same size as a Prado due to backlash by buyers against large heavy vehicles which was the one sold here by dealers.
There have been lots of H2's imported into Oz by SAWS and RAWS compliant importers. Production of the Hummer line was canned by GM after the GFC due to decreasing demand and profitability. The FJ cruiser was Toyota's answer to the H3 as can bee seen by the similar styling in the pillbox windows and high sides.
The Humvee is still produced by AM General in Indiana USA and is sold around the world to military users.
Most of the Humvee's here in Australia came here from Saudi Arabia when the Yanks sold them off for scrap after desert storm and we refurbished them and converted them to RHD to meet ADR compliance for rego here in Oz.

Must say it is good to hear such detailed info from someone who obviously knows his subject.

Suburban and H3 is on the same basic chassis. Suburban is smaller than H2 even though it looks a lot bigger than a H3.

Suburban has nothing to do with AM.

Garry

Our main objective is to get out into the bush and find great places to camp as well as to travel some of the iconic aussie tracks. We are not looking to go 4-wheeling just for the sake of it, the worst terrain, biggest ruts, deepest river crossing etc., like the boys on the DVDs.

Thanks for the helpful comments!
We are looking at a diesel 3/4 ton, 4 of the 6 of us are currently kids but prone to grow larger all the time!! I hear what you are saying about the spares, which is one of our concerns. Also worried about the overall larger size (wheel base and length) might make it difficult to negotiate some of the typical 4 wheel drive tracks.

Timothy
I do notice a lot of blokes will knock a vehicle but have never owned or driven one, a bit like the Holden v Ford, Toyota v Nissan...oh and while on the subject of Nissan, just wait until the Kelly boys get theirs sorted out next year.

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Damn right, I don't own one and never likley to.

Nothing at all to do with holden V ford or toyota V nissan.

A suburban is a totally different vehicle type to a troopy.

The bottom line is that troopies are very common, well proven and very well supported in this country.....hell there are parts for troopies, just lying arround in some places....AND the troopy was designed as a 4WD first and foremost.

The suburban is ya typical bloated american tank, they are uncommon in this country, parts and service will be scant in the major cities and almost non-existant in the bush.
If its design intent was otherwise they would not have called it a "suburban".

If it is the seating arrangements that are the problem, perhaps that needs to be addressed in the troopy.

Fitting 4 or 5 good quality bucket seats into the rear of the troopy would be easier and cheaper than buying a bloated yank bucket of bolts.....and ya keep a vehicle that is servicable in remote Australia.

cheers

Bantam,
Doug might know the odd thing or two about a troopy. He has one with over 700,000k's one it.

As for modern vehicles in the outback.They don't send a mechanic anymore just a tilt tray and it goes to a dealer and as time goes on even the Toyota dealers are getting further and further apart as Toyota decides to remove their franchises.

The suburban has a place just like the F trucks when it comes to moving large families and towing heavy loads.

Suburbans come with 4 doors and Troopies don't. I can tell you first hand that troopies are a pain to climb in and out of if you wish to sit in the back. Yes you can have a door cut into them but this costs money and you still can't access the third row of seats easily if you install them.

I also don't comment on suburbans as I have never owned or sat in one.

Timothy has and has given a good first hand honest answer to the post.

Troopys are a good vehicle but they are limited in size for moving people. How do I know I own one and have done for a number of years.

RA.

Rockape
Ahh err Mate, aye mate , them there Troopy fings that d guvment givs us aint limited in size for movin' people, one hit a roadtrain...ang on or did the roadtrain hit it, no they it the roadtrain, and there wuz 18 in that there Troopy .
True story , happened out near Jabiru a couple years ago.

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Just to add, The benefit of the 8 seater was nobody had to sit in a middle seat.
Exception being if they all went away with us, we'd remove half of the 3rd row and put the fridge in there, and have 3 in the middle row.

But as they turned into teenagers, they didn't want to camp anymore - but we still travelled around australia doing what they wanted.

thanks for your helpful comments. We have the Troopy that is converted with forward facing seats and a third door, but it is still inconvenient to get us and four kids in and out of and the seats aren't very comfortable. We will look into the Landcruiser Station Wagon