Baby/diff locks
Discussion
Hello Pistonheads,
Can anyone suggest a reasonably practical off-road car, a bit like a Freelander, but a proper off-roader with proper locking differentials and a RWD mode instead of the dodgy viscous couplings the Freelander uses?
The car will be used for baby transportation and occasional light agricultural use. Something about £1500 or so.
Can anyone suggest a reasonably practical off-road car, a bit like a Freelander, but a proper off-roader with proper locking differentials and a RWD mode instead of the dodgy viscous couplings the Freelander uses?
The car will be used for baby transportation and occasional light agricultural use. Something about £1500 or so.
Landcruiser? Large enough to fit baby kit in, strong enough to go anywhere, as I understand it.
Defender? Probably a bit too agricultural?
Looks like you can get some of the Jeep models in that price range, or the Mitsubishi Shogun/Defender.
Defender? Probably a bit too agricultural?
Looks like you can get some of the Jeep models in that price range, or the Mitsubishi Shogun/Defender.
Edited by RSTurboPaul on Monday 8th January 13:45
WJ Grand Cherokee with Quadradrive doesn't quite have diff locks (it's a gerotor pump that engages a clutch pack if there's different speeds across the axle, and works well), but might be as close as you're likely to get if you can hunt one down in budget.
Not much stuff comes with real diff locks anyway, and a pair of ARBs or similar is going to be the best part of £1500 on their own, so you might need to compromise. Do you really need them?
Not much stuff comes with real diff locks anyway, and a pair of ARBs or similar is going to be the best part of £1500 on their own, so you might need to compromise. Do you really need them?
NDNDNDND said:
Hello Pistonheads,
Can anyone suggest a reasonably practical off-road car, a bit like a Freelander, but a proper off-roader with proper locking differentials and a RWD mode instead of the dodgy viscous couplings the Freelander uses?
The car will be used for baby transportation and occasional light agricultural use. Something about £1500 or so.
baby transportation will be fine in a car with viscous couplingCan anyone suggest a reasonably practical off-road car, a bit like a Freelander, but a proper off-roader with proper locking differentials and a RWD mode instead of the dodgy viscous couplings the Freelander uses?
The car will be used for baby transportation and occasional light agricultural use. Something about £1500 or so.
occasional light agricultural use will be fine in a car with viscous coupling
what exactly are you doing that a viscous coupling won't work, but locking diffs will - a viscous coupling will lock - I have one on the RR and the car is phenomenally good off-road - certainly capable of more than light agricultural duties... and you could pop dozens of babies in there!
Ok, I don't know that much about these vehicles, hence asking on here. My initial research was to look at Freelanders and the first thing I read was about viscous couplings - biased to road manners - failing and chewing up differentials.
On the farm there's a Mazda BT-50 pickup, which has high/low range, switchable 2 and 4wd and locking diffs. All seems good to me. Something with that sort of capacity, but a more accommodating cabin would be fine.
As for locking diffs, it wouldn't exactly be for rock-crawling, but to minimise wheel spin and damage to the ground when trickling through muddy gateways.
A Shogun might be a good shout, but unfortunately I don't think either of us could be seen in one due to their connection with less savoury members of society...
On the farm there's a Mazda BT-50 pickup, which has high/low range, switchable 2 and 4wd and locking diffs. All seems good to me. Something with that sort of capacity, but a more accommodating cabin would be fine.
As for locking diffs, it wouldn't exactly be for rock-crawling, but to minimise wheel spin and damage to the ground when trickling through muddy gateways.
A Shogun might be a good shout, but unfortunately I don't think either of us could be seen in one due to their connection with less savoury members of society...
Right, you don't need axle difflocks, to be honest, just make sure you've got halfway decent tyres. While a viscous coupling isn't necessarily a bad thing, my preference would also be for a more crude mechanical solution, so selectable 2WD/4WD or permanent 4WD with a centre diff lock are probably sensible enough.
A Discovery might be the simplest choice.
A Discovery might be the simplest choice.
Hmmm. Disco... An old boss of mine had one and I quite liked it. I think it cost quite a bit to keep going until he finally got rid of it. There's a reason you don't see many Discoveries on farmyards!
My instinct would be something Japanese and a bit smaller.
Vitara? I'm not sure what it says that I'd rather be seen in a Vitara than a Shogun...
My instinct would be something Japanese and a bit smaller.
Vitara? I'm not sure what it says that I'd rather be seen in a Vitara than a Shogun...
You can pick up a clean Jimny for £1500, small & depending on the age of the baby might be a bit of a pain (plenty of room in the back to throw a baby crib seat, not a lot of room to strap in a squirming toddler). Small but you will get a lot better a motor in your price range than going for a larger 4x4.
Also to an above poster, Defender... for £1500? I hunted high and low for a useable one within a £4000 budget and was really struggling to turn up anything other than absolute wrecks. (I was assured that rough gems occasionally pop up in the 3-5k range, I never witnessed it though).
Shoguns are great, Sports are basically L200s with enclosed beds, very simply and toughly built, the full fat examples mk3 and above are set up in a fairly road bias manner, but still retain a lot of stock offroad ability (but are a pain in the ass to modify for further capability)
Land Cruiser and Hilux, again suffer in the same way that the Defender does, but too a lesser extent. Great cars, arguably not worth the money unless you know thats what you want
Discovery? mk1s and 2s around in your pricerange, both have fairly simple, reliable motors. If you can find (big IF) a less rusty example it could be a good ticket.
Jeep Cherokee, again reliable in both 4.0 petrol and 2.7 diesel forms, a lot of 4x4 for the money.
Freelander/RAV/CR-V/Vitara are all more than capable on minor gravel tracks and a bit of mud, honestly even in rough stuff I would take a RAV on a good set of AT/MTs than any of the above on road tyres. Just look out for the obvious K-series niggles in the petrol Freelander, the V6s and diesels are both fairly reliable.
Also to an above poster, Defender... for £1500? I hunted high and low for a useable one within a £4000 budget and was really struggling to turn up anything other than absolute wrecks. (I was assured that rough gems occasionally pop up in the 3-5k range, I never witnessed it though).
Shoguns are great, Sports are basically L200s with enclosed beds, very simply and toughly built, the full fat examples mk3 and above are set up in a fairly road bias manner, but still retain a lot of stock offroad ability (but are a pain in the ass to modify for further capability)
Land Cruiser and Hilux, again suffer in the same way that the Defender does, but too a lesser extent. Great cars, arguably not worth the money unless you know thats what you want
Discovery? mk1s and 2s around in your pricerange, both have fairly simple, reliable motors. If you can find (big IF) a less rusty example it could be a good ticket.
Jeep Cherokee, again reliable in both 4.0 petrol and 2.7 diesel forms, a lot of 4x4 for the money.
Freelander/RAV/CR-V/Vitara are all more than capable on minor gravel tracks and a bit of mud, honestly even in rough stuff I would take a RAV on a good set of AT/MTs than any of the above on road tyres. Just look out for the obvious K-series niggles in the petrol Freelander, the V6s and diesels are both fairly reliable.
Edited by caelite on Tuesday 9th January 00:04
NDNDNDND said:
Hmmm. Disco... An old boss of mine had one and I quite liked it. I think it cost quite a bit to keep going until he finally got rid of it. There's a reason you don't see many Discoveries on farmyards!
My instinct would be something Japanese and a bit smaller.
Vitara? I'm not sure what it says that I'd rather be seen in a Vitara than a Shogun...
Pretty much every farmer around here runs a Disco - 3 or 4My instinct would be something Japanese and a bit smaller.
Vitara? I'm not sure what it says that I'd rather be seen in a Vitara than a Shogun...
And a japanese pickup
Both used on the farm / Disco for the school run / pickup for lugging around the rusty machinery
the reality is that the Skoda Octavia Scout I used to own (4x4 - Haldec 5 system) would be more than capable across most terrain - your needs are not hugely complex, so any 4x4 will do the job - the difference between your getting stuck / not will be primarily down to two things:
- tyres
- driver
not the car...
akirk said:
Pretty much every farmer around here runs a Disco - 3 or 4
And a japanese pickup
Both used on the farm / Disco for the school run / pickup for lugging around the rusty machinery
the reality is that the Skoda Octavia Scout I used to own (4x4 - Haldec 5 system) would be more than capable across most terrain - your needs are not hugely complex, so any 4x4 will do the job - the difference between your getting stuck / not will be primarily down to two things:
- tyres
- driver
not the car...
If you read what I posted above, you'll see I'm not worried about getting stuck.And a japanese pickup
Both used on the farm / Disco for the school run / pickup for lugging around the rusty machinery
the reality is that the Skoda Octavia Scout I used to own (4x4 - Haldec 5 system) would be more than capable across most terrain - your needs are not hugely complex, so any 4x4 will do the job - the difference between your getting stuck / not will be primarily down to two things:
- tyres
- driver
not the car...
One farmer I know bought a Disco and sold it shortly afterwards. Another has a Disco, which has been permanently parked for several years. They do look good, and are tempting for the money, but they're potentially not dependable transport particularly at the price-point I'm looking for.
A Jimny sounds like a good idea - although judging by the surprisingly strong prices I'm not alone in liking them!
I'd forgotten about the Frontera, although I'm practically allergic to Vauxhalls. They do tick the boxes though. Are they badge-engineered with something else? Or am I confusing that with the Maverick/Terrano?
Ahh, a quick Google shows it's shared with an Isuzu... interesting!
I'd forgotten about the Frontera, although I'm practically allergic to Vauxhalls. They do tick the boxes though. Are they badge-engineered with something else? Or am I confusing that with the Maverick/Terrano?
Ahh, a quick Google shows it's shared with an Isuzu... interesting!
NDNDNDND said:
A Jimny sounds like a good idea - although judging by the surprisingly strong prices I'm not alone in liking them!
I'd forgotten about the Frontera, although I'm practically allergic to Vauxhalls. They do tick the boxes though. Are they badge-engineered with something else? Or am I confusing that with the Maverick/Terrano?
Ahh, a quick Google shows it's shared with an Isuzu... interesting!
Yeah, they are 'proper' 4x4s in one sense, though I believe they were built in Luton and the quality control was somewhat 'known' (there's an entire thread on PH from a guy involved in it). I did own a cheap one for a while, and it's only the fact the thing kept breaking (admittedly having bought the cheapest one I saw) that puts me off them.I'd forgotten about the Frontera, although I'm practically allergic to Vauxhalls. They do tick the boxes though. Are they badge-engineered with something else? Or am I confusing that with the Maverick/Terrano?
Ahh, a quick Google shows it's shared with an Isuzu... interesting!
Jimny is smaller and quite bouncy on the road, but again, the underpinnings are very much "miniature truck" than road car based pretend 4x4.
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