Just got a 4x4 again

[Savago]

Gentlefolks

I have always being fascinated by trucks and 4x4 vehicles, I personally like the idea of a vehicle that can go pretty much anywhere and also double duty towing/hauling loads (e.g. trailers) when needed.

While living in the Amazon in Brazil, I had a pretty cool 4x4 car. It was Brazilian made, inspired by the Jeep Wrangler but with some nice cool features:

a) Turbo Diesel Intercooled engine made by MWM (A German company with a factory in Brazil, check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MWM_International_Motores). Those engines were pretty famous for lasting over 1 million Kilometers if basic maintenance was performed (i.e. oil + filter changes). The MWM Sprint 2.8L engine was commonly used on small buses and trucks and it was a 'classic diesel' engine (i.e. mechanical pump, not common rail).

The engine could run just fine even if the belt was broken for some reason, since it had a gear train to activate the pump needed for hydro steering and coolant pump. At least until the 12V battery still hold charge (around 40 to 50 minutes).

b) The body was made of fiberglass, which made it impervious to rust and easy to fix the body in case of a small crash.

c) It shared some components with the legendary Toyota Land cruiser 40 Series (i.e. full floating rear axle, wheel hubs in the front, etc). The frame was pretty similar to the Land Cruiser, but with better treatment to resist rust.

d) No airbags: we die like real men!


In case you are wondering: yes, it was a manual transmission.


The brand name was 'Troller" (yeah, funny!) and the company who made those vehicles was acquired by Ford in late 2005. Unfortunately Ford decided to leave Brazil in 2021 and the factory was closed. You can read a bit more about the vehicle here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troller_T4

After living in the Amazon for 8 years, I decided to do one last adventure in the Amazon jungle before moving to the USA, so I decided to cross the BR-319 road.

For reference, the BR-319 is a road that was built in the late 70's but just a few years later the Amazonian jungle claimed back the road and in the early 80's the road was considered unsafe for regular traffic and it was closed.

It is considered one of the top 10 worst roads in the world: https://www.dangerousroads.org/south-america/brazil/2067-br-319.html

To quote from the above site: "... during rainy months can be impassable due to mud".

After done, I sold the car to a relative for the equivalent of US$ 10,000.

Crossing it requires high clearance vehicles, with 4x4 Low, big tires, winches and enough food for 3 days if all goes well and extra fuel since there are no gas stations in a range of near 400 miles. Also some spare parts are always needed (e.g. shocks, belts, bearings, etc) because if you got mechanical issues in there, it is going to take at least 2 days for the rescue to arrive (assuming you brought a satellite phone to call for help!).

There are over 120 'bridges' that you got cross to drive from Manaus to Porto Velho in 532 miles of mud and rain forest. Sometimes those 'bridges' collapse and it is up to you to harvest a new tree from the forest and fix the bridge yourself.

It took us 3 days to cross it: first day driving for 12 hours, second day driving through 17hs non-stop and final day driving for 7 hours.

About half of those 'bridges' were crossed during the night.

Good times!


Here you can see it in action when I crossed the BR-319.











So when I moved to California I always missed having a 4x4 vehicle and doing off-roading.

To be continued...

[3fan4life]

That trip took a set of big Cajones! 

[Valkorado]

 .  Livin' on the edge!  Those look like some white knuckle, butt pucker bridges.

[HayHauler]

Looks like a BLAST ! ! !  It looks more like a Suzuki Samaria, but is still pretty cool.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[Savago]

Continuing the tale....


When I moved to the USA a little over 10 years ago, I decided to do the sensible thing: to buy a used and cheaper car with warranty for my wife and for me a motorcycle (a used Suzuki Vstrom DL650) to commute.

I ended up paying US$18K for a Hyundai Veloster 2012, a small coupe with great gas mileage. It was the main car of the family up until 2021, when I purchased a new Subaru Outback as reported here (https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,118862.0.html).

As I discussed in the above thread, I originally wanted to buy a Toyota 4Runner but the car market was just insane in 2021 due to the shortage of semi-conductors i.e. *huge* mark ups over MSRP and waiting lists over 6 months.

This year, to celebrate my newly minted American citizenship, I started working on the idea of getting back to off-roading and buying a cool 4x4 car.

I initially considered the Jeep Wrangler, since it is pretty similar to the old Troller car back in the Amazon. But a quick research revealed so many issues: spontaneous fires, lockers engaging by themselves in the highway, airbag recalls, death wobble, etc.

Pass.

So I thought about trying to get a 4Runner again. Maybe in 2024 things have improved? I called 3 Toyota dealerships and they have a waiting list of 3 months... plus mark-ups on top of the MSRP.


Not to mention quite a few issues with the new force induction Toyotas: the i-FORCE turbocharged V6 3.4L engine apparently had some machining debris left on the engine that can cause crankshaft main bearings to fail. That rules out Tundras and any new turbocharged engine. For further info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx7vEoo8WLE

I gave up on buying new and decided to look for a used 4Runner.

I found a Honda dealership with a 2022 4Runner for sale with 62K miles with the old V6 aspirated engine. They were asking US$34K, but it was a rental car: it had dings/marks/etc pretty much everywhere and the Carfax showed it went for almost 20K miles with no oil changes!

Keeping in mind that my County charges +9.5% in sales taxes, so it would cost me near US$37K for an used and not well kept car. Pass again!

I decided to go old school and went to check a Land cruiser 80 series (1997): the body was fine, apparently no oil leaks, even the upholstery was fine. *But* the odometer was replaced (the current owner was pretty transparent about the issue), so no real way to know the real mileage of the car. He estimated in something around 240K miles.

It was triple locked (nice!), but he was asking US$18K for it. Finally that inline six in the 80 Series runs like an asthmatic dog. Pass!

I went to a Toyota dealership to check on two used cars: a Lexus LX570@2016 (5.7L V8) with 60K miles and a GX470@2014 (4.6L V8) with 120K miles.

There is one really cool thing about Lexus: you can create an account with 'My Lexus' and insert the VIN code and have access to the whole maintenance history of the car.

The maintenance of the LX570 was pretty good (i.e. oil changes each 8K miles) but when I tried to test the AHC (Active Height Control i.e. active suspension that allows to lower/raise the car depending on the terrain), it failed miserably.
:-(

And the GX470 maintenance was garbage: past 20K miles after initial purchase, it was no longer maintained properly.

Hard pass.

When I was about to give up and maybe wait another year, I found a LX570@2008 for sale in the high desert in SoCal. It has 150K miles, but I figured it would be worthwhile to check.

For people unfamiliar with, the LX570 is the Lexus version of the Land Cruiser 200 series. The main difference is a slightly better finish (and sound system) plus the AHC (info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V67UeB2d-Y).

It is near 400 miles drive from home, so I thought why not ride one of my motorcycles there and check the car?


The maintenance history of the car was immaculate. It had many tasteful and helpful mods (e.g. winch, ARB air compressor, LED lights, LED light bar, heavy duty steel bumpers, two gas jerry cans + one water gallon mounted on the rear bumper, high-lift jack, rear e-locker + center diff locker - stock, big tires, lights all around, vline integration, etc).

The owner even built a custom platform to mount inside the car a 4" memory foam bed, doubling as a camper of sorts. Plus, it was a California car its whole life, so no rust!

Long story short: we sealed the deal and I used the truck to bring the bike back in a uHaul motorcycle trailer.

That 5.7L V8 engine is truly amazing! You can't really tell much of a difference while hauling a motorcycle trailer. Plus the AHC suspension do wonders while towing, since it will automatically adjust when the trailer is connected to the car.

It made 11mpg while towing and it averages 12mpg in the city and 14mpg in the highway under normal circumstances.

A few photos of the rig:
a) Loading the bike in the trailer during the night was made easier due to the auxiliary rear LED lights:


b) Arrived sound and save after a near 8 hours drive during the night:


c) Front of the rig (notice the LED lights, LED bar, cool bumper, winch, plus side awning):


d) The rear has built-in the support for jerry cans, the high-lift jack and the full sized spare:


In the end, I managed to get three items out of my bucket list: finally purchased a Toyota, finally have a nice V8 truck (i.e. can tow up to 8500lbs) and now I'm back to the 4x4 world.

Now I got start planning the next adventures!

[f6john]

I'm liking it. Hopefully you saved a wad of cash buying an 08. It looks pretty good in the pics for the age, miles, and prior life off road. That's why I bought an 08 Wing, it was low miles, my color and I didn't have to worry about being the one to put the first scratch on it or pay almost $30k.

[Oldfishguy]

 1997 Range Rover

My reasons for 4 wheel drive are quite different.  

[Rams]

it was low miles, my color

Whoa, it's only your color when you're really embarassed........................     I've seen you and you're not that color.   

Rams

[Savago]

@f6john: that is exactly the point! Saving some money plus not having to worry if I put a few dings and scratches on the paint.

On top of that, the LX570 is sold new for a higher price than its Land cruiser counterpart but is sold for a lower price used than the Land cruiser (not to mention that Lexus owners generally baby their vehicles).

@Oldfishguy: man... that is a really sweet ride! I bet it drives pretty well on deep snow!


Could you tells us a bit more about the bad ass LED auxiliary lights you got on it?

[f6john]

it was low miles, my color

Whoa, it's only your color when you're really embarassed........................     I've seen you and you're not that color.   

Rams

It seems my "true color" was not offered by Honda in 08. It was as close as I could get.

[Savago]

And it is really sad what is happening with the new Tundra:
https://youtu.be/0eySXnbqgvc?si=l2Mv6GIg7gVvYl3r&t=88

I guess it is a good time to try to secure a vehicle with a sturdy V8 engine while they are still available.

[Savago]

Specially when you factor in how good the older V8s made by Toyota were:
https://www.motor1.com/news/702983/2014-toyota-tundra-million-miles/

[f6john]

You know, racing is supposed to improve the breed and Toyota got into NASCAR some years back with of course a V8 platform. Where on earth they got the idea to dump there bread and butter V8 in their truck lineup is beyond me, (Ford)?

[Savago]

This is what the 'repair' of a LX600 engine (Lexus version of the Land Cruiser 300 Series, successor of the 200 Series) looks like:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LandCruisers/comments/1gkgo81/2023_lx600_main_bearing_failure/

The car has to be basically taken apart and the engine fully rebuilt.


I guess that the 200 Series (and LX570) will be the one to have.

[flsix]

How does the driver behind you see your brake lights and turn signals? Tire and jerry cans seem the be covering them. Maybe it's just the camera angle.

[Rams]

While I did enjoy the 4X4s I've owned in the past (particularly the Wrangler), I soon found out that going 4 wheeling gets expensive when you start breaking stuff.   Since none of my vehicles (now) ever leave the road, I can no longer support owning a 4WD.  If the weather is so bad I need 4WD, I'm not going anywhere.     Not challenging those who are into that sort of thing just not something I care to do or pay for.   Valkyries take up the majority of my extra cash.

Rams

[scooperhsd]

I have never been driving somewhere that 4wd was an absolute necessity (even in 20 inches of snow). But if it gets too bad to move - now I stay put unless it is an absolute emergency.

[Jess from VA]

Up North in MI, when it got too bad, people took their snowmobiles to the store. 

I don't know about the street legal issue, but there were no cops out there anyway (in those conditions) (not many other vehicles either). 

[HayHauler]

I don't know about MI, but in Colorado, there are snowmobile trails next to most secondary paved roads, just for this use.

Hay 
Jimmy

[3fan4life]

I don't know about MI, but in Colorado, there are snowmobile trails next to most secondary paved roads, just for this use.

Hay 
Jimmy

Michigan's Upper Peninsula has dedicated snowmobile trails. 

[GiG]

Yep, not only the UP, many Lower Peninsula roads have dedicated trails & trails parallel to many country roads 
Lots of bikers are also sled heads

[HayHauler]

Yep, not only the UP, many Lower Peninsula roads have dedicated trails & trails parallel to many country roads 
Lots of bikers are also sled heads

Hay 
Jimmyt