39 replies to this topic

[pete]

Been looking at getting an International Scout recently and was wondering if anyone on here has ever worked with one. Aside from rusting and parts beeing expensiver is there any problems with them? They seem to be pretty much bullet proof aside from the rusting. Thanks, Pete

[fakawee]

First vehicle my dad let me drive in '69. Great 4x4 back then but hard to find parts for today. Good luck!

[SchonerTod]

well being a wheeler and dealing with a lot of different vehicles scouts are on of the toughest out there. body and drive train you cant beat but the motor is hard to keep running these days better to do a v8 swap from one of the big three. But they are great wheelers and have plenty of room to be a great hunting vehicle.

[pete]

From what i've found theres about four sites online selling parts, a full service shop for scouts down in Hunington, and the Craigslist Pick-a-Parts. Gonna be taking an auto service class next year in highschool and I thought one might be a good practice truck

[gmoney]

One of my tractor pulling buddies has one from the 70s with a factory diesel I think a mitsu? It is way cool. I think he also has a gasser too. You know the old saying use the red leave the rest in the shed... there is one in riverbank at burtschi transport for sale in central valley I think blue with wht top.

[hump]

its possible to switch parts over to chevy running gear making repairs down the road a little easier and cheaper .you cant go wrong with them , well built rigs and tuned up right will work killer .there beasts

[dangerranger]

Unless you have a large bank account, Id sugest something more common. after an accedent you are more likely to find a replacement door for a ford model A. in there day they were great SUVs. they had a shorter turning radius than a Bronco, or a Blazer. Had a hard top that Jeep did not offer. And were tough! But some of them are aproching 50 years old and have lived hard offroad lives. try to find a window regulater, or wiper motor. they are nonexsistant. if I were going to build a vintage 4x4 today with an eye tward it being something I could use as a dailly driver Id be tooking at early jeeps because they have after market parts available, or early Blazers. The Blazer shares most parts with the millions of pickups that GM made in those years. the only parts you cant get from your local auto parts stores are the doors, top, and tailgate. IH did not make enough of them to intrest any after market company in producing parts. Good luck and share a pic when you decide what to get! DR

[docskinner]

What he said - they were good as a whole, but engines were always a problem. Swapping in a small block Chevy was pretty common even back in 70's and 80's. You might want to start with a bit less frustrating (and less expensive) of a first project.

[zippy1970]

got my 1st ....... in a Scout . that thing kicked butt offroad too . But when I was looking into getting 1 bout 8 years ago , it was hard to find " support " parts then . Can not imagine how hard it would be now . If you do go for it , maybe try to find wrecked , burnt , any parts vehicles you can . Stock pile them too . Don't forget a trailer / something to haul them home on . And storage . I wanted a Willys pickup . Had my eye on one cheap . Got screwed by the seller & never looked back . Some say it would have been a money pit other said it would have been nice . Since you mentioned you were taking a shop class , you might want to take " fabrication " class . For those time when you want to " mate " a frame/chassis/ suspension that just does not belong together . I had a 58' VW Karmann Ghia . 2nd year produced , no 59' & they changed a lot of the parts in 60' . It was a fun car but EXPENSIVE ! Andy

[KNOCKED UP]

I had a Scout many years ago.After wheeling, and playing in the mud.I was on my way home, when a wheel passed me up,It took a few seconds to click, That was my wheel. After I had it towed home, I looked for a new or used axel, none to be found. I was told that was a pretty common problem with the Scout. Other than that, I really liked the vehicle.Tom

[4RHUNTS]

Been looking at getting an International Scout recently and was wondering if anyone on here has ever worked with one. Aside from rusting and parts beeing expensiver is there any problems with them? They seem to be pretty much bullet proof aside from the rusting. Thanks, Pete

Have you looked into the original Ford Broncos? 1966-1977. Not cheap either, but there are lots of parts available for them. I've had a 1977 for about 20 years and its a great hunting rig.

[pete]

They look nice but i'm kinda hesitant to buy one because my uncle had one growing up and it was the biggest hassle for him to keep running then. Think im gonna go for a older Chevy pickup K15 or a good Blazer/Jimmy if I can find one, the Scouts around here are pretty much all not running, too far from stock to interest me or they're too pricey.

[4RHUNTS]

What year was his Bronco and what type of problems did he have with it?

[pete]

I dont know much about it other than he did an engine swap on it I think. I know that they're good vehicles but very few around here for a decent price.

[dangerranger]

Pete if I were you Id look for something in the best shape I could afford. One of the best places to look are tow yards. if you are looking for easy to repair look at 77 and up blazers. They shared parts with pickups till the early 90s. might take an old model and give it the last years look just by changing its sheetmetal. or a newer model and give it a vintage look. DR

[pete]

Did earlier Blazers share parts with the pickups? I know that they are built off a shortened CK platform but most of my knowledge is coming from Wikipedia (not the most reliable source). I just don't like the wierd halfcab pop top on the later Blazers, might as well get a pickup that wasn't abused as much.

[Jason]

We used to sell these things back in the day before International Harvester went broke and still have people come in on occassion to get parts for them. Parts are extremely difficult to get. There are a couple sources but it is a pain to find the parts. If you are a collector and/or don't mind waiting for the parts then go for it. But if you are the type that gets impatient waiting for some part to come in to fix your ride then don't get one of these. I used to get parts for them from Navistar which took over the truck portion of International Harvester and I could still order some parts through CaseIH which took over the tractor portion. But these were only the parts that were common to other vehicles outside of the Scout line. I remember that I could get the fuel float, sensor, and gage for one Scout model from Navistar, Case IH, and Dresser which is now Komatsu because the part was common to machines in International's truck, Ag, and construction lines. It was a pain to figure out though.There are some sources for parts online. My brother owns an old one that he has parked. It ran when he parked it but barely and needed lots of parts. The hassle was just too much to mess with. But if you have time and patience, then go for it. If not, get a jeep or something that has more parts availability.

[pete]

Yep after looking into the price of the parts needed for most of the local Scouts im pretty much done with them. Been looking at older K15 chevy pickups and the toyota pickups. I know some of you guys on here have the older Toyotas, and that they're pretty much indestructible.

[dangerranger]

Its hard to go wrong with a Toyota either. I had a 83 4x4 PU that went almost 300,000 mi without any major problems. The Bazers shared most of there parts with the pickups. Only the rear driveshaft, doors, and tailgate were Blazer only. if you find a 73 to 76 blazer they will be a full convertable top. I have a half top and a full top here that Id part with. The earlier model 67 to 72 only the doors are blazer only. It used a pickup tailgate. but both of them have a good aftermarket for parts. If you find yourself looking at little pickups the early ford rangers were tough also. DR

[pete]

How important would you guys say it is to have the solid axle for a light hunting rig on mainly just fire roads and maybe a real 4x4 trail or two over IFS. Getting pretty tough to find the Toyotas with the solid axle in front that are mostly stock. Plenty of fine ones with IFS though.

[dangerranger]

IFS works just fine, and they wheel just fine. the big reason straight axles are sought after is its much cheaper to lift them, and they can be lifted much higher. If you can be happy with a body lift and a moderate spring leveling kit you will get a better ride and better traction than the straight axel. DR

[Braz]

Please tell me why do folks what to spend all that money lifting a vehicle? What advantage does it have?

[docskinner]

Please tell me why do folks what to spend all that money lifting a vehicle? What advantage does it have?

Keeps their feet dry when fording rivers... :-DUsually for increased space for larger tires, which does slightly alter true ground clearance - from the ground to the pumpkin.I always just preferred to drive around stuff. IFS is fine unless you are making a rock crawler and/or need some huge differential terrain height capabilities. It will take you most anywhere you want to go.

[SchonerTod]

the idea of lifting is all in the person doing it. some do it for looks some do it for use. the people who do it for use do it for a certain reason. For a mudding rig you would lift it so you could fit bigger tires and get more of the body and frame out of the mud in turn taking more of the resistance out of the mudfor a rock crawler you would lift it to allow more travel in your axle with out having to do any over the top or expensive mods to the suspension. a true crawler knows that you want the most flex with the body as low as you can go with out creating a clearance issue. normally 24-26 in off the ground from bottom of frame to the ground.for looks do i even have to explain lol. The way to tell that some one is doing it just for looks they wont have a front drive line in because they didnt want to spend the money to do it right.

[SchonerTod]

How important would you guys say it is to have the solid axle for a light hunting rig on mainly just fire roads and maybe a real 4x4 trail or two over IFS. Getting pretty tough to find the Toyotas with the solid axle in front that are mostly stock. Plenty of fine ones with IFS though.

For fire roads and some light wheeling ifs would be better if your looking for a smooth ride as they tend to use softer suspension. You can do some of the harder trails with an ifs you just have to know how to pick your lines/ have a good spotter who knows how to judge distance. I would just say for ifs just make sure you do some skid plates to protect it. Also its really not that hard to swap out an ifs for a solid axle just its not a cheap job if you want it done rightfull kithttp://store.4wheeli...PARTNER=frooglethe hard parts.http://www.polyperfo...ign=4X4products

[pete]

I don't have any interest in doing a lift maybe just slightly bigger tires. A kid in one of my classes drove a lifted JEEP down a curvy road around here, took a turn too fast and the suspension unloaded on him and he rolled into a ditch, totaling the JEEP. I looked at doing one of those axle swaps and it cost $1300 for just the parts not including the axle and steering stuff.

[SchonerTod]

ya i said it was easy not cheap lol. But if you know someone like me who can weld it makes a whole lot cheaper but again ifs isnt all that bad specially if your not looking to really lift it much

[dangerranger]

Please tell me why do folks what to spend all that money lifting a vehicle? What advantage does it have?

I like taller tires, not always wider but taller. In snow it rides up on top rather than pushing the snow ahead of the tire. On dirt roads they ride smoother. Over curb sized bumps it takes less power to push them over. And it lifts my hot exhaust a little higher out of the grass. My current ride is a Dodge 2500, Its high enough already and came stock with 31" tires. My Toyota came with 26", and my Ford Ranger with 27" tires. Both benifited greatly with a 31"tire. the Toyota did not need any lift for the new tires but the Ford rubbed the wheel wells. I added a body lift [under $100 at that time] and that stopped the rub. Then I realised that the front suspention travel from rest to the upper bump stop was only 3/4", So I added a Leveling spring. it raised the front to the level of the back and gave about 2" of travel. that smoothed the ride conciderably, the front end was not contacting the bumpstops at even modest potholes anymore. DR

[Shoot-it]

I would look for a good used jeep cherokee they make nice hunting rigs and when lifted with 33 tires they look mean.Parts are real common to.

[SchonerTod]

the problem with cherokees ( aka XJ) are they are like hondas if you buy one from a kid or some one who like to race chances are they are beat to hell. Not only that if you dont buy the right model then expect to put some money into it to make it capable of doing anything good. I had a 1990 XJ and it was crap for off road. I got stuck in light mud and the limited slip system they have pretty much makes the 4x4 junk because it tranfer all power to the wheels that are sliping because they have the least amount of friction. Not saying they are bad just that if you dont know what your looking at or watch what you buying the chances of getting crap are pretty high.