I posted a while back about the end of the Ford Ranger, one of the last North American small pickups and perhaps the only one offering good value for the money.

Cato has echoed this sentiment and raises a good question: why would Australia get the new Ranger pickup, but Canada be stuck with the F-150 urban grocery hauler?

Not to beg the question, but this doesn’t seem like good business on the part of Ford. So is it?

There’s still plenty of opportunities for off road adventure and discovery–and better still, the drive to that adventure is a lot less bumpy. While slightly more civilized than in days past, there’s still lots of fun to be had.

Check out the Pacific Marine Circle Route in our Van Isle 4×4 Destinations.

But the Jeep off road driving guide (on the Jeep.ca website) also covers the basics of rock crawling, snow driving, and hill ascent/decent.  Certainly worth a 5 minute perusal for inexperienced and seasoned 4×4 drivers alike.

If you’re in the market for a used 4×4, or even if you’re just bored, check out our 4×4 buying guide.

Cheap Jeep: Why not a good cheap 4x4?

Here on Vancouver Island, we’ve got a great variety of 4×4 roads and trails to explore–from forests to mountain tops, river valleys to ocean side, hard packed to mud covered and everything in between.

We’re also fortunate to have quite a few 4x4s to choose from. In addition to all the regular Japanese, American, British, and European 4x4s, Vancouver Island has a disproportionate number of Japanese domestic market (JDM) 4x4s–like the Delica, Pajero, Bighorn, and Landcruiser diesel.

But whether you choose a newer ‘local’ 4×4, or an older Japanese import, you better be prepared to part with a wad of cash: they ain’t cheap. A JDM 4×4 can run an easy $10k-$15k, and an average condition newer model 4×4 will set you back $25k-$30k quite easily.

We at Island4WDLife.com prefer to go the cheaper route. There are plenty of great older 4×4 trucks and SUVs for sale on the island that don’t cost an arm and a leg, that haven’t been abused off road, and that really only need a good set of off road tires to hit the trails.

And if you’ve spent the better part of a year’s salary on a 4×4, you’ll be much less likely to use and enjoy it off road.

So when it comes to buying a good used 4×4, we say keep your cash in the bank and buy an older 4×4 with plenty of life left in it. You’ll enjoy the trails even more knowing you saved enough money to buy gas, spare parts, and camping supplies.

And when you do dent or scratch it on the trails, you’ll be much more likely to laugh it off…

Honestly, don't fear this.

These days, there are two pretty distinct 4×4 cliches: the 4×4 Yuppie, and the 4×4 Redneck.

The former we see in town, driving spotlessly clean and very high end 4×4′s to and from shops, sometimes carrying children or a single 2×4 strapped to a spotless roof rack. Rest assured their 4x4s will never see an hour of off road use.

The latter, the 4×4 Redneck, we see less often but still often enough: usually on the trail, probably drinking beer, sometimes firing a shotgun, and almost always driving a big domestic 4×4 far too aggressively for the conditions. And laughing.

In my years on the trail, it’s the 4×4 redneck that has vexed me most. Not because I have anything against rednecks (being partially one myself) but because they tend to give four wheeling just a bad image. Yes, I drive a (usually) muddy 4×4 with aggressive tires and big fog lights. But that’s because I’m an ‘explorer’, a caretaker of trails, and someone who enjoys the great outdoors and want to help preserve it for use–by using it.

When I try to introduce people to off roading in a four wheel drive truck or SUV, I find it’s the redneck image of off roading that’s hardest to overcome. Because that’s what people are most likely to remember: the guy with the beer or the gun, doing donuts next to the quiet campsite, and keeping everyone up at night…

Here at Island4WDLife.com, four wheeling is about exploring, spending time with family, getting out of doors, and discovering more of what Vancouver Island has to offer. Sure, that also means engaging low range and challenging ourselves and our 4x4s to conquer off-road obstacles (the more the better).

But it has nothing to do with the cliche.

Well, now you can right here on Island4WDLife’s 4×4 gear shop. Powered by Amazon, you can search for just about anything you need for your truck or SUV (or toolbox) and know it will be shipped to you right here on Vancouver Island–safely, securely, and quickly–by Amazon.

Search the Island4WDLife 4X4 Gear Shop >>

We support buying local for as much as you can, but if you can’t find what you need on Van Isle, check out our gear shop and see if you find it there!

Ford Ranger: It had a good run for a little guy

Well, it certainly had a good run: the Ford Ranger will soon be no more as Ford pulls the plug on the venerable little pickup that (thanks in part to the Chicken Tax) was one of the best sellers in the Americas.

A capable little rig, the four wheel drive Ranger is as much at home on the trails as it is on the urban commute. Fun to drive, useful, simple, and economical (with the 4 cylinder engine at least), the Ford Ranger will be missed.

It seems small pickup trucks (you know, the ones that seem to actually get used as trucks more often than their bigger brethren) are no longer popular enough to warrant continued production in North America.

So while the rest of the world will get a new Ranger–a little bigger, and probably with a nice diesel engine–we in North America are stuck with the Ford F-150. Not a bad truck for sure, but…a lot more pickup than many people actually need.

Here on Vancouver Island, the Ford Ranger is ubiquitous: there’s one on just about every corner, every trail. If you drive a Ranger here, share your comments about this truck and its pending demise from the Ford lineup.

We’ve brought over the articles, tec tips, and 4×4 reviews from both sites, which you can see by clicking the links above–and we’ll be adding more great 4×4 features all the time. We hope you like the new format and the combined 4WD content!