"Toyotas Offroad Push"

[jorton]

I didn't watch the video but have you noticed how popular offroad vehicles are in town, and on highways? Around here there are more and more roads where I find myself driving at or slower than the posted speed limit due to chewed up surfaces. Resurfacing crews now make quick temporary patches that are uneven instead of building new streets and roads.

This may already be a reality in areas with harsher climates, but do you think folks are starting to feel they need offroad vehicles for their daily commutes?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I see a lot of Raptor F150s, Wrangler Rubicons and TRD vehicles driving around that never see so much as a dirt driveway. The Wrangler Rubicon I can actually see, as you do end up with a better vehicle. Raptor, I'm not sold on - you end up with a $60,000 truck that can't tow or haul anything.

My lowly little Cherokee is modified to go off road, and I do bring it off road quite often.

 

[Shannow]

"Great Western Got-track" had my E30 turn grader quite a few times, and it had nearly 4" of clearance under the sump...it was manoueverable, but to duck a 3" hump with a 4" hole next to it meant getting wrongsided of the traffic.

My 4WD gives a good shake on some of the roads that are representative of my commute.

 

[supton]

Given some of our roads I have wondered what would be the longest lasting suspension and vehicle. Truck with high profile ties? Something that doesn't use struts? Lots of ground clearance? Dunno. Certainly lots of pavement queens out there that will never see dirt. I really can't fault an OEM for getting on the bandwagon, their job in life is to make money, and maybe even sell some vehicles. If slapping on some decals and rubber makes more money...

 

[IndyIan]

I think the idea of your own trophy truck is really appealling to a lot of guys. Hammering through the desert, skipping over the whoops... Makes no sense to do that with a new vehicle, but the idea of it is fun.
I beat on the Tracker up our driveway the odd time, and its fun to get it sideways, and then race into the field and do a little jump or two, but its hard on everything, and there's always the chance it could go over...
Our main roads are pretty much flawless though, with the exception of some frost heaves this spring. You could drive a go kart at 60 mph for pretty much all of it. If I drove on lots of broken pavement I'd never get a solid axle vehicle anyways, I don't like the feel of the secondary vibrations of the suspension trying handle all the unsprung weight, and I don't like how they skitter around in washboard.
Probably the best rough road vehicle we've had was the '92 Sentra, long travel struts with very progressive bump stops, and nice light 13" high profile tires. It would hold a line in washboard and never felt harsh even when bottoming out hard. Good steering feel too.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: supton
Given some of our roads I have wondered what would be the longest lasting suspension and vehicle. Truck with high profile ties? Something that doesn't use struts? Lots of ground clearance? Dunno. Certainly lots of pavement queens out there that will never see dirt. I really can't fault an OEM for getting on the bandwagon, their job in life is to make money, and maybe even sell some vehicles. If slapping on some decals and rubber makes more money...


I do like my solid axle and 85 series tires for some of the larger pot holes.

Hit one pot hole that was so deep I actually managed to leave the pavement on the way out ... as did the truck behind me.

 

[WiskyBadger]

There is a lot of pavement pounders around here, especially diesels. Lot of guy buy them and jack them up and put big wheels on them and never go off road. The whole diesel thing is getting out hand in general. Guys buy them and haul less the guys with Colorados/rangers.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
There is a lot of pavement pounders around here, especially diesels. Lot of guy buy them and jack them up and put big wheels on them and never go off road. The whole diesel thing is getting out hand in general. Guys buy them and haul less the guys with Colorados/rangers.


Bro trucks!

I always laugh when I see one. My Cherokee has done more off roading, towing and hauling than those trucks will ever do.

And it doesn't even have towing mirrors! (apparently they always have to add the towing mirrors)

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
There is a lot of pavement pounders around here, especially diesels. Lot of guy buy them and jack them up and put big wheels on them and never go off road. The whole diesel thing is getting out hand in general. Guys buy them and haul less the guys with Colorados/rangers.


Bro trucks!

I always laugh when I see one. My Cherokee has done more off roading, towing and hauling than those trucks will ever do.

And it doesn't even have towing mirrors! (apparently they always have to add the towing mirrors)


I couldn't agree more. My Accord with my trailer has seen more hauling/work than half of these diesels with their "ghost trailers".

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
There is a lot of pavement pounders around here, especially diesels. Lot of guy buy them and jack them up and put big wheels on them and never go off road. The whole diesel thing is getting out hand in general. Guys buy them and haul less the guys with Colorados/rangers.



Yup. And the funny thing is when I see these guys swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid a pot hole. Your truck is on 35" tires!!! Why did you swerve into the other lane?? Meanwhile the guy with an Accord that is 3" off the ground just tanks the pothole like a champ. My Jeep has a 2" lift. It doesn't see much offroad use besides dirt roads. That is mostly because there is no legal wheeling in CT. I do have Old Man Emu offroad shocks, and since I go over 2 sets of train tracks both to and from work they are worth every penny.

 

[gathermewool]

I make a point to flip the bird to any idiot in a smoke-tuned diesel. The only thing worse than traffic is being stuck in traffic with a dipstick truck owner blowing clouds of noxious black smoke every few seconds. I don't know much about dieseling tuning in general, nor smoke tunes specifically, but I'm going to guess that something is very wrong if mild acceleration causes so much smoke on a newer truck.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I make a point to flip the bird to any idiot in a smoke-tuned diesel. The only thing worse than traffic is being stuck in traffic with a dipstick truck owner blowing clouds of noxious black smoke every few seconds. I don't know much about dieseling tuning in general, nor smoke tunes specifically, but I'm going to guess that something is very wrong if mild acceleration causes so much smoke on a newer truck.


They do it on purpose. It's a "Smoke" tune. When they actually try to use the truck as a truck, they don't monitor EGTs and their smoke tune blows things up ...

There's a guy on the Ford Truck forums that hosts a tow-off. They hook a 15,000 pound trailer to various ford trucks and time them towing up a big hill.

One of the participants had a friend with a Cummins that had a smoke tune. It blew the engine.

 

[eljefino]

Something like a benz w123 or old peugeot with ~11 inches of suspension travel would take the bumps pretty well. Only when one gets to crater-size holes would a truck's 33 inch tire help more-- and then, you should go through in first gear.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I make a point to flip the bird to any idiot in a smoke-tuned diesel. The only thing worse than traffic is being stuck in traffic with a dipstick truck owner blowing clouds of noxious black smoke every few seconds. I don't know much about dieseling tuning in general, nor smoke tunes specifically, but I'm going to guess that something is very wrong if mild acceleration causes so much smoke on a newer truck.


They do it on purpose. It's a "Smoke" tune. When they actually try to use the truck as a truck, they don't monitor EGTs and their smoke tune blows things up ...

There's a guy on the Ford Truck forums that hosts a tow-off. They hook a 15,000 pound trailer to various ford trucks and time them towing up a big hill.

One of the participants had a friend with a Cummins that had a smoke tune. It blew the engine.


I've heard of smoke tunes before, but there must be "good" smoke tunes and bad smoke tunes, since some I've seen only smoke badly on what seem like full-boost romps, while others smoke nearly continuously.

Is it all based on ECM tuning or are there cheap, "chipped" versions that are as simple as tricking the map/mad into seeing more air, resulting in a super rich condition?

 

[WiskyBadger]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
There is a lot of pavement pounders around here, especially diesels. Lot of guy buy them and jack them up and put big wheels on them and never go off road. The whole diesel thing is getting out hand in general. Guys buy them and haul less the guys with Colorados/rangers.


Bro trucks!

I always laugh when I see one. My Cherokee has done more off roading, towing and hauling than those trucks will ever do.

And it doesn't even have towing mirrors! (apparently they always have to add the towing mirrors)
I always tease the guys I know with 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks that my half ton sees more work then their rigs. Whether it be towing a car or snowmobile trailer and hauling landscaping/ home improvement materials. I also see more 4 wheel action on the farm or in the snow then theirs do sitting in the garage as soon as weather changes.

 

[WiskyBadger]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I make a point to flip the bird to any idiot in a smoke-tuned diesel. The only thing worse than traffic is being stuck in traffic with a dipstick truck owner blowing clouds of noxious black smoke every few seconds. I don't know much about dieseling tuning in general, nor smoke tunes specifically, but I'm going to guess that something is very wrong if mild acceleration causes so much smoke on a newer truck.


They do it on purpose. It's a "Smoke" tune. When they actually try to use the truck as a truck, they don't monitor EGTs and their smoke tune blows things up ...

There's a guy on the Ford Truck forums that hosts a tow-off. They hook a 15,000 pound trailer to various ford trucks and time them towing up a big hill.

One of the participants had a friend with a Cummins that had a smoke tune. It blew the engine.


I've heard of smoke tunes before, but there must be "good" smoke tunes and bad smoke tunes, since some I've seen only smoke badly on what seem like full-boost romps, while others smoke nearly continuously.

Is it all based on ECM tuning or are there cheap, "chipped" versions that are as simple as tricking the map/mad into seeing more air, resulting in a super rich condition?
yep dump as much unburnt fuel as possible, (rolling coal) is what really matters in a truck.

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Those who buy cheap tuners get cheap results.

Even the ford 6.0 will run HARD with just a proper tune.

Any time a 7k pound vehicle runs the quarter in under 15 seconds...thats some serious power.

As for offroad vehicles on road, it provides a certain freedom. Tropical storms usually mean high water around here...I dont think twice about driving to get fuel mid storm. 24 inches of water means nothing.

Ive crossed the concrete barriers that divide the interstate, pop the front tires up, use momentum to drag the frame across until the front touches down on the other side, and boom.

Just at home driving the pipelines and pushing trees down to make trails in the woods as it is in a major city.

OME struts/shocks and springs, and C rated 33s means bumps and jumps dont matter.

 

[kschachn]

And apparently to my neighbor, the amount of "drop" in their trailer hitch and the size of their mirrors.

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
yep dump as much unburnt fuel as possible, (rolling coal) is what really matters in a truck.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
And apparently to my neighbor, the amount of "drop" in their trailer hitch and the size of their mirrors.

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
yep dump as much unburnt fuel as possible, (rolling coal) is what really matters in a truck.


Lift it 10 inches, run 37'' tires, put giant tow mirrors on it and a 6'' drop hitch. .... Never use it as a truck.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: kschachn
And apparently to my neighbor, the amount of "drop" in their trailer hitch and the size of their mirrors.

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
yep dump as much unburnt fuel as possible, (rolling coal) is what really matters in a truck.


Lift it 10 inches, run 37'' tires, put giant tow mirrors on it and a 6'' drop hitch. .... Never use it as a truck.


The thing that gets me is the amount of money spent on those trucks too. My buddy has a 2003 Duramax. The truck is a total POS. It has almost 200k on it and is an ex-plow truck. The front suspension is still tweaked after getting lots of parts replaced, and it eats through tires like crazy. He just finished his 5th tranny swap, and its still not quite right. His transfer case no longer works, and he has a mysterious coolant loss problem. No leaks so probably a head gasket issue from all the high performance tuning he is running. The truck always seems to have some kind of major electrical issue as well. He owes about 19k on the truck still, not to mention all the upgrades. The longest the truck has been on the road was 3 months when he first bought it. Now it spends most of its time on jack stands. I never understood the mentality of making payments on something you can't even use, all because "it looks cool".

He doesn't tow or plow with it, and I think the most he has had in the bed was 1 pallet for a bonfire. I feel bad for him sometimes but its hard to feel sorry for someone who makes decisions like that. I normally wouldn't care except for the fact that he always has to bum rides off friends because "his truck isn't working".