235/75R15 BFG MT's, but i'm going to 30" or 31" swampers if the Tcase gears give me the power to do big step ups. Right now its lacking and if it has to climp 25" steps it is very hard to keep it running.

 

Go with the Rocklobster kit, you can climb anything. I put it in mine this year and you can idle through ditches...it just keeps pulling....

Check out the site my friends and I are playing around with. The truck in the water and mud sits on 33's....we tugged him out when he swamped is distributor.

http://www.geocities.com/gta4x4/

We are still getting together the really good pics to put up but the ones that are on there are OK

 

Have any of you considered gettin one of those old toyota landcruisers?? I think that they are pretty tough machines, especially with a chevy engine/tranny.

 

They are sooo cool with all kinds of toys on the market for them but they are way too heavy....we call them Land Crushers.

Plus to find one in good shape at a decent price is almost impossible.

 

My buddy had a samari, had to down shift to 1st gear to get over a bridge, but it did amazingly well off-road. The few times we stuck it we all just picked it up and moved it, noprob.
The jeep wasn't stock, 327, a little over 400horses on the dyno and solid lockers, pretty tough by any standard. Pick the front end up in 2nd gear. Loved messin with sports cars, you should see the looks.

 

I have an 89 Bronco That is really good in the mud. It turns sharp and takes a really good beating

 

Sounds just about right. Horsepower is nice to have, but in compact form is best. Thats why I was looking for a 2.3L in a ranger, that and the reliability factor. 188,000 miles ain't too bad for a lil 4 banger and it runs almost as good as my 97 F150. Zukis are nice to a point. They have their fall backs just as any truck will have fall backs and advantages. The problem with zukis (other than a lack of displacement factory which isn't a big deal at all) is their wheelbase. Its almost too short in some cases where you may pull a tire sooner than other rigs might. The big advantages that they have is a factory leaf sprung SFA. Like was already said a SOA and you instantly get somewhere around 4" of lift. If you cut the fenders you can run 33s easy.

My truck of choice though is an older ranger. They're usually pretty easy to find for a decent price. You wanna stay away from 83-85 rangers as in those years it was carbed engines which for the V6 was the 2.8L and IMO not a very good engine at all. 86 was the 1st years for the fuelly which if you're running trails and offcamber stuff is very favorable as many carbs don't like running at angles. If you want a newer ranger step up to a 90 and up as you get a dana 35 front with a 28 spline 8.8 rear axle, a 4.0L engine option, and an option of a mazda 5spd which was a very good tranny. Much better than the older mitsubishi FM145 and FM146 trannies such as what I have in my 86. They're ok but don't like horsepower and not as dependable as the mazdas. The disadvantage to the D28 and D35 axles is the lack of aftermarket parts. Nobody makes alloy shafts for the D28 (why would anyone want to anyhow, they aren't that strong an axle anyhow). Thats where the zuki has options cause it should have D30 front axle if I'm not mistaken which you should be able to get alloy shafts and manual hub conversions for.

One conversion that is worth making is going to a SFA instead of a TTB or IFS depending on what you have. The big reason in a better average ground clearance and more strength. Eventually I will be dropping the D28 ttb and 7.5" from my ranger in favor of 79 F150 D44 and 9". These axles are full width though so I will end up having the width of a fullsize truck which I'm not sure how it will help/hurt me. It will hurt me cause i'll have axle and tire hanging out and chance hitting stuff, but it will help for stability. I'm thinking that what I will do is run them FW for a while to see how I like them and if I really feel its a problem cut them down to EB specs. Then stuff a set of Warn Chrom molly shafts with CTM joints in there. This way I will have an axle that is guaranteed that if I ever break it will be fixed for free. Enough random thoughs for now, but that gives you somewhat of an idea.

Also heres my trailer trash for anyone interested. Not bad for $750 as it sits.

 

Hey nice truck!

We finally get to see the off road toy. Its really not bad looking, throw a coat of paint on it and you'll have a nice lookin truck

 

Paint.....PAINT!?!?!?! Who needs paint. You know how hard I had to work to get that custom pinstriping? I figured it'd be easy with them narrow *** tires but I had a hell of a time doing it.






























Ok so I was really thinking of painting it sometime. Probably won't be till spring though when it warms up. Just wish the roll bar got to stay but thats goin byebye. Hopefully by the end of summer it'll be on FW D44 and 9" with 4.10s and full spool rear.

 

That thing will be bad a$$ on the trails. Why are getting rid of the roll bar? even if it is one of those sectional roll bars it still offers some protection and a place to mount lights.

 

Yep I already know it kicks *** on the trails. Only problem I'll have will be breaking front shafts or hubs.


The rollbar isn't mine. The bed that is on there is off my friends brothers Ranger. The bed I had was in good condition and it was just going to get ruined so he wanted a good bed so I traded him. The rollbar was in his truck and just hasn't been taken out yet. I also don't want lights on there without bars around them. I almost peeled those lights off it last time out.

 

I saw a company the other day selling a kit to put a little VW diesel into the Suzuki's to get better low end power. If a person liked the suzuki except for the engine this might help.

 

The problem with running VW motors in those is that you need to find a transfer case to work with the transmission. A very popular engine swap in the Samis is a V8 swap (usually to a 350) or a 4.3L V6 swap is pretty common too.

 

From my off roading adventures (not nearly as many as some of you), I have gone with friends that drive a

-2001 F150 SuperCrew 4x4 (Mine)
-80 something ranger 4x4
-98 Suburban 4x4

And after watching all of them offroad, I would have to say that the ranger does the best, but is definatly not the most comfortable.

Weight is a big problem for me at over 5000 pounds with me and some gear, I can't get up hills with soft dirt/sand (getting a locker soon to help me with this) The ranger can do a lot better in this department.

Wheel base is another thing that depends on your type of off roading, the short wheel base will allow you do go more places but is much less stabler. You can flip yourself in many diffrent directions a lot easier than a longer wheel base. Any thing too long is pointless, like mentioned earlier a 4 door SuperDuty with the long bed. My truck is a bit long but still only 133" wheel base, I wouldn't want any longer than that. With my truck I can't go over a steep hill as I will bottom out easier.

Power and gearing is a BIG thing as I am learning, the larger engin is nice but weighs more and if your not carefull you can get your self in trouble with the extra power, so this is where gearing comes in, lower gears will give you more toruqe and less speed, thereby giving you more control. You don't need as powerfull of an engin therefor you can have less weight. Getting to your destination and using a low geared truck for daily driving will kill your gas cost though so you need a balance for those daily drivers like my truck is.

Thats my $1.50 take it or leave it, remember my opinion counts just as much as everyone elses, even though there opinions may not be right...

 

Hello,
I've used a 67 ford bronco..I know I know not a truck but man does it LOVE the MUD! a small body lift(at the time when bought didn't have money to sink in a mud truck..and 35s I've never been stuck but did do some mechanic work to it all in all i have about 3 grand and it's awsome just don't want to drive it everyday..only gets 6 to 8 miles a gallon just my .02.