Sounds like a fun trip!

 

It was. I giggled the whole way home.

 

Sweet. Good questions and feedback!! Here would be some of my input to digest as well. There are some things that will have a greater priority then others. They change with experience and agreed that the No. 1 thing that doesn't change is "Know your rig".

TP, I'm going to presume you are going in your lifted Ram, which was the previous sig picture you had. I see the current one and big thumbs up on that!! Looks like fun and still a learning experience as it helps that No. 1. Let the GF know that.

1. The rear driveshaft must be taken into consideration all the time. Ours hangs low and encroaches break over angle and turning. Smaller wheelers, unless you know them, forget about that part when spotting.

2. Turning radius for the rear has to be remembered. Meaning on some obstacles you need to set the rear up, not the front.

3. The shear weight of our trucks, which typically doubles that have common ones like Jeeps and Toyotas, is important when it comes to settling on the springs and shocks. Sometimes coming off something too fast or lurching will cause things to hit eachother. Braking is needed more for that control. Sometimes it results in skidding the front tire down, as an example.

4. Our engines with the keg manifold has particular response that has to be kept in mind. It's a charge of air in there that lends to a lurch-type of movement. This happens no matter with manual or auto tranny. Gearing helps smooth this out (you have 4.56) as well as throttle body mod you have. You will be bringing revs up a bit more slowly. Ask your spotter to have patience bc he's telling you to go...and you are but you're being careful. What is important is once that torque comes up, you have to be ready with other foot on brake, just in case. The just in case is for possible wheel slip, suspension movement (everywhere), etc. Being very careful to NOT go from wheel slip to immediate traction ==> boom!

5. Visibility in our trucks is challenging. If you have power seats, then get used to lifting it and running forward. I can get myself where I stick my whole upper body out the window while still reaching pedals so that I can see over the passenger HL. Direct your side mirrors to see your rear wheels.

6. No matter the vehicle, I always encourage drivers (new and vet) to get out check clearances and lines for themselves if there is even a smidge of doubt. Sometimes it's just good anyways b/c while traversing your initial line is fine, but then you unexpectedly shift, that is where you REALLY need to recheck the line/clearances.


Here are general questions I try to put out there for foolsize wheelers to consider --

Are you ready for pinstriping and some body damage in any event?

Are any of the people going also in a fullsize? If not, then there will be a problem regarding threshold of clearances and lines to take.

Do you TRUST anyone in the group that they could spot you when needed? (this means alot of different things to people)

Do you have recovery gear?

Are you familiar with the terrain you're going to?

You don't want to be like this guy I recovered in a mud hole at our OHV park. I was the largest that could pull him out.







Try to pick a route you can do somewhat regularly. I encourage learning to drive with the sway bar ON. At some point later you take it off to learn what happens. First thing though is you need to extend those VAC lines, but I think you have Posi-lok so shouldn't be an issue. I've purposely done this sway bar on/off thing for a long time now. It has dramatic effect on how the truck will move/shift.

Airing down is helpful, but also keep in mind it loses ground clearance. I'll drop the rear down about 2-5 psi more than the front. If you haven't aired down before nor know how to reseat a bead if blowing the tire, then I'd first start at 15 psi front. You need to take that into account with my earlier comment about weight.


I like Wildman's suggestion. I'd add that if possible to go to a empty parking lot that has the concrete parking stops. Get used to driving over those with control 100%, meaning front and all the way to the back.

Lastly...a broken winch won't help anyone.


Here is this black JKU that was the most capable in our group -- locked and beadlocks on 37s (down to 4 psi) and couldn't move. Yes he is a good driver, yet the winch did not work. It would have helped double recovery efforts....



Those are my few cents and keep the questions coming!

 

Thanks sumone!


You got it TP! There are a few widths out there but, generally, full width is anything >65" WMS. Less than that is typically associated with (factory) jeep and toyota axle widths. Keep in mind that many people swap in full width to jeeps/toyotas/etc. It can also be accomplished with wheel spacers and wheel backspacing to get the same tire width.


On snow runs, it's funny to see the narrow ones bopping in/out of the ruts. This is b/c the heavy foolsize rigs dictate the ruts....

This was yesterday

 

I can go anywhere in these tires.... I don't have pics of the deepest stuff I pushed, but they were over the tire.







airing back up b/t trails (~10psi front and 8 rear)



Worked through the zoo of stuckage


Did not stick around to watch this futile recovery (light jeep with open front...and uphill)



I couldn't ignore helping out this guy and his GF. He did it right by having her ask me. This is on a hill and he was accommodating other rigs get by, which had him move off...but too much that he parked it like the Pet Detective...







Great day as we really needed this snow...but also need it to stick around!!

 

Always carry tools!! lol

Came upon a Ford F250 diesel, which had a D60 kinpin SAS to it. Owner recently got it. Looked good until seeing the front driveshaft hanging down. He came upon a couple of stuck toyotas (one of them with only rear drive). <-- Kiddo stuff is all

Due to the ruts, he had to romp it pretty good I guess to change tracks...and proceeded to slam the front end (heavy motor right?) which snapped the ujoint at the pinion. The DS let loose and spun enough to tag the oil filter. It spewed oil and do he was done. I didn't see all this and he's buds took off to get parts. I loaned him tools (pliers, socket, hammer) to get the broke one out. During that a phone call actually makes it through and we're trying to figure out what axle/ujoint he has b/c he doesn't know.... :/ Great guy and survived 7 years of Afghanistan. I offered him whatever I could.

It was a learning experience for him, good times and no injuries.

 

Great shots, this is the first I've seen snow this deep (if you look at some of the photos, notice the parking signs in relationship to the drifts).

So with snow this deep and you are in the lead, is it 4 hi or 4 lo that you run in? I always scratch my head at some of Merc's photos with the amount of snow in the photos (so I can understand the tall lifts).

Thanks for sharing. K.

 

I was always a firm believer in, if you think you might need 4Lo, best be in it before you actually need it.

 

[I can go anywhere in these tires.... I don't have pics of the deepest stuff I pushed, but they were over the tire.]Quote

Are you still running 35's. These look bigger! Nice pics, bet it was a fun day.

 

Whit3nukle, nice pics man! It's nice to see a variety of rigs on the trails from full size to tacomas to jeeps etc. I wish my area had groups like thAt