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New (ultimate) Survey Chariot
Posted by stlsurveyor on November 26, 2018 at 2:11 pmThe final details are to be revealed this Wednesday. This may become a standard vehicle for us surveyors…
Eric Kara replied 5 years, 4 months ago 20 Members · 41 Replies- 41 Replies
Jeep has had the Gladiator on the burner for a couple of years. Being a long term Jeep owner I’ve waited patiently for them to bring this to production…but I guess they waited too long; I’m probably gonna pass for now.
IMHO Jeeps are wonderful vehicles that aren’t in their environment UNTIL you get them off road. My main complaint is lack of space. Surveying out of a 2 door Wrangler requires “job specific” logistics and some gear gets left in the garage depending on the job. You would need a trailer to haul all the “usual” survey gear found in most other survey chariots. And don’t let the extra doors fool you, I don’t think the rear seats of “4 door” Jeep Wranglers are really built for normal sized adults, they seem cramped to me. But hopefully the bed of the Gladiator is long enough to wedge a tripod in there.
I have loved all the CJs, Cherokees and Wranglers I’ve owned over the years but working out of them requires an acquired taste due to the minimal storage room. Maybe the Gladiator will be different.
Too small for a survey rig, but I might get one as a trade-in for my Wrangler.
Well then there is this too……
https://www.toyota.com.au/main/hilux
Unbreakable. Seems to be especially across all of Africa, and Most of Asia. I want one of these.
- Posted by: Jitterboogie
Well then there is this too……
https://www.toyota.com.au/main/hilux
Unbreakable. Seems to be especially across all of Africa, and Most of Asia. I want one of these.
https://www.newsweek.com/why-rebel-groups-love-toyota-hilux-74195
- Posted by: Jitterboogie
Well then there is this too……
https://www.toyota.com.au/main/hilux
You can buy them here. They are called the Tacoma.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/tacoma/first-drive
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/difference-between-hilux-tacoma.85398/
Unbreakable. Seems to be especially across all of Africa, and Most of Asia. I want one of these.
Here is a thread I posted back some time..
https://surveyorconnect.com/community/general-chit-chat/why-i-drive-a-toyota-4-runner/#post-460271
in my neck of the woods Jeep does not enjoy a good reputation for either durability or capability.
rougher terrain I suppose
- Posted by: Peter Ehlert
in my neck of the woods Jeep does not enjoy a good reputation for either durability or capability.
rougher terrain I suppose
I agree. I personally think the reason most buy a “Jeep” is the same reason why most buy a Harley (sorry don’t want to offend some). I’ve owned a Jeep Cherokee and it was the biggest POS I have ever owned. I bought it brand new and it never made it to 100k miles.
- Posted by: StLSurveyorPosted by: Peter Ehlert
in my neck of the woods Jeep does not enjoy a good reputation for either durability or capability.
rougher terrain I suppose
I agree. I personally think the reason most buy a “Jeep” is the same reason why most buy a Harley (sorry don’t want to offend some). I’ve owned a Jeep Cherokee and it was the biggest POS I have ever owned. I bought it brand new and it never made it to 100k miles.
and now they are owned by Fiat, who are very known for reliability issues
We rented a Jeep Wrangler 4-door (a fancy “ultimate” model of some sort) earlier this month for our trip on Kaua’i. It was easy to drive and comfortable, but build quality and the quality of the components was rather low. The dash consisted of the lowest grade plastic and everything just felt very cheap. I’ve never been much of a Jeep fan and this experience solidified that.
Your friendly, virtual neighborhood Webmasterand now they are owned by Fiat, who are very known for reliability issues
Understatement ?
However…my dad had a Dino 2400 Spider (poor man’s Ferrari) when I learned to drive and I’d kill to still have that car
The Hilux are not unbreakable, it you want tough then look at the land cruiser 70 series. 4.5 litre V8 Diesel. These are used in mines, heavy construction, large farming operations in Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands.
https://www.toyota.co.nz/new-car/land-cruiser/land-cruiser-70/
I used a dual cab Hilux in the 1900’s and it was ok. And an early eighties long bed 2wd Hilux with canopy for years before that, they were very hard to kill way back then.
The Cheap (Jeep) seem to excel at being close to bottom of the vehicle reliability/ customer satisfaction surveys.
I’ve owned about everything, really looking forward to the new Bronco, the 4-Runner and the Tacoma were great, the three US trucks all have good and bad with them, but for my use in the field it’s the Ram 2500.
Purely for a work truck, I need the 8′ bed and the Ram is a better off-road rig, sits up higher.
For getting around town and up the hill the Wranglers have been perfect, and the re-sale value is off the charts here. The Tacoma is also a re-sale king, but I don’t need or want another truck.
To each his own, if I were driving down the highway all the time the Wrangler would not be the thing. But crossing the creek and going down a rough 4-wheel drive road, can’t beat it (with a couple of mods).
I hope it has the transmission/transfer case option to be able to “flat tow” it. We tow my wife’s Cherokee behind our motor home but it is one of the few vehicles that you can tow without a dolly or trailer.
Andy
- Posted by: James Fleming
and now they are owned by Fiat, who are very known for reliability issues
Understatement ?
However…my dad had a Dino 2400 Spider (poor man’s Ferrari) when I learned to drive and I’d kill to still have that car
I had a 1965 ASA 1000 and it was the first of the smaller cars that Enzo made. He would not let his name be on any car less than 12 cylinders, so, he formed the ill fated ASA brand. The Dino came later and it still could not, at least initially, be called a “Ferrari.” I could not help but notice that later Dino’s were called Ferrari’s though. I don’t think that the Fiat Dino was made by Fiat, and I too would love to have one as they were very cool cars
Jeeps ain’t Jeeps anymore. I learned how to drive a Jeep when I was 11 years old. After I received my learners permit to drive that jeep was driven over sand dunes, through knee deep mud. My buddy’s and I couldn’t get that thing stuck anywhere. It was a Willys Jeep which are not made anymore. Dammit. The stuff Chrysler/Fiat makes called Jeeps are junk.
?
I owned a 68 Commando, which also came in a Gladiator model. The bodies were Kaiser Frazier with a Buick 235. Very fun little vehicles…
I live about half an hour from these guys. They some pretty cool Jeep conversions. But I would hate to put that much in a work truck.
I don’t think the new Jeep Gladiator is large enough. Besides that, would you want to give the keys to that to a survey crew?
I’m thinking a 2500 Suburban with one of the rear seats taken out and a nice box built and that would be the better choice. You can pick them up used for cheap and put a bit of money in it to tune it up and build a proper box and you’re good to go.
Or a big Excursion.
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