Survival or Doomsday Vehicle BOV

I'll be in the market for a truck soon, so who these days makes a 4X4 with a Manual Transfer Case, and Manual Transmission ?

 

I have a 1984 Toyota 4x4 XtraCab Pickup. It has a 2.4L 118HP 4cyl engine, 5-speed manual tranny, and manual transfer case. The transfer case gears have been replaced. Stock is 2:28, mine are 4:70. That means i can crawl over anything. The stock 28" tires have been replaced with 35x12.5x15. The differential gears have been changed from 4:10 stock to 5:29, so the gear ratio between the engine and the ground remains stock. I have a spool in the rear diff (posi) but eventually i'll have an e-locker from a 98ish Tacoma, so i can electrically lock and unlock the rear axle. I have Onboard Air so i can deflate my tires to help me drive out of a muddy area, then re-inflate them for the road. Fast.

My headlights have this neat switch activated by my hand, controlled by my brain. They don't stay on or come on unless i decide they should. The brakes work by pushing the brake pedal. There is no computer to decide the wheels should keep turning slowly (ABS). The brakes have been upgraded also. The doors don't automatically lock themselves. My truck does not decide i'm about to hit something and apply the brakes...or steer itself because it thinks i might have fallen asleep. I don't have Onstar, so the govt cant disable my ignition when they decide to.

And i'm not making $350 a month truck payments to pay the loan off at the bank. I own the dang thing.

This is not a trailer queen. It is my primary mode of transportation. I can drive it on the interstate at 70mph, then crawl OVER a fallen tree or power pole that's blocking the 2-lane surface road, enjoy a day or weekend of off-roading with my fellow Toyota enthusiasts, then cruise home at 70 again...getting 20mpg.

It's not some fantasy vehicle you'd have to win the lottery to buy. Just an older pickup rebuilt and upgraded to be an awesome DD. The only major change i'd like to make in the future is to put in a 4cyl turbo diesel. Diesel might be $3.89 here right now, but i'd be getting 38-40mpg. And have awesome torque.

 

I'm leaning towards a used truck after checking out the insurance and reg costs.
Besides, I hate DRL's, "black boxes" and all variants of On-Star.

Better to starve the beast too.

 

Well I am still with my 1979 Jeep cj-7 WITH A CJ-5 BODY ON IT. Engine is a 310 (304 bored over .30 ) Converted now to run on Propane. All solid drive train manual transfer case ALL DANA. The entire frame and body were rino coated as it was a mud runner when I bought it. I changed out the engine and went through the rest of it. ITS UGLY but its pretty much all new. Very tough and has Detroit locker differentials so I get all 4 wheels when Im on the gas. It will climb almost vertical on grass with 33 inch mud terrain tires and gets about 130 miles on 10 gallons of propane. I don't however go very far with it. It has no doors or tailgate and only a bra top. I have two sets of tires, extra universals and other parts put away. Hoses, belts, water pump alternator and ignition module. I have several sets of Header gaskets and a second set of headers for it. I will have this little Jeep for many many years.

 

I just posted the old picture of it when I brought it home. It doesnt look much different except for the side headers now which come out behind the front wheels. I dont have any fresh pics of it right now and anyway this is what it looks like. UGLY

 

Here is the propane conversion. 4 barrel intake with the propane carb on it.

 

I picked up all the parts used for 400 bucks to convert it. This is the picture of the unit on a 360 amc I bought it off. I cant find any other pics of it as we deleted about 500 pictures off our computer to make room on the hard drive. So far it works great. Starts good and still has plenty of power compared to what it had when I ran it on gas. I have plans on getting two more Propane tanks. One more 500 for the Genny and a 200 for the Jeep with a wet leg on both of those tanks. This way I will be able to fill my own Fork lift tanks. As it is I have to go to a service center to get my tanks filled.

 

Also in case any of you wonder the tank is a Forklift 10 gallon liquid Propane tank. I have a vaporizer and auto shut off (vacum sensor)unit on the drivers side fender which vaporizes the propane. It is warmed off the old heater hose outlet. The vaporizer works best when the engine is at running temp. The motor is a little cold blooded but once she warms up a little it runs great. I get about 4500 rpm real easy. She will rev to 5500 . The 304 was not a screamer. With gas I was getting about 275 hp. Im guessing Im getting about 220 now. Still plenty of power for pulling the wood trailor to and from the local forests. After having it bored over we put in some nice pistons, better heads and cam. It about 200 hp stock with a two barrel. Adding headers, 4 barrel , cam and heads with the edelbrock intake we got it pushing 275.

 

Ain't no such thang as an ugly CJ.

 

It's not practical to try to travel far, much less by 4 wheeled vehicle, once shtf. It would have to be by motorcycle, off road, at night, with NVD goggles and a super quiet muffler, slowly, watching out for gullies, wires, fences, etc, wearing helmet and facemask.. But if for some reason I just had to, I'd make my way to an Army base and try for an armored humvee.

You can put a 5 gallon jerry can on either side of a buddy rest, and 2 in the saddlebag position, on a motorycycle. 23 gallons, at 20 mpg (off road) You'll find plenty more gas, enough at a time to matter, for a small motorycycle in 600 miles of looking. combines, tractors, fuel tanks up on posts (to gravity feed) on farms, even no more gas than what's in lawn mowers, tillers, weed eaters, etc, would help with such a bike. if you use a full fairing, a smaller rear sprocket, and the back roads, 60 mpg, or more.

 

most of them will be long dead, a week or 2 after shtf. Only 3% of the US population lives on farms or ranches. So old macdonald will be outnumbered 30 to 1. Just sayin'. and a GREAT many of them have no gun at all, or just a single shot rifle or shotgun. AR10 my behind. There' aint been 100k of those sold here since they were invented.

 

Gunkid....is that you?