Another 4WD/tow rig question

I've been talking to a few companies regarding this "work" thing (I know, I know) and it looks like the one that is coming out top so far is in a place where it snows a little from time to time[1] and thus I probably need 4WD to get to work. Which knocks the idea on the head of my wife having her Cherokee and me/us having a nice car which I can track, Auto-X and that shares commuting duties with a motorbike.

My impression is that the usual GRM answer so far would be probably be Cherokee or Subaru Legacy, but I'd probably want something that I use to pull a car trailer for the 'nice' car and the assorted, err, rubbish that GRMer seem to collect. Me included.

A quick look on Reno Craigslist suggested that Suburbans and older pickup trucks are actually in the same price range or cheaper than (Grand) Cherokees. P/Us mostly Ford, actually, Chevys seem to be more expensive.

So, 80s/90s Suburban - my guess it's just too darn big and thirsty, but are they any good at towing at all?

Truck-wise, a few that caught my eye were early 90s 4x4 F-250s with the Powerstroke Diesel around the $5k mark. What's the verdict on those? Run away? OK?

There were also a couple of nice-looking 70s F150s & F250s; I'd rock those but they seemed either too nice to use in winter or about 1/2 mile from the scrap yard.

Ideally the plan would be to get something half decent that can tow for 2k-4k as I need to spend some money on the Cherokee (or buy the wife another car) and I'd like some cash left over for the toy car.

[1] Measure in feet, that is. Not inches .

suburbans are big and thirsty.

They are also great tow vehicles and haul a huge load of gear. Also they are super rugged.

An early 90's diesel ford will be the 7.3 IDI, non turbo. Slow but trusty.

An F150 4x4 with a 5spd and the 300ci inline 6 will be a rock solid vehicle. That engine is one of my favorites ever made. It will tow great and run forever.

I have a 91 Suburban 1/2 ton 4wd and love it. It has the 350 TBI fuel injected engine, overdrive transmission, and factory tow package. The last tank full got me a 14.5 average. I think with a little more conservative driving and a tune up I might get 15-16. I haven't towed with it yet, but will in the next week or two. It won't be anything like my one tone diesel dually, but I'm sure it will handle my single car trailer with no problems. Forgot to mention it has 300k miles and still runs great. I also love the room and looks. I'll try and get some pictures up over the weekend.

On a lighter duty note, used Toyotas are probably a bargain right now.

Strangely enough the Toyotas I saw appeared to be somewhat more expensive than the domestic vehicles. I guess some people know they're not drive by wire...

Around 15mpg for a Suburban is better than I expected; still quite a lot but depending on how far I have to travel it might not matter that much. I'm not too keen on the size though as we don't have kids, aren't planning on any and I can't really see us filling up a whole Suburban with "stuff". OTOH it might make a useful removal van.

Actually I did keep my eye out for a 4x4 F150 with an I-6 but so far I haven't seen any. They're either 2WD I6s or 4WD V8s.

Anything else I should consider?

AWD Astro van with a V8 swap?

I'm under strict orders not to buy anything that looks like a van if I want my wife to ride in it with me.

In that case I would go with a Landrover, as long as the gas mileage doesn't bother you.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Discovery for my wife if the Cherokee proves a little too expensive to repair (given its value and the fact that it needs at least an aircon compressor, probably a receiver/dryer and evaporator, plus some bodywork).

OTOH their wonderful build quality scares me a little as I'd want something that's fairly reliable and doesn't need tons of preventative maintenance as I'd rather spend that time on the fun car(s).

BoxheadTim wrote: I've been toying with the idea of getting a Discovery for my wife if the Cherokee proves a little too expensive to repair (given its value and the fact that it needs at least an aircon compressor, probably a receiver/dryer and evaporator, plus some bodywork). OTOH their wonderful build quality scares me a little as I'd want something that's fairly reliable and doesn't need tons of preventative maintenance as I'd rather spend that time on the fun car(s).

suburban will out tow 2 discovery's, hands down.

police auction Tahoe?

In reply to MrJoshua:

They're 2WD though, aren't they? I'd really like 4WD as I don't fancy being invited for nice winter evening dinner by a family called Donner .

ignorant wrote: suburban will out tow 2 discovery's, hands down.

That's what I thought, but I think it'll also outpark two Discos...

K-Series Blazer / Jimmy? Get an 87 or newer for fuel injection or convert an older model. Body style changed in '92 along with the Suburban. Names later changed to Tahoe and Yukon but could still be had in 2-door body. (about the same overall size as a Disco) They can still tow quite a bit, but short wheelbase is a blessing and a curse all at the same time. (better turning circle but less stable) Being smaller they are easier to park, garage, etc. Drivetrains are the same as the bigger models and pickups so parts are cheap and easy. Gas mileage is about the same though, dispite being lighter. Up untill 1991 the top was removeable. Bronco or Ramcharger will fit the bill to.

BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to MrJoshua: They're 2WD though, aren't they? I'd really like 4WD as I don't fancy being invited for nice winter evening dinner by a family called Donner . If you're that serious about it (and talking mountain passes in the winter)

Well, depending on this working out and also depending on where we end up living, there might well be a 7200' pass in the way...

Chains and proper winter tyres are most likely a given.

Have you absolutely ruled out awd cars in favor of a 4x4 truck? For vehicles like the Audi Quatros and such? There are many highly snow capable, autocross capable automobiles out there.

For that matter, a whole lot of 2wd cars do real well in the snow when equipped with the right tires.

I haven't ruled out getting a 4WD car, no. It depends a little on the verdict on the Cherokee - if it's too expensive to fix (even with me doing some of the work), we'd get a newer used SUV-type thing. Probably a Land Rover, she mentioned at some point she likes them. That would be able to tow, but if we keep the Cherokee that's pretty useless at towing a car hauler so I'd be looking at something cheapish and capable of pulling a single car hauler for myself.

I don't like 4WD for hi-performance type driving; much like FWD it doesn't talk to me in a language I can actually understand. So I'd want something RWD for the fun bit[1] and something boring for the winter commute. Summer commute will hopefully again be by motorbike.

If the tow car/mild off roader/wife transport can be covered by, say, a Land Rover I'd happily buy something like a Subaru Legacy station wagon for the winter.

Of course there is always something like this for the snow and offroading entertainment: http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1614084807.html

Fortunately it's out of my budget

[1] Unless I buy a Miata or a C4 Corvette, it looks like the others would have to be insured as classic, non-DD type cars as I don't feel rich enough to ensure them as DDs.

I do agree that if the suburban is too big look at a Tahoe or K series Blazer. All the suburban goodness in a smaller package.

I have owned and towed with suburbans, 2 2WD and 1 4WD, as well as a 2WD Tahoe and they are all excellent tow vehicles. 15mpg (or better) should be easily attainable with a good tune and conservative driving.

'94-'96 Bronco?

I'm really trying to wrap my head around the idea that a Cherokee is too expensive to repair so we'll get a Discovery. Not saying it couldn't be possible, but like quantum physics, it is beyond my understanding.

Depending upon the length of the commute, fuel consumption alone might be sufficient justification to abandon the 'one size fits all' daily driver model.

I'm thinking small, efficient, AWD commuter + big, ugly beater truck for occasional towing and utility purposes.

But that's just me - I've always had more than one vehicle, at least for the past 30 years.

Cherokee is potentially too expensive to repair for what it's worth, not compared to an LR. It depends on how bust the aircon system is. If it's a matter of just getting a new compressor fitted, plus the bodywork - front fender, bumper, wheelarch liner, potentially the front mask, get the drivers door catch fixed and the door put back into its correct shape (looks like someone tried to crow bar their way in at some point), plus the paint and sorting out the annoying 65+ mph wobble, then we're going to keep it.

If it turns out that the compressor was so dead that it distributed metal shavings through the a/c system (because Ann refused to take it to the local garage to get it looked at if I wasn't there, fearing she'd get ripped off and she hadn't figured out which settings on the heater control would run the a/c and which don't) and we'll need new receiver dryers and a new evaporator (which IIRC is a dash-out job) then it's completely uneconomic to repair.

If it's the latter option then we'd have to get two vehicles within a few months of me arriving in the US and that'll mean they'd have to be cheap-ish as I hate borrowing money for basic transportation.

At the moment I'm trying to keep the number of cars/trucks to three between the two of us (there'll be three motorbikes shipped over from the UK, too, plus a commuter/touring bike that I'm planning to buy) so that'll be one vehicle for her, one winter shed for me and one fun car for us. Once we've settled down and hopefully bought a house I'm sure my old predilection of taking in stray vehicles will make itself known again...

BoxheadTim wrote: Strangely enough the Toyotas I saw appeared to be somewhat more expensive than the domestic vehicles. I guess some people know they're not drive by wire... Around 15mpg for a Suburban is better than I expected; still quite a lot but depending on how far I have to travel it might not matter that much. I'm not too keen on the size though as we don't have kids, aren't planning on any and I can't really see us filling up a whole Suburban with "stuff". OTOH it might make a useful removal van. Actually I did keep my eye out for a 4x4 F150 with an I-6 but so far I haven't seen any. They're either 2WD I6s or 4WD V8s. Anything else I should consider?

We don't have any kids either, but I still like the size of the Suburban. We use it camping alot and with all the camping and dirtbike gear the size really helps. We used to use our 99 Cherokee for this and had to use the aftermarket roof rack often, but now it's just a toy and the Suburban is the workhorse. BTW with the middle seat folded down and the rear seat out the Suburban will easily swallow a good size air mattress.

Mmmmm.... Blazer....

http://reno.craigslist.org/ctd/1625114175.html

The Broncos look quite interesting as well and a more sensible size compared to a Suburban - but that's true for pretty much anything this side of an old school bus.

I really need to stay off CL, browsing from around 6000 miles away is like a eunuch watching pr0n.

Oh man that Blazer is awesome and a good price ( if the condition is as described). I'm a sucker for this type GM truck though. I have a 75 Chevy 4x4 pickup, 76 Blazer Chalet (factory camper on blazer chassis), and 91 Suburban. They seem to just keep going and going.

BoxheadTim wrote: Probably a Land Rover, she mentioned at some point she likes them.

It won't be cheap keeping one well maintained enough for Mrs transport. I like my Disco, but given the choice, I'd rather have a Suburban.