Stock rig capabilities

[WILLD420]

This subject seems to come up now and again, I thought we could waste some bandwidth discussing the capabilities of bone stock rigs in various stages of modifications and the roads you were able to negotiate.

I think a lot of people underestimate the capabilities of stock 4x4's when it comes to mild expo type stuff.

 

[chicago]

This subject seems to come up now and again, I thought we could waste some bandwidth discussing the capabilities of bone stock rigs in various stages of modifications and the roads you were able to negotiate.

I think a lot of people underestimate the capabilities of stock 4x4's when it comes to mild expo type stuff.

I actually AGREE with this. My lil stock ass tacoma did S park canyon and ballerat canyon without ANY difficulties. I was SHOCKED at how well the low gears from the factory were in that truck. Articulation SUCKED (IFS), but the right line got me right through.
Granted this is not a really HARD trail by any means, but...Its a little more agressive than I thought prudent for my taco. I honestly thought I would have some issues getting through that having done it in the past in my FJ62.
I also think a part of that equation is experience behind the wheel as well. Not that Im an ace wheeler or anything, but I do have SOME saddle time.
Now, I would NOT attempt running Deer Valley all the way through or anything (at least not without sliders)....

Great topic!

 

[locrwln1]

I used to tell the guys when I was training Motors, that the only thing stopping an 800lbs police bike from going anywhere in the dirt is Skill, Clearance and Traction. The bike doesn't know it's not a dirt bike. I think the same three apply to pretty much anything when it comes to going offroad. Back in the day, before dirt bikes came to be, everyone just took their only bike offroad.

And of course SKILL is the main thing.

Jack

 

[WILLD420]

How about a fail list? A list of places that you have tried to access in a stock rig and failed.

Just a good example of capabilities, on one of the Bronco canyon runs last year, someone had a basically stock, or very slightly lifted, 80 series on 255/85/16's and it made it all the way to the lower entrance to the canyon with some stacking of rocks, good spotting and extensive use of the sliders.

 

[chicago]

Define fail...
Im sure my taco would go through the rubicon if I didint care about how it looked or drove coming out the other side.
I always wondered about the testing the major motor corps do...
Like Jeep and toyota when they do their trail testing. How do they LOOK and DRIVE afterward?

 

[spressomon]

IIRC Toyota, near or before that model release, took the FJC through the Rubicon with nothing more than sliders and tires. Other than bad heat treatment showing up on ring and pinion(s) I think they made it through OK. I think Bill Burke was one of the drivers?

After doing a fair amount of wheeling with Tom Ferrin (aka trickyT) and his 80 on 33's I can vouch for its go just about anywhere capabilities.

 

[WILLD420]

My definition of "Fail" is one or more of the following, or something close to it.

A. You didn't fit through the crack between the rocks.
B. You had to winch repeatedly to get there and it was dry.
C. You weren't going to make it without winching or you had to be strapped repeatedly.
D. You exhausted all efforts and failed to make it to your intended destination.
E. You got stuck and had to be recovered.
F. You got to an obstacle and decided that likely damage outweighed your desire to go there.
G. You suffered body damage beyond small dents to get through, or it took you too much time to get to the destination and had to quit.
H. The party you were with told you it would be a good idea to stop at that point in the trip.
I. You had to walk to cell or radio service to call for an air lift rescue.
J. You burned your rig to survive after you ate your dog and started drinking your own urine.

 

[WILLD420]

An example of a fail was a run we did up Jumbo with some snow.

A stock 4runner (97ish) with 1/2 bald A/T's showed up. I had to sell him a spare set of tire chains so he could make it past the first snow field. If you know me, then you know what kind of person he was since I "Sold" him tire chains rather than letting him have them or borrow them.

By the end of the run, everyone there was sick and tired of yanking his dumb a$$ out of the snow and the mud.

His marijuana use and his drunkenness didn't help anything, on top of his inability to understand that the skinny pedal was not the cure for tires and clearance deficiencies.

That is probably more and example of a Driver's "Fail" than the truck, but it was a fail just the same. The snow was probably 18-28 inches deep and the kind that has thawed and frozen back several times.

 

[psreno]

Stock landcruiser (w/ 31" tires) could make it through the Rubicon before it was pussified in the mid 70's.

It may not "look" the same afterward depending on your skill, but neither will your arms.

New trucks have the nice things like rack/pinion and disk brakes which IMO are two of the first mods, followed by a mild lift.

But you can have all sorts of fun stock. And everytime you move away from stock you increase your chances of breakage so ensure your design is as good as Toyota's if replacing Toyota. Carry extra gas oil and 2 spare tires and explore. But if you go big, then you need to start worrying about birf's and axle-shafts and spindles.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I grew up exploring Southern Nevada dirt roads with my Dad in his 63 Coupe Deville. The rear positrac diff was about the only concession to the use we put it through.

Later and I did a lot of "Rally" style driving in a 71 Celica, 1900cc with a 4 speed. Great car, it could ride the center and outside berms on most dirt roads and have clearance to spare underneath. The only fail with it was taking a jump a little to fast and pinching the exhaust on landing.

Later we upgraded to a '66 2WD Chevy, it was a costal Oregon vehicle that looked like it was abandoned while you were driving it. We upgraded the rims and tires with take offs from a FJ40. White wagon spokes and BFG AT's. We camped and explored the whole of the Spring Mountain range in that POS. The six banger in it was almost identical to a 2F, your basic tractor engine. As long as you kept oil it it not much could go wrong. One night coming back from a day trip we found about three yards of asphalt somebody had dumped in the middle of the road, hit it at around 45MPH and launched, rolled all four tires off the rims on landing.

In the 80's we had a 2WD Chevy that only got bad stuck once, up on Peavine. I still hear about that one on occasion. We had to walk out and come back the next day to retrieve the truck, a friend with an FJ40 helped me out on that one.

 

[WILLD420]

My dad never had a 4x4 until I was 6 or 7. That was only because we had to, working a ranch in the high country with a monsoon season wasn't friendly to 4x4, much less a 2wd.

I learned very early on a good trick for 2wd. Whenever you ran out of traction, even in sand, you can load the rear of the truck heavy by the rear bumper. If you can make the front tires like a dune buggy, where they barely touch the ground, you can go pretty amazing places with only 2wd.

Maybe that's why I'm so quick to put tire chains on. We had 2wd's for so long, that was the only way we could get around when it got nasty. Airing down was only done as a last resort, since the only thing we had to put air in tires with was a propane tank.

Note: if you ever use propane in a tire, it expands as it gets hot. 15 psi cold will turn to a LOT when it gets to 200 degrees...

I think that is also why I am so partial to uber-aggressive tread tires. We had to run the most aggressive tread we could find, or getting stuck was way too easy. Star, a hard to find U.S. brand nowadays, used to make some tires that looked like gumbo mudders. That's the only tire we ran for years and years. 31-10.50-15's were the biggest tire we could fit on the rear of a non-lifted 2wd truck. With a truck 4 speed and enough hard work, we got our loads wherever we had to get, not always where we wanted to get.

Those were the years I also learned that a horse can pull a lot more weight than you would think when you bury a truck to the frame in mud.

 

[geocrasher]

I've taken front wheel drive cars way more places than they should have gone. One of my friends said "There's not a lot of guys that would take one of those up here" (referring to my 2001 corolla I had at the time) and I said "Yeah, well, I'm not a lot of guys."

 

[WILLD420]

The older I get, the more I understand that it's the driver, as much as the equipment that makes the day.

Of course, no amount of skill can make up for bald tires or low clearance once you add deep snow, deep mud or deep beaten up sugar sand.