We have a few places that we can go but majority of the area is run by the snomobile clubs in the winter. I have plenty of work to do on mine so I have been driving the compass while I tear the LJ apart
Overlanding with "stock" 4X4
- Thread starter Old Recon Marine
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It doesn't matter what your driving at least your out doing things. Hopefully your repairs are not too bad and fairly cheap! I want to keep building mine up more, but it all costs money.
I got to check on my kid, so have a good evening. Stay in touch.
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Brrrrrrrrrr I can feel it and I'm not even there. Shows how young you are James
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I can't find a picture at the moment but i converted an old .50 cal ammo can in to a little wood stove. A small bundle of hardwood will keep that thing simmering for a long time. Coupled with a shelter made from a couple shelter half ponchos and you can stay warm in some ridiculous temps.
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I took the Bill Burke 3-day 4x4 class last year & learned a ton. One of the things I learned is just how much you can do with a stock 4x4 and not needing to use all the stuff you do have all the time. There certainly seems to be trade offs & I'm the guy that would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. That being said, I was VERY surprised at what my van can do just by knowing how to drive the conditions and what the limitations of my vehicle are. One of the things I loved about this class is I learned how to drive the van without using all the stuff I had available to me (basically using it as a stock 4x4) and still went everywhere he took us.
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If you find the pic I want to see it. I love DIY projects like that with ammo can and old propane or air bottle stoves. I've always been intrigued with wood burning boat stoves or caboose stoves for heating. I'm tempted to put one in my Scamp trailer I like them so much. I like winter camping but it's been awhile since I've done it. Maybe soon..
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I never took classes but have driven off road since I was a kid 12 years old. I had a 67 Bronco full cab in the 80's. I built a performance engine and larger tires with altered flared wheel wells. Otherwise it was stock. It had factory 4:10 's and I went anywhere I wanted to go. It was the best sand hill climer in the area and a true snow bird in the desert and mountains. I was a fool to ever get rid of it.
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Found a video from a while back. I have made a few modifications since shooting this but you get the idea. First thing to point out that most dont realize is I have the ammo can upside down.
It has some body work that that needs to get done, replace a windshield and replace the steering box. I have been putting these things off for a while lol
Ha ha not as young as I once was that's for sure. Going to be 31 in less than a month, I've got back issues and I'm having surgery to fix a torn tendon in my wrist ( from just over a year ago). My wife and I have spent a lot of time living out of a backpack over the years so I got used to not having much with me pretty quickly.
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I understand. I am the king of procrastination. I love tearing things up, even enjoy wrenching, but am horrible about getting it done.
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I will have to get the pics off my computer, but my son at 12 last year tore it up in a bone stock 1998 XJ sport. My sons friends dad would drive the XJ out, and when we would get off road we would switch drivers. You would be amazed where a stock rig can go.
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I like it. With my new flux welder it would be a snap. There was another video from utube on your video menu that makes a stove from an ammo box too. I like his tail pipe smoke stack really well and I think I could make a stove similar to both yours and his very easily. I liked his stove legs a lot, you should watch the video.
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Sorry your needing surgery. I need a lot of it but I'm too old IMO to undergo spinal surgery, knee replacement and hip replacement. Each operation takes six months of recovery if they are successful. Being 85 I don't want to spend the rest of my life in surgery and recovery. By the time I recovered from all that I'd probably end up kicking the bucket with my luck. I'll just enjoy what I can when I can and bug you guy's out there in OB land.
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Here are a couple pics. No winching was allowed. I wanted them to learn to unstuck themselves, and figure out with a little work you can do it. We shoveled a lot on these trips but it was fun!
These are my Stock 4x4s. Other than getting better tires, I do nothing to them except maintenance and using sound judgement on where I go. We try something risky every once in awhile, but as @GetOutand4WD shows above you have to be prepared to work.
Right now, we just hang out shuffling around our home state of Pennsylvania, so we pretty much know what we will need when we will need it.
We do plan to travel in the future, so we are starting to incorporate longer distances with more time away from pavement.
Right now, we just hang out shuffling around our home state of Pennsylvania, so we pretty much know what we will need when we will need it.
We do plan to travel in the future, so we are starting to incorporate longer distances with more time away from pavement.
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I once traveled the entire globe in a Toyota Camry , I even climbed Everest in it , jumped the snake river canyon and found the lost city of Atlantis, I would have taken pictures but I knew it wasn’t instagram worthy and without a RTT I knew I wouldn’t have the credibility to have my journey taken seriously . 
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My dad used to 'overland' (camp in the middle of nowhere, might of been illegal), in a old vanagon van when we were kids.
He brought 2x4s in case he got stuck. But he was raised in the mountains and is pretty crafty.
My wrangler is pretty much stock, other than the 285 70 17 tires, it goes pretty much anywhere I need it to.
He brought 2x4s in case he got stuck. But he was raised in the mountains and is pretty crafty.
My wrangler is pretty much stock, other than the 285 70 17 tires, it goes pretty much anywhere I need it to.
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It’s not difficult with stock 4x4’s. I put over 5k miles off road with my baby Cherokee KL with 4x4. And on the stock all terrain tires until a year ago. Not a lot of rock-crawling type trails, but it only got stuck twice in 5 years, and they were both ditch-related user error situations. I finally traded it in on a new Ranger with the FX4 package last month, and the only thing I plan to do to it is KO2’s after the stock AT’s wear out like I did with the Jeep.
