Overlanding with "stock" 4X4

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Canada coast to coast is 5500 km and from Atlantic to Urals there are about 5350 km. So a bit smaller, but definitely not half. It is impressive for one country, but that is not the point.
I really don't care what GM parts you find in Canada. The issue will not be in Canada. Of course you don't have problems in your home country.
So I guess you added the sound insulation as a hobby... :) .. It is fine.

It is all good... :) . I am sure you are and will do fine fine in Canada and maybe US.
I am trying now to imagine the look on the face of a Australian or German custom officer if you try to ship it anywhere..


I am glad your garage is full of tires. And yes I do have a spare and another 5 tires in my garage as well. But if I am on trip long away from home and I have an issue, I will use the spare. . But to continue my travels safely I will have to replace that failed tire.
That means I need to get something preferably identical or at least the same size. The size I have is one of the stock sizes that all pick ups in the world are sold right now, so even in the middle of nowhere the smallest tire shop there is should be able to have something in stock, or at least supply it easy.
The other option , if I would have lets say 35 inch tires. would be to carry 2 spares. That means some kind of big heavy steel rear bumper with a tire carier + the extra tire. Ballpark I would say another 100 - 150 kg easy, depending on the size, and in the in the worst possible spot for weight. And to gain what ? poor fuel economy ? spend more for tires ? noise, poor handling ? snap axles ? I will rather shovel a bit, or use some maxtrax or the winch. . so far happened 3 times in 5 years...

And I bet my ass off that I will have access stock to 95 % of where you can go, or even more considering the height and weight you have from the pictures.


So the Toyota Hilux is sold in about 180 countries. Some variations, in countries there are poor not all the safety bits are there, not all engines are available in some due to different regulations regarding pollution , but in my case, the 2.4 I have it sold almost everywhere. Might not have all the environment bits( In Europe it has DPF and Adblue, but not in Africa for example ) , but the majority is there. Same goes for the Landcruiser Prado. And still there are very often delays and issues with finding parts, put it simply not all the world is as developed as the West.

But if you have something generic, non custom, very often a local mechanic might be able to fix it at least to get you moving until you can reach a bigger city
Me personally I would have liked to get a Ford Ranger, I like the looks of the European model, plus they had available more engine options, but their foot print around the world is very small compared to Toyota.
So I chose my vehicle to be able to find support easier in case of trouble.

I think you both (@rumbledawg) have made your points. Most American OB guys are not going to be going to Europe and you probably will not be coming here unless you are both WORLD travelers. @rumbledawg does have a unique machine, he built it and he maintains it without outside assistance. He is not the only one with equipment for an anything adventures. You are not the only one who drives a stock (more or less) vehicle regardless of the country. I hope you both will just go and enjoy what you have in the places you want to be and doing what you like best. Criticizing each others rig is not the OB standards of conduct here on the forums. You run what you brung here !

 

[DevilDodge]

Here is a stock vehicle that will get you were you are going

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[Smileyshaun]

Ok ok ok let’s just all just find some common ground we can all agree on ..... bacon we all love bacon ........... wait you Canadians eat different BACON!!!!! See we can’t agree on anything

 

[Billiebob]

So, in a manner of speaking, doing the lockers is a mod one can do that does not require a cascade of other mods to support it?

I'll say yes, with tounge in cheek. Every mod be it bigger rubber, a lift or lockers adds stress. Without lockers where adding skinny pedal might have been a good idea, all locked up things change. The standard for 4WD has always been a bigger, stronger rear axle. In 2WD ALL the power goes to RWD. In 4WD only 50% of the power goes to the front axle. Lockers change that. All locked up 100% of the power can go to any one tire. Articulated with one tire buried against great traction, that one tire can save you. The skinny pedal can definitely break that one axle, joint.

Hence all Wranglers came with D30/D35 axles with a few D44/D30 options. But the Rubicon with lockers came/comes D44s front and back. I don't track new vehicles but when the Rubicon came out in 2003, no one else was doing equal front and rear axles.

Every mod done affects other components. Pull that LS3 and throw in a 4 banger, and you just added beef to the entire driveline. Pull out a 4 banger and throw in an LS3.... cannot state it clearer. Any idiot can break anything.

Add big tires, a 454, lockers, regear and pin it...........

If that is what you love have at 'er. I've been there done that, my dream machine is much smaller today. But I still grin when I hear a blown mud bogger get down.

There should be zero arguement. We do things differently thank god or this would be an incredibly boring forum.

 

[rgallant]

@rumbledawg I think you hit the nail on the head with your nephew's Jeep, before you upgraded it struggled. Give at least from what I see your preference to do things right rather than cheap gave him are far better vehicle.

Let's face Jeep's the absolute most common 4x4 in North America. And the one mostly likely to built incorrectly, and the one that generates ,in my opinion, 90% of the myths around everything discussed in the thread.

Tire noise, stuff breaking etc.

Another point out side of North America Big pickups simply are very uncommon, it flat out is not an option. So 3/4, 1, 1-1/4 ton etc. simply do not exist, and for those that may not know that is the cargo load for one of those
Hence most of the world has little or no experience in them, nor that they were built as work trucks for a long time and designed take a beating, unlike some of the new stuff.
I have seen lots of old Ford and GM pickup's on ranches and farms with bodies beat to crap still humming along on original running gear and overloaded as usual.

The Old Land Rover Defender was a 3/4 ton truck, but geared for the British market so a lighter drive train and smaller engine than you pickups you prefer, but the same idea. The problem is people think they can up grade a modernish SUV to do the same thing, and while you can it is never cheap.

And my final point you see all these built up Jeeps or pretty much anything else in magazines rarely do you see a before cost and after all the upgrades cost in any of those articles

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Ok ok ok let’s just all just find some common ground we can all agree on ..... bacon we all love bacon ........... wait you Canadians eat different BACON!!!!! See we can’t agree on anything

No, man! I don't eat pork. Pig's a filthy animal. I dont eat filthy animals. And I dont eat dog, neither!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Nobody got that reference...really?

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Nobody got that reference...really?

???????????? I like pig, I prefer pig over beef in most cases.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Pulp Fiction! Samuel L. Jackson. Anyone? Tough crowd...

 

[Boostpowered]

lot of nasty assumptions.
i see you edited, but don't EVER call me a liar leeloo, or about my vehicles.
first off let me say thanks for screwing up my night. i'm not a big fan of online or computers and i had to sift threw files and shit to find all this, and dick around with that useless utube thing. thanks.....
and no thanks for making me do something i didn't want too.
i can see you are "unfamiliar" with north american trucks, 1 TONS in particular. let me explain a north american 1 TON to you leeloo.
one finger driving. any questions?

everyday drivability. if i could fit thru the drive thru, this thing can is more than tame enuff to go to McDick's every half hour. any questions?

loss of power? it';s not a drag car, far from it, but wit 600lbs of torque, a detroit, 4:56's (stock) and almost 3 feet of rubber on the road, it snaps off 60 ft like nothing. i've snaked a few five liters, a camaro and a couple hondas. this ford something was not even worthy of half throttle. any questions?

power to haul 8 tons up a 10% hill for 5 kms? check and check

ability to bring 8 tons down a 5 km 10% hill? affirmative

how about off road 15%? all day long

parts availabilty?
google chevrolet Mark lV big block. mine is one of 10 bajillion others mark lV's out there. i literally COULD go to a drugstore and get a distributor for it. parts availabilty is not even a consideration.....but how is it to get them hilux parts? and HOW MUCH for those hilux parts? like i said, google it....

dependabilty?
stock GM 14 b ff. only upgrade is detroit, axle is pretty much indestuctable. 24 yrs of HD and ZERO issues. leaf springs are stock GM HD 9 leaves. available any GM dealer or parts jobber. non-stock, longer shocks, shackle flips, lift blocks, airbags.
get parts anywhere. google it
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still looking pretty stock. stock driveshaft, not lengthened, stock spicer u-joints and bearing carrier. parts available anywhere. stock dual 20 gal tanks, stock e brake assembley. drugstore here i come.....
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stock NP 205 t-case- no words needed....google it for the ultimate in strength
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stock dana 60- crown jewel of fr axles. stock u-joints, stock tie rod, stock kingpins, stock bearings. 2 seconds on the phone and i can have parts instantly.
non-stock, longer shocks, is factory dual shock setup though, non stock s. stabilizers again parts are easier to get than hilux's. springs are skyjacker, 20 yrs old-ZERO issues . shop in town makes springs for any vehicle, any size, lift, whatever-2 days. there making lift springs for my quad trailer right now, ordered today, ready tomorrow- not an availabilty issue what so ever. steering arm is billet steel and made at a local machine shop- 2 hrs, and my steering rod is bigger than the tie rod, hence the beatyous one finger steering, leeloo. google it
View attachment 167544
transmission-turbo 400- most HD auto arguably made. used in big block cars and trucks, busses, rv's and rolls royce's. so i can get parts for it in britian if i decide to drive my crew over there....thru greenland of course...google it

stopping power?
stock drum brakes with shoes about 2 1/2 times the size of your entire hilux wheel. parts in 15 mins....noticing a trend in availabilty for stock parts?
stock calipers, big enough and HD enough to haul down 8 tons un-assisted...(yes, i still have no brakes on my quad trailer) google gm brakes...
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and don't know why your always harping about tires. don't you guys in europe ever carry spare tires??
not an issue here, got 2 sets toyo 38" radials, both sets with spares, 2 sets of bias swampers, one set 39", one set 42", spare tires for both sets. also have a set of stock rims and tires, so no- i give no thought or worry if i blew a tire in the Morrocan desert. you want to wait a week for a tire, be my guest
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and for some reason you seem to think a lifted truck would be loud and annoying- not at all. maybe you, or younger people get off on that blatty-ness.- i run 3" pipes with flowmasters-wait you say, flowmasters, ya, but the big block 70 series. barely louder than stock untill you lay on them, then a nice throaty rumble.
$500 of dynamat, closed cell foam and mass loaded vinyl makes my truck almost caddy like inside with the winda's up. but hey, if you wanna hang yer head out the winda like my best friend does, go right ahead...
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capable? checks all boxes
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dependabilty? boya lake area near the yukon border- 2600 miles- ZERO issues
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dependable 365? check and check
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problems in 24 yrs of ownership? a few every now and then- never, ever been stranded or broke down, and please don't call me a liar, because it NEVER has left us f**ked anywhere.
so leeloo, i hope i might have opened your eyes to capability and dependabilty of a north american 1TON and what lifted trucks can do.
yes my mileage went from 400 miles per tanks to 340 miles per tanks- not an issue as far as i'm concerned, never asked ANYONE to ever pay my fuel bills. around town it is big, but after driving anything you adapt and get used to it- booby's are a bonus though....you'd be amazed at what you can see in cars with girls....
any questions?

and by the way, the area you described in europe, well, that would fill less than half of Canada.
i did live in a truck and camper with 2 sisters, mom and dad and 3 dogs for almost 3 yrs and traveled all over N.A. (states, mexico, canada) . i'm well versed in "overlanding". some people do it as a hobby, some more serious, some of us have lived and breathed this lifestyle our whole lives. i was born in dawson creek, lived there and !00 mile house before my current location, google it- i got a real good feel for the bush....
and i don't need to cross borders to explore, we have it all in our back yard.

and in BC, anything lifted higher than or lowered more than 4" has to get a VI (vehicle inspec.)
my truck went thru with flying colors, and bc prob has one of the more comprehensive inspections anywhere. i can safely drive it pretty much ANYWHERE
any questions?
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Others may not get it but I sure as hell do your truck is basically a not stripped down rebuilt version of my 1988 ck30 buggy. 468 bbc, welded spider gears in a 14 bolt on rear, np205 t case, open dana 60 in front, 41 inch tires. There isn't a whole lot that is as much fun as a big block chevy.

 

[MOAK]

None of that is the overlanding that I do. I have horses (the original jeeps) and dirtbikes for places like Utah's tight trails. You can't put a FWC Granby on a LC80. Or go 85mph down the Key West hwy in a rainstorm in one.
I do slow down to 80 in adverse weather!
Retired people with free time to go just 60mph on slab, aren't the same as campers with just one week at a time.

ya, I get that, I used to curse em for hangin out in the hammer lane doing 55 or 60. Now I’m one of em, but life lessons taught me to never be so arrogant as to clog up the interstates. Sooo, I maintain 65-70 and stay in the right lanes.

The OP’s question is out there. A stock full size doesn’t have a chance compared to Tacoma’s, 4Runners, Landcruisers or Jeep Wrangler models. Would anyone take a full dress Harley or Honda off highway? Usually not, for a bucket load of good reasons. Can it be done? Maybe.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

ya, I get that, I used to curse em for hangin out in the hammer lane doing 55 or 60. Now I’m one of em, but life lessons taught me to never be so arrogant as to clog up the interstates. Sooo, I maintain 65-70 and stay in the right lanes.

The OP’s question is out there. A stock full size doesn’t have a chance compared to Tacoma’s, 4Runners, Landcruisers or Jeep Wrangler models. Would anyone take a full dress Harley or Honda off highway? Usually not, for a bucket load of good reasons. Can it be done? Maybe.

I cant see or justify taking a $65,000 + vehicle off roading on any forest trail regardless of size.

 

[MOAK]

I cant see or justify taking a $65,000 + vehicle off roading on any forest trail regardless of size.

Nor I. Unless I had multi millions of dollars to burn or a sponsor. I have neither, so it’s just my old ‘96 and a home built trailer.!!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Nor I. Unless I had multi millions of dollars to burn or a sponsor. I have neither, so it’s just my old ‘96 and a home built trailer.!!

I cant see purchasing a truck at that price, never mind taking it offroad. Used vehicle buyer right here. I have purchased ONE new car. A 2006 Hinda Civic Si. It was a good solid purchase and did me well for what I needed. 3 years later i sold it. I went to a Chevy dealer last year because the Custom Trailboss z71 had my interest. Chevy chose to dick around and give more incentives to Dodge owners than to people who have owned Chevys in the past (I didnt have a GM product at the time, but have owned at least 3 trucks and a number of cars in the past). I walked away, and got my nice 14 GMC Sierra z71 for way less money and with way more creature comforts than I would have gotten in that new Custom Trail Boss

 

[Oregon_trail]

I cant see or justify taking a $65,000 + vehicle off roading on any forest trail regardless of size.

A chance at what? Rock crawling? No it definitely doesn’t but overlanding? All day man. Overland is traveling overland usually off-road but if your goal is travel then you probably are not putting rigs in a position to get super damaged and I’ve seen some dudes do very impressive stuff with full size trucks. And in my case I need a full size for work so I take my 2020 ram 2500 a truck that cost iver 70k and go off-roading and enjoy it a lot and it has went everywhere I wanted it to easily.

 

[MOAK]

A chance at what? Rock crawling? No it definitely doesn’t but overlanding? All day man. Overland is traveling overland usually off-road but if your goal is travel then you probably are not putting rigs in a position to get super damaged and I’ve seen some dudes do very impressive stuff with full size trucks. And in my case I need a full size for work so I take my 2020 ram 2500 a truck that cost iver 70k and go off-roading and enjoy it a lot and it has went everywhere I wanted it to easily.

So your full-size is dual purpose. I remember those days. Had a full size for business and did a lot of forest roads all over Pa. that was in the mid 80s and on through 94. The business owned the truck, our name was plastered all over it. If my career path had been different I’d of never considered an F250. I would have found and used a Landcruiser 60 series. So I’m curious, if you didn’t need your truck for work, what would your first choice be for a backcountry touring vehicle?

 

[Oregon_trail]

So your full-size is dual purpose. I remember those days. Had a full size for business and did a lot of forest roads all over Pa. that was in the mid 80s and on through 94. The business owned the truck, our name was plastered all over it. If my career path had been different I’d of never considered an F250. I would have found and used a Landcruiser 60 series. So I’m curious, if you didn’t need your truck for work, what would your first choice be for a backcountry touring vehicle?

Honestly man a shortbed Ram. With a family they are super roomy and I can load them down and still get great range over 500 miles and even all loaded out not be near my gross weight rating making it so it’ll hold up. I may want something different if I was traveling the world a lot but I’m not and even if I did tale a trip it wouldn’t likely be more than a month or two and these trucks are not hard to work on. I’ve also taken it on more than logging roads and it has done great I’m very pleased on 37s and leveled.

 

[Billiebob]

All locked up, all tires churning, equal traction. But put one tire on dry pavement, the other 3 on ice, 600HP is going thru that one tire. This is what leads to broken axles. Unlocked, 3 tires would be spinning on ice, all locked up, only one tire is taking the entire load.

 

[LONO100]

Stock vehicles, especially many of the newer vehicles can get you through most places on the trail. We own a Jeep JK 2 door, and I have never felt the need to make any modifications to it. That thing is bomb proof and can go anywhere we have taken it. I know that Wranglers may be an outlier, but I have put plenty of miles on the dirt in my old Subarus too and they work just fine. Rock Crawling, trails like the Rubicon or Deer Valley are different stories, but many of the trails out there (at least the ones I have experienced) can be done in stock vehicles if the driver has the experience, understands where to put the wheels, understands how differentials work, and doesn't push beyond the limits of their skill or their vehicle's capability. I have taken my lifted truck with lockers and 33's through trails 30 miles from the nearest piece of pavement, getting my teeth rattled the entire way, scaring my wife along narrow shelf trails and get to a beautiful secluded lake that I have been grinding away all morning only to find a bone stock Subaru Impreza sitting there. In my experience, it's all going to be based on the skill of the driver and their understanding of the vehicle they are operating. If you are unsure that you and your stock vehicle can make it through any particular trail, try to find others to tag along with so that you can learn the trail first. Going with others offers you a life line if you get hung up or have a breakdown or other malfunction. Going with others will offer you a different perspective on how to tackle obstacles on the trail. Everyone looks at the trail differently and you can learn a ton by watching others.

 

[Old Recon Marine]

Well said and thank you. I appreciate the super rigs and good for them but the adventure belongs to the adventurist and not just the investors. And it's all still a challenge.