Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Best off road truck stock?

If you're looking new, the Dodge Power Wagon is the only full size truck really set up from the factory for remotely serious off-road use (good clearance, lockers, lifted, even a winch). BUT it's a pretty big vehicle for a lot of trails. I think every vehicle is going to be a compromise. If you need to tow, that is probably going to really cut your list down especially if a lot of up hill is involved. If you found a '98 Z-71 to be a great off-roader (I had one and have a 2001 now), then your off road needs may be very secondary to your towing/on-road needs.

I've got a real nice 2006 Taco CC 4X4 and I agree, it's not a camper hauler. 4 wheeler, bikes, decent size bass boat, no problem. I wouldn't go much further than that.

For off roading though, it's hard to beat. with the weight, size and power to weight ratio it just goes where others won't.

Terry

What about a bronco? in the mid 90's era? short wheelbase, decent power, dime a dozen, Good turning radius.

bro in law has an 89 bronco " full size" 302, 4 or 5 speed and its a dog. Horrible turning radius, No power.

We've owned a 94-95 f250 with the 351 and 302 and those things were dogs, sucked gas like crazy, 12mpg empty " now we know why they both had 2 fuel tanks! No power. Take about 2 blocks to turn around. Then again, most fords ive driven are like that.

IMO, a mid to late 302-351 ford is a horrible starting place to look when it comes to wanting to haul a camper or anything thats decent.

One "truck" that comes to mind that was pretty good was a '95 isuzu trooper with the 3.2 v6. We hauled an 89 f150 and our 18' flat bed trailer " 1880lbs" with that Trooper and it didnt even break a sweat.
Only bad thing about that trooper, Seats were as hard as a rock and it rode like a tank with no give it the suspension.

Best off road truck??
How big is your budget? I personally wouldnt spend 30-40k on a truck and take it off roading. No friggin way!

Why not? A truck is a tool,just like a hammer,chainsaw,rifle,etc. Its sheetmetal and paint for gods sake.

My truck has 8900 miles on it and I'm going hunting next week. Its a QC,LB Dodge with a Cummins in it. Its not an ideal offroad rig for sure. It'll come back scratched to hell and covered in mud though.

HMMM dad has an 86 bronco with a 302 and 4 speed witha detroit locker in the rear. It does real good until the wieght gets in the way. Always thought it turned pretty sharp.

I do think that it would be better to buy a used rig and put on the modifications you want. Make it the off roader that your are picturing. You should still come out money ahead.

[quote=Mossy
My truck has 8900 miles on it and I'm going hunting next week. Its a QC,LB Dodge with a Cummins in it. Its not an ideal offroad rig for sure. It'll come back scratched to hell and covered in mud though. [/quote]

And there isnt a darn thing wrong with that. The way I read this thread, I interpeted the rig was primarily a hunting/wheelin rig. And for that purpose I wouldnt want a brand new tacoma or what have you.

Anyone crazy enough to take a 30-40k truck and scratch it up, beat it up apparently has to much money lol.

A tip, Its kind of expensive " for me anyways " Buy a can of Liquid Glass, Rub a minimum of 4 coats on the truck. That stuff is amazing! We used it on our f250 before hunting season, almost threw up when we heard that ugly sound of a stick running across the side of the truck. Later on we washed the truck by hand and all those, what we thought were scratches, wiped right off with zero marks left in the paint.
Its $20 for a smallish sized bottle. Can get it at autozone, advanced auto. Places like that.

Its not only the outside of the truck i worry about. I also worry about my seats and somewhat of the carpet. I have no need to destroy my vehicles for hunting/off roading. My hunting rig is my personal daily driver too.
I have a brother who says, " Why are you waxing it? the paint is already faded in areas"
I prefer to apply wax anyway to keep the truck looking somewhat good looking. No need to let it go to hell over a few faded areas on it.

30-40k for sheet metal and paint is one reason to take care of it!

I ran a Ford Bronco, 302/4SPD for quite a few years. Great machine. I never saw any Isuzu Troopers in the field,but I had a tow chain just in case.

Just to show my "rig" Its a '92 isuzu rodeo, 3.1 v6, 5 speed. 4 low in this thing is amazing and ive never gotten stuck. Only 2 feet of snow stopped me that day. My tires suck, but for $35 each, they have done great. I picked it up 2 years ago with 128k, cold blowing ac, for $1500 out the door. So far ive only had to replace the Rotor that cracked in half on me. 169k on it now and i never plan on getting rid of it. Excellent truck to take on narrow trails, EXCELLENT MPG! Thats what i look for in a hunting truck. Works good as a daily driver also.

Thats cuz your not trying hard enough

The interior takes abeating your are right on that. I have been debating about getting the carpet in my jeep replaced with the spray on bed liner. Heck with as hard of a time as I hae keepin coffee in the cup it couldnt hurt

You an I have the same Idea on huntin rigs though.

I try avoiding the places where its possible to get stuck lol. I see a mud hole, i go around! Theres no telling how deep that hole may be and im not going to tear up my truck by finding out. Its just a good heavy truck that has excellent weight balance. In that pic, i went up the mountain in 2wd but had my transfer case in 4low. I have manual locking hubs. I also prefer to take it up slow rather than get in a rush and pop a tire.

Man, i really like that push-bumper you have on your jeep. And the spot lights, Those babies make hunting easier lol j/k. My next trail ride i'll have to take some pics on the terrain. Pretty rough,rocky, steep and friggin narrow. After my last trip up that tail, my seat has a permanent ass cheek bite mark in it.

lol gotta few marks like that on my seat to even a stain from one trip lol. The KC's make it nice when you have some A-hole coming towards you that wont turn his high beams off. Flip the KC's on an thier high beams go off right NOW lol.

Ya see I'm kinda stubborn when it comes to mud holes. If it looks like somebody got stuck in one well now I gotta see if I can make it through. Ever since I got that winch I get stuck alot more I have to tell ya.

I wish the jeep had manual hubs, I hate the auto hubs that it has. But its a 1000 dollars for the manual hub conversion so Im stickin with what I got.

The cherokee also has a uni-body. There is no frame sitting down below to hang up on stuff. Yet another plus.

I'm not crazy,I view my truck as a tool. It sure don't have to look good to tow my boat or fifth wheel.

If I wanted a rig to drive up and down the highway I'd have bought a car.

Off-Roading would need to be better defined. My off roading is a lot different than anything in the above pictures. Key components though would be

1) Ground Clearance, lots of it
2) Better and bigger tires than those that come stock
3) The lighter the rig the better. My Tacoma with 32" tires would go places my Dodge 2500 w/ Cummins could never dream of getting. The heavier the truck the quicker it finds the bottom.
4) Power, lots of it, regardless of whether your in 4 HI or 4 Lo.


Its a little tough to figure on you doing the off road thing and it looking like what I call the off-road thing. We all live in different places.

your right on the different places thing.

the 31" mudders I have on the jeep now do just fine for me as long as I can keep outt the big ruts. Just cant afford a lift to fit the bigger tires.

+ 1 on the lighter the rig the better. With a lil momentum a person can get up on top of the deep snow here if your light. my jeep tops the scales at 380lbs if I recall correctly and it helps just as much as the tires and clearance.

lighter is better, but it just ain't good if you've got the camper too.

Terry

I love mine.

I bought my truck new but to use. I didn't want to wait until it had 100,000 miles to use the four wheel drive. Six years and 95,000 miles later it isn't pristine but the only body damage I've had to repair has come from a parking garage and vandalism. Scratches buff out well enough that it doesn't look too bad. Not soccer mom clean, but decent enough. Floor mats deal with most of the mud and dirt, the shop vac with the rest. Unfortunately, I've not been able to drive around every mud hole but know there are places I could definitely get stuck! Point is, I bought it to use and as a daily driver. If I wasn't going to take it off road and hunting, I would have bought a car. The engine is still going strong and I'm hoping to enjoy it another 100k.

TC1, that is one pretty Toyota you've got there. Might have to consider one of those in a few years.