Alan's Four Wheel Drives Alan's Four Wheel Drives
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In 1989 I was bitten by the four wheel
drive bug, from which there is no return. This was my first 4x4. The mighty Toyota FJ55,
"The Tank" as it was commonly known. I think it earned this nick-name, as it was
un-stoppable, or maybe it was just the amount of fuel it drank! It had a 4.2L, 6 cylinder,
petrol engine, and 4 speed manual gearbox. The first photo was taken on the beach overlooking Wedge Island, which is about 150k North of Perth, Western Australia. This area is only accessible by tracks north of Lancelin. The second photo was taken at our famous camping spot about 15k north of wedge island. We used to take all the toys: 4WDs, Zodiak boat with 30Hp motor, windsurfers, dirt bikes, snorkelling gear. There used to be lots of fish and crays here. |
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In 1991, I decided to bight the bullet, get a loan, and buy my first new
car, a Holden Jackaroo Wagon. This was a vastly different 4x4 from the FJ55,
adding Power steering, fuel injection, 5 speed, bucket seats, stereo, air
conditioning (that worked), and much quieter running. This was powered by a
2.6L, 4 cylinder, SOHC, fuel injected, petrol engine. The first photo was taken in the Gibson desert later that same year, when we travelled the Gunbarrel Highway to the red center. We then proceeded to the East coast via the Plenty highway, eventually coming out at Brisbane. Although we haven't done any major "cross continent" trips in recent years, we still like to get it off-road and dirty quite often. (You can click on all images for a larger picture) In March 1997, I sold the Jackaroo so I could upgrade to... |
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On the 16th of April 1997 I bought my
current 4WD, a 1995 Toyota Landcruiser DX Wagon. Although it is not the GXL, it has been
fitted with GXL wheels, flares and side stripes, to make it look like one (2nd photo)! It is a 4.2L 6 cylinder SOHC Diesel, 5 speed, fitted with Snorkel, 265R16 All Terrain tyres, steel bull-bar with 3 Hella spotties, reece hitch and cargo barrier. It has a suspension kit from Opposite Lock, giving it 50mm extra height, and tough-dog shockies. I have huge plans for this car, including diff-locks, rear tyre carrier and much more. As this is a part time four wheel drive, the fuel economy is maximised, and from it's dual fuel tanks, I can achieve a range of over 1000Kms. Photo 1 was taken at the Hill River, north of Cervantes, Western Australia. Photo 2 was taken up on a hill overlooking the Warren river mouth, in Western Australia's south west. I sold this car on 6th April 2000, to lower the running costs of my 4wds! |
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On 6th April 2000, I bought my
next
4WD, a Holden Rodeo Turbo Diesel Dual Cab Ute. The main reason for this choice was to
lower running costs. The is achieved in 2 ways. Firstly, it is a commercial vehicle,
making it 100% tax deductible. Secondly, it's direct-injected 2.8litre 4cylinder turbo
diesel motor, able to achieve much better fuel economy, at around 9 litres
per 100k or approx 32 MPG. The first picture was taken on it's maiden voyage on April 9th at Mundaring, just after fitting of new 31x10.5R15 TA/KO tyres and UHF CB. After fitting the vehicle out, we then successfully travelled the Canning Stock route in July 2001 (2nd picture). Visit Skip's 4x4 for all the information about purchasing and fitting out of my Rodeo. This car was sold in Feb 2002, mainly due to a large number of mechanical problems, and as it had just come out of warranty, I did not want to risk the possibility of expensive repairs. |
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On 21st Feb 2002, I bought my current
4WD, a brand new 2002 Toyota Hilux Turbo Diesel Dual Cab Ute. The reason for this choice was to
maximise reliability by going for the well proven Toyota brand, and also a
brand new vehicle, so I have a 3 year warranty. Being a 3 litre turbo-diesel
it also get reasonable fuel economy at around 11 litres per 100k, but being
electronically controlled fuel injection, it achieves much more torque than
the Rodeo, 315 Nm compared to the Rodeo's 225. This picture was taken on a hill climb in Balingup, and shows the vehicle with most of the extras fitted, including bulbar, roof rack, snorkel, canopy, and Prado rims with BFG mudder tyres. Visit Skip's 4x4 for all the information about purchasing and fitting out of my Hilux. |
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These pages were last updated on 29 Dec 2005.