I am a soon to be cruiser owner and am coming over from the dark side... Soon j**p and (hopefully) other four letter words will be mostly banished from my vocabulary.
Anyway, I am trying to gather information and opinions to guide me on my purchase of a BJ7something. The 80 series are nice, but a little large for what I need right now. I am thinking of contacting Wayne or one of the other importers and plunking down some cash to try and round me up a BJ74 that would meet my desires.
My current issue revolves more around a problem that goes kind of like this:
Should I go and buy a Cdn BJ70 beater to play with in the mean time? Is it one of those things that I will fall in love with and not care about the mileage or lack of room and not want the 74? Do I worry about getting one with no rust issues or find one that seems to be mechanically sound and not worry about body cancer? I believe that the 70s ride harsher than the 74s, but the ones I have driven don't seem too bad and since I have not driven a 74, I have no frame of reference. The RHD doesn't concern me too much, but my girlfriend thinks I'm nuts for even considering it, but well, she's not the boss quite yet. What are the relative merits and down sides between a 70 and 74? Hell, lets throw the BJ71 into the mix for good measure.
Yeah, a lot of questions, but I try to learn from others knowledge and mistakes.
I don't do a lot of major wheeling. I don't drive my own vehicle on a daily basis (company truck). I am not completely Cruiser illiterate - there is a fair bit of information floating around out there and it feels like I have read all of it. And I don't have the space or cash to get a whole bunch of these things, so I kind of want to do it the right way early on in my cruiser career.
Basically, what would you do if you were in my position and had to do it all over again knowing what you do now?
Thanks to all who post a response for your help.
Anyway, I am trying to gather information and opinions to guide me on my purchase of a BJ7something. The 80 series are nice, but a little large for what I need right now. I am thinking of contacting Wayne or one of the other importers and plunking down some cash to try and round me up a BJ74 that would meet my desires.
My current issue revolves more around a problem that goes kind of like this:
Should I go and buy a Cdn BJ70 beater to play with in the mean time? Is it one of those things that I will fall in love with and not care about the mileage or lack of room and not want the 74? Do I worry about getting one with no rust issues or find one that seems to be mechanically sound and not worry about body cancer? I believe that the 70s ride harsher than the 74s, but the ones I have driven don't seem too bad and since I have not driven a 74, I have no frame of reference. The RHD doesn't concern me too much, but my girlfriend thinks I'm nuts for even considering it, but well, she's not the boss quite yet. What are the relative merits and down sides between a 70 and 74? Hell, lets throw the BJ71 into the mix for good measure.
Yeah, a lot of questions, but I try to learn from others knowledge and mistakes.
I don't do a lot of major wheeling. I don't drive my own vehicle on a daily basis (company truck). I am not completely Cruiser illiterate - there is a fair bit of information floating around out there and it feels like I have read all of it. And I don't have the space or cash to get a whole bunch of these things, so I kind of want to do it the right way early on in my cruiser career.
Basically, what would you do if you were in my position and had to do it all over again knowing what you do now?
Thanks to all who post a response for your help.