Trail Riding + Towing (1 Viewer)

[lordVader]

Good morning,
My name isn't a very good indicator on my knowledge of this topic but as a n00b I had a few question. Maybe N00bVader would be a better nick

My main interest with these land cruisers is to probably goto death valley and go on those 4x4 trails, take road trips to other desert regions and drive around. I'm not particularly into the rock crawling scene and what not.

I was wondering, those of you that do this kind of driving, do you usually tow your rigs to the sites or drive them the way there ?

Thanks.

 

[TENNJP]

If you are with in a tank of gas. Drive there. Get triple AAA so that if you do do down they will tow you back to home. There is a version where you pay an extra monthly amount to get towed home - instead of the closest shop.
It takes 4 months of clean no tow membership before you can break down. Death valley, saltin sea (wash well afterwards) dumont dunes, joshua tree, Hungry valley, big bear. Do them all. There are great books out there for expedition driving offroad in those area.I think I might have an extra copy. I moved away. Now in NJ. But still offroading. PM if you want it. I got an CA area and AZ sedona books.

 

[lordVader]

If you are with in a tank of gas. Drive there. Get triple AAA so that if you do do down they will tow you back to home. There is a version where you pay an extra monthly amount to get towed home - instead of the closest shop.
It takes 4 months of clean no tow membership before you can break down. Death valley, saltin sea (wash well afterwards) dumont dunes, joshua tree, Hungry valley, big bear. Do them all. There are great books out there for expedition driving offroad in those area.I think I might have an extra copy. I moved away. Now in NJ. But still offroading. PM if you want it. I got an CA area and AZ sedona books.

Fantastic, looks like I will be towing my rig then. Houston is ridiculously flat :/

 

[anderaa13]

You should check out the sticky for DMC's South America trip at the top of the 80's page. I think that should answer your question.

 

[Buckru]

I too am in Houston. I am consistently amazed and pleased that I can drive to wherever in style and comfort, wheel the hell out of my rig, and drive home in the same style and comfort. Outside of a head gasket, maintain your rig and she'l take what you can dish out.

Buck Buchanan

 

[bhmmapping]

Fantastic, looks like I will be towing my rig then. Houston is ridiculously flat :/

How did you draw that conclusion from what he recommended? I would think that towing an expedition rig kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[lordVader]

How did you draw that conclusion from what he recommended? I would think that towing an expedition rig kind of defeats the purpose.

>If you are with in a tank of gas. Drive there.
It takes more then one hour to get from one side of houston to the next.

Wow, Looked at that DMC thread, just amazing.

Your right though, it somewhat defeats the purpose

 

[corsair23]

Vader,

If you are truly into expedition type travel and build your rig up for that then one of your first mods should probably be a subtank, whether OEM or aftermarket. There shouldn't be a need to trailer and expedition rig because as mentioned, that sort of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Anyway, subtanks are available anywhere from 13 gals to in the 40+ gal range IIRC. Then when you go on long expeditions when you know you are going to use more than a tank of gas you fill up the subtank - type in subtank in the 80s search window and check out what others have posted up!

Or, just carry how every many extra gallons of gas you think you'll need in jerry cans.

 

[lordVader]

Vader,

If you are truly into expedition type travel and build your rig up for that then one of your first mods should probably be a subtank, whether OEM or aftermarket. There shouldn't be a need to trailer and expedition rig because as mentioned, that sort of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Anyway, subtanks are available anywhere from 13 gals to in the 40+ gal range IIRC. Then when you go on long expeditions when you know you are going to use more than a tank of gas you fill up the subtank - type in subtank in the 80s search window and check out what others have posted up!

Or, just carry how every many extra gallons of gas you think you'll need in jerry cans.

Sounds good
I already placed an order for a few of the Wedco 20 Liter Jerry cans. Now I just got to find a good used cruiser

 

[CodyRx7]

Why not just tow a trailer on the trail?

 

[CruiserLegolas]

There are at least 3 gas stations inside Death Valley at Panamint Springs, Stovepipe Wells, and Furnace Creek. You can also get good info at DeathValley.com especially with the experts in the DV Talk Forum.

As others have mentioned, the reason to get an 80 is to drive in relative comfort to your destination and wheel once you are there. There's a dirt road from Panamint Springs thru The Racetrack to Scotty's Castle, there's also the one-way dirt drive thru Titus Canyon, and many other dirt roads.

In terms of towing, I was thinking that you wanted to tow a trailer as opposed to towing your 80 there. Check out Off Road Tent Trailers by Adventure Trailers

Anyways, gas prices are going thru the roof right now, so it's going to be an expensive trip whether you tow it or drive it.