Service Vehicle

[jamar]

we are currently looking at the viability of purchasing a vehicle which amongst other things, will be used as a service vehicle..

(no Spac, not interested - mabye it was the "boggable" bit )

currently looking at dual cab, mid/late 80's Rodeo's - Navara's - Hilux's... etc - sub 5k

can we ask for opinions on what the best way to go would be ? , or likewise what to steer away from.. don't want to start ww4 here, just would like to hear a few opinion's from people who've been there, done that..

or if you know anyone with something reasonable, please let us know..


Cheers

[Daniel]

Jamar - I don't know much about the 2WDs but - early Tritons and Navaras have weak gearboxes - I've replaced the input bearing on my old mans Navara 4 times (I got the ****s and modified the box to accept a bigger one the last time and seems to be ok now). Rodeo - well what can I say their a holden - the deisel variety seem to be ok, but holden has never built a decent car apart from the VL six and that has a Nissan motor in it! Hiluxes are good but fall over easy because they have a high center of gravity.

I'd go the Hilux - but if you go a 90s one I'd go the Navara, If your going to do heaps of towing and want somthing that'll last I'd go somthing bigger ie Landcruiser or Patrol but thats upping the budget a bit.

[beanpole]

Jamar, as my current station in life is as tow/ service crew, I may as well chuck my 2.2c in.

Have you considered a Falcon Wagon? A couple of others run them as well- Peter Skinner and Brett Walther (don't quote me but I think so).

Mine has done around 4000 km towing in the last 18 months and hasn't missed a beat. It offers superior performance to most 4WD's, better comfort, economy, and when set up correctly you don't notice the car and trailer on the back.

The major advantage is that once you take the trailer off you have a normal car which is relatively easy on tyres, brakes and fuel. (Mine gets 10l/100 around town!!)

I'll admit that I went down the 4WD path to look but realised dual cabs have a harsh ride (rear spring characteristics?), and you could remove the trailer from the 'criuser but you couldn't really remove the truck from it.

What it boils down to is setup. Given some thought it can easily be achieved with a 'coon, and no. it won't rip the arse out of it either. Mind you, don't expect great things from your average hire / borrow trailer either, and if you do own/ intend to buy your own don't expect to get it right first time.

Hope some of this helps.



Big Kev

[Swill]

Other wise a van would be the way to go...and if you do intend to tow with it make sure it isnt a 4 cyclinder and the bigger motor the better. And any ford for 5k would be ordinary, except Matts Fairlane ( wild and crazy plug )...

[Matt]

And it already has a towbar and air conditioning and great big lounge chairs for front seats and a back seat that fits 6-8 wheels and a paint job that you don't have to worry about and no rust and...well, now I am just bragging.

Seriously, it is hard to go past for the money! Five hungee, drive away...

[jamar]

Daniel: thanks dude, see the below post..

Beanpole: thanks for the input, we appreciate it.. but recently sold our XF falcon sedan... yeah, it towed ok, but jeez it sucked fuel (maybe my lead foot!!) - really keen to have something that we can use outside the service vehicle thing - hence looking at dual cabs - 4 doors, and a ute (ok half a ute) as well....

been told that the Rodeo, for example is a good choice, due to its relative low center of gravity etc, as compared to say a Hilux -which apparently can be quite a chore to drive on the road.. ( reasons as mentioned)

'prolly looking at something to take camping/ take crap to the tip/ pick up building supplies with etc..

YRALLY:
thanks, at the forseeable moment, towing is not a major issue - 'prolly looking at just competing locally to start with (2003) ,& driving the rally car to say Narooma, etc.. gotta keep in mind the other purposes of the vehicle though, as above

How important is 4wd as a consideration here ???

Cheers

[Swill]

How important is 4wd as a consideration here ???

If your going to drive the rallycar to events then its not. Just get something thats cheap to run, 4WDs are not this. And if you do prang it or put it off some one will help out, they always do.. Vans are the best thing Ive serviced out of period. Lots of room and and you can lock it all up.

[bob moore]

Yrally's comment that "you can lock it all up" with a van is worth thinking about. Ever worked out the value of tools, spares, driving lights, and wheels and tyres that you might carry to an event? (Hint: it's a BIG number!)

And, sadly, there IS an element of low life out there. An HCR competitor had his service vehicle broken into the night before the event, and had his spare turbo stolen. A few years ago there was a significant theft from a service vehicle at Bega.

So, if you're looking at dual cabs, think about getting a third (fibreglass) "cab" for the ute section. Then think about whether these cabs come with good locks ......

Bob

[Spac]

I agree with Beany. My service vehicle is (was? I dunno if my old man will ever give it back) a 450,000km old Volvo wagon... It doesn't have the glamour of a 4WD or any **** like that, but it was dirt cheap to buy, own and run, it towed a fully laden rally car and service crap all over the place, had enough room, and was OK to drive the rest of the time.

Now I understand your ego may bit a bit too fragile to step up into a Volvo, but his suggestion of a OHC Falcon is a good one.
Mal is about to trade his ute in for an earlier wagon ("Same motor, you can lock it up, and they're worth $10,000 less"). The post XF OHC EFI motor is SO much better it is a joke, so don't discount it on the basis of your XF.

A few general theories on service vehicles:

*You ALWAYS run out of room. If you had a semi-trailer, you'd fill it up and have to look for more space. A largish wagon should be enough, or you are taking too much crap.

*the ONLY time you'll actually need a 4WD is if you have to go and drag a dead rally car back up a cliff (will you have recovery gear?). Forget the bull-**** about towing etc - with even a quarter of a brain, any largish family car will tow fine.

*remember it will be driven by your service crew... Those reliable trust-worthy mates will suddenly turn into lunatics when they've realised they hung around too long at the speccie point... So it should be as simple as possible, and not entice them to fang it... (Memories of bega 2000 ).
And most importantly, it can't be anything you're anal retentive about...

[Daniel]

Jamar - 4WD is good for a couple of reasons - they are heavy - my Patrol is 2.4 ton whereas 2WD Hiluxes are around the 1.7 ton mark, if you've ever towed a trailer that weighs as much as the towing car (regardless of how well balanced it is) you'll know its something to avoid - If you stick it off 9 times out of 10 you need a 4WD to get it out and its nice to be self sufficent as a team. And finaly if you want to see how much fun a 4WD is check out the 4WD section of http://triplecaution.ms .

I agree with the sentiment that the bigger the motor the better - I towed my rally car up to Oberon with a new 3L direct injection diesel Hilux and avaraged about 60 km/h - Whereas my Patrol will comfortably do 120km/h with a car trailer.

As for running cost, the 4WD is more expensive but not by as much as you'd expect My 3.3L diesel turbo gets about 11L/100km and it doesn't mater whether I'm driving around town or towing a car trailer with a roofrack load of service gear. Tyres are more expensive but they last about 70000km the only place that it hurts is servicing cause there's twice as many moving parts - but its still heaps cheaper then a VR4!!

Whatever you get make sure it has a full chassis - otherwise you WILL eventualy rip the towbar out of the car - ask anyone that fits towbars.

[Daniel]

Yeh Zen you tell'm - If Mitsubishi made a serious 4WD I'd own one!!!

[AV1611]

(Most of this post is tongue-in-cheek, except the last paragraph.)

Hey Zenith! Everyone bagged Spac out for his comments about the 720 Ute that was "boggable". But you say that your 90 model Pajero has "Bog standard". Wow, that sure was pro-active thinking by the good folks at Mitsubishi! Presumably they knew the panels would rust so they fitted the bog before you had to crawl under and do it yourself. Oh, and is Mitsubishi factory bog better than Spac's aftermarket brand of bog?

In all seriousness, how about an L300 4WD van as a service vehicle? And before you say that they can't tow, let me tell you without a word of a lie that I once towed a 4 tonne truck with mine. Wasn't quick, but it did it! You get the advantages of 4WD, cheap to run (except when towing), sliding side door (huge advantage for servicing) and it is so ugly that no-one would go near it much less contemplate stealing stuff from it!

[Spac]

Yeah, 4WD L300, with 2.6... All of the good points that every one wants, and the one major draw-back common to all 4WDs and vans... AWFUL handling!


AV, funny you should make that point - I know *someone* with a FWD Galant with a No Fear sticker on it:"Losing is not an option". Ah, so it's factory fitted?

Pete's Bedford of Love is for sale.

[Daniel]

Hmmmm - L300's have a 2.6L version of the Starion motor - VR4s have the same bottom end, twincam turbo 2.6?, yeh that'd tow ok

Don't expect to take it off road though Mitsubishi only made it 4WD so old men with floppy hats would buy them!!

Jamar, I've got heaps of old 4WD magazines where there are comparisons of everything from 100 series Landcruiser's to Lada Niva's if you want to have a browse let me know. The main thing to remember is that if you're going to tow stuff once in a blue moon and never take the thing off road, you can get away with just about anything (ie Fords Flagon Wagon, The Ovlov etc) if your going to be doing it regularly buy something designed for it. I've seen a Honda Civic towing a car trailer with an XD on it, but do you think it was doing the old Honda much good? Also because of the huge number of accidents involving car trailers - a lot of hire companies simply will not hire you a trailer anymore unless their satisfied that your car weighs substantualy more then the towed package. For example Kennards policy wouldn't let Spac take a car trailer for the RX5 if he was towing it with a Volvo. (no offence Spac)

[Spac]

Yeah, and that would be fair enough too - but the reality is that EVERY single hire trailer I've ever seen has been ridiculously over-built and literally weighs about 3 times as much as most people need (probably to cope with people who hire CAR trailers to carry earth-moving equipment... and yes, it does happen).

But that's all another rave for another time...

I thought the 4WD L300s came with Saturn motors?! I know it sounds very stupid, but a mate investigated one a while back, and that's what he reckoned. I know the later ones had Sirius motors, but even then, I thought only 1.8 or 2.0 litre?