It was likely the best 4 wheel drive off road vehicle I have ever had. It also had a locked rear end so this gave us even more traction than most 4 wheel drives had. I have pushed literally 2 to 3 feet of snow with this thing that was unplowed to the point where I realized one day that I was out in the bush doing this and realized if I got stuck my Scout II would be stuck there for 4 to 6 months because no one would be able to get there to actually pull it out of there.
So, like I said this was the best truly off road vehicle I have ever owned. It was a 6 cylinder engine so we saved a lot of money on gas but literally in low range you could almost climb a tree with this thing.
However, I didn't have a front end winch with this one so I had to be very careful driving through snow and mud on really remote roads then.
One time I broke the U joint connecting the 4 wheel drive in the front from the rear wheels. So, I was able to still drive the car until I could get it fixed off the front wheels by themselves even though when you turned the wheels it could jump some like 4 wheel drives often do when you turn with them.
The only real problem was the clutch since this was a manual floor shifter. My wife then blew her knee in a traffic jam from the strength of the clutch pedal. After this I usually bought automatic transmission cars even though most vehicles I owned were stick shifts in the 1970s and 1980s that I owned because I liked to downshift on snow and ice instead of using a brake. If you aren't used to driving in snow and ice downhill you can't use your brakes and need to downshift often instead going downhill. If you use your brakes often you will spin out and lose control of your vehicle. However, now automatic transmission vehicles often allow you to manually shift for downshifting which wasn't that possible before in most vehicles. I have a toggle on my automatic transmission 4 wheel drive shifter now where I can toggle between gears for doing this. This helps you stay alive in snow and ice going downhill.
The yellow IH Scout II ones are what ours looked like in the 1980s on our land then in the Mt. Shasta Wilderness.
Here is what a 1974 International Harvester Scout II looks like:
No comments:
Post a Comment