Thoughts and reasons for your chosen rig

[Joey83]

Why I chose my rig.

Well long story short, I got fed up with trying to find even the most common parts for my last car and I got (what I consider) a great deal on it, I'm also the 3rd owner since it was new in 2005.

It is my first diesel powered vehicle, the first with awd, the first with cruisecontroll, the first with an elevated seating position (I used to own lots of lowered cars).

I might make a project thread for it someday.

 

[Truck mechanic]

I had a 72 IH Scout I had spent years getting just rite, pulled the factory 258, replaced it with a 4.0, put ac in it, p.s., hydaboost out of an astro van. disc brake front end and dana 300 out of an 80 Scout. carpet, leather buckets. soft top for the summer. great truck off road. fun to drive on road. had people all over it no matter where I stopped. But in the end. it was to small for me, the gf and 2 big labs. so it got traded for a 78 4x4 convertion van. Going through it front to back now. Should be ready for spring summer traveling. Plus yes it will be my dd.

 

[Outdoor Steve]

I wanted an overland toy. A 4x4 suv. A wrangler, albeit fun, was to small for my needs. I was looking at 4 Runners and Cherokees. Then my current rig popped up! A co-worker was selling his 2003 Nissan Xterra that he put about $10,000 or more in upgrades into. Never mind the finishing details of clean switches and wiring. The guy who built it up is the quintessential gadget guy, buys the best in gear and very detailed orientied. He takes care of his stuff. He has the garage you could do surgery in.
Another guy at work who races the baja 1000 told me our friend was selling it and I was told I was dumb not to buy it. "Dude it needs nothing other than food and your clothes"
Not having the time to build something I bought ot basically sight unseen.
I am extremely happy with my rig!

 

[[DO]Ron]

I'm going to get a Landcruiser 120 series.. Reason is simple.. 100 series and 200 series are a tat to big and expensive.. 150 is to new (and thus, expensive) and everything else is to old :P

As I'm going to trade in my 1 year old car that is my DD I want a rig back that can serve as a DD as well and be comfortable for everything we do.

 

[PNW EXPLR]

For me....
I travel all over the country for work, and I love being outdoors.
Much of the time that I used to travel away from home for work, I would be stuck in a hotel. I hated this! So I started Camping. I have well over 200 days logged, sleeping in our old Avalanche. This was not always the best experience, but it was always an adventure.
When it was time to buy a new rig I decided that I would also, eventually buy a trailer to stay in when working away from home. This would allow me to enjoy the outdoors even more.
So I needed a rig that,
1. Could pull 10k +
2. Had enough room to fit Me, the Wife, the Boy, and the Dog, plus stuff
3. Had to be 4x4
4. Durable
5. Good source of aftermarket add-ons (lift, topper, bumpers, ...)

So I bought a 2015 Ram Cummins Diesel, Crew Cab, 4x4, short box. I also bought a used 25' toy hauler.
This allows me to bring my XR600, My kayak, fishing poles, and anything else I wanna bring. I explore the back roads in the Ram, if it gets to tight, I get the XR in the game. I can use the Trailer, or the truck as a base camp. I will soon have a RTT for the truck also.

This was last summer. RV park just outside the Job cost $50 a week. Weekends, hit the dirt! Or find a lake or river and drop in the Kayak and pull out dinner.

 

[Justin Forrest]

Because I need something practical as well as capable. Kids, dogs and yard work need to happen in between fun stuff.

 

[timberwolf_120]

I initially bought my wj for my wife since we found out we were having a kid and she needed something safer and easier to transport our boy (now boys) around in. she had a 95 civic originally. then I sold my hemi ram and bought a cummins ram and it ended up being a turd sold it and then my wifes wj became my wj and I bought here a new 2014 compass since we found out we were having another kid.

 

[dfernan1]

Joe D, You may like this!!!!!
http://overlandbound.com/forums/index.php?threads/back-to-the-future-30th-anniversary.426/
"Oh and I'd always wanted a Toyota truck ever since seeing one in the Back to the Future movies "
me to......

Me too, that rig was rad.
I have a family of 5 including three boys. Initially went to check out Tacomas but went with full size Crewmax Tundra. MPG leaves a lot to be desired but bed size adequate to haul all our gear, roomy inside for long trips and enough power to tow trailer. Also have a 4" lift with 35s, been the perfect exploring vechicle for our family. Maybe when the boys are old enough to drive Ill let them fight over the Tundra while I go back shopping for a Taco.


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[Big E]

I need a truck that is reliable and capable. I needed a truck that was cheaper than most but would hold its value. I got a Tacoma, stripped out and plain Jane. It has room for all my gear, wife, dog etc. Good fuel mileage, Toyota reliability. My goal is 15-20 years of ownership, time will tell. I love the little thing, it just goes and goes, both on and off road.

 

[Daniel Etter]

The H3 started to become a "beast of burden" due to the mileage it saw and the cost of maintenance and parts becoming more expensive each year. I chose the 2017 4Runner TRD because of their insane reliability and offroad performance. We wanted something that would be comfortable traveling across the country and still be able to hit the trails or beach to get away from civilization. Also needed the loads of room for our 2 German Shepherds.

 

[MBroenkow]

I chose the 2017 4Runner TRD because of their insane reliability and offroad performance. We wanted something that would be comfortable traveling across the country and still be able to hit the trails or beach to get away from civilization. Also needed the loads of room for our 2 German Shepherds.

Pretty much exactly why we got a Trail (didn't want to go through the typical raping process dealers add on with the highly sought after TRD Pros), except we've only got three medium sized dogs. ; )

 

[blackntan]

Been in and around 4x4 all my life never ever thought of it as a hobby in its self , used them for work purposes , then for hunting shooting , fishing , the age of the internet opened up another world , My first LR DEFENDER , brand new oh how i wish id of kept it , then disco's navaras , hilux and now isuzu. They stopped making the disc 2 and the Disco 3 never had a commercial version so i went to navara D40. Had 4 of them with a hilux in the fleet , navaras got a bit stale so thought id try isuzu been good solid reliable trucks , but just might get a disco 4 before they discontinue them I started adding kit for hunting first , allways pulled a caravan or out camping during the summer never thought of it as overlanding just getting out and about really ,
I dont know if the uk is big enough to qualify as overlanding lol. But planing to go to germany expo this year , might qualify then

 

[ocpd8518]

Always a lust for jeeps. A co-worker of mine in high school let me drive his CJ 7 and I was hooked. I had to go through a bunch of starter vehicles first but eventuality got a 1980 CJ7 and started a build. 2 divorces later I realized I needed to part with three junk cars and combined them to buy the JKUR. 4 doors for the room. Jeep cause of the removable body panels . Rubicon for the off-road capabilities and it has bells and whistles. Last vehicle I'll ever drive/own.

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[WhiskeyIsMySpiritAnimal]

Knew I was going to be moving to AZ from KC so I started looking for something I could get into the National Forests with. At the time I thought we'd be getting a travel trailer so I started looking at Tacomas as the tow limit is 7000lbs. I'm not much of a pick up guy so it didn't take long for my Tacoma shopping to become 4Runner shopping. I was planning on a 4Runner for at least 6 months, but then a few things all happened around the same time. 1st we traded my wifes Crosstrek in for a Forester XT. 2nd we took some Jeep Tours in Sedona. 3rd I put a lot of miles on the Forester.

Turns out that neither Jen or I care much for the harder off roading for the sake of it and that generally if it's too tough for the Subaru we aren't interested. Our "overland" experience is usually about seeing the views and finding a neat spot to camp and explore, I'll be honest I haven't found many places that I couldn't get to with her stock Subaru. If there is a difficult trail to get to a place, there is usually also an easier way. The Forester is a comfortable drive, because it's turbo it has minimal power loss at altitude and gets pretty good MPG. The X-Mode has served us well on rocky inclines and utility roads as well as driving up the steep shoreline from Lake Pleasant.

The other "ah ha" moment was when we realized a travel trailer is massive over kill as we are in our 30's, no kids and don't have the kind of vacation time to leave for a week, so a tear drop or something similar fits the budget and time constraints on our camping better. So that was the last piece of the puzzle The Forester can tow 1500 lbs and there are a number of tear drop options that fit that just fine.

So for now my wifes car is the overland rig and when the lease runs out on my current toy (2016 Ford Fiesta ST) I'll be going to our local Subaru dealership and getting another one.

 

[UgotWheelz]

Knew I was going to be moving to AZ from KC so I started looking for something I could get into the National Forests with. At the time I thought we'd be getting a travel trailer so I started looking at Tacomas as the tow limit is 7000lbs. I'm not much of a pick up guy so it didn't take long for my Tacoma shopping to become 4Runner shopping. I was planning on a 4Runner for at least 6 months, but then a few things all happened around the same time. 1st we traded my wifes Crosstrek in for a Forester XT. 2nd we took some Jeep Tours in Sedona. 3rd I put a lot of miles on the Forester.

Turns out that neither Jen or I care much for the harder off roading for the sake of it and that generally if it's too tough for the Subaru we aren't interested. Our "overland" experience is usually about seeing the views and finding a neat spot to camp and explore, I'll be honest I haven't found many places that I couldn't get to with her stock Subaru. If there is a difficult trail to get to a place, there is usually also an easier way. The Forester is a comfortable drive, because it's turbo it has minimal power loss at altitude and gets pretty good MPG. The X-Mode has served us well on rocky inclines and utility roads as well as driving up the steep shoreline from Lake Pleasant.

The other "ah ha" moment was when we realized a travel trailer is massive over kill as we are in our 30's, no kids and don't have the kind of vacation time to leave for a week, so a tear drop or something similar fits the budget and time constraints on our camping better. So that was the last piece of the puzzle The Forester can tow 1500 lbs and there are a number of tear drop options that fit that just fine.

So for now my wifes car is the overland rig and when the lease runs out on my current toy (2016 Ford Fiesta ST) I'll be going to our local Subaru dealership and getting another one.



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Interesting about the FIST, I just saw this searching for Fiesta towing. The fiesta has a tow rating of 760-900KG in UK and Europe with the smaller less powerfull engines than the ST. A mild tune and some bolt ons will put you well into 250HP range, rally gravel suspension will lift it 3", and with heaps more torque; so curious why you would trade the FIST for a scubby and if you did or not. Those CVT's and headgaskets on scubbies would make me quiver as an overlanding rig. So would love to hear more about your thoughts on subject and what you eneded up with?? I am probably trading my FocusRS for a used FIST unless a dealer gives me a screaming deal on something new with AWD maybe a Mazda.

 

[Gone_xtrkn]

Bought my Subaru Crosstrek in 2017 to replace the old family Highlander that had finally died. Picked it on Subaru’s reputation for safety and efficiency and the good CPO warranty, mostly for my commute and occasional road trips

Stumbled on rooftop tent info online about 6 months later and was hooked.



Gets us anywhere we need to go and gets 27ish MPG as pictured, 29-30 with the tent removed. We don’t really ever end up doing serious off-roading, especially here in Texas, so the Trek is a good, versatile option for us. The only thing I would change would be a bit more hatch space and internal storage for a full-size spare. If the car didn’t already have close to 100k miles I’d add a lower profile roof rack.

 

[UgotWheelz]

I will update my post for new Rig, I picked the focus RS cause that is what I had for road racing and autocross and adventure rally. With the fancy AWD it was more capable than that car needed to be. But it had a number of very bad squeaks, rattles, plastic bits coming loose, headliner never staying put and rattling ungodly. Finally got it to dealer to check an MIL for second O2 sensor and to fix a bunch of missing trim clips. Just wasn't worth the hassle of the rental car and insurance and being on a mileage limit to have the car in shop for weeks, and so I went to see if they got a Bronco Sport they could actually sell or a base Ranger FX4 drove both liked the Bronco Sports drive dynamics better (It is a car) and so thats what I got. Right out of the box it will do all the adventures I need it to. I also got a accessory credit from Ford for getting new offroad tires and wheels since it came with street tires and 18" rims.

 

[BensonSTW]

I own a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins. I love to hunt and fish. I have a few toys that require a trailer. Some of my hunting and fishing holes require bigger tires and low range to get there. And the simplest reason I use a full size truck... I haven’t seen a 4 runner or jeep that could haul 2 full elk. I have however seen my truck do it.

 

[GXExplorer]

Lexus GX460. Because we go out far with three young kids and always need to make it home. And we chose over a 4-runner simply based on comfort in our middle age and over a Land Cruiser because of budget. 10 years ago it was 4-runner all the way.

 

[Ursa Major]

2020 Ford Ranger STX is my rig. Been adding to him all all fall/winter. I got the supercab version to be able to take my three kids with me, but still have a truck to keep gear in the back. I didn't go for the FX4 version, because I wasn't looking for all the "bells and whistles" offered there. I do a lot of my own modifications on this rig, like I just installed an ARB air compressor the rear seat. The interior comforts were more important to me than the trail control system. Now, spring is coming up here and everyone is chomping at the bit to get out and explore!