Why 4x4?

Logistics and Transport
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Maddosammo
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Location: Greater Manchester

Why 4x4?

Post by Maddosammo »

If this is in the wrong place remove or move.

This has been on my mind for a while now, I've had a search around and found nothing. Do you really need a 4x4 as a BOV, this came around when I was taking with my father on what vehicles could be effectively used as a BOV.

1) The arguments against a 4x4 BOV is the general running cost and i know you can get a diesel (which in my opinion is a must) to run on veg.

2)Is the tax that you pay for owning a 4x4 and also the insurance is it worth paying for a 4x4 vehicle plus the general up keep in maintance.

3) How often are you going to use the 4x4 function of said car or is it just going to be when you are stuck in a muddy car park. And if you are bugging out to a specific location surly your location would be well enough maintained to allow safe entry without getting stuck.

4) Finally this is more for extreme End of the world as we know it but if you have to go get materials basically scavenging, is a Landy or similar going to have enough carry capacity.

So because of the above mainly the first 3 reasons we have gone away from the idea of using a 4x4 such as a Landy and towards the use of a short wheel base transit van with a double cab because we feel that it would be the best method of getting out of the brown stuff.

What are your views?

Thanks for reading my rant. :tinfoil:
Sam

Area 9
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unsure
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Location: st.helens , area 9

Re: Why 4x4?

Post by unsure »

the first argument falls flat ,
from my experiance a landrover discovery 3ootdi will give you ruffly the same mpg as a transit .
the second question .
the road tax is the same as a normal car ,around the `120 for 6 months , again the same as a transit .
the third queston .
it all depends on how you plan on getting to your bug out location , do you plan on using the main roads the same as every one else that want to leave town .
and your final question ,
the carrying capacity of a discovery is quite impresive if you drop the rear seats defo better than the average saloon car but not as good as a transit .

the above is just my opinion and other will have a differant take on the subject .
YES i walked away mid sentence , you were boring me to death and my survival instincts kick in .
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Maddosammo
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Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:20 pm
Location: Greater Manchester

Why 4x4?

Post by Maddosammo »

unsure wrote:the first argument falls flat ,
from my experiance a landrover discovery 3ootdi will give you ruffly the same mpg as a transit .
the second question .
the road tax is the same as a normal car ,around the `120 for 6 months , again the same as a transit .
the third queston .
it all depends on how you plan on getting to your bug out location , do you plan on using the main roads the same as every one else that want to leave town .
and your final question ,
the carrying capacity of a discovery is quite impresive if you drop the rear seats defo better than the average saloon car but not as good as a transit .

the above is just my opinion and other will have a differant take on the subject .

Everyone Is entitled to there own opinion and I except that.


When I wrote the top MPG question I think I had it in my head of a defender type vehicle or similar, built for pure off road and forgot about the disco's who could have better MPG.

Tax again I think I wasn't thinking straight when I wrote that. But I did forget to add insurance to the above which I will do now.

Because I live urban rural, think I kinda went into a tunnel vision, as its not possible to get out any other way than roads. Unless something rather drastic were to happen.

Carry capacity we've also got a trailer and roof rack, but everything doubles up as camping anyway.

I'm interested in how this will turn out.



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Sam

Area 9
survivor_steve

Re: Why 4x4?

Post by survivor_steve »

[quote="Maddosammo"]If this is in the wrong place remove or move.

This has been on my mind for a while now, I've had a search around and found nothing. Do you really need a 4x4 as a BOV, this came around when I was taking with my father on what vehicles could be effectively used as a BOV.

1) The arguments against a 4x4 BOV is the general running cost and i know you can get a diesel (which in my opinion is a must) to run on veg.

fuel costs can be more, however we used to get 28mpg on a long run towing a trailer with all 6 seats taken up in our old pajero, we had a brand new scenic and kids couldnt fit in it,luckily that was a hire car. for mine online i could get a full service kit for £50 delivered to my door, my old honda accord costs twice as much to service as that.

2)Is the tax that you pay for owning a 4x4 and also the insurance is it worth paying for a 4x4 vehicle plus the general up keep in maintance.

older models dont have the fand dango electrics to go wrong so easier and cheaper to fix,also if an older year its the same tax as any other vehicle of similar engine size.

3) How often are you going to use the 4x4 function of said car or is it just going to be when you are stuck in a muddy car park. And if you are bugging out to a specific location surly your location would be well enough maintained to allow safe entry without getting stuck.

i used mine for shooting so was used quiet a bit, but also one car was parked up in the snow and 4 wheel drive was used till snow/ice went.

4) Finally this is more for extreme End of the world as we know it but if you have to go get materials basically scavenging, is a Landy or similar going to have enough carry capacity.

the army use landys with sanky trailers, people use them for expeditions with pop up tents on roof,trailer behind, jerry cans here there and everywhere,so if a lwb (long wheel base ) i sure theres plenty of room.

So because of the above mainly the first 3 reasons we have gone away from the idea of using a 4x4 such as a Landy and towards the use of a short wheel base transit van with a double cab because we feel that it would be the best method of getting out of the brown stuff.

transits are great in my opinion, however easily stuck in the snow/ice/mud as front end looses traction easily, mpg no greater than 4x4, great for tip runs,moving stuff....end of the day its what you after achieving,newer vans are more expensive to service although you would be gaining more space in the back, now for me if i was heading down that road i would be tempted to buy a 2nd hand caravan thats been leaking and rip seats/bed/cooker etc and half kit out the van for living in and other half maximised for storage.

im sure you will get lots of varying opinions and this is just mine, but if i could afford it with the state of the roads around here i think the government should either fix the real bad potholes or give us all a 4x4 for free :D
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ORAC1
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Re: Why 4x4?

Post by ORAC1 »

Hi,
I have 2 land rovers, a 110 as my day to day vehicle and a 130 as my BOV. For me it all comes down to how to get to my bug out location, I have driven the following routes:

1) Main roads and motorways
2) B roads avoiding main roads
3) Unclassified roads and tracks

I want a vehicle that can do the lot, if I have to drive through a field to avoid an abandoned vehicle I want to know I will not get stuck.

The best of both worlds would be an ex utilities 4x4 transit, I see quite a few running round the small villages. You need to be comfortable with whatever vehicle and know it's capabilities and you own, a 4x4 is not a magic wand and even experienced off road drivers get stuck.
Area 2
poppypiesdad
Posts: 1379
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:48 pm
Location: Area 11

Re: Why 4x4?

Post by poppypiesdad »

Maddosammo wrote:If this is in the wrong place remove or move.

This has been on my mind for a while now, I've had a search around and found nothing. Do you really need a 4x4 as a BOV, this came around when I was taking with my father on what vehicles could be effectively used as a BOV.

1) The arguments against a 4x4 BOV is the general running cost and i know you can get a diesel (which in my opinion is a must) to run on veg.

2)Is the tax that you pay for owning a 4x4 and also the insurance is it worth paying for a 4x4 vehicle plus the general up keep in maintance.

3) How often are you going to use the 4x4 function of said car or is it just going to be when you are stuck in a muddy car park. And if you are bugging out to a specific location surly your location would be well enough maintained to allow safe entry without getting stuck.

4) Finally this is more for extreme End of the world as we know it but if you have to go get materials basically scavenging, is a Landy or similar going to have enough carry capacity.

So because of the above mainly the first 3 reasons we have gone away from the idea of using a 4x4 such as a Landy and towards the use of a short wheel base transit van with a double cab because we feel that it would be the best method of getting out of the brown stuff.

What are your views?

Thanks for reading my rant. :tinfoil:

1)The main thing with a 4x4 is the MPG , we have a Nissan patrol 3.0 but we still get 32 MPG out of it. So no real problems there

2) Insurance for us is £450 a year which is good in these crash for cash times and road tax I'd £215 a year . Last big expenditure was a exhaust for it which we got a stainless lifetime guarantee, last service done by myself was £165 for full filter ,oil , front wheel bearings and swivel axel bearings So no real problems there

3) probably use the 4x4 function on a daily basis but then we have beasts to see too. And have never been stuck even when the axles are well under the mud , 4 wheel low with the diff lock on ,and it just plows through ( that why the UN have them )

4) our patrol seats 7 very comfortably, and the rear seats come out by rear seats I mean the third row , leaving more than enough space for equipment and a towing capacity of 3.5 t .

And if you go for a transit as I have had a few they are pretty crap in the snow unless your loaded , not that great off road , but everyman to there choice , but if your stuck and haven't got the option of 4x4 .well your stuck .
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hardcider
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Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:29 pm
Location: buckinghamshire

Re: Why 4x4?

Post by hardcider »

if it get so bad you have to bug out then you are running from somthing like looters you would be a sitting duck in a transit as it is to slow and cant be used off road put a trailer on the back and you might as well write rob me on the side!!
pebblemonkey

Re: Why 4x4?

Post by pebblemonkey »

My daily run about is a series 2A, I pay £0 for tax as its pre 73 so exempt and as its insured via a landie specialist insurance broker, my insurance is £183 a year. Thats for fully comp, with off-roading and green laning, recovery (incl blocks of 35 days recovery in mainland europe). There are no expensive ECU's to go wrong and most work can be carried out with only two spanners a screwdriver and of course a hammer. My 10 year old can now rewire the lights as its that simple to maintain. Its been giving good service for 50 years now and should give another, so inmy opinion there is no argument, its the perfect BOV.
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Maddosammo
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Location: Greater Manchester

Why 4x4?

Post by Maddosammo »

pebblemonkey wrote:My daily run about is a series 2A, I pay £0 for tax as its pre 73 so exempt and as its insured via a landie specialist insurance broker, my insurance is £183 a year. Thats for fully comp, with off-roading and green laning, recovery (incl blocks of 35 days recovery in mainland europe). There are no expensive ECU's to go wrong and most work can be carried out with only two spanners a screwdriver and of course a hammer. My 10 year old can now rewire the lights as its that simple to maintain. Its been giving good service for 50 years now and should give another, so inmy opinion there is no argument, its the perfect BOV.

That is my idea of heaven. I want a car that simple that you can mend with a hammer.


So yeah perfect BOV

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Sam

Area 9
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hardcider
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Re: Why 4x4?

Post by hardcider »

nice bov looked at a few pre 73 landies and they all needed a lot of work maybe one day