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I have been a subscriber for a "few" years to 4Wheel & Off-Road, but it's getting progressively worse.  I subscribed tot he magazine for info and such on dedicated 4WD vehicles/buggies etc..  Now for 2 years running there has been some POS foreign made Junk on the cover pertaining to 4x4 of the year..

I guess at the end of this 2 year subscription, it is time to find a new 4x4 magazine dedicated to what I want, off road use, not the yuppie soccer mom garbage that seems to be taking over the magazine of current.

</rant>

With that said, I'm wondering how many other are considering this as well.  I might possibly return one day if intermittent issues at the news stand begin to intrigue me again, and contain less foreign SUV garbage.

I'm sick of it too.  However, I'm not sick of the magazine.  I'm sick of seeing Eurotrash arm themselves with rear lockers and an expensive price tag and win the 4x4 of the year awards.

My biggest gripe is with Ford, GM, and Dodge.  Why haven't they caught on to this trend?   Daimler Chrysler is the only one of the Big Three that caught onto this when they made the Rubicon.  How hard would it be to offer an optional locker?  I mean seriously, the VW Toureg wouldn't stand a chance against the new F-150 if it had a rear locker.  The Durango would be so much better and would do so much more with all those ponies if it came with an optional locker.  It's sickening how many selectable lockers there are on the market today, but none of them are finding their way into factory, American made 4x4's.  The two exceptions are the Rubicon and the original Hummer.  I don't think there are many people out there that would consider the H2 much more than a status symbol (different rant for a different day).

I've got to hand it to VW though, air ride suspension that raises and lowers depending on the terrain, with a rear locker, and according to 4WOR a central locker.  Would someone care to explain to me what exactly a central locker is???  I think it would be sweet if Ford used the Eddie Baurer 4x4 Expedition and tossed in the selectable rear locker.  They would just have to make the ride height manually adjustable, instead of an automatic open door/close door deal.

4WOR - You guys should incorporate some points into your scoring for being practical.   Even your judges agreed that a 50K price tag was to steep for them if they were to buy one and use it like you did when you tested them.  Nearly every vehicle you tested outside of the pickups was a soccer mom/grocery getter and will probably never be used for anything more than that.  The exception may be the occasional ski trip or fishing trip where 4 HI might be nice.  Another point against most of those SUV's is the fact that 90% of them will never have any aftermarket companies make lift kits for them or anything else.  How many VW's, Isuzu's, or Lexus's have you seen sporting 35's?  The Armada is basically a Nissan Titan without the bed so a Titan lift should fit.  I may be wrong since most people probably thought the same thing about the Jeep Liberty, but I don't think so.  Jeeps have always seemed to have an aftermarket following, regardless of what people thought.

Scoutnut

I'm with you on the eurotrash.  However, I don't even consider buying a truck less than 10 years old so who cares about the supposed 4x4 of the Year.  4WOR seems to think we all have the money and friends that they have.  What happened to all the Good Ole Boys trucks? You know the ones that look better with mud hiding the rust and dents!

Why does the featured truck always have a $2,500 paint job and plush interior?  If it was my truck that stuff wouldn't last a week!

Unfortunately, we don't have many choices in the magazines we buy.  At least the advertisers still carry parts for AMERICAN 4x4's.

I'm with you on the old trucks.  If it doesn't cost less than 4K, it's too much for me (and 4K is pushing it).  Old trucks are the way to go.  A good truck has a little puff of smoke out of the exhaust when you start it up in the morning due to worn valve guides.  It has a couple of dents with stories behind them, and unless it's from the dry Southwest, then it'll have rust too. 

I guess somebody on 4WOR staff actually thinks that a show n' go trailer queen actually qualifies as an offroad truck.  No one who puts that much money into chromed/painted shocks and chromed/painted undercarraige will take their truck anywhere more than a little puddle.  That would only happen for a photo shoot. 

Scoutnut

I have to disagree with isuzu though.  Sure the axiom and the ascender are not the best for offroad, but look at the Rodeos, Rodeo Sports (Amigo) and trooper.  Many of them came from the factory with standard Dana 44's and I believe they had beefier gears than most of the jeeps.  I personally drive a 92 Rodeo, it has the GM 3.1 TBI, and GM tranny.  Its a gutless wonder, but with a stout drivetrain.  It came with a 10 bolt rear found in s-10s and camaros, 4.56 gears front and rear, standard 31" tires that actually resembled a mud tire from the factory, and mine came with a LSD.  I cant forget the fully boxed frame.  Because of the lack of a good aftermarket, my lift consists of cranked T-bars, and a rear shackle lift for about 2-3"  I've also upgraded to Warn premium hubs.  My friend has a 93 cherokee with 30" tires on it.  Well, i've had to pull his jeep out of a mud hole where he sank it.  I live on a farm, so my truck sees farm duty as well, I've throw 750 pounds of feed in the back without even seeing the back end droop, pulled our tractor across the field after it stalled out, pulled it up a hill with the bucket on the ground in mud.  And all i have is a set of mud tires on it.  I would say Isuzu should get more credit than they are getting.  Id take my rodeo over my cousins range rover any day.  But as for the VW.  I cant help but wonder how much wheel travel they lose when the air suspension is in the offroad mode.  I think they should do a shootout between all the budget 4x4s including the rodeos, libertys, monteros, and anything else under $30,000.   

a few years back, either friebeger or pewe promised we would "never see another chromed shock in 4wor again". they were criticising the monster truck era of the mag and making a commitment to real world driveway tech. that was before the "rock buggy" revolution. i pitched  all my back issues last year so i would never be able to find it. i know i've seen chrome shocks in the mag lately and i would love to bust their balls over it. maybe someone could find it. the quote was in a 4xforward and it might have been the anniversary issue with the monster trucks on it. if we remind them, maybe they'll get back to the real world they promised the future of the mag would be dedicated to.  

I certainly agree w/ the eurotrash thing, it is getting old-not the mag though. I subscribe to it year after year, and will stick with it through the following years.

I really was pulling for Chevy this year (actually I do every year), with there Colorado. I guess it wasn't happenin' though. Which I don't blame 'em, because it really didn't empress me at all. I-5 engine? It probably is kinda torquey, but it would have been way cool with a v8 in the thing. Little LS1 in a midsize truck, with an optional locker and then with the same price tag, would have been alot better.

I'm suprised Ford didn't do as well either. There's a guy at work who bought one and it doesn't do all that bad off raod.

Oh well, next year it'll be a domestic.

Scoutnut---

The "central locker" in the Touareg is basically a viscous-coupling, limited-slip-type device in the transfer case which, in four-wheel drive, allows up to 100% of available torque to be transferred to either the front or rear axle, depending on traction needs. Range Rovers have used a similar system for many years. The system in the Touareg works amazingly well, as does the rear locker, which is almost "invisible" in operation. Throw in V-8 power, the versatility of a six-speed, a 50:1 crawl ratio (out of the box!) and three-way adjustable vehicle ride height, and you've got a 4x4 that's EXTREMELY capable off-road despite a near-total lack of flex and articulation.

For the record, guys, price IS a factor in 4-Wheel's scoring criteria, and the Touareg's relatively high price tag definitely hurt it---which is to say, it would've won the 4x4 of the Year test by a much bigger margin had it not been so pricey. Conversely, the Chevy Colorado was greatly helped by its relatively low price--which again is to say it would've fared much worse in the test if it came in costing a few grand more.

Douglas McColloch, Editorial Director

4-Wheel & Off-Road

Your quote:

"taking over the magazine of current"

Taking over the magazine? They do one deal on a VW and you say it is taking over the magazine?

C-YA........waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

yeah i think you should wheel a truck you can afford to smash into trees rocks and what ever else you might find.

i couldnt have fun in a truck if i had to worry about dents and stuff.

you dont have to beat your stuff up to have fun, but its more fun not worrying about it.

if you straighten out and paint your own trucks, you're only out your labor and a little cash in materials, if you cave in the side of you're brand new truck, you're out $5000 in depriciation against your loan. there's peace of mind knowing it's only gonna cost labor and it doesn't matter how the paint looks 'cause you're you're only in it a couple bills and you're probably gonna bash it again anyway. in 10-15 years, we'll probably be beatin' the crap out of tahoes, escalades, excursions, and navigators.  

Thanks for the info on the "central locker" in the Touareg.  That is definitely some good thought out engineering.  Even though I can't stand imports (regardless of how capable they may be) I've got to give credit where it's due.  If the American vehicle manufacturers would just get with the program, I have no doubt that we would be seeing more domestics with lower price tags taking home the 4x of the year award.

It seems that the foreign vehicle companies know that there is a big market for a capable 4x4 and they are delivering.  Toyota is the only reasonably priced, locker equipped import 4x4 though.  Here in the states all we have is the Rubicon, but that just won't get the job done for most of us.  We need something that we can use to haul or tow stuff with.  Until the Ford, GM, and Dodge realize this, we'll be stuck with a slightly less capable truck off road(as factory equipped).

Doug-

When the testing staff returns the vehicles to the manufacturers do you give them any input into what would really help their vehicle out or what most 4 wheelers would like to see come as a factory option?  It would seem that the magazines that test these vehicles could let the manufacturers know what the public would like to see much easier than the public could.  Just a thought.

Scoutnut

just a thought but maybe the big 3 don't offer the the offroad upgrades because of the aftermarket support here in the u.s. they can keep the sticker price down because they know if someone wants a locker, they can get one off the shelf at their local shop. i think most people that buy brand new don't even know what a locker does. they are just concerned with base price, ac, dvd,gps,power,and creature comforts. also, other countries may not have a highway system as advanced as ours. i could probably drive across the country in a car and never see pavement on national forest service roads without the need for 4 wheel drive. let alone just sticking to the interstates.

i'm sure the IH travelall was maketed as a soccer mom grocerygettin' family truckster when it was new. not a trim off the rust on the rear 1/4 panel and bolt 38's on badass cornbindin' offroad machine 25 years later. i'd like to see some old 4x4 of the year competitions on the rigs we build today. they probably got the same criticism. fsj's, blazers,broncos,pickups.

i think jeep has a strong aftermarket following because the market they concentrate on is the offroad market. history says even if you don't build your jeep vehicle for the trail today, somebody will in the future. (and a lot of jeep owners that wheel have a jeep dd as well like a cherokee or liberty. it's like a club or even a cult) just like chevy markets the most carlike comfy ride(they were the 1st to introduce ifs and the only 3/4 ton ifs for a long time) and ford is simply the best all around pickup advertising the best selling truck for what seems like "a million years running"

the manufacturers build what the customers want based on statistics and public feedback. jeep customers wanted offroad performance and dc delivered it with the rubi. when the public demands it from the others, i'm sure they will follow suit. wasn't intendeing to write an editotial, just trying to bring up alternative points of view that may not even reflect my feelings on the subject.

central locker is like a limited slip in the t-case. the jeep quadratrac and other all wheel drive units use it. it just makes  a front and rear tire turn at the same time if locked. i think a regular part time t-case is better. it's either in or out. no vacuum or electronic actuation. just mechanical shift linkage and gears.

As far as a locker being standard, I don't think it should.  However, it should be an option.  The Rubicon is an optional package to the Wrangler.  Ford should include a locker in their FX4 package, Chevy should also include one in their Z71 package, and Dodge should do the same.  If you're going to buy an offroad package, then you usually intend to do some 4 wheeling.  A locker would be a natural compliment to an offroad package.  Not to mention it would save the buyer the hassle and money of having to buy and install an aftermarket one.  Usually if it comes factory, it's going to be cheaper than buying it aftermarket.

Toyota, Nissan, and now VW caught on to this and decided to make their pickups and grocery getter SUV's truly capable offroad while silencing the critics.  They did a good job.  I wish the Big 3 would do the same.

Scoutnut