DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
RWD Off Road
HTML https://rwdoffroad.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: General Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
Admin's blog thread
By: Admin Date: May 31, 2017, 10:55 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I'm a 40-year-old man, I'm a car guy, as in V8 Camaros. But
I've had a few exposures to off-roading, and last year I scored
a Jeep for cheap. If you've never owned one, but are seriously
considering buying one, you really should Google: "Death
Wobble".
We got ours for $300, it was a '95 2-door, it only needed a
starter solenoid, and it drove great...until the wobble happened
to me. I manage to warn my wife before it happened to her, but
once it did, the Cherokee's days with us were numbered. We
title-loaned it for $800, drove it for most of a month, then let
the title loan place have it.
But in that month, I took that Jeep off-road like never before.
It wasn't really 4WD because it didn't have a traction
differential in either axle, and the tires were really narrow
and nearly bald, but I didn't get stuck once. The AW4 automatic
has no way to manually hold first or second, it's always free to
waffle between the 2 for itself, and on steep descents that
really sucks. Never again.
We spent the 800 as a down payment on an '03 Astro AWD, which
I'd always wanted and really love, but it has no low-range, and
doesn't fit decent tires. Even so, I took it on some Forest
Service fire roads, up from Farmington, over to Bountiful. And
we took a family road trip one day from SLC, through Tooele out
to the Dugway geode beds, then on to Wendover before turning
toward home.
That has been the bulk of my off-roading experience, I'll
include the other 4 times soon.
#Post#: 4--------------------------------------------------
Re: Admin's blog thread
By: Admin Date: May 31, 2017, 11:03 am
---------------------------------------------------------
The things most in my mind are how the Jeep rode over bumps much
more softly than the Astro, and how the Jeep's tire sidewalls
got damaged by sharp rocks while the Astro's didnt, which led to
a lot of learning about tires, rim widths, tread widths,
sidewall tread, etc.
Power was never an issue, but both have / had large 6-cylinder
engines making 190 HP. Traction hasn't been a problem, nor has
ground clearance, overhangs, or skid plates. But I'm now firmly
convinced on the value of a proper transfer case with a true
low-range.
The Jeep turns out to have had much softer spring rates,
especially up front, and that is a big part of off-road ride
quality. But the other part, which I didn't mess with, is tire
pressure, or more correctly, air pressure in the tires. In all
cases I left them at the maximum pressure molded onto their
sidewalls, because I haven't bought any on-board compressor to
re-inflate them upon returning to paved roads.
#Post#: 16--------------------------------------------------
Re: Admin's blog thread
By: Admin Date: May 31, 2017, 1:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Maybe it was 5? There was that time when I was little, my dad
had a new C10, he took us camping, and afterward he kept trying
to drive it up a sand dune. A few years later, he briefly had a
new Datsun 4WD mini-pickup, he took us up the snow-packed
streets of Farmington, UT, to sled down them. Then in '96 I
borrowed a friend's 4x4 '83 Ranger, and while I had it I found a
dirt road with a side-field of small boulders. I wasn't very
brave. But I did try 4-low for maybe 5 minutes.
Then, maybe 9 years ago? My mom's final husband left her a '70s
Ford 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup, I took that up a dry creek in 2wd until
it couldn't go any farther, I had to use 4wd to get back, and in
the process of that, at one point it was climbing an 8' bank in
4-low, in a most impressive, albeit scary, fashion. It has tall
but narrow mud tires, and lots of ground clearance.
I wasn't super bold with the Jeep, but I started up a small
creek that was wide enough, barely wet, but absolutely covered
with rocks between the size of softballs and the size of
basketballs. The end result was nearly flat, it was barely
uphill, but there was no spot anywhere that didn't have such a
rock. I started up it in 4-low, made it about 100 feet, I could
see another 300 feet of the same before the trail turned, lost
to view because of trees, and I lost my nerve. I backed out and
headed home.
I remember it very clearly, being less than a year ago, I felt
to get skidplates, better tires, locking diffs, and a winch,
maybe a mild lift kit, then go try again. But I didn't get the
chance, plus funds didn't remotely permit.
*****************************************************