Overlanding with "stock" 4X4

[leeloo]

Again is this big confusion between week-end trips, or even all day use of a vehicle close to your home, or in your home country where you find support, shops, mechanics and next day delivery easy, and you might have a second daily driver and you don't mind if the vehicle sits in a shop for a month and true international long distance travel and this endless debate with off road only performance..

Now you will tell me next that your 4 inch lifted 35 tyre Mud terrain Jeep will drive like magic flying carpet on the highway and tarmac and you don't need ear plugs when you need to do 1000 miles in 1 day..


sure it is easier to off road with bigger tires, lift etc.. that does not mean it is a good idea to do a trip from Alaska to Argentina in it..
Most vehicles break down even with no additional help.. let alone heavy modified ones..
So I might use and winch or a board that you need to carry anyway, where you might go easier ? so what ? On the other hand I can spend the difference and actually travel instead of wasting my time.
Check some experiences from people who actually crossed a border in their life...

 

[Boostpowered]

this is what i mean by doing what others say can't be done

"that does not mean it is a good idea to do a trip from Alaska to Argentina in it..
Most vehicles break down even with no additional help.. let alone heavy modified ones.."

i think your confusing europe with N America. in europe there really is not much "back country", especially against what we have in N.A.
i drove my lifted, modified truck with a camper to the Yukon, a round trip of over 2600 miles threw vast empty land. maybe you break because lack of maintence or whatever. i did this with 42 swamps, hauling a camper and 3 quads.
we never "broke", never had a single vehicle issue. and if we ever did break, majority of my running gear is stock, meaning i can pretty much go to a drugstore and get a distributer for my bb chevy.
you place way too much emphasis on breakdowns or "what if's", preventive maintence is way better than "hoping" you don't break
and by the way, with either 38's or 42's on my truck, it steers with ONE finger, tire size has nothing to do with how capable a truck is on the road. it will go strait and smooth all day, no diff than my wifes stock gmc. and you don't need earplugs...that's just another fallacy like your arguement of tire replacement- i don't know where you drive, but over here, we carry spare tires-we don't wait a week for one to come in.....
you do your stock, i'll do my lifted, you keep your "theories" about modded trucks, i'll keep proving people's theories wrong
actions speak louder than words or thoughts

The others will never listen though. They've read online that mud tires are soooo loud or ride bad or whatever bs has been written on the internet , they read online that everything just breaks for no reason when you lift something more than 2 inches or up size tires. Then the fist time they get stuck they will be on here asking what sized tires, lift or other recovery gear they should get.
Give em time if they off road long enough they will learn what's up more likely they will give up the hobby before anything sticks.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Exactly, a spinning tire, which gets you stranded relieves stress. All locked up definitely adds stress to one tire, joint. Stupidity can break anything. Lockers used correctly can tread lightly, reduce stress on the ground and keep you moving.

Bigger tires require regearing. Deep gearing regardless of all else reduces stress when kept in balance. The question is do bigger tires reduce the likelyhood of getting stuck? I say NO, bigger tires increase flotation and in many cases transform loose gravel into marbles. It all comes down to balance. In the dunes, sand, beaches, flotation is a massive asset. On a forestry road not so much. Look at a logging truck vs an oilfield float and decide where you are overlanding.

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?

 

[leeloo]

The idea of this topic was overlanding in stock vehicles.
The simple answer is yes, you can overland in anything, from bycicles to minivans, mini coopers or what ever.
All vehicles break mate and it is not about distance you done in a trip . I don ,t care if you did 40 k miles with it as long as you always were in your own country and maybe at any point at 100 miles from a dealership...


And when you say that tire size has nothing to do with driving on the highway I know you either never drove anything but a tractor or you simply lie. Or maybe all those engineers don't know shit, you discovered some kind of magic technology . And I bet your fuel economy, acceleration and all else stays the same ,right ? since tire size has nothing to do with highway driving.
This year before Covid I was supose to be in Morocco than Armenia and Georgia in the summer. . Check the map a bit see where they are. and how much driving there is to do just to get there. Please indicate on the map a store in Morocco with 37 inch tires near Tafraoute for example.
Most likely my mileage would go in half as well . So I will need either an extended tank another 4k spent, or carry a big number of jerry cans : that means I will need on top of this awsome modds a GVM upgrade. I am sure the ride will be great. With all all those jerry cans on top, my off road performance would be awsome. It must be, because I have 37 inch tyres and I am not even over 4 tons, only very close to it. Weight of course, and where it is, high or low, as we are learning now, also has no impact on off road and on road performance

It is amazing that Ford and GM do not have a bidding war over your amazing formula. Imagine that.. they could have put on all 4x4 in the world lift and 37 tires with no effect in on the normal drive, and yet somehow for some reason, they don't . Must be pure incompetence , they should hire you.
Must be Quanon at work .
I wish you good luck on your travels, you will absolutely need it.
IN the mean time I will use my stock Hilux to travel. So far, so good, I did fine. bog down about 3 times, had to use the maxtrax.. In one of those cases most likely even the most agressive 37 MT' s and 4 inch lift would not have helped.. but ok. Might have saved me of 30 min work in 5 years.. Totally worth it..

 

[Boostpowered]

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?

You can put lockers on any 4x4 without having to modify anything if lockers are available for your rig, bigger tires etc are up to you if you want a stock rig but with lockers. He'll if you ain't going on pavement you can even weld the spider gear In a rear diff

 

[Boostpowered]

All vehicles break mate and it is not about distance you done in a trip . I don ,t care if you did 40 k miles with it as long as you always were in your own country and maybe at any point at 100 miles from a dealership...


And when you say that tire size has nothing to do with driving on the highway I know you either never drove anything but a tractor or you simply lie. Or maybe all those engineers don't know shit, you discovered some kind of magic technology . And I bet your fuel economy, acceleration and all else stays the same ,right ? since tire size has nothing to do with highway driving.
This year before Covid I was supose to be in Morocco than Armenia and Georgia in the summer. . Check the map a bit see where they are. and how much driving there is to do just to get there. Please indicate on the map a store in Morocco with 37 inch tires near Tafraoute for example.
Most likely my mileage would go in half as well . So I will need either an extended tank another 4k spent, or carry a big number of jerry cans : that means I will need on top of this awsome modds a GVM upgrade. I am sure the ride will be great. With all all those jerry cans on top, my off road performance would be awsome. It must be, because I have 37 inch tyres and I am not even over 4 tons, only very close to it. Weight of course, and where it is, high or low, as we are learning now, also has no impact on off road and on road performance

It is amazing that Ford and GM do not have a bidding war over your amazing formula. Imagine that.. they could have put on all 4x4 in the world lift and 37 tires with no effect in on the normal drive, and yet somehow for some reason, they don't . Must be pure incompetence , they should hire you.
Must be Quanon at work .
I wish you good luck on your travels, you will absolutely need it.

It comes down simply to cost, if all the aftermarket parts made didn't work no one would be buying em

 

[leeloo]

aftermarket has its uses, but you really don't get the point. The topic is

It comes down simply to cost, if all the aftermarket parts made didn't work no one would be buying em

Aftermarket has its uses but you simply don't get the point. The topic is "overlanding with stock vehicle "
The answer is yes, you can do it easy and with no problems. You can do it in bicycles, minivans, mini cooper or what ever else it has wheels. And in the case of long distance overland international travel you better stay stock. If the vehicle you have can't go where you want to go, get something that can. I mean a women travels solo from UK to Irak with a Land rover I series in the 50's and you tell me I have to have 37 inch on my 2020 Hilux, otherwise I don't know exactly what will happen... God forbid I might scratch my engine skidd plate or rocksliders.. they are supposed to be shiny and cool...

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Yeah, I get the feeling that Rumbledawg likes to explore way off the beaten path, and the mods he has employed work very well for him there.

I also get what Billiebob is saying. Kind of like what Leeloo is saying: keep it simple and then repairs are easier.

I admire what Rumbledawg is capable of building. But I know I'm not as capable of designing a big build. So for me, I'm going to keep it very close to stock and ride on. I dont need to actually blaze a trail. I'll be on highway, fire roads and two-tracks, mainly.

A lot of people think bigger is better. I'm just not necessarily in that camp. A video of the new 2021 Chevy Tahoe z71 getting stuck against a small rock, one front wheel spinning, the other back wheel spinning, that tells me they either didnt include the Eaton Gov-locker G80, or whatever "driving mode" the driver had the vehicle in didnt allow it to be engaged. So, newer, bigger, and more complicated is not always the way to go. Simple yet sturdy is my friend

 

[Smileyshaun]

Vehicles from the factory are built to save cost to maximize profits , unless your getting special models the only drive of the manufacturer is to build a rig strong enough to live through the warranty . The manufactured vehicle in stock form has a lot of flaws built into it so to say to keep something in stock Form And keep it 100% reliable when taking off road is a silly statement in itself Because even a vehicle with four-wheel-drive truly is not meant to be taken off road consistently they just don’t build vehicles like that anymore.

 

[Smileyshaun]

And also living in North America is a lot different than living in most the other parts of the world I could drive for nearly 3 days straight on highway to get from East to west coast heck in my state alone it could take me at least a week just to travel across it on gravel if I took the short route .

 

[Deleted member 59857]

These are my suggestions for the topic of stock vehicles for backwoods and primitive camping:
1. Know your vehicle. Get under it and inside it. Know what stuff should look like and how to diagnose simple issues.
(fusebox, how to change a fuse, how to check the fluids, airing up/down tires, etc)

2. Know the limits of your vehicle. No traction devices? (lockers, limited slip, atrac) then know when you are in over your head.

3. Don't drive with ego. Always be sensible. If you're not sure, stop. Get out and walk ahead. Plan your path through or decide if you shouldn't.
10 min scratching your chin and stretching your legs is a lot better than 4 hours digging piling rocks trying to get out of a stuck.

4. Even if you stay stock, sometimes mods are beneficial for safety and comfort. For example, if you have enough loaded that the rear is sagging,
you have lost maybe substantial wheel travel. That is not good offroad. Heavy duty springs or bags may be needed to make the trip more enjoyable.

5. Doing something once is a lot different than doing something regularly for years.
Modifications may look 'overbuilt' to some, but durability and strength are needed when you hit the back country regularly.
The deeper you go, and hit more difficult terrain, those things are needed.

I can drive a Prius through anything once. Once.
Am I going to rely on doing it many times, over years? That's an important factor. Durability and capability.

6. It's a process. Start with what you're comfortable with and adapt as you go.
Your version of "perfect setup" is vastly different than someone else.

Main things are:

Know your vehicle
Know trail etiquette
Know camp etiquette- if I see you leave trash, i'll personally winch you into a ditch.
No ego, it's not a race. You can always stop and think.
You do you- enjoy and learn from others.

 

[rgallant]

@leeloo Welcome to the internet I get the feeling @rumbledawg is not all that far from me, 2400- 2600 miles is about the distance from Vancouver to the Yukon border. Like him I go as far out of the way as I can, but I am a little more limited by having a LR Discovery with minimal mods. But less than you might think, BC is on huge forest for the most part with large grasslands in the interior so you are limited in where you can go in many cases.
Either by trees, or by fences and trespassing restrictions on ranches lands.

The problem in this discussion is twofold owner capability to work on their vehicle of choice @rumbledawg being on one end where, where he is very capable and understands how everything goes together and maintains his truck. And the guy who buys a brand new jeep and has never worked on a vehicle on the other end.

As to parts he is being a bit optimistic, in the lower a part of BC he might be able to source a part today or overnight. Age and model of vehicle depending of course new is easy, older and less common is much harder. But in most the province that is not going to happen, overnight or a week plus happens.

His tires and lift parts would be the worst to get.

And really that is the issue no matter basically stock or highly modded it comes down to 3 basic things:

1. Were the modifications planned and installed right
2. Is the vehicle well maintained, yes stuff like an alternator can just fail all of sudden, but do you fix problems as they come up
3. Driver skill and common sense

 

[M Rose]

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 probably be of the minority here, but I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and only one of my rigs had lockers in it... and that rig came from the factory with lockers (1968 IH Scout 800). The Old Scout went every where my open diff rigs go. And not to many places extra. Not enough to warrant lockers to be on my top 10 list of upgrades... I’ve never lifted a rig. My first mod is always as large of a tire as I can fit stock, drive it till it breaks. Then upgrade the broken parts as they break. No two rigs are the same...
Drive what you have for 1 year fixing the stuff that breaks and then up grade that... after a year of travels, look into why you can’t get to where you wanted to go and start nodding out the rig. I find out of all of my builds, interior mods for comfort and storage is where I spend most of my time and money, and very little in the way of mechanical mods.

 

[Smileyshaun]

These are my suggestions for the topic of stock vehicles for backwoods and primitive camping:
1. Know your vehicle. Get under it and inside it. Know what stuff should look like and how to diagnose simple issues.
(fusebox, how to change a fuse, how to check the fluids, airing up/down tires, etc)

2. Know the limits of your vehicle. No traction devices? (lockers, limited slip, atrac) then know when you are in over your head.

3. Don't drive with ego. Always be sensible. If you're not sure, stop. Get out and walk ahead. Plan your path through or decide if you shouldn't.
10 min scratching your chin and stretching your legs is a lot better than 4 hours digging piling rocks trying to get out of a stuck.

4. Even if you stay stock, sometimes mods are beneficial for safety and comfort. For example, if you have enough loaded that the rear is sagging,
you have lost maybe substantial wheel travel. That is not good offroad. Heavy duty springs or bags may be needed to make the trip more enjoyable.

5. Doing something once is a lot different than doing something regularly for years.
Modifications may look 'overbuilt' to some, but durability and strength are needed when you hit the back country regularly.
The deeper you go, and hit more difficult terrain, those things are needed.

I can drive a Prius through anything once. Once.
Am I going to rely on doing it many times, over years? That's an important factor. Durability and capability.

6. It's a process. Start with what you're comfortable with and adapt as you go.
Your version of "perfect setup" is vastly different than someone else.

Main things are:

Know your vehicle
Know trail etiquette
Know camp etiquette- if I see you leave trash, i'll personally winch you into a ditch.
No ego, it's not a race. You can always stop and think.
You do you- enjoy and learn from others.

You lost me on the stop and think part I thought the rule was when in doubt gas out ?

 

[leeloo]

Look everybody can do what ever with his own hard earned money.
I remember being on a trail back when I had Subaru Forester, and some guys in Nissan Patrols and Landcruisers told me to go back, I will never make it. I arrived at the top of the mountain before they did.
You think in Europe you have only asphalt ?
When you think of Europe you think maybe only the West europe, a handfull of countries like Germany and France.. but the geographical definition of Europe is from Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, about 3500 miles easy as crow flies..
. You can get very easy also in to Africa using ferries. Asia and the Middle east are reachable directly by land. So where you can go by land from Europe is considerable, comparable easy with US and Canada put together.. You need many years to explore it all unless you do it full time. . For me to get from Luxembourg to Iran, I can do it in 6 days of driving hard. ( Iran is on my to do list as well, when this shit with Covid ends )
So this thing with US is vast and you are small does not fly with me.

For example I went from Mediterana to Atlantic following the Pyrenees mountains tracks, about 1200 km in total and about 800 km off road. So in only a small part of Spain, a narrow corridor, you can spend many days off road easy, and Spain has a very good highway and road network.
Done in about 12 days in a 2005 Forester. Had like 1.5 inch list to compensate for sag when fully loaded. Some of it was difficult. Did not had a low range, on long downhill slopes I had break fading, had to stop often to let the breaks cool off. Had to use the maxtrax to build bridges because of the low ground clearance. I was also overloaded.. that was the biggest mistake. That was my first true overland adventure.
Next year I did not start to modify the vehicle. It was clearly unsuitable for the things I did and specially the load carrying capacity.
Back then I did not know shit , GVM did not even cross my mind. We were 3 persons and camping equipment.. the poor thing was not meant to carry all that, on, and specially off road. When empty it was doing fine.
Maybe with only 2 people and less crap to haul it is possible to make it work.

So did not go upgrade the breaks, add more lift and bigger tires, I sold it and bought a suitable vehicle, with more ground clearance, and a much higher GVM to carry me and my crap , a Landcruiser Prado, that I used for many years with success.

Each year in the last 5 I did a minimum of 7 k km on every summer holiday, usually trying to stay off tarmac as much as possible, using highways only to get to the overlanding part. In the Est and Balcans you have countries where the national roads are gravel, like Albania or North Macedonia for example. You can imagine what the off road looks like there, some pretty scary stuff.

All talk about off road here like it is some kind of muding forum. But for me the off road part is just a means to an end.. to get to the beautiful and remote spot where you have a nice view , piece, quiet, clean air.... I don't look for the biggest ditch and mud hole. If I have 2 options to get to the same spot, and 1 of them carries the risk of severe damage to the vehicle or hours of work for recovery and winch use .. than I will choose the easier road. I am overlanding, not off roading, to relax and see things, not to work my ass off in recoveries. I want to do that, than i join a 4x4 off road mudding club, plenty of those.
But shit happens, so you do need to be prepared and have some skills.


I travel with a kid in the car .
There are reasons why in most of the world is very hard to put 37 inch tires on vehicles and keep them legal or go over GVM, mostly have to do with not being able to pass any safety tests. I know road vehicle safety is not a concern in US, since as far as I know there are no mandatory technical inspections and you can do what ever you want to your car, and if there are here and there you can get away with many things, but US is just one country of many..
Breaking, acceleration, collision avoidance is all compromised. This is fine when you go wheeling with your buddies for a week end.. not so good when you travel with your family solo .


.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Look everybody can do what ever with his own hard earned money.
I remember being on a trail back when I had Subaru Forester, and some guys in Nissan Patrols and Landcruisers told me to go back, I will never make it. I arrived at the top of the mountain before they did.
You think in Europe you have only asphalt ?
When you think of Europe you think maybe only the West europe, a handfull of countries like Germany and France.. but the geographical definition of Europe is from Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, about 3500 miles easy as crow flies..
. You can get very easy also in to Africa using ferries. Asia and the Middle east are reachable directly by land. So where you can go by land from Europe is considerable, comparable easy with US and Canada put together.. You need many years to explore it all unless you do it full time. . For me to get from Luxembourg to Iran, I can do it in 6 days of driving hard. ( Iran is on my to do list as well, when this shit with Covid ends )
So this thing with US is vast and you are small does not fly with me.

For example I went from Mediterana to Atlantic following the Pyrenees mountains tracks, about 1200 km in total and about 800 km off road. So in only a small part of Spain, a narrow corridor, you can spend many days off road easy, and Spain has a very good highway and road network.
Done in about 12 days in a 2005 Forester. Had like 1.5 inch list to compensate for sag when fully loaded. Some of it was difficult. Did not had a low range, on long downhill slopes I had break fading, had to stop often to let the breaks cool off. Had to use the maxtrax to build bridges because of the low ground clearance. I was also overloaded.. that was the biggest mistake. That was my first true overland adventure.
Next year I did not start to modify the vehicle. It was clearly unsuitable for the things I did and specially the load carrying capacity.
Back then I did not know shit , GVM did not even cross my mind. We were 3 persons and camping equipment.. the poor thing was not meant to carry all that, on, and specially off road. When empty it was doing fine.
Maybe with only 2 people and less crap to haul it is possible to make it work.

So did not go upgrade the breaks, add more lift and bigger tires, I sold it and bought a suitable vehicle, with more ground clearance, and a much higher GVM to carry me and my crap , a Landcruiser Prado, that I used for many years with success.

Each year in the last 5 I did a minimum of 7 k km on every summer holiday, usually trying to stay off tarmac as much as possible, using highways only to get to the overlanding part. In the Est and Balcans you have countries where the national roads are gravel, like Albania or North Macedonia for example. You can imagine what the off road looks like there, some pretty scary stuff.

All talk about off road here like it is some kind of muding forum. But for me the off road part is just a means to an end.. to get to the beautiful and remote spot where you have a nice view , piece, quiet, clean air.... I don't look for the biggest ditch and mud hole. If I have 2 options to get to the same spot, and 1 of them carries the risk of severe damage to the vehicle or hours of work for recovery and winch use .. than I will choose the easier road. I am overlanding, not off roading, to relax and see things, not to work my ass off in recoveries. I want to do that, than i join a 4x4 off road mudding club, plenty of those.
But shit happens, so you do need to be prepared and have some skills.


I travel with a kid in the car .
There are reasons why in most of the world is very hard to put 37 inch tires on vehicles and keep them legal or go over GVM, mostly have to do with not being able to pass any safety tests. I know road vehicle safety is not a concern in US, since as far as I know there are no mandatory technical inspections and you can do what ever you want to your car, and if there are here and there you can get away with many things, but US is just one country of many..
Breaking, acceleration, collision avoidance is all compromised. This is fine when you go wheeling with your buddies for a week end.. not so good when you travel with your family solo .


.

All good information, Leeloo. Very sensible. I also would rather overland as a means to a gorgeous campsite as opposed to just seeing how daring I can be before spending g time digging or pinching my truck. My ends are camping and kayaking and hiking with my Beagle. I just want to branch farther out to be able to do that in even more interesting places than just New England.

Makes me feel a little better that even as the US becomes more populated in the future, we should still have pockets and swaths of areas that will still be remote.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Look everybody can do what ever with his own hard earned money.
I remember being on a trail back when I had Subaru Forester, and some guys in Nissan Patrols and Landcruisers told me to go back, I will never make it. I arrived at the top of the mountain before they did.
You think in Europe you have only asphalt ?
When you think of Europe you think maybe only the West europe, a handfull of countries like Germany and France.. but the geographical definition of Europe is from Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, about 3500 miles easy as crow flies..
. You can get very easy also in to Africa using ferries. Asia and the Middle east are reachable directly by land. So where you can go by land from Europe is considerable, comparable easy with US and Canada put together.. You need many years to explore it all unless you do it full time. . For me to get from Luxembourg to Iran, I can do it in 6 days of driving hard. ( Iran is on my to do list as well, when this shit with Covid ends )
So this thing with US is vast and you are small does not fly with me.

For example I went from Mediterana to Atlantic following the Pyrenees mountains tracks, about 1200 km in total and about 800 km off road. So in only a small part of Spain, a narrow corridor, you can spend many days off road easy, and Spain has a very good highway and road network.
Done in about 12 days in a 2005 Forester. Had like 1.5 inch list to compensate for sag when fully loaded. Some of it was difficult. Did not had a low range, on long downhill slopes I had break fading, had to stop often to let the breaks cool off. Had to use the maxtrax to build bridges because of the low ground clearance. I was also overloaded.. that was the biggest mistake. That was my first true overland adventure.
Next year I did not start to modify the vehicle. It was clearly unsuitable for the things I did and specially the load carrying capacity.
Back then I did not know shit , GVM did not even cross my mind. We were 3 persons and camping equipment.. the poor thing was not meant to carry all that, on, and specially off road. When empty it was doing fine.
Maybe with only 2 people and less crap to haul it is possible to make it work.

So did not go upgrade the breaks, add more lift and bigger tires, I sold it and bought a suitable vehicle, with more ground clearance, and a much higher GVM to carry me and my crap , a Landcruiser Prado, that I used for many years with success.

Each year in the last 5 I did a minimum of 7 k km on every summer holiday, usually trying to stay off tarmac as much as possible, using highways only to get to the overlanding part. In the Est and Balcans you have countries where the national roads are gravel, like Albania or North Macedonia for example. You can imagine what the off road looks like there, some pretty scary stuff.

All talk about off road here like it is some kind of muding forum. But for me the off road part is just a means to an end.. to get to the beautiful and remote spot where you have a nice view , piece, quiet, clean air.... I don't look for the biggest ditch and mud hole. If I have 2 options to get to the same spot, and 1 of them carries the risk of severe damage to the vehicle or hours of work for recovery and winch use .. than I will choose the easier road. I am overlanding, not off roading, to relax and see things, not to work my ass off in recoveries. I want to do that, than i join a 4x4 off road mudding club, plenty of those.
But shit happens, so you do need to be prepared and have some skills.


I travel with a kid in the car .
There are reasons why in most of the world is very hard to put 37 inch tires on vehicles and keep them legal or go over GVM, mostly have to do with not being able to pass any safety tests. I know road vehicle safety is not a concern in US, since as far as I know there are no mandatory technical inspections and you can do what ever you want to your car, and if there are here and there you can get away with many things, but US is just one country of many..
Breaking, acceleration, collision avoidance is all compromised. This is fine when you go wheeling with your buddies for a week end.. not so good when you travel with your family solo .


.

Well I was never saying Europe was small simply stating not everybody has to cross multiple international borders to travel .

But I think a big takeaway from all this discussion is I think if you decide to modify your vehicle it should match your mechanical ability Actually anybody who is depending on a vehicle to take them where a mechanic can’t come fix it should spend some time learning the bare basics of auto repair even when owning a brand new stock vehicle ... EVEN STOCK AND BRAND NEW *** belts/hoses can fail , ball joints can fall apart , wheel bearings are being punished , shocks can blow , fluid leaks happen even to the best of vehicles .

Also remember what can seem like a major repair to one person is a quick repair to another . One person might be held up for a day or so trying to repair a cv axle or replacing a ujoint and to another it may be a 1/2 hr job . So some may fear modifying because they don’t have the knowledge to repair something and others treat vehicles like a hobby and don’t mind a little wrenching time .

Again don’t hate on others rides or choices they can do what they wanna do and travel the way they want to travel , but the hate on modified rigs is getting old .

 

[phoxxtwo]

This is a really great perspective and I think shows how diverse this community is. Some people want to challenge themselves with difficult off-roading challenges and others see overlanding as the way to the beautiful spot they chose to camp. To each their own nothing wrong with either perspective in my opinion.

 

[leeloo]

l

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





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?

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.

 

[Smileyshaun]

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.

Well the other side of that coin is your rig is not sold in The USA So if you traveled here you would have a hard time finding parts .

But I think your still missing the point that living in North America the need to ship a vehicle Or travel to another country is a lot smaller than being in Europe . In North America you will find a lot of domestic US vehicles and that leads to a huge parts supply chain . 35s won’t even be noticed by the drivetrain of most full sized trucks heck even a Toyota with a good set of birfields will laugh off 35s if re geared .