MrTinKicker
New Member
- Joined
- March 15, 2011
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Jasper, Alabama
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2004 Toyota Tacoma
Hello everyone. I've got a question, and I had no idea where to post it, so I figured this was as good a place to get direction as any. Just tell me which other area I need to be in if I've messed up.
I'm a prepper, and I'm looking to build a Bug Out Vehicle (BOV). I made a short list of potential rides based on a few criteria:
1) Big enough SUV to carry up to six people (including driver) out of a disaster area. That's me, my wife and son, my mom and dad who live next door, and my 95 year old grandmother. No one left behind lol. Comfort isn't a primary issue...survival is.
2) Small enough to be decent on fuel usage. I need good potential range (think, running from a hurricane like Katrina).
3) Small enough to be nimble in unimproved forest areas like fire lanes and overgrown roads.
4) 4WD for the above missions and for getting over obstacles on highways and back roads.
5) Automatic trans for towing. Ever pulled a trailer offroad over rutted, uneven ground? Heck on a clutch.
6) Not too difficult to eliminate the computer controls and simplify the whole thing. An EMP will fry a car's computer. Dead.
I worked it down to American vehicles only because of popularity and other technical points (like, I don't want timing belt engines). I dropped the Durango because it's on the funky end of Chrysler fubar engineering and its tranny sux. The S10 Blazer is too candy coated for me to respect it.
Long story shorter I ended up looking at the Explorer and the small Cherokee.
Of the two, I'm having a big mental debate because the Explorer is so common here where I live. That means that when the SHTF, I'll be able to scrounge parts easily. I've always been primarily a Ford guy, so I'm comfortable with it. The 4.0 OHV is a proven engine. The 8.8" is wonderful. I'm not sure about the strength of the transmissions, or the transfer cases.
The Cherokee, I've done some research on. The 4.0 inline is unbreakable and a torque monster. Actually, it's much more powerful than the Ford. The AW4 is a great transmission. The 231 transfer case is rock solid. Get it with a Chrysler 8.25" and you're good to go. Parts and accessories for the Jeep are cheap and very common. But the problem with the Jeep is that where I live there are almost none of them. Scrounging will be so tough! I checked total build numbers, and the Explorer is somewhere over 5 million total run where the Cherokee only hit just under 3 million before it was dropped. I guess that explains a lot of the availability discrepancy I'm seeing.
Other things are that the Cherokee just seems more agile than the Explorer, and it seems to be extremely easy to convert from computer control.
NOW...I didn't say all of this to start a war. I just need some clear, accurate advice. Somebody with experience in anything like what I need please give me some information that will help me make up my mind. I'd love for the Explorer to have the potential I seem to have found in the Jeep, but I just don't have any experience with them to know.
If I haven't been clear in any way, please ask me to clarify. And I'll be glad to move to another thread area, or have an admin reclassify this thread, if appropriate. I thank anyone who can help.
I'm a prepper, and I'm looking to build a Bug Out Vehicle (BOV). I made a short list of potential rides based on a few criteria:
1) Big enough SUV to carry up to six people (including driver) out of a disaster area. That's me, my wife and son, my mom and dad who live next door, and my 95 year old grandmother. No one left behind lol. Comfort isn't a primary issue...survival is.
2) Small enough to be decent on fuel usage. I need good potential range (think, running from a hurricane like Katrina).
3) Small enough to be nimble in unimproved forest areas like fire lanes and overgrown roads.
4) 4WD for the above missions and for getting over obstacles on highways and back roads.
5) Automatic trans for towing. Ever pulled a trailer offroad over rutted, uneven ground? Heck on a clutch.
6) Not too difficult to eliminate the computer controls and simplify the whole thing. An EMP will fry a car's computer. Dead.
I worked it down to American vehicles only because of popularity and other technical points (like, I don't want timing belt engines). I dropped the Durango because it's on the funky end of Chrysler fubar engineering and its tranny sux. The S10 Blazer is too candy coated for me to respect it.
Long story shorter I ended up looking at the Explorer and the small Cherokee.
Of the two, I'm having a big mental debate because the Explorer is so common here where I live. That means that when the SHTF, I'll be able to scrounge parts easily. I've always been primarily a Ford guy, so I'm comfortable with it. The 4.0 OHV is a proven engine. The 8.8" is wonderful. I'm not sure about the strength of the transmissions, or the transfer cases.
The Cherokee, I've done some research on. The 4.0 inline is unbreakable and a torque monster. Actually, it's much more powerful than the Ford. The AW4 is a great transmission. The 231 transfer case is rock solid. Get it with a Chrysler 8.25" and you're good to go. Parts and accessories for the Jeep are cheap and very common. But the problem with the Jeep is that where I live there are almost none of them. Scrounging will be so tough! I checked total build numbers, and the Explorer is somewhere over 5 million total run where the Cherokee only hit just under 3 million before it was dropped. I guess that explains a lot of the availability discrepancy I'm seeing.
Other things are that the Cherokee just seems more agile than the Explorer, and it seems to be extremely easy to convert from computer control.
NOW...I didn't say all of this to start a war. I just need some clear, accurate advice. Somebody with experience in anything like what I need please give me some information that will help me make up my mind. I'd love for the Explorer to have the potential I seem to have found in the Jeep, but I just don't have any experience with them to know.
If I haven't been clear in any way, please ask me to clarify. And I'll be glad to move to another thread area, or have an admin reclassify this thread, if appropriate. I thank anyone who can help.
