WTB small 4x4 farm use truck, any advice?

[Senor_Taylor]

Engaging the 4wd is a two part process.

Shifting the J lever into 4hi or 4lo engaged the transfer case to the front drive shaft, which spins the front axle. However, the front axles are not connected to the front wheels unless you turn the switch on the hubs.

When not in 4wd, the front hubs should be unlocked to avoid needless wear on the front axles, diff, and driveshaft and to increase fuel economy.

Do not engage 4wd on anything except a loose surface. The front diff should be an open diff, I believe, so you could theoretically leave the hubs locked and drive with the transfer case in 2wd

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[ScottyB]

pass inspection?

probably the actual reason he's selling it

This is madness

nope, just Channing

Engaging the 4wd is a two part process

basically what he said. the hub locks engage the front axles to their wheels and they exist so you can choose to not spin the front axles for no reason in 2WD which creates a ton of unnecessary drag. the transfer case shifter only engages or disengages power to the front diff. essentially you can engage/disengage from true 4WD inside the cab at any time if you just leave the hubs locked, but you wouldn't want to do that just driving around.

[BLINGMW]

Do not engage 4wd on anything except a loose surface. The front diff should be an open diff...

So in 4wd with the hubs locked, that still allows the front wheels to turn at different speeds right? If it was a locked diff, then I could see how being on pavement would cause all kinds of noise and potentially broken stuff, but isn't it ok in this truck?

[Senor_Taylor]

Do not engage 4wd on anything except a loose surface. The front diff should be an open diff...

So in 4wd with the hubs locked, that still allows the front wheels to turn at different speeds right? If it was a locked diff, then I could see how being on pavement would cause all kinds of noise and potentially broken stuff, but isn't it ok in this truck?

Yes, but you don't have an open diff in the center. So one wheel in the front HAS to spin at the same speed as one wheel in the rear.
So essentially the same problem as a locked diff. So no, you can't drive 4wd on pavement. AWD can because they have a differential in the center instead of a transfer case (which is a two speed locked diff, basically)

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[BLINGMW]

ok thanks

[.RJ]

This is madness

nope, just Channing

Well, is there a cane in the bed?

For the rest of MM, this is the same guy that drove around atlanta for 5 years with expired tags in a busted ass E30 with the tailights out and exhaust falling off. I'd say he did pretty well here!

[BLINGMW]

Thanks for the mostly ignored advice, I bought it anyway!



'97 w 188k miles, auto, 4wd, everything but the radio is currently working and the drive home was uneventful. For a $3k vehicle I'm happy, I'll update you guys for laughs when I do something ghetto about the frame rust issue!

[Senor_Taylor]

These trucks literally snap in half. Get the rust fixed.

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[JPolen01]

Holy hell. Had no idea it was that bad. This reinforces my comment of utter madness before. Good luck!

[BLINGMW]

lol that one draped over the lift

[Evan]

lol that one draped over the lift

I love the 2 piles of rust flakes and dust directly underneath the frame rails

[Evan]

I know you bought this already, but did you look at a minitruck / kei truck?

https://japancardirect.com/mini-trucks-a...ei-trucks/

[BLINGMW]

I had forgotten all about them. Then drove down to rocky mt a few days ago and there's a tiny dealer with a couple of them sitting out front. I didn't have time to browse but next time will. Apparently Duncan in the NRV deals with them, but if 6k for a 1992 is the going rate, I'm feeling OK with my choice. 

http://www.duncanimports.com/shop-new-an...tPrice+asc&

[JPolen01]

Mini/kei trucks are always cool and they do seem to have good 4wd systems. But yes the asking price on them always seems to be extremely high.

[Senor_Taylor]

Imo, size of tires is more important than having good 4wd when it comes to a farm truck.

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[Evan]

I had forgotten all about them. Then drove down to rocky mt a few days ago and there's a tiny dealer with a couple of them sitting out front. I didn't have time to browse but next time will. Apparently Duncan in the NRV deals with them, but if 6k for a 1992 is the going rate, I'm feeling OK with my choice. 

http://www.duncanimports.com/shop-new-an...tPrice+asc&

yeah if you want to go buy one and drive it home, then they are overpriced.   But you can get them for half that or less by buying from one of the japanese companies that specializes in shipping cars to the states. They arent great on public roads though (and are pretty much deathtraps in a wreck) so it still may not fit your use case.

[BLINGMW]

You had me at deathtrap in a wreck

[.RJ]

so its basically an e30 with a bed?

[Kaan]

he's going to tip that thing over...

[BLINGMW]

For those upset about the frame rust, here's what it looked like when I bought it:



As promised it was worse than it looked after I cleaned it:





So, before it broke in half, for 150 bucks now it looks like this:




And I already went out and got it stuck in the mud today, yay!