Two Letters Re: Bug Out Vehicles

Hi Jim,
More food for thought, this time regarding vehicles. I’m hoping to someday do some expedition type of travel. This link to Expeditions West discusses and rates a few vehicles best suited for the purpose. These are not necessarily for the purpose of getting the family and supplies out of the city, hauling a huge trailer, but are more intended for long cross country unsupported ‘expedition’ type of travel. If I seriously needed to bug out and hide deep in the Yaak [River Valley of western Montana] for example, my restored 1985 short bed Toyota [pickup] with 235/85/16’s would be hard to beat, and hard to follow down narrow forest roads. Not only capable and tough, but also one of the most efficient when it comes to payload verses fuel economy. I would choose this one over more modern ones, but an old Toyota is not for everyone. Fortunately there are brand new choices which are also good.

The Expedition Portal.com discussion board is all about setting up vehicles for serious off roading. These guys are not your typical 4X4er. Big wide tires and snarling V8 engines, or rock crawling is not the topic, but leisurely comfortable travel across all terrains for extended periods is the goal. One can hardly believe the rigs some of these guys have built. Here is one build which could be consider ideal. – Erick

 

James:
This relates to the latest discussion on bug-out vehicles, Isuzu Troopers, diesels, etc. Seems to me, if someone want a bug-out vehicle, the ability to use different types of fuel blends, simplicity, and good parts availability are all important attributes.

I live in a pretty rugged area and have owned many Isuzus – including 4WD mini-trucks and Troopers. The Trooper is pretty rugged as far as the drivetrain goes, but has lousy sheet-metal and frame – and to a degree – poor parts availability. I had several gas and diesel Troopers. Gas models rarely did better than 20 MPG on a flat highway, but my diesel 4WD Trooper consistently got 27 MPG – city or highway – the mileage pretty much stayed the same. My last Trooper was a 1986 with the 2.2 turbo-diesel. I ran it to 320,000 miles until the body/frame fell to pieces due to rust. I still have the engine. Isuzu makes some of the most rugged small diesels in the world – and that’s what is usually running the little refrigerator-units on truck-trailers. I’ve got a 1981 Chevy Chevette with the Isuzu 1.8 diesel – and it gets 48 MPG highway. Also have an 85 Isuzu 4WD mini-truck with the 2.2 diesel and it gets 27 MPG no matter how you drive it. It too has the awful rust problems as the Troopers do.
In regard to newer diesels such as the Ford Excursion with the Navistar (International Harvester) 7.3? Rugged engines, lousy fuel mileage, and too many electronic controls. Ford never made an SUV of any sort with the pre-1994 mechanically controlled diesel setup. Hard to work on, parts are expensive, no net-gain. The Excursion is basically a heavy truck made to look like an SUV.
Many newer diesels with electronic controls will not run on dyed diesel, heating oil, etc. Some that will run, get damaged from it. With older, pre 1995s – you don’t get that problem. My neighbor/farmer recently had a funny experience when he put farm-fuel (dyed) into his new Chevy truck with the Isuzu “Duramax” diesel. It went into “limp mode” and would not go faster than 20 MPH. He had to drain the tank, and put highway-pump diesel back into it.

General Motors is the only U.S. company to ever make a light-weight diesel and install it into a lightweight truck or SUV. Yes, International Harvester sold Scout SUVs (before the acronym SUV was invented) and they used Nissan diesels. I drove two 1979 diesel Scouts for years as service-vehicles for a John Deere dealership. They used 198 cubic inch (3.2 liter) Nissan diesels and were good for 25 MPG highway. They were rugged vehicles with lousy sheet metal and lousy handling.
There were a few other diesel “oddballs” but not offered in 4WD. Dodge offered a full-size 2WD, 1/2 ton truck late 70s with a Mitsubishi 6 cylinder diesel. They dropped it after one year. Chevy sold S10 2WD trucks with Isuzu 2.2 diesels, and Ford sold 2WD Rangers with Mazda diesels.

If your fuel of choice is diesel – JP8 military fuel, vegetable oil, heating oil, etc. – and you want a truck that you can easily find parts for – new, used, and cheap – you’d better stick with a pre-1994 Chevy, GMC, Ford, or Dodge (with some lee-way as to year and make). Chevy and GMC are the only ones that made 1/2 ton trucks and SUVs with the diesels. Starting 1982, GM offered 4WD Blazers, and 1/2 ton Suburbans and trucks with the 6.2 diesels. If geared properly – any of them can get 22 MPG highway. My 87 diesel Suburban with the 6.2 made it to 520,000 miles before the engine failed. The 6.2 and later 6.5 engines are basically the same – but for civilian use changed over to problematic electronic controls in 1994. Military models are still using mechanical injection systems.
Ford never made a light truck or SUV with the Navistar diesel. HD 3/4 trucks were sold from 1983 to mid-1994. Mid-1994 the 7.3 diesel got changed over to the Powerstroke – and it uses some electronics and is complicated. The older Ford diesels are very rugged and easy and cheap to work on. Expect around 14 MPG average highway mileage from most – although some do a bit better with proper gearing.

If you want a diesel 4WD truck – the GMs are good for light work and offer good fuel mileage. If you want the truck for heavy work – the Fords or Dodges are much better. And – of those two – nothing compares to the Cummins 5.9 diesel engine that is used in the Dodge trucks. It is extremely rugged – and fuel efficient at the same time. Also, if you want to run questionable fuels, including home-brews of vegetable oils, thin arctic or military diesel, etc. – a diesel that uses an “in-line” injection pump is much more durable than a “rotary” type pump. Dodge-Cummins sold some trucks that use these in-line pumps – while all the others use rotaries.
No matter what you buy and/or build, there is always some compromise. My “ultimate” bug-out vehicle – for the moment – is my 92 Dodge 3/4, ex[tended]-cab, 4WD diesel truck. It consistently gets 21 MPG highway and 17 MPG mixed driving. It will run on many types diesel-type fuels, has amazing torque for heavy pulling, it’s easy to work on, etc. Only negatives are -the Cummins-powered trucks are popular and therefore expensive – even the older trucks with 600,000 miles on them. Also, cheap used parts are not common. My truck has 80 gallons in mounted fuel tanks plus an aux. 55 gallon tank I can stick in with quick-couplers if needed. That gives close to a 3,000 mile cruise-range. I have a slide-on camper for it and can also pull a trailer loaded with equipment. It has an on-board heater that runs on diesel fuel. It will heat the camper and truck cab when the engine is not running, and also work as an engine block heater for cold-weather starting. The camper is hooked to four deep-cycle batteries, a 3000 watt inverter, and has two Kyocera 120 watt solar panels that mount to the roof when parked.

One more comment – if “cheap” is the operative word – you can’t beat the GM diesels. They are found all over – and I have over forty of them sitting in my fields, inside my barns, etc. A diesel 4WD Blazer, Suburban or truck can usually be bought in the price ranges of $200 – $1000. Many don’t have high miles like the Fords and Dodges do – since many of the GMs are light vehicles not used as much for long-haul towing. Since our military still uses the basic GM diesel engine, and had thousands of diesel 1 1/4 ton trucks and 1/2 ton Blazers in the 80s – parts are all over via military surplus.
One example – I recently bought a 1/2 ton, 4WD, 1991 diesel Suburban from the local school district. Runs perfect, has 130K miles on it, and I bought it for $225 on sealed-bid. – John from Central New York