Hi from Keremeos,

[motrhead]

Hi guys,
I lurk on a few of the 4x4 forums, and recently found this one. I'm an Okanagan boy, and I spent a long while in the East Kootenays, but the Okanagan-Similkameen is home, and I'm glad to be back here. I have a 1993 Lada Niva, mostly stock at the moment. I'm a welder/fabricator, and will be fabbing a decent bumper and a roof rack (and probably a bike carrier) this spring. I used to have an FJ55, and later a turbo-diesel Cherokee. I miss the Cherokee, but I like the Niva better. I drove or rode many of the roads and trails in the area years ago, and I'm itching to get out and see all that back country again.

[Sero]

Welcome to OLC!!

A Lada! Cool! Let's see some pics!

Was that a XJ Cherokee? Was that the factory diesel (Renault) or a conversion?

[ChrisR]

Our first Lada! Woohoo. I love those things. Cheap and actually quite capable.
Welcome aboard!

[motrhead]

Apparently I can't add pics yet.
Here's the only pic I have, sitting in the driveway...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3184944799_187a580708.jpg
Yup, the Cherokee was an XJ with the Renault turbodiesel. It was wonderful until another family member crashed it, then the headgasket and turbo went right after the body was fixed. It wasn't worth fixing the engine at almost 400,000km when the Chrysler dealer wanted $300 for a headgasket...
I never understood why they got a bad reputation here. That engine was known to be long-lived in the rest of the world.
So far the Lada has been fantastic off-road. It rides good (like the old FJ55 did) and it's comfortable on the highway. I can see I am going to be fighting the tinworm soon though. I'll be doing some painting this year and ripping off the running boards. I have a second set of steel rims with larger tires that came with my parts Niva that will go on when I do the bumpers.

[offroadaction]

Welcome to the site! A Lada...man I have not seen one of those in years!

[motrhead]

There are a few of us Lada nuts around. I know of half a dozen Niva owners in BC, and there are a bunch more across the country on the LadaUSA discussion board. We are out there ;-)

[gotink]

welcome aboard

[AxelR]

Welcome. What happened to the FJ55?

[motrhead]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
The FJ55 got to be too much of a pain to keep headgaskets and valves in, and the pinion bearings and transfer case bearings were going, and the body was cracking up (doors) and rusting...sold it and got a Dodge pickup for a while. I kinda miss it just because it had incredible traction and a really smooth ride offroad, but it wasn't really comfortable or practical. I can see me in an FJ60 series though.
Really, the Niva does everything the FJ55 did, but does most things better, and gets way better mileage too.

[Lone Ranger]

Every time I think of a Lada I think back to that Quakerstate oil commercial, where buddy gets and oil change and tries to do the 'Dukes of Hazzard' jump across the old bridge and lands in the creek :D LR

[motrhead]

I prefer this Lada commercial- I believe for Sony PS3 or PSP?
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3i7n7_lada-jump_music:D

[TheOtherSide]

Welcome to OLC!!

Had a co-worker with a Lada Niva... he loved it. Said he could go places in his stock Niva that lots of other people couldn't go due to size etc. Fun stuff!