Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Alternative 4x4 hunting rig

Looking for opinions. I have a 20 Ram Classic 1500 crew 4x4. Kinda my retirement and traveling truck. I also have a 2004 Dakota crew. 180,000 miles. Owned it 8 years and been out west 8 or 9 times. Never abused but definitely been used. Really showing the hard use. Also gas mileage is 15 mph at best.

Really like a smaller truck for getting around tight trails and like the idea of a "beater" vehicle that's still capable of long trips and getting off road if necessary. Some trips out west don't have to be a truck. So, is there a smaller, body on frame, real 4 wheel drive suv worth a damn as a hunting or trapping vehicle that would carry gear for two guys.

If not a Tacoma then an older 4runner would be my pic, built tuff and just keep going.....and going.

Tacoma of some sort

My wife had one of those, very close to that year. The heater and a/c quit blowing air. I found a mouse nest inside the blower housing. After some poking around, I had to take it to a shop to get the nest removed. It cost me $700 in labor because they had to dismantle everything under the dash.

We took a Dakota Crew to Canada on a fishing trip and not only was is one cramped ride, but the thing used gas like it had a hole in the tank. We'd have been money ahead if we had taken my full size F150. Given that experience, I sure wouldn't have coddled a Dakota for 180,000 miles. Consumer Reports never gives the 4Runner glowing reports, but it is about the only smaller SUV with a full frame instead of uni-body construction.

If you can find a NICE one, Jeep YJ.

I picked up a 1998 Isuzu Trooper manual 4-5 months ago on a trade.

It is an absolute monster.

Best 4x4 I have ever owned (and I have owned a bunch... including Land Cruisers.).

$3k or $3,400 I forget.

Manual is always superior for rough work IMHO.

pre Tacoma

late 80's early 90's 4 banger & manual transmission/short bed

That would be my vote, or a 4runner of the same era. Just avoid the 3.0 v6. The (later) 3.4 is a good one too, not a powerhouse, but a solid motor.

Good score, Cash. I keep an eye out for something like that for a beater but ain't nothing priced like a beater anymore.

She will get an exoskeleton... roof winch etc.

TOUGH RIGS!

Toyota wheels interface... so my 1986 Taco and Izzy can share...



Disregard the logo on the door... young man that did my tube work got carried away with red paint and a logo. Final finish will be a flat black rubber (3M 5200).

That or a 4 runner would be my pick

My 87 Toyota shortbed 4 x4 has been a great truck since I purchased it about 15 years ago.
22R four cylinder and a five speed.
Really tough trucks that are easy to work on.

Ranger a six foot man can fit in one.......

General FYI if anyone is interested... just popped up in Hampton VA on Fakebook MP

2001 Trooper manual @ $3k final price...

Looks clean and well kept. 190k



Drop me a PM if you need the link.

I will probably buy as a spare... if still around next week.

Great truck, but an 86 isn’t a Taco. The Tacoma’s came out in 95.5 as a mid year replacement for the pickups. I’ve had both and absolutely love Toyota’s.

Thanks... Did not know that... just assumed all were Tacos (as a generic frame of reference). The Campfire grows knowledge and that is great stuff.

The trooper that cash suggested is a great option, only issues is the auto trans isn’t the strongest. Other than that they’re pretty solid. Another good option is the mitsubishi montero.

Just use what you got.

We bought a beater Honda CR-V for our mountain place (2005 @ $2,700)... The auto will NOT hold up... lesson learned... sell the CR-V and buy another Trooper (manual)... I am doing just that now.

We have a fair bit of land... Extremely harsh... Never hurts to have two... spare rig or parts down the road kinda thing. Especially if they are cheap enough.

Hard to beat a tacoma. That said an older Jeep cherokee gets around the woods pretty good

Izzy 1 and Izzy 2 (bought yesterday for $2k)



Izzy 1 is sitting a bit low because she has #800 of fertilizer in her trunk.

1998 and 2001 (both V6 gas manuals)

Looks like a solid score, Cash.

Never found anything that serves this purpose better than a full
Size k 5 blazer
Turns real short v8 power lots of room for two grown men remove the seat and I can sleep on the back
And haul lots of gear
Nice flat dash can lay a rifle across it
A gun case slid between the seat and center console
makes a nice secure place for a rifle to ride
Break down in a small jerk water town and the parts store will hav the parts on hand as it shares everything with 1/2 ton pickups.
I am on my second one. These are getting rediculess expencive now days but beaters can be had and made berry reliable for not that much money
I do have an 02 forerunner nothing wrong with it it’s very capable. But couldn’t hold a candle to a k5 it just to cramped

A '70 K5 Blazer was the worst vehicle that I've ever owned and I vowed to never buy another Chevrolet anything. The thing rode like a short coupled lumber wagon and used gas like it had a hole in the tank.

Exactly this^^^ Doesn't get much better.. However, I'd say early 80's with the straight axle. 85 was the best combination when you could get the 22RE (fuel injection).

Exactly. Calling it a "taco" is funny. Damn sure pre tacoma.

I’ve been curious about Nissan Xterras. Gas mileage is pretty bad, but everything else checks the boxes.

Buddy has one and swears by it. Has had it for a long time and taken it a lot of places. Said when he went to the Ramen dealership and asked if they were ever going to bring them back, that they told him everybody that has one asked the same thing. But that no, they weren't coming back.

Still trying to wear out my 94 Landcruiser. Drive it 80mph to Moab for 10 hrs, bounce it around for a week in 4lo, drive it home at 80mph for 10 hrs.

Drive it 5hrs east to bird hunt. Put hundreds of miles of rough gravel and scoria roads while checking new spots, drive it home again. Up over the two track passes around here chasing grouse and elk, etc, etc.

Fitting two elk in the back is easy with some tarps and knife work, one fits in the round no problem. Two large dog crates fit side by side in the back, a third sideways behind the front seats.

It'd have to be pretty damn bad to beat my 89 S-10 Blazer. By far the biggest piece of shyt I ever owned. Haven't owned another GM since and won't.

If you go the 4Runner / Tacoma route pay attention to frame rot. If it's a 3rd Gen 4Runner plan on spending at least $1k to have someone do a timing belt / water pump kit. The 4.0 engines in the later models are very good and don't have a timing belt to fool with. But nothing wrong with the 3.4 and serviced properly will go 300k +

There is kit with belt, water pump,hoses. Cost me $400, installed, when my 2004 Tacoma hit 100K which is recommended. We sold our first Tacoma with 275K miles on it. Present one has 170K miles on it. So far, the kit, struts, front brake pads, plugs, oil changes, air filers and tires are the only service it has had.

I liked my 83 K5 once I put a 350 in it, the 305 was a dog. Had a 4 speed in it, which I didn't see many of. It was a great hunting rig, and that's what I bought it for. The only issue was you couldn't pass a gas station. Had the typical K5 cancer and eventually developed so many electrical gremlins I parked it. I had less than $2500 in it even replacing the motor and it lasted about 15 years. Sold it a couple years ago for $600.

The one I really miss is my 92 K1500 Blazer, paid $600 for it from the Air Force at a government auction. It was missing the instrument cluster and a battery, that cost another $200 and I had it running. Drove it for a couple of years daily, then let someone with a wad of cash talk me out of it since I still had my K5. The TBI 5.7L was way more reliabe than my K5 and I got about 17 mpg highway average.