We love our Hiace Diesel Camper,  but on our last trip we realised we tend to take it where we realy should not venture. 

Enjoy going down  those  "iffy"  tracks and camping in those magic places you find along them. 
Then maybe it rains,  "well" need I say more.
 
  We decided perhaps we realy do need a 4x4 after getting bogged   on a flat  stretch of track in a Pic Nic area of all places.   Just a one and a half K's from the main road.  Frustrating as we could not get it out ouselves with our limited recovery gear.    
Had eventualy to have a bit of a pull from  a young feller passing in his 4x4. But it took ages to flag anyone down.  

We are  looking at having a slide on unit or similar sort of thing built.  Or one straight  off the shelf as we saw today.
Then we wondered what vehicle to put it on. Hilux, Navarra,  Rodeo !!!!!!  

Then passing the car yard today noticed  the Isuzu D Max 4x4 diesel.  We did not think Isuzu built small vehicles.  But there you go, enough big trucks around with the Isuzu name on, but what about these little  3 litre jobs.
Has anyone on the forum got any opinions or advice on these vehicles.

Any feed back would be appreciated.

Regards
Ellie and Mike 

-- Edited by elliemike on Saturday 19th of June 2010 08:58:01 PM

Isuzu built the Holden Rodeo and Jackaroo.

For a comparison of the available utes see Ute Comparison However remember it is 12 months old and there some changes to the models - notably the Triton which now has a 2,5 l diesel motor and a tow capacity of 2,700 kg.

Look at the Mazda BT50 as well

blaze wrote:

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you could always fit a small 5000 lb winch to your camper or get a hayman reece type portable and put an adoptor on the front, you could then use it front and back
cheers
blaze

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We could,     
But we are getting up to the limit as it is with our present standard load. Dont think we should put any more weight on. 
Also  our ground clearance has been tested a few times in various places.  We bottomed out last trip as well,  going very slow along deep wheel ruts.
Hmmm
Regards
Mike and Ellie

 

Hi All, Well there is plenty to look over there, We also have looked at the isuzu D max 4+4 tray.. I do think they are the pick of the bunch..But how much do you take with you when going camping..Us heeps, so much so we are looking at a isuzu truck the small one , we could take the boat outboard, fuel and water to the way out spots..And the quad for going up the beach...Smile where do you stop..Isuzu do make the best trucks and motors so anything with that up front wont let you down...Good luck in taking it all when camping...Bob n Bev

have a look at http://www.freedomoffroad.com.au/ there what im dreaming off , mazda bt50 freestyle with northstar slide on camper ..

Thanks for the pic Milo
Yep! We would like sommat like that as well.

Just looking at all sorts on combinations at present. 
Even considering the Avan Cruiseliners as well,   with a reliable tow vehicle.
 
Early days yet though,  still got another trip booked in the Hiace,  later this year North of Perth,  to chase Wild Flowers.  Coalseam Conservation Park is a  place we like to start from.
Regards
Mike and Ellie

Hey Guys n Gals, Just thought I'd throw my two bobs worth into the ring, I own and am extremely happy with a Ssangyong Actyon Dual Cab Ute, they are $32000 i think thats including on but dont quote me in it. I have put just over 50k on mine in 3 years and the only failure I have had is a cast aluminium bracket gave way the other week, I have had mine in some pretty rugged country out the back of Queensland and would highly recommend it as a general purpose vehicle to anyone looking for a low cost high quallity 4x4. This is the owners club forum url; http://www.ssangyong4wdclubofaustralia.org/phpbb/ & here is the manufacturers Australian site; http://www.ssangyong.com.au Well worth the look when looking at new vehicles, on a side note I did wuite a bit of research and the Actyon's crash test results were quite good but I found some quite unsettling crash test results for the Chinese Great Wall and indian Mahindra utes, they didn't fair very well at all. Make sure you do your homework on the fuel economy side as well, Ssangyong quotes 8/100 for the Actyon, I actually get about 9.5/100 fully laden with a4.4 seajay with 60l of fuel in tow, this is about the same in the city unladen. Cheers Grumpy

Often looked at them but only ever known one person who had one, (my accountant just before he bought a Porche)   
I remember the first Toyotas to reach the UK,   were thought of,  and talked about,  just the same as Hyundai and Ssang Yeong are now.

One of my tick boxes is for availability of parts in rural  (up North) Australia.
We were up there with friends not so long ago. Waited for a new water pump for a VW T4 for week in Tom Price.  So even the Isuzu / Rodeo might have availability probs.  Toyotas   are just everywhere, as the man in the garage at Tom Price said. Got a spare pump for almost all models in stock in town.

Thanks for the input though.
Regards
Mike

blaze wrote:

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you could always fit a small 5000 lb winch to your camper or get a hayman reece type portable and put an adoptor on the front, you could then use it front and back
cheers
blaze

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good idea never though of that , mnes a toyota light truck with c/v body fitted