Looking at buying my first 4WD

[chrisj1982]

Hey all,

me and the wife have "FINALLY"  committed to doing the big lap after putting it off long enough we are both sick of the rat race and are looking to buy and kit out our first 4WD and build our own camper for the trip, am posting to ask some advice for any of the forum users about the pros and cons of our narrowed down list.

We are looking to either get a post 2005 Mitsubishi Triton or a Toyota Hilux SR5 ( probs a 2005-09 Model ), diesel/ Auto any advice would be appreciated from current owners, we are looking to do a fair bit of sand & offroad driving as well as longer touring as well as towing.

basically whats your experiences with either of the 4wd's?

[Owie]

I had a 2010 Triton for work until recently, it may have just been that models Auto, but I would not touch the auto.  It was scary to drive down hills, as it basically just rolled with no engine braking. 
Then very heavy on the brakes since the other option was a crash.  I am not a dan if just rolling down long hills.

I have a 2011 Hilux manual and love it.

[achjimmy]

Hi Chris

Iam not sure about what Owie said, but I find a lot of autos suck for engine braking unless you knock them back a cog. That said both vechiles you are looking at are good, with maybe the Toyota having better build quality. But given the recent sales specials on tritons I would imagine you could get a far later model for the same money as an older Hilux . Good luck.

[Alan Loy]

With autos you can get good engine braking if you can lock the torque converter.  It is similar to a manual.  I had Wholesale Automatics fir one to my Patrol, they're available for most 4WDs.

http://www.automatictransmission.com.au/release.asp?NewsId=42068