Who built...........
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 281
Likes: 0
From: Bearspaw (near Calgary)
Well now this is getting interesting! I used to own a 74 bronco. While it was a way cool vehicle, for strength and durability it doesn't hold a candle to my Toyota Landcruiser FJ40. I bought my cruiser after working in South America as a youngin doing oil exploration. We took down a whole fleet of Chevy's. 3/4 tons to 5 tons all rigged up. Well after 5 months every one of them had a bent frame. The locals laughed at us. They all drove landcruisers and believe it or not, old suzuki samuri type rigs with motorcycle engines. They were the only rigs that could survive the Amazon. That was enough convincing for me. When I got home I bought my FJ and have never regretted it.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 335
Likes: 0
From: riverton u.s
true 4 wheel drive would be any thing you could find with a new process model 203 t/c in it. like a 74 chevy 1/2 ton. the way to tell if its true is to look and see if it has 5 position stickI.E. 4L lock, 4L N, 4 hi, 4 hi lock. the lock indicates the t/c has been locked to put 50/50 power to both front and rear.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,711
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh
The 203 in "lock" would throw 50/50 front to rear just like any other transfer case. The issue here is 50/50 split left to right. A "standard" 4x4 with open diffs is really a 4x2 opposed drive, one wheel pulls up front, one pushes out back. Throw lockers in front and rear THEN you truly have a 4X4.
The scout my old man had HAD to have a twin stick T-case. it was fully locking front and rear so if you wanted to pull a tight turn or go over some rocks and not have the wheel ripped out of your hand you could slip the front axle out of drive and the rear axle would stay in what ever range you were in before. after pulling the sharp turn or avoiding the obstacle and straightening back out you then slipped the stick back to re-engage the front axle. The other part of this is that if you blew a rear axle or differential, you could slip the rear axle out of drive and drive home on the front axle. That there was a serious truck.
Justin
The scout my old man had HAD to have a twin stick T-case. it was fully locking front and rear so if you wanted to pull a tight turn or go over some rocks and not have the wheel ripped out of your hand you could slip the front axle out of drive and the rear axle would stay in what ever range you were in before. after pulling the sharp turn or avoiding the obstacle and straightening back out you then slipped the stick back to re-engage the front axle. The other part of this is that if you blew a rear axle or differential, you could slip the rear axle out of drive and drive home on the front axle. That there was a serious truck.
Justin
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,711
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh
The 203 in "lock" would throw 50/50 front to rear just like any other transfer case. The issue here is 50/50 split left to right. A "standard" 4x4 with open diffs is really a 4x2 opposed drive, one wheel pulls up front, one pushes out back. Throw lockers in front and rear THEN you truly have a 4X4.
The scout my old man had HAD to have a twin stick T-case. it was fully locking front and rear so if you wanted to pull a tight turn or go over some rocks and not have the wheel ripped out of your hand you could slip the front axle out of drive and the rear axle would stay in what ever range you were in before. after pulling the sharp turn or avoiding the obstacle and straightening back out you then slipped the stick back to re-engage the front axle. The other part of this is that if you blew a rear axle or differential, you could slip the rear axle out of drive and drive home on the front axle. That there was a serious truck.
Justin
The scout my old man had HAD to have a twin stick T-case. it was fully locking front and rear so if you wanted to pull a tight turn or go over some rocks and not have the wheel ripped out of your hand you could slip the front axle out of drive and the rear axle would stay in what ever range you were in before. after pulling the sharp turn or avoiding the obstacle and straightening back out you then slipped the stick back to re-engage the front axle. The other part of this is that if you blew a rear axle or differential, you could slip the rear axle out of drive and drive home on the front axle. That there was a serious truck.
Justin
Freshman User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: sydney,australia
Those mercades unimogs are a preety nuts truck(if you could really call it a truck more of a super heavy duty 4by). One of my friends pulled the front diffs out of a couple to put in his toyota hilux and they weigh just under 400kg's(880pounds) each(although it does have cab selected 4 wheel steer, twin transfer's, twin turbocharged 5L v8, 68inch hydraullic operated coil over shocks,& 48" swamp tyres, and street registered!! the best damn hilux i've ever seen.).
Aaron
Aaron
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,711
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh
I've seen one of those unimogs. Talk about overkill, they make a Humvee look like an Escape. sure, they can both do the same kind of stuff off road but can the humvee do it towing a semi trailer? didn't think so. . . . With the unimog you also don't have to worry about finding a parking space, you can push over trees, statues, concrete barriers, trash trucks, anything. 
I'd forgotten about it, but thinking about one again it comes back to me. . . I WANT ONE!!!
You can actually get them pretty cheap as retired military vehicles out of europe, but then you have to ship it back to where ever you live
Justin
I'd forgotten about it, but thinking about one again it comes back to me. . . I WANT ONE!!!
You can actually get them pretty cheap as retired military vehicles out of europe, but then you have to ship it back to where ever you live
Justin
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 8,238
Likes: 3
From: Oregon
How I forgot about the Mogs is beyond me. A guy out here runs one, and for a stocker, they are by far the schinizzle. They outmud many of the built rigs, for that matter. Who woulda though mercedes could build such a cool rig!?
Freshman User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: sydney,australia
I once had a video clip of a unimog in iceland doing approx 40-50kph into a 12foot snow drift, preety hillarious actually as it dissapered for a sec then came out the outherside.
Aaron,
Aaron,
FTE Stories
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make
Brett Foote
Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!
Michael S. Palmer
Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home
Verdad Gallardo
10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!
Joe Kucinski
2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road: Better Than a Raptor R?
Brett Foote
2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package First Look: 12 Things You NEED to Know!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Most Surprising 2026 Ford Truck Features!
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Ford Trucks Coming to Mecum Indy 2026
Brett Foote
5 Best / 5 Worst Ford Truck Wheels of All Time
Joe Kucinski
New User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
True four wheel drive is easy all you need is a 203 transfer case and locking differentials. My choice is the ARB air lockers one in each differential the advantage is that you can disengage them for street driving and engage them for off road driving. Another advantage is that you can engage the front and disengage the rear to help pull the vehicle around a tight corner.when off roading.
As to what the best vehicle is to put those in That is easy. Run what ya brung!! type doesn't matter as long as it is covered in mud and you are smiling.
As to what the best vehicle is to put those in That is easy. Run what ya brung!! type doesn't matter as long as it is covered in mud and you are smiling.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 465
Likes: 1
From: Tower MN, Houghton MI
SO basicly all you are looking for is a rig with factory locking diffs front and rear??
Any 4x4 can do that with the use of some 7018 rod.... Or just spend some moneyand put lockers in it..
I fail to see why everyone is mentioning the NP203 case.. You all do know the lock positions are just to lock the CENTER diff, and has nothing to do with the diffs in the axles, right?
And yes, some scouts used a eaton locker in the rea, possibly the front. Also old GMC's with the eaton 10 bolt often had a locker in the rear, and usualy 5.13 or 5.38 gears.
hell, my litle broncoII has true four wheel drive, all it took was some was a few hours, and some 10018 rod.
Any 4x4 can do that with the use of some 7018 rod.... Or just spend some moneyand put lockers in it..
I fail to see why everyone is mentioning the NP203 case.. You all do know the lock positions are just to lock the CENTER diff, and has nothing to do with the diffs in the axles, right?
And yes, some scouts used a eaton locker in the rea, possibly the front. Also old GMC's with the eaton 10 bolt often had a locker in the rear, and usualy 5.13 or 5.38 gears.
hell, my litle broncoII has true four wheel drive, all it took was some was a few hours, and some 10018 rod.
Junior User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
I got an unrestored, stock(except tires) 1953 ****** army jeep. I have been driving it around for a few years. It has open diffs, but I only got it stuck once, and that was in mud that I got stuck walking in. I also about tore someones car in half pulling them out of a ditch