Back in the day i was into muddin’ etc… as far as 4 cyl’s you couldnt beat the late 80’s early 90’s toyota’s with the 22R(or re? i think) motors. Parts were pentiful and cheap. Those things would climb out of anything with some decent tires on them. Certainly not powerhouses by any means but great little trucks
you can do a lot with 4 cyl’s but its all about gears and tires. once you do that stuff the drivability and MPG’s go away. just like most things. its either efficient or fun… not both
I’d have to agree. I was of the mentality of I’d rather push my American made truck than to drive an import.
After owning 2 of the big 3, & having more problems than I think is acceptable & almost no dealer help, I switched to the dark side. For the last 2 years I’ve owned a Nissan Titan. Hate to admit it but it is the best truck I’ve owned. Does everything good. Gets 16 MPG which is at par with my Chevy & much better than my Dodge. I really believe GM (and fomoco & mopar) put out a good truck but I won’t buy another one untill the Top brass allow the dealers fix problems instead of saying the noise or problem is “normal” and give the vehicle back unrepaired.
Yea but sometimes you just gotta do work son and get it done LOL
But really 4 bangers for the most part will be fine for off roading with proper gearing. One thing you can think about is gearing it to stock depending on what size tire you have then going with a 4:1 transfer case to give you a lot better off road power, you wont have much for speed but the torque will be there.
He asked for my opinion on 4 cyl trucks. I provided it. Question answered. More useful post than yours, I might add.
I’d have to go with the OG Toyota Helux / tacoma T100 type thing
What about a 4 cylinder Wrangler? They were slow as balls but didn’t do too badly off road.
First gen CRV with a 5 speed and boost…
you sillybilly. i didnt mean that i wanted to go fast in 4L. i was using it as a gauge for how short or tall a ideal gearset for a low power 4x4 vehicle would be. if it has 5 gears and it tops out at 55, then thats pretty darn short.
i can idle around the yard in first in 4l and barely move.
i watched a 4x4 competition video a while back and a samurai placed 4th overall and might have done even better if they didnt break something in the last event (only had 3wd after a hub broke cause of a foolish manuever) and then foolishly didnt stow away the winch cable and it got caught in the front end and got the thing totally stuck in a water pit.
some of the other vehicles were sick. tube frame things with military axles. crazy.
other than that issue, the thing rocked. totally manueverable compared to every other vehical, enough power (with the tracker 1.6L 16v in it) to rock at everything other than the drag race on pavement and it was a little slow at a hillclimb but made it. they used toyota axles.
as far as tires and gas mileage, you dont have to go down the street with super swampers every day. you can save them for fun later. 
Brian
Thanks for all the comments,
I guess i wasn’t specific enough, I’m not looking for an extreme offroader just something decent and I can be able to go out in a snowstorm and go through it all (to a realistic extent) and alittle off road, but still have decent mpg’s. normally I would agree with all the foreign bs but those engines are tough and normally last long. plus im on a budget so a new truck is out of the question.
Obviously you have never been off-roading in a late 80s 'yota, or Samurai. Any smart off-roader knows they power isn’t the most important factor in your vehicle choice.
And you can make a camaro into a monster truck. Point is, hopefully he gets off the 4 cylinder track and into something better before he makes a choice based on gas mileage or something and is disappointed.
toyota /thread.
i had a 1997 Nissan 4X4 w/ a 2.4L 4-banger, 32" BFGs-
i averaged ~13mpg in the summer, ~11 in the winter (mostly hwy)
i almost never used/needed the 4x4-
my $.02-
get something w/ a V6/inline 6
just get a tracker. only thing that stops me is 2" of wet snow and im on stock tires. cheap and gets great mileage for what it is. 27-28 in 4wd in the winter. 30 on a highway trip. more if you dont go 75 everywhere.
those who have/had toyotas, what was the mileage?
Brian
right now my dd is a 97 wrangler 2.5l 4cyl with 4.10 gears. i have 4.75" of lift and 33X12.50 mud tires (mud tires get even worse mpg) on it and i get 23 mpg if i am nice to it. i can also still pull enough highway speed to worry about tickets (most can’t). if you decide to go this route DO NOT i repeat DO NOT get an automatic, you will hate your life. the hartop is great for winter and going topless is amazing. if you want anymore info let me know
QFmothafuckinT
toyota short bed standard cab 4x4 > *
umm thats not saying much? or am i missing something lol.
oops. i meant 2 feet lol
Brian