Cheap 4x4 tow vehicles, educate me?

BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: Trouble is that those are so far out of budget that even postponing the purchase of my track & "fun" vehicle by a month or two won't allow me to scrape together the cash. GMT400 is probably the newest I can afford atm.

I understand... well here's some newer GMT400's for you to look at:

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/ctd/2308843103.html http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/2325171065.html http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/ctd/2307598422.html http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/ctd/2324909122.html

And if you need someone to drive it out let me know! lol

What about 87-96 Bronco? Mom had an 88 in Garden Valley for the longest time, and the removable top is great fun in the summer. They are capable in snow too! 351 EFI w/OD is available.

This would be my holy grail:

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/2295621444.html

Bronco's are short. Short wheelbases do not handle towing well. It becomes a case of the tail wagging the dog...which may be funny on a puppy but not so funny climbing the Rockies.

just put a big tranny cooler on it and a good class III or IV hitch and you will be fine.

Bobzilla wrote: This would be my holy grail: http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/2295621444.html

Yeah, I'm keeping an eye out of a 4x4 version of those, but the few that are for sale over in CA are usually in the $6k+ range, with high miles.

I would take a Bronco if I could find a white one.

That's why I call them the Holy Grail. People that own them, keep them until they are all used up, rebuild them and use them up again.

Javelin wrote:

Cotton wrote: I'll put my 1/2 ton 4x4 91 4x4 Suburban up against that Wagoneer any day. I LIKE Wagoneers too, but the Suburban like mine with FI and overdrive is miles ahead of it.

Nice truck Cotton, but it's a 1-year only wonder boy. How is Tim going to find one? The OD trans was 91-only, and a TON of those trucks were converted back to carburetors because the TBI "sucked power".

The OD was available in 87 up for the 1/2 tons (700r4) and only 91 for the 3/4 tons (4l80e I think). Wiki and some other sites has them all as 91, but that is incorrect.

The TBI can be modified. This is a great TBI site. http://www.tbichips.com/ A lot of people converted them to carb because they just didn't understand the TBI and a carb conversion is easy.

I'll be putting the replacement engine in mine soon. If the TBI can't be (relatively)cheaply and easily modified to handle the extra HP of the cam, vortec heads, intake, and vette exhaust manifolds I'll man up and admit it and post here.

^ 454 flow matched injectors, t/b, vortec tbi intake and the proper chip and you'll be good. TBI's are so simple to work on I never understood why peopl took them off. Seemed retarded to me. But I guess some people are just stuck in the old ways.

To me, a carb is 50% voodoo, 50% black magic and 50% luck.

Dude.. I think you need to re-evaluate what you really need in a vehicle.

How much are you going to be towing?

How often?

Do you really need 4x4?( Really need it? like will you need to tow in 4x4?)

How much stuff do you need inside?

Would a $1000 cargo van and a $2000 subaru do?

huge-O-chavez wrote: Dude.. I think you need to re-evaluate what you really need in a vehicle. How much are you going to be towing?

5k - 7k lbs max. Which oddly coincides with the tow limits on a 3/4 ton Suburban.

huge-O-chavez wrote: How often?

Not that often. Often enough that renting something to tow is going to be a PITA.

huge-O-chavez wrote: Do you really need 4x4?( Really need it? like will you need to tow in 4x4?)

I really, really, really need 4x4 out here for winter, as does my wife. I don't necessarily need to tow with 4x4, but I do need a reasonably high clearance 4x4 to get to work when the snow hits. Like 3-4" of snow during the time it took me to mount two sets of chains to the CJ type hits.

huge-O-chavez wrote: How much stuff do you need inside?

Depends how often we go to Ikea . We do sometimes need a four seater with luggage space, but something the size of a large station wagon or a Grand Cherokee is big enough unless we visit a furniture store. Ann's Cherokee is just a little too small occasionally.

huge-O-chavez wrote: Would a $1000 cargo van and a $2000 subaru do?

Weeeeell.

Both don't exist out here in a usable form. Trust me, a 1k molester van is about to return to nature out here, as will be a $2k Subaru. Plus, with insurance constraints and constraints on the time I have to swear at these vehicles, four cars/trucks is really the maximum I can handle without turning our yard into a junkyard. Assuming the CJ goes, the fleet list would look something like this:

• Wife's 4x4 Cherokee
• Our C4 Convertible
• My 4x4 that doubles as an occasional tow vehicle
• My gas saver DD that doubles as an HPDE and maybe Auto-X vehicle

The last two slots aren't filled at the moment, the last entry on the list looks somewhat Miata/E30 shaped although there are a couple of strange vehicles in the running, too. But before I can fill that slot, I'd better get the tow vehicle slot filled.

I pulled with a 1993 Grand Cherokee V8 for years... bought it cheap from a guy who never maintained it with 180K something on the clock... I had 7000+ lbs behind it countless times and I pulled it like a champ... When it wasn't pulling something it was getting abused in the mud... Or otherwise driving it to hard on the street... Missed regular oil changes... and I'll admit.. It was bought cheap and I never expected it to last... So I didn't really do anything to take care of it...

The Limited slip in the rear end always made a noise when taking a corner like it was going to explode.. but locked up perfectly when needed.. and never asked for anything... One day I fixed that... by putting in a junkyard diff... Lost my limited slip... and the noise.. Nothing else changed...

It was parted and sent to the crusher when the Original practically unmaintained tranny gave up at about 268K something miles...

So yeah... I would recommend a Grand with a extra beefy tranny cooler... As much as I pulled and abused that one I can't beleive it didn't give up sooner...

I would do another of those again in a heartbeat... The engine was swapped into a friends truck and is still humming along...

Long live the 318..

Oh and 16-17mpg when not pulling and unloaded in mixed mostly highway driving... 14-15 around town... 12-13 or so when pulling 4000 lbs or more.. And as bad as 10mpg when I had my big Christmas rig hooked up behind it... Logged probably 20K stop and go miles of the miles I put on it like this...

I have a 98 Ford Explorer with the SOHC V6. I have pulled a 5000lb Boat and Trailer combo with no problem. Do not get the base V6. The SOHC V6 or the 5.0

Still a decent DD.

Right.. So A burban is a great vehicle and would do you fine.. I like them a lot.

Or if you want the GRM version.. You do this.

Subaru for $2k (hammer to $1600 or so) http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2328180263.html

Conversion van for $2k (hammer him to $1k) No one wants conversion vans, the market for cargo vans is better. http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2325386723.html

Just trying to think outside the box.

Or if you're really stupid(read: GRM) you buy this. 4x4 3/4 ton van for $1500 and fix it up for another $1500. http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2314733075.html

huge-O-chavez wrote: Or if you're really stupid(read: GRM) you buy this. 4x4 3/4 ton van for $1500 and fix it up for another $1500. http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2314733075.html

Sweet!

As soon as that got listed on GRM, the author deleted the listing.

Which one of you bought it?

tons of great options on here but I will place an odd ball out there, Mercedes ML320/350

5000 lbs tow rating and awd, we used it tow the race boat and it is very comfortable and got mid 20's when on it's own.

Just an idea

Appreciate the idea, but a quick check on CL suggests that ML Mercedes go for at least twice my budget out here...

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2328497581.html

relisted the van

huge-O-chavez wrote: http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/2328497581.html relisted the van

That's a good buy. The conversion bits alone are worth at least 2x that.

Man if that van was near me I'd have bought it already. I have a strange attraction to 4x4 vans.

Cotton wrote: Man if that van was near me I'd have bought it already. I have a strange attraction to 4x4 vans.

Ditto. I've had Quigley in my links for years. Of course, it takes one of the things I like about a van vs my 4x4 truck (lower cargo lift height) and tosses it out the window... but who cares...

In reply to BoxheadTim:

I have seen a few around here for $3500 to $4000. Just a thought, Good luck with the hunt.

I can't decide between a truck or SUV myself.

In reply to Bobzilla:

WAAAAYYYYYY tooo many miles