I know what you are thinking. "Unsub you are a genius ,I can't believe we have not done one of these yet"! I know just how you feel. It seems so obvious that we have done bug out bags and vehicles and even jeeps but never a BOV thread.

Now some of you probably have first rate 4X4's as bug out vehicles. For a long time the perfect BOV was a large pre86 US 4X4 with big tires and enough lights for a night game of baseball. There are lots of good reasons for that and even if their were not their is something in my genes that makes me want one the same way I want big boobies and shiny things.

Unfortunatly not all of us can afford a nice 4X4 but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I was reading up on BOV's over at alpharubicon and their is an interesting article about using the vehicle you have. The author has a minivan to transport his family and uses it for a BOV. A minivan has a few advantages over the giant 4X4 especially mileage ,reliability and especially it is a lot more low key. A small minivan can be a real sleeper. One with a Barrett .50 is even better.


So what do you have to use and how have you made it better? What do you have planned and what do you consider must have equipment?


We just had a serious cold snap where it got below 35 for over 10 days straight with it getting a lot lower at times and it started off with a huge blizzard.
So I have decided to better outfit my truck for really harsh weather which thanks to global warming we will be getting a lot more of.

I have a 97 GMC Serria 2 wheel drive truck with the 5.0 litre V8. Obviously 4X4 would be nice but in a used truck of that vintage they are apt to need a lot of expensive repairs. The good 4X4's have locking hubs and 2 standard style gear shifts and a manual tranny. Unfortunately the average truck buyer is so fat and lazy he wants a auto tranny and shift on the fly. He does not want to stop much less get out of the truck<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" /> . These rube goldberg devices suck ,they are not as good for driving off road and often break down.

That's why I went with a good 2 wheel drive with first rate winter tires.
The powerful motor and great clearance make a big difference but it really is proper snow tires that totally change how she drives. All seasons are a bad joke. They don't work worth a crap in either season. If you only get a bit of snow and mostly wet get a good set of wet/dry summer tires. If you live where you have actual snow don't cheap out get decent winter tires. It is false economy anyway. When tires spin they wear out super fast. The tires I got are
Coopers which are quite a bit cheaper than the name brands. They don't have kevlar or fancy radials etc but winter tires don't have that stuff anyway.

Some future work I plan to do is add a second battery. It was an option on some versions of my truck so all I need is a stock piece of wiring harness. This is real usefull in the very cold and with some extra lights which I will also add.
It is a pretty nice truck already with a underhood and cargo light.

I am also planning to make sure all the air intakes are located as high as possible so that I can go through waist deep water. We had a flood 2 years ago where I road through water that covered my butt in a flash flood and huge hail on the motorbike with a girl on the back. We made it but almost got swept into the river because these stupid old people totally safe in a car panicked and stopped in the middle of the road as soon as they were through the rushing floodwaters. We were blocked in the flash flood by the back of their car and were frantically honking and screaming and waving while they just sat there.
We had come to a complete stop and the water was getting faster and higher and just as we were about to tip over and get swept away they slowly moved their car
Thank god my honda did not stall up to the handlebars in moving water. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />because we managed to drive out. The old couple even gave us a dirty look for bothering them. Not only do they probably not know they almost killed us
they would have gotten away with it.

Nice plan...

My BOV would be my wife's Highlander. It has a decent kit in it at all times, and all I would need to add is 2 Rubbermaid containers (camping supplies, food, ammo, etc) that are already set up. That and my BOB and it is good to go. I have not thought too much about modding the vehicle, but I will now.

I think one of the old Subaru 4x4 wagons would make a great BOV. Low cost, decent cargo room and they were fairly indestructible. I want something good on gas and inconspicuous if I need a BOV.

Great idea for a thread...

Yes it has an auto transmission and shift on the fly. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I did add skid plates and the grille. I'll add a picture of it loaded with BOV gear tomorrow. That picture is on my computer at the office. The longest I've been out in it was 9 days.


Of course my first option would be to stay home. My house is wired for a generator and has a 4'x8' bulletproof/F5 tornado rated safe room. I'm also 8 miles out of town which gives me a small jump during an emergency. If that wasn't an option leaving in the 4x4 pick-up would be next, followed by the mountian bikes if we had to ditch the pick-up and finally on foot with the back packs.

My BOV is my daily driver, a 2000 Jeep Cherokee sport.
My first, seconfd and third cars were mustangs (83, 85, and 89). When Y2K came around, we decided to start thinking on off-road terms. Thus, the Jeep.
When my wife totalled her miata, she went with a Rav4; sort of a truck-lite. But, it is 4wheel drive, and carried lots of stuff. It is also ultra reliable. Hers has over 100,00 miles, with no mech problems at all. Other than maintenance, it hasn't cost her a dime.
My jeep has 100,000 plus, as well. So far, only the A/C has given me problems, which a buddy took care of, for me.
The only mods I have done on it is to add a hi-flow air intake from K&N. I will go with a flowmaster exhaust when the stock one goes, and I have a stage II chip sitting in my garage, to be added on when I change out the exhaust.
We both use synthetic fluids, exclusively.
The car carried quite a bit of gear, even with the dogs. I have a roof pod, as well, for extra doritos, and such.

If something major happened, I would bug-IN ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> However, if I HAD to bug-out I would use my 01' Dodge 4 X 4 - less than 56K miles. It sits higher via a trailer-towing package, and I install a new battery every two years. The old batteries are kept for emergency 12 volt lighting. I keep some emergency gear in the truck at all times, including a blanket, sleeping bag, and tarp. I have a CCW license, so I am always "packing heat"! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Of course, in an extreme emergency more would be added. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

my BOV would be my dads 94 jeep cherokee

I smell a personal fallout shelter thread coming.

just as important as a bov is the path you need to take to get out of dodge. creating this plan has been on my to do list for a while, but havn't gotten to it. living in DC the roads become clogged at the drop of a hat, let alone during an emergency. need to have some back up/secondary roads to travel on.

I had thought about it but have no way of making it happen is to plan to evacuate dc by water. just make it to the water front and then right down the river, no traffic to deal with.

Unsub, I have three video clips of the ultimate 4x4 BOV. These things climb practically straight up! Since we can't attach video clips in the forum,if you'll PM me your email address (anyone else who wants to see them can PM me their email also) I'll send them to you.

Of the vehicles I own it would be my 2001, HD2500 extended cap silverado.
It is 4x4 and automatic.
Modern automatics work just as well for most 4x4'ing.
My rockcrawler is an 1989 YJ with SOA and 3 inch body lift, it of course is a standard

Jackel can you link to the video?

Tikigod that is a solid workable plan and I love the Highlander and Subaru for BOV's.

CoyoteBC and Jackel ,I have to admit part of my rant against modern 4X4 systems is based on pure jealousy at not having a big new truck with all the goodies.
I was buying a 10 year old truck so I wanted as little extra doodads to break down as possible. I am totally lovin the speed dependent steering though I feel guilty about it because it goes against my principles. I also have an auto tranny because limiting myself to manuals would mean a MUCH smaller pool of candidates.


My last 2 trucks were just perfect as far as my simplicity doctrine. My favourite was my 86 F-350 dump truck. You could have the huge thick walls for the flatbed on or off and they would stop a .303 shell(I checked) and move an entire house full of stuff. It had a 460 and a 4speed with duallys. It did not have or need 4X4 because the thing was more like a halftrack with those 4 huge farm tires under the massive dana 70. It went through snow drifts up to the mid doorline without any noticeable drag it was so [censored] heavy. It's engine was the most beautiful truck engine I have ever seen in my life. It was the last carbed big block and the 4 barrels in the carb were big enough to eat golf balls.

It did like the juice but when you tromped the gas it was like the world was coming to an end. Doing donuts in it was like doing them in a tank or battleship. My Mom and Grandmother both ganged up and insisted I sell it because it was so ugly and they are very class concious. They hated my next truck even more though. It was another 86 Ford but this time a 4x4 Ranger with a small V6.
It was also white but I spray canned it an urban camo that worked really well in the snow. When it got snow around it and on the roof and hood people would drive by my house and think I was not home because it was invisible.

Sorry unsub, the video clips aren't a link. They are on my hard drive. I would have to attach them to an email to get them to you. Let's see how did the last dog I sent them to describe them....oh yeah...."INSANE!!!"