Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Rate your All Time 4WD vehicle.

1948 Willys Jeep pickup truck, red with Texaco circle-logos on side doors.
4-wheel drive, 4-speed transmission / floor shift with high/low range,
Engine conversion to 1952 ford flat-head V-8. Top-end was 45 mph.

Traded it for a 1964 BSA 650 Hornet Scrambler Motorcycle.
Top end was 110+ mph.

For pure off roading, '82 Jeep CJ-7.

Period.

MM

1st gen Toyota, 79-83...

My favorite was my 1976 Bicentennial Edition Ford F150 4X4. 360 motor, 4 speed manual transmission. That sucker went everywhere I wanted to go and looked good doing it. It was all white with a light blue interior. I got married in 1980 and when our second child came along in 1983, I realized we'd outgrown that truck. I sold it and bought, of all things, a Chrysler mini van. Damn, I wish I had that truck now.....

.1977 Chevy half ton. Rebuilt a 327 with the 350 horse cam. Many springs it had a 60 ft field sprayer with 350 gallons of water. If it was wet it went into low lock third gear and never let off the throttle.. it’s still running to but I no longer own it. Never replaced any of the driveline. Abuse would be the correct term. Ed k

We have had seven over all. They all got used differently.

^^^^^^^this, traded my 83 off when it had 425K on, dumb thing to do.

I had a '55 Willys Pickup that you could pull stumps with....It would only go 50mph, but in 4wd it was a beast.....My buddy had a '45 Dodge Power wagon and it was a beast, too. Currently I have a Subaru Outback, and it is the best in the snow I've ever driven.

1961 GMC pickup 305 V-6 with a 4 speed, 2 speed transfer case and lots of torque. 30 quarts of coolant and 8 quarts of oil lots of leafs on the springs and as I recall 17 inch tires. It was a helluva truck.

They are still popular here, both 'Cruisers and diesel. I've driven a fair few miles in diesel 'Cruisers, mainly Troopies (like the second one) though I haven't owned one. Several of my friends have, and we've gone on any number of hunting trips and such in them. They are very tough, will go anywhere, and are built to last. They are also pretty cumbersome, tend to be thirsty, and aren't so great on road. That said, if you want to go well off the beaten track there's not much to beat them.

I had one in the Northern Territory with my wife for a few weeks of mooching about once, going to all sorts of remote spots down some pretty approximate sorts of "roads". At one point, we came to a sign on the driver's side of the track saying something to the effect of "you are now heading into a really remote area, with no made roads and no one to help you. Only experienced drivers in well-prepared vehicles, with plenty of spares, fuel and water should proceed past this point. Make sure someone knows where you are going and when to expect you". Given that in order to get there we'd already been an hour or so off the sealed road, down a pretty rough track, across a river crossing and over several sand ridges, this did give me a moment, but I did a quick mental inventory and decided "yeah, we'll be fine", and kept going, and went through some spectacularly wild and primitive country. I had no reason to doubt the Troopy, and it never missed a beat.

For all around use though, I prefer something a bit more civilised. My daily drive is a Mitsubishi Pajero (I think they call them "Montero" in the US). The current one is my fourth, and it too is a turbo-diesel. It is comfortable, roomy, runs and handles well on road, is economical on fuel, has plenty of power and with its low-range, locking diffs at centre and rear and good ground clearance, it goes anywhere I want to go, whether rocky trails, mud, beach driving or whatever.

1978 FJ-40 toyota land cruiser.

Tacoma

Toughest. My 1968 IH Scout bought during the summer of 1976 after HS graduation. It had been special ordered locally by a surveyor. It had dual fuel tanks, which it needed with the 392 V8 under the hood. It got about 6-7 mpg. I have no idea what the gearing was, but it was low in 1st gear. I pulled my uncles unloaded 30,000 lb semi out when he got it stuck. The skid plate started at the front axle from frame rail to frame rail and extended past the transmission with an opening to reach the oil drain plug. It was slick on the bottom. It had been set up with a hand throttle like on a tractor. Set the rpm and let out on the clutch. None of the window guts worked. The interior door panels were gone and a 2X4 cut to the right length held the window up. To roll the windows down you removed the 2x4. It leaded so bad the previous owner drilled drain holes in the floor for water to drain out. But it would go off road.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/14039396#Post14039396

#2 has to be the 2007 Tacoma in the driveway. It just rolled over on 200,000 miles and I've done virtually nothing but normal maintenance stuff on it other than an alternator. It went at about 170,000 and that should be considered normal.

Toughest, most capable was probably my ‘73 Toyota Land Cruiser. Most character was my ‘47 Willy’s Jeep. Most all around and comfortable, my current ride, ‘17 Tundra TRD Pro.

We had an old Scout, I believe a 66. Posi front and rear. That thing could have climbed a telephone pole. As long as you didn't get the distributor wet, (spoken from the voice of experience) that thing would go through any mudhole you could throw at it. 'Drove it for three years and sold it to a guy who wanted it for the posi front and rear. He built a killer Jeep out of it.

I really liked my 2001 first generation Tundra. Nice size, super reliable, great power. It was a great hunting truck.

Dad had a '51 Willy's wagon when I was a kid. Gutless and like riding in an Amish buggy. But would go ANYWHERE in ANYTHING.

As far as vehicles I have owned.......for raw "go anywhere" I had an '87 F-150 XL that had limited slip front and rear. 302 auto with 31x10.5 mudders on it. It would spin it's way up a tree and slide down the back side. Unstoppable. But it was not much for power is comfort.

Have had 3 different GM Z-71's.......... An '03 Suburban..........'07 Sierra ext cab..........'09 Silverado ext cab. BFG Mud Terrains (the original KM) on all of them. If any of the 3 wouldn't take you there, you likely shouldn't be trying to GO there.

I have had a few which were very capable but for really rough going and deep snow there were two which stood out. The first is a 1962 Dodge Power wagon. Power is just a figure of speach here because it is powered by a 265ci flathead six which probably makes all of 95 horsepower. It is geared very low though and it is hard to stop. The pto winch will move the world if you can find a place to hook up. I've used it to skid logs, and to pull other vehicles out of some tough situations. I've driven it through three feet of water with a muddy bottom and once parked it in the middle of a sizeable stream running through our field during the spring flood so I could use it as support for a footbridge. I once broke through the ice with my '91 diesel and broke the front driveshaft trying to get out. I walked home (about six miles at minus 16, wearing only jeans and a flannel shirt) and went back up with the old PW and my wife. I drove through the hole past the '91, put my wife in the 91 to steer but told her to just leave it in neutral. I pulled the '91 out, removed the broken shaft, got it turned around, then drug it back through the water hole. After this, Sharon was able to drive it on home. The Power wagon would start at thirty below although it took a bit to get the gear oil warmed up enough to get it to move very fast.
The second stand out was also no powerhouse nor was it much to look at. This was a 1982 Lada Niva. This was a Russian Fiat SUV which I bought for 200 bucks. It barely ran but seemed to be otherwise sound. This was a full time 4wd with an open diff between front and rear but with a locker which could be engaged by pulling a lever next to the hi-lo lever. The engine was, IIRC, a 1200cc four. Might have been 1400cc. Anyway, I rebuilt the engine and it was back on the road. It had tall, skinny sixteen inch wheels and independent suspension. It rode well and kept its wheel on the ground in very rough going. At the same time that I had this, I also had a 1970 Bronco which was also a pretty good off-road rig. I once stuck the Bronco in the snow in a draw behind our place. My son drove the Niva straight over the bank to have a look then straight back up to go get some gear (come-along, hi-lift jack) and back down again. We unstuck the Bronco and I tried to follow the Niva out and couldn't even come close. While I flounder around in the Bronco, my son encouraged me my driving the stupid Niva in a circle around me while beeping the horn. Later Nivas looked similar but were not quite as good after being saddled with a bunch of safety equipment and emissions control. They also started fitting them with fatter fifteen inch wheels and tires and this just didn't work as well. I always thought, if a Japanese company had copied this vehicle. it would have been perfect. The suzuki Samurai was decent but not even close as far as comfort and ability went. When the Niva engine blew up we retired it but it remains one of the best snow vehicles I've had. Only the old Power Wagon could beat it and not by much. GD

I remember as a kid listening to the old folks talking about buying new Jeeps for $500.00. All you had to do was to take it out of the box and put it together. Don't know if that was true. Back in the fifties.