Overlanding with "stock" 4X4

[mrseth]

Going to get groceries is technically "overlanding" unless your grocery store is on a lake or in the ocean... take it where you wanna go, most likely you can travel to most all places in the US unless you go to a dedicated OHV park in which case you know you may be overstepping your vehicles ability.

 

[Smileyshaun]

IT CANT BE DONE !!! DONT TRY IT !!!! how could you imagine going over landing without a roof top tent, without Max tracks and gas cans strapped all over your rig , How would anybody know you’ve gone somewhere without patches all over your ceiling And how would you be able to convey to the rest of the world that you are truly a Overlander unless you have a lift kit and aftermarket wheels to really spice up your Instagram photos that you’re taking right next to a campground.
Honestly most everybody is overthinking this thing before it was called Overlanding it was just called car camping. Toss some sleeping gear in there bring a little bit of food and go drive down some gravel roads and enjoy your day.

 

[grubworm]

Toss some sleeping gear in there bring a little bit of food and go drive down some gravel roads and enjoy your day.

yeah right! just try that and see how many LIKES you get on instagram...

 

[Buckaroo]

before it was called Overlanding it was just called car camping. Toss some sleeping gear in there bring a little bit of food and go drive down some gravel roads and enjoy your day.

I've been on that same soapbox for yonks.
Choose a destination, head for it, camp where it's convenient along the way :-)

 

[Smileyshaun]

Oh ya and don’t forget lights , you need at least 1 light bar and at least a couple on your ..... oh GOD I almost forgot you need a roof rack !!!!!
Now I know what your thinking “ but people go backpacking for a week at a time with 30-40lbs of gear on their back and live in relative comfort exploring “ FOOLS Absolute FOOLS I tell you !!!
As we all know after spending the day exhausting ourselves with the climate control set at the perfect tempature and having to use one.... maybe both legs to push those petals down , we must cook a gourmet meal to replace all those lost calories and you can’t JUST cook a regular meal !!! No no no you can’t cook without a pull out kitchen that emerges ...... crap forgot about the drawer storage system and what kind of kitchen would it be if it wasn’t covered with a huge awning . Now that you have all these over landing basics covered you are ready to go stay one heck of your really feeling crazy 2 whole nights out in the lone wilderness ( probably right next to a road ) feeling like a primitive caveman .Now just remember to recharge all your electronic devices with your portable solar station because the last thing you want when out in the woods is to be away from your electronics devices, because you must take sunset photos or a nighttime pic with all your lights on of all your over landing gear setup at camp because again you gotta get it up on Instagram , because what would be the point of just sitting there enjoying the sunset when you can take a pic of it to enjoy later .

 

[Smileyshaun]

Now that your fully outfitted with your 4 star hotel on wheels we need to work on that suspension . After adding you 1500-2000lbs of overlanding “essentials I’m sure that suspension is bouncing off the bump stops hitting a penny on the road .
So on your front suspension you want to make sure to put in so much lift that you have a good inch maybe 1 1/2 inches of down travel left in your suspension and that you keep your CV axles always at an angle, Because you wouldn’t want them lasting a long time you need to prove to everyone you’re a true Overlander when you break them driving over a curb. And also gotta get some heavy duty springs to combat that winch bumper and 30 lights hanging off it . Rear suspension is the same formula super heavy springs and you might as well toss on some remote reservoir shocks on there for all that high speed desert running you won’t be doing . Now the absolute best part of your new suspension set up is that when you don’t have your camping gear..... sorry sorry overlanding gear in it it will ride like an absolute brick you will feel every bump and crack in the road. ITS GONNA BE AWSOME !!!! Oh and I also forgot to mention that your wants almost fuel-efficient 4 x 4 will now I’ll probably be down to almost the single digits from struggling with all your extra gear tireoh and I also forgot to mention that your wants almost fuel-efficient 4 x 4 will now probably be down to almost the single digits from struggling with all your extra gear , armor and tires. Now you could combat that with re-gearing your axles, but maybe you have come to the sensible conclusion that your vehicle is just too small to start off with anybody going to be getting bad gas mileage you might as well have a larger more comfortable vehicle with a bigger motor to start out, and then you know what the best part of doing that is you get a start all over again and start over loading this vehicle to with all of your ”essential” overlanding gear .

So to recap on my ridiculously long rant. Throw some camping gear in your rig have basic recovery gear and start off easy just traveling down gravel roads learning your vehicle and knowing what it can and can’t do. Learn and adjust from your trips what things YOU need for YOUR style of travel . What works for one person out in the desert it’s probably gonna be half worthless for someone that travels in the snow and vice versa.
So in other words run what you Have and enjoy yourself , be smart and Most importantly let two people From different households know where you’re planning on going and when you should return.

 

[Buckaroo]

Oh ya and don’t forget lights , you need at least 1 light bar and at least a couple on your ..... oh GOD I almost forgot you need a roof rack !!!!!

ermay gaaaad!
Ima gonna close my IG account. I don't haz a roof rack and can't fit one either. WTF can I do?
I'll have to go back to adventuring, exploring, travelling and camping if I can't overland and instagram.

 

[Old Recon Marine]

Finally... now we're getting real, insightful feedback and guidance.

 

[attacktheculdesac]

As others have stated i agree totally : good A/T tires, rocker guards/under skids, tools ENJOY

Ps : This is coming from a guy who did all the “cool mods that where needed”

 

[Captstout]

Any thoughts or experience any can share with Hankook AT tires?

I have run Hankook At3 on a couple of vehicles. Loved them. Not as aggressive as son AT but the wear is great

 

[Captstout]

Good discussion here.

I will echo the "Just go" thoughts.
.i have a 2005 Honda pilot. Good AT's a tool kit and recovery gear and camping stuff. I know her Limits and my skill level.

One day I will have a rig I can modify and do a bit more technical trails.

The best rig is the one you have.

 

[Captstout]

Oh ya and don’t forget lights , you need at least 1 light bar and at least a couple on your ..... oh GOD I almost forgot you need a roof rack !!!!!
Now I know what your thinking “ but people go backpacking for a week at a time with 30-40lbs of gear on their back and live in relative comfort exploring “ FOOLS Absolute FOOLS I tell you !!!
As we all know after spending the day exhausting ourselves with the climate control set at the perfect tempature and having to use one.... maybe both legs to push those petals down , we must cook a gourmet meal to replace all those lost calories and you can’t JUST cook a regular meal !!! No no no you can’t cook without a pull out kitchen that emerges ...... crap forgot about the drawer storage system and what kind of kitchen would it be if it wasn’t covered with a huge awning . Now that you have all these over landing basics covered you are ready to go stay one heck of your really feeling crazy 2 whole nights out in the lone wilderness ( probably right next to a road ) feeling like a primitive caveman .Now just remember to recharge all your electronic devices with your portable solar station because the last thing you want when out in the woods is to be away from your electronics devices, because you must take sunset photos or a nighttime pic with all your lights on of all your over landing gear setup at camp because again you gotta get it up on Instagram , because what would be the point of just sitting there enjoying the sunset when you can take a pic of it to enjoy later .

I love your tongue in cheek response. Lol.

Wife and I use totes in the back of her Honda Pilot for storage along with our 25+-year-old Coleman stove. Lol.

Grab your camping crap and go. That's it. Lol

 

[AZ Trooper]

Great read! It literally just saved me a lot of money. Awesome supportive comments regarding just getting out there and having fun. Believe me, I wanna mod my trooper and I will, but now I have more confidence to get out there and have fun sooner. Knowing my limits is huge. Sill gonna end up blowing money but now I wont feel I am such a rush.

 

[Boostpowered]

Well would you rather get into a gunfight with a .22lr or a ar10 .308 because thats basically the same question, will a 22lr kill? yes with good shot placement and enough ammo, will .308 kill better?yes with alot less ammo. That is pretty much the difference between a stock 4x4 and a fully modified 4x4. Will a stock 4x4 be able to offroad? Yes with the right line and plenty of patience but a fully modified one will do it better with alot less trouble.

 

[toxicity_27]

When I bought my JKURHR I intended to keep it stock for as long as possible. That lasted less than 800 miles. I like to modify and personalize my vehicles. Now that's not to say that I couldn't have kept it stock and done everything I did with it (there might have been some challenges, but definitely doable).

My thought process is this;
Keep it stock, drive the heck out of it and you'll know the capabilities while saving money to modify what you break, or what is limiting you. That way you can continue to build your vehicle, while learning the capabilities and not spending out of your eyeballs, and possibly going into debt (not everyone does go into debt to modify their rig).
Depending on the tires that came on your vehicle, this is probably the first thing to change out, since most manufacturers put more street oriented tires on their vehicles for gas mileage, ie. not great offroad.

The most important thing is to get out and explore. Find places you've never gone to (or maybe places you haven't been to since you were a kid), have fun, be responsible, and most importantly, take pictures to remember the good times.

 

[Captstout]

Great read! It literally just saved me a lot of money. Awesome supportive comments regarding just getting out there and having fun. Believe me, I wanna mod my trooper and I will, but now I have more confidence to get out there and have fun sooner. Knowing my limits is huge. Sill gonna end up blowing money but now I wont feel I am such a rush.

Yep. Just start going. You will quickly find what you want to modify first. Lol

 

[Morehouse Expedition]

I have never been anyplace that my stock 4x4 couldn’t get me. My Pops taught me that if there is a obstacle in the the road that your truck can’t get over stop look around 99% of time there is a safer easier way around it and you know what he is 100% correct. As far as running into that Honda Odessy minivan after six hours of hard rig bustin spine breakin forearm burnin leg cramping wheelin. To make matters worse it’s usually the nicest sweetest young single mom with her four kids and she is proving to those kids of hers she don’t need that arrogant cheating bastard ex husband

 

[leeloo]

I bought a second hand land crusier 120, known in US as the lexus 470 i think.So far, bone stock I did 2 pretty long trips, an off road tour of the Pirinei mountains 1200 km off road, from Mediterana to Atlantic and an off road tour of Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Some pretty rough off roading included, I have mild AT tyres ( some Yokohama Geolanders) . The mods I have are for traveling, not modifications of the vehicle, meaning an auxiliary battery to power the fridge, 2 roof bars to put the RTT on. I don't understand people who pland to have an RTT but get 1000 USD roof rack instead of a couple of roof bars.. but that is another story. For a year I had a normal ground tent but becouse it was too much work for me I went for a hardshell RTT. But you will do fine with a ground tent.
The car had factory engine skidd plate, pretty thin , got used a lot, I will replace it with a more resilient one.

I might replace the stock suspension becouse it is on its last leg, the car has about 300k km , 186k miles on it. Since it is the top trim with the TEMS shocks with air bags in the back, it is very expensive ( Only toyota OEM parts ) so I will go for a mild lift kit, and loaded I will probably have the same clearence as the OEM suspension wich is selfleveling in the back.
The tyre size is stock and will remain so. Oversize lifts and tyres look cool ? sure. Would I take it across Africa ? never.


Any modification you will do to the car will reflect badly on the reliability. so unless you really have to, avoid it. I met with many real Overlanders, not "holiday warriors" like me, (i do maybe 2 long trips per year minimum 14 days each ), famillies doing long trips across Asia, Africa, minimum 6 months,, all of them went back as close to stock as they could, after many bad experiences with oversized wheels and tyres specially. They did not have blogs or youtube channels to share their experience with the insane lifts and tyre sizes I see arround :) .

Also keep in mind that weight is enemy number 1. It will increase the fuel consumption, reduce the performance off road and will stress the vehicle so it will be less reliable.
Draw systems are cool, but most are heavy. So you have to ask yourself, are they worth it for someone who does maybe 2 long trips / year and a number of short trips over the week-end ? Your in a holiday..there is no deadline, so what if it takes an extra 5 min to setup your cooking stove ?

A shovel and some maxtrax will get you out of anything except getting bogged in a river crossing.


This is a picture of Barbara Toy, in her land rover series 1, SOLO trip from Gibraltar to Bagdhad and back to London in 1950 .
So my conclusion.. some good tyres and a skid plate , - your good to go arround the world.

 

[SinisterJK]

My first offroad vehicle was a 2005 Honda Pilot with selectable 4WD and I put that little sucker into some deeply remote places even without engaging the 4x4. I think as long as you can feel comfortable with your rig and the terrain and your skillset you can really make it anywhere in just about any platform. Hell I was on the GA Traverse in April and saw a STOCK Corolla doing the traverse! Granted its not a crazy trail but still the corolla is a pretty low clearance sedan!

 

[Jackman547]

My first offroad vehicle was a 2005 Honda Pilot with selectable 4WD and I put that little sucker into some deeply remote places even without engaging the 4x4. I think as long as you can feel comfortable with your rig and the terrain and your skillset you can really make it anywhere in just about any platform. Hell I was on the GA Traverse in April and saw a STOCK Corolla doing the traverse! Granted its not a crazy trail but still the corolla is a pretty low clearance sedan!

I used to take my pickup everywhere when it was just a stock f150 with highway tires! They can go way further then most people think! Just have to know your limits and you’ll do great! As loving and you know how to drive haha. Here’s a moment when I forget I was driving a stick pickup but you see how deep it got before the truck let me down