Vehicles

, ,

A home in the bed of your truck: Four Wheel Campers

, ,

FWC has been an OX sponsor since the beginning.

Over the years, we have been through a lot of vehicle-based camping setups, beginning with a couple of sleeping bags rolled out on the roof rack of my FJ40. We’ve gone minimalist with backpacking tents and stoves, luxurious with family-sized cabin tents and padded cots. We’ve tried roof tents, trailers, truck-bed mattresses. For some time we owned a WilderNest, a pickup shell with a cunning roof that flipped sideways to turn into a bed, with an enormous tent erected semi-automatically above it. I remember spending a mostly sleepless night trying to brace the frame of that spinnaker-like tent in a 40mph Sea of Cortez Norte. It was never quite the same afterward.  Of all the setups that have come and gone, the one about which we wax most nostalgic is our Four Wheel Camper. Mounted first on a 1990 4WD Toyota pickup powered by a willing but overmatched 22RE four-cylinder, then on a 2000 4WD Tacoma with the 3.4-liter six (60 percent more power and better gas mileage), we put over 150,000 miles on that camper, using it as a mobile base for dozens of freelance magazine assignments and several books.

, , ,

Land Rover's Terrain Response explained

, , ,

Greetings! 

I recently purchased a 2011 Land Rover LR4 HSE with the heavy-duty package.  I’d like to know in detail how the Terrain Response system works so that I can make full use of it.  Simple labels on the settings, like “Snow,” “Sand,” etc., are not enough! In particular, I’d like to know all of the vehicle’s attributes that are controlled by the Terrain Response system (such as throttle response, transmission, brakes, electronic traction control) and how each is modified in each of the settings.  

I have tried to get this information from Land Rover USA and from my dealer with no success.  Surely this information is available. How can I find it? 

Thanks!

Jan N,  Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

 

Overland Review: Sportsmobile, 50 years strong

Put the words “conversion” and  “van” in the same sentence, and you’re likely to induce imagery of smoked bubble windows and orange shag carpeting. You can almost hear strains of KC and the Sunshine Band. A Sportsmobile is a different beast. More a remanufactured overlanding vehicle on a Ford or Chevy platform than a mere “conversion,” the Sportsmobile is not only a seminal product in its field (2011 marks the company’s 50th anniversary), but can be configured as a heavy-duty, four-wheel-drive, self-contained camper capable of extended journeys in the most remote regions on earth. 

To buy or not to buy: 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser

I currently drive two different vehicles—a fuel sipping Ford Focus, mostly to cover the short distance to work, and a fuel-guzzling Ford F-250 diesel, mostly for fishing and hunting . My wife has been encouraging me to downsize my fleet and recently observed that one of her friends has a ’91 Land Cruiser for sale. “What about something like that?” was her question to me; it could get me out to some remote fishing spots as well as fit a couple car seats for transporting kids (which my old truck doesn’t do so well). 

And so, I’ve been doing a little bit of looking into Land Cruisers. I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind.

-  This vehicle originally came from the States and has a fair number of miles on it (250,000). How many is too many? I’m currently driving a truck with 225,000 miles.  So, it wouldn’t be a whole lot more than what I’m already driving, but certainly wouldn’t be a step toward a lesser-used vehicle, which would be nice for peace of mind.

-  What sort of a ball-park price do you think is reasonable for a vehicle of that vintage? Obviously you won’t know the exact condition, but it seems to be in reasonable shape for its age.  There is a bit of surface rust starting to show up on the back door, below the window, and just above the windshield. I don’t think that it has been abused, but it hasn’t been babied either.

-  Would I be better off spending a bit more for a lower mileage vehicle? I need to keep my total purchase price below $10,000. This one is well below that. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of these available in Alberta, from what I’ve been able to find. I’d potentially consider importing something from the States if that made sense.

-  Are other options worth looking at instead?  I’ve thought about Jeeps (Wrangler and Cherokee) or picking up a 4Runner, both of which are probably better on fuel and a whole lot more common.  I’d love to have a Tacoma, but won’t be able to find a 4-door in my price range.

Thanks for your feedback,

Robert Anderson via email, Blairmore, Alberta, Canada