I am looking to get involved in some off-road shenanigans. nothing serious, but just the ability to go drive around on off-road trails.
But I have some requirements. Has to remain street legal, that way I don't have to purchase a truck and a trailer. It has to be able to go off road and be beat up, and be relatively cheap to fix. It cannot be a truck. It cannot be two wheeled or three wheeled. It can require an engine and suspension work and all that stuff and a little bit of welding.
Oh, and I want it to be on a shoestring budget, LOL.
First thoughts were a panther chassis or caprice stripped down to tube frame ghettocet car. Other idea was a sand rail with a VW vin number. I know they make the off-road kit for the NA Miata, but those have gotten so expensive and I don't think it's really worth it. Plus I would need a rook cage. I'm looking for the cheapest trash money can buy that still runs.
I just want Something that I can drive from my house to the woods have a hell of a time, break it, and repeat.
I've been thinking of safari-ing a Cayenne.
Sand rail or used Side by Side is the usual Miata like answer. I bet you could buy and rebuild a decent sand rail in the 5K range depending on the local market.
If you can find one a used Baja bug is surprisingly competent off road and in hard pack and you can have lots of fun.
I'd probably start with a Chevy Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick of either 2 or 4 door config.
They tend to be one of the cheapest things you can buy that are genuinely "capable"
I don't know where you're located but a quick search within 200 miles of me yielded...
$1,200 project or $800
Caution. Many of these are just 2wd (rwd). The proof is the 4wds have a second stick shift for transfer case in the center console. The 2wds lack this stick.
Edit: I too would choose XJ Jeep Cherokee first but my Tracker recommendation was based on my belief that XJ Cherokees are really hard to find cheap and my belief that none destroyed Trackers are easier to find.
Depends on what is available around you. Are you including SUVs as trucks? If not, the nicest Jeep Cherokee in your price range is probably the best option.
If you are going car-based, here'd be my choices for something that could be put together quickly:
95-99 Subaru Legacy on a Legacy Outback suspension, or an Impreza on Forester struts (although I think this tends to be an axle breaker).
1st gen Neon using struts and springs from a 2nd gen Neon.
Mazda3 with struts, shocks, and springs for a Mazda5.
parker
Reader
5/27/21 4:27 p.m.
^^This. Cherokee is the Miata of 4x4's. Otherwise I went surprisingly far in my 98 Neon with 2nd gen springs and the tallest tires I could fit.
Came here to say Cherokee as well. Massive aftermarket and the nearly two decade production run means parts are readily available and dirt cheap.
How turd are the Ford focus and second GEN dodge neon?
Cherokees are hard to find now?
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Cherokees are hard to find now?
Actually, they are rare where there is rust. GRM forum member Ottawa sees one about once every few months, I drive by a dozen every time I leave the house. So they're not hard to find, you just may have to look outside the rust belt.
Keith Tanner said:
Two words: X J.
They do look funny with off road tires and a winch.
Maybe an XJS 12 would work.
There is some Jaguar expertise on this board.
Keith Tanner said:
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Cherokees are hard to find now?
Actually, they are rare where there is rust. GRM forum member Ottawa sees one about once every few months, I drive by a dozen every time I leave the house. So they're not hard to find, you just may have to look outside the rust belt.
I see one in my driveway.
11GTCS
HalfDork
5/27/21 6:34 p.m.
I think an XJ is the answer you seek but since you asked about Foci; My son is an avid hiker and has done a number of the state high points in his travels around the country. He did a semester at UNLV in 2018 and there were a ton of places to hike within an hour or two. I can tell you with absolute certainty that his bone stock ZX3 has been way further off road than 99% of the SUVs and brodozers it’s shared parking lots with these past few years in Nevada and Texas.
Cooter said:
Cherokee
/thread
No trucks, and yes SUVs are considered trucks
Hmmm. Spend big hours and big money to make an ex cop car go almost as many places half as well as a cheap and available Cherokee for no other reason than.... because.
if the point is to be contrary maybe a Citroen?
itsarebuild said:
Hmmm. Spend big hours and big money to make an ex cop car go almost as many places half as well as a cheap and available Cherokee for no other reason than.... because.
if the point is to be contrary maybe a Citroen?
I still like the idea of finding an old Jaguar sedan with a small block chevy conversion, raise the suspension and put truck wheels and offroad tires on it. Those things are actually cheaper than Crown Vics where I live.
Vajingo said:
How turd are the Ford focus and second GEN dodge neon?
IIRC, 2nd gen Neons rust worse than first gens, and there may not be an easy button for lifting it other than maybe strut spacers. Although, it could be possible for PT Cruiser bits to be adapted to it, they are the same platform.
Nobody mentioned anything Subaru? I have never owned one, so I can't speak from any experience, but it seems the interwebs says they are good off-road.
I would go get an Audi something with Quattro and a stick. Throw some extended springs and tall tires and see how good it is as a "safari" build. Skid plates and/or diff protection as well as rocker rails and it should work.
Wouldn't just about anything AWD do well if built correctly?????
itsarebuild said:
Hmmm. Spend big hours and big money to make an ex cop car go almost as many places half as well as a cheap and available Cherokee for no other reason than.... because.
if the point is to be contrary maybe a Citroen?
So rally cars must be garbage? I'm not rock crawling. I don't need/want/have a pick up. A truck requires heavy duty tools, and parts that spiral out of budget. I want a backroad bombing rally turd. Something I can repair with a 10mm and a ratchet. Something I can yank out of a ditch with a harbor freight atv winch.
My apologies if I misread the question. No, Rally cars aren't garbage. They are quite awesome in every way. Though it did not appear that your question was focused in that direction since your post was off-road things with your emphasis on lifting and ground clearance so that was how I read it. Usually that means deeper mud/ bigger obstacles than forest roads and a very different suspension geometry than a unibody car will likely allow for cheap ( you specifically noted lifted miatea as too much moolah ). If bombing forest roads are your goal then apparently an automatic Corolla is the answer since the previously challenged no suspension one is doing very well at that..
edit...
a early Cherokee weighs less than a cop car in most instances. I don't know that tools would be substantially different between a lifted car and Cherokee platform. Not said to start a war, just noted since you might not have known.
Vajingo said:
itsarebuild said:
Hmmm. Spend big hours and big money to make an ex cop car go almost as many places half as well as a cheap and available Cherokee for no other reason than.... because.
if the point is to be contrary maybe a Citroen?
So rally cars must be garbage? I'm not rock crawling. I don't need/want/have a pick up. A truck requires heavy duty tools, and parts that spiral out of budget. I want a backroad bombing rally turd. Something I can repair with a 10mm and a ratchet. Something I can yank out of a ditch with a harbor freight atv winch.
I can totally understand if you just don't want a truck, but these reasons aren't really true. You can get a compact pickup that is already equipped out-of-the box for real rally-type abuse and doesn't require any thing heavy duty. My lug nuts on the Branger are the same 7/16 lug nuts on a Ford Probe, Dodge Neon, or Chevy Malibu and take the same 80 ft-lbs of torque. Even the emergency jack in the Branger is the same part number as an Escape or a Focus. There is nothing that requires heavy duty tools.
I'm just concerned that shoestring budget will mean a lift kit and A/T tires on a Focus, which means you are starting with a car that is totally not up to the task of the abuse. I'm afraid you'll spend way more money on a Neon or Focus just to get it to work off road, and then have something that is going to get completely wasted... compared to a Ranger, S10, or Montero that is built for the abuse to start with.
For the record, the "answer" to this question on off roading forums is Ranger. 8.8" rear (which is a ripoff of a GM 12-bolt), Dana 35 front, good brakes, decent transfer case. It is the Miata of not being on pavement. We're not an offroading forum, just leaving that fart for you all to smell.
But I can totally dig it if you want a rally CAR and not a truck/SUV. I just wanted to address this specific issue and put your mind at ease if that was really the reason you were avoiding trucks/SUVs. Trust me... I am the king of doing things the hard way. I'm turning a 66 Bonneville into a Duramax-powered heavy duty tow pig. I can totally dig your goals, just not sure you can get what you want unless you have a larger shoestring than you're expecting.
You want a Gambler car. I'd check out that community.
I use the same tools on my Cherokee that I do on anything else.
