Hello all,
We raised our children rock climbing, backpacking and canoeing so camping offroad and getting stuck was always part of our life. My wife and I were fortunate enough to retire at 52 and ever since, long distance overlanding and offroad camping has been our passion. We are now in our seventies and little has changed except we travel solo.
We've driven a few SUVs and small trucks over the years and our favorite is the Nissan Xterra. We still use a modified 2008 Offroad for our long overlanding trips and it's taken us from Tuktoyaktuk to Belize and Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. This summer we're off to the Yukon and that will likely be the Xterra's last run. If Our Lord blesses us with good health, our new 2024 Canyon AT4X will take over its role. How did we decide on a Canyon AT4X?
Researching the 2024-25 Tacoma led us into a tangle of early problems typical of a new build so we went no further. Driving a 2.7L V6 Ford Ranger was marvelous but the the use of cast aluminum parts where steel used to be (and the long list of TSBs) turned us off. Add to that the astronomic price of the Ranger Raptor in my part of Canada ... well I just rebelled at the greed factor here. The Nissan Frontier Pro-4X came the closest with it's Zero Gravity seats, a lovely VQ series NA engine; but installing an ARB front locker, lifting it 3 inches etc., required too much effort and time at our stage of life. In the end the luxurious AT4X won by default as it had the lockers we wanted at a price that was sensible to us. We're still a bit overwhelmed by turbos, 'infotainment' screens, bells and whistles but we're learning as quick as we can and enjoying it immensely.
Changed rear diff fluid, engine oil/filter at 500km to remove metal flake and dross from manufacturing early on. Will do it again at 1500km and 5000km to be extra sure. The AT4X was a leap of faith for us so we're giving it the best chance we know how.
