Australian Offroad Academy: 6 reasons to build a 4x4

Vehicle manufacturers do a pretty good job of building safe, comfortable and capable 4x4s.

What they also do, is give us options.

Right now, as I tap this out on my phone, there are 15 vehicles below me on the vehicle deck of the Kingfisher Bay Resort Barge.

There's a Camry, and 2 delivery trucks, so we'll look at the other 12.

2 prados

1 Pajero

1 Landcruiser ute

2 BT50s

2 Rangers
1 Hilux

1 Triton

A 100 series

And a patrol ute with a great canopy setup.

That's 12 different vehicles, 12 different kinds of owners and 12 different plans.

Here's 6 ways that people build their 4x4s, there's others of course...

1. The school run.

Range Rover, so much underestimated ability.

Bags, dogs, friends, soccer or karate practice: there's plenty of reasons to want the practicality of a 4x4 ute or wagon. Maybe you have three kids and one row of seats just doesn't cut it. Maybe you have two kids who have lots of friends.

Your vehicle build might be limited to seat covers and DVD players, and that does what you need.

You might have a fur baby rather than kids, that fur baby might be very furry and the practicality of a ute with a canopy could be just what you are looking for for trips to the beach.

The BT/Ranger - Tradies can now go almost anywhere.

2. The work ute

Brickie, builder, vet and mobile mechanic need a vehicle with flexibility, tow capacity and functionality.

It's likely that 4x4 would only be engaged if the job site is wet or slippery. The build might comprise of floor mats, tow packs, drawers and maybe even a dual battery for the fridge.

The FJ Cruiser has all the traction options.

3. The weekend escape

School run midweek, camper trailer hauler on the weekend. The owners of this car need to be mindful of keeping the around town manners that we expect of a modern 4x4 while carefully choosing their modifications to enable them to get out and about further and safer than their stock vehicle will allow.

It's likely that you'll find a UHF radio, mats, seat covers, bullbar and driving lights, entertainment for the kids and a set of aftermarket tyres, possibly a diff lock, but probably some standard form of traction control.

4. The purpose built tourer

The Patrol ute downstairs comes to mind. The owners of this vehicle have taken the stock car as a platform to customise and improve.

Radios, dual batteries, traction aids, bar work, quality winch, customised storage solutions, roof racks and any number of clever solutions to unique problems.

This owner is very proud of their 'never-quite-finished' project.
And then there's this.

I can think of so many places I want to go.

The GQ and its friends are a great place to enter the game.

5. The entry level

Here we find 80 series cruisers, previous generation utes and many other genuine used car yard treasures. These owners are still working out where on the Offroad spectrum they belong and as such often have a not completely lucid view of what mods their vehicle needs.

It is here that we find 'entry level' winches and modified eBay finds.

These owners are learning heaps, and having a ball (and often have an inflated view of what their 'built not bought' gem is worth come trade-up time).

6. The 'comp truck'

These are the cars built to perform either high speed events or very slow speed events. Each needs it's own specialised equipment.

This is the domain of massively modified long travel coil suspension, crawler gears, roll cages, high speed winches and body armour.

The owners of these vehicles have built a dedicated Offroad machine, without the compromise of needing to maintain road worthiness. (Of course no one would drive such a heavily modified vehicle on road, would they. )

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We all have different reasons to go Offroad, some of us even have multiple 4x4s, each built for different tasks, and there would be many examples of vehicles transitioning between usage needs as their owners have begun to discover more of the attraction of going off road.