When is a vehicle too big for off-roading?

The only Jeep today that is worth your attention and money today. Basic 3.6, 6 spd manual, 4.88 from factory(good enough for 37s), steel bumper group, and heated seats and steering wheel(Crap that adds to the price)

It is basically a $40,000 Jeep with $17,000 Jeep tax on it.

 

There's something to this.

People would say to my dad, "You should get a lighter bike."

His response, "I'm doing this for exercise, what's the point in making it easier?"

 

How many ducks will it fit?

 

Good question, but I've heard the ones with angry headlights and handprints on the side mirrors fit more

 

Don't forget $4,500+2000+$2000 for Teraflex 3.5", Wheels with beadlocks, and 37s. It would be absolutely silly to drive such a dedicated off-roader stock. I would run the damn thing at 0 psi.

 

Pshaw... Negative PSI or GTFO.

 

Nonsense. It would be absolutely silly to waste money modifying a vehicle with capability beyond most people's skill level. The logical thing would be to run it stock until you run into a situation where the vehicle is the limiting factor, and then start modifying, with purpose.

 

I run my tires on a vacuum.

 

Vacuums suck.

 

It would be absolutely stupid, STUPID, to spend $57,000 on a toy, and not spend a few thousand dollars more to really beef it up. You don't buy a winch/shovel after you get stuck, you buy them beforehand just in case

 

It would be absolutely stupid, STUPID, to spend $57,000 on a toy and not enjoy it in its original form before pissing away money on unnecessary modifications.

Winches and shovels are recovery gear. Recovery gear is never a bad investment.

OTOH, modifying a vehicle you'll never even push to its limits stock could be viewed as stupid.

 

Take that Rubicon to an ORV park, you will hit the limits on day one. You will return with a lot of trail damage. You need modifications to avoid trail damage. Sure, I can keep up with that Rubicon in my 4Runner, but you know at what cost, at the cost of a lot of trail damage. No matter how good of a wheeler you are, you take your chances, and if your chances don't pay off, you get damaged.

 

The RCI skid plate already saved my ass the other day, when a rock was hiding under the snow and I got hit in the nut. The differential skit plate saved me, I was doing high speed. Wheeling in the snow socks

 

The only thing that Rubicon needs is recovery gear and armor.

"High speed wheeling in the snow..." Sounds like a bad decision.

 

Yes it was, I had forgotten that I was near the rocks.
Negative, that Rubicon above all needs more clearance, and those factory skid plates are a joke.

 

He reads sheepishly, thinking about all the 4runner mods he's made while mostly driving on manicured forest roads (that's me)

 

Sorry, I've seen your photos of bumper damage. You do stupid shit just for the pictures

 

Not for pictures, I was just testing my approach angle and found out it is crap. Minimal scratch, hardly visible after some paint.

 

Lol! A stock Rubicon probably has as much clearance as your 4Runner on 34's, along with better approach, departure, and break-over angles.

I never said anything about not getting armor.

 

I don't believe Jeep's numbers. Look one up close. No way it is 10.8 inches, that's a fat lie

 

Yeah, I'm sure lots of manufacturers publish lies in their vehicle specifications, and nobody ever questions it.

 

Alright, that's fine. I agree some R&D is needed to find the limits. Accidents happen

But you posted the pic of bumper damage saying you needed to go full steel - as if it was hardcore somehow. But I saw the giant rock you ran into, to take a pic and talk about justifying a full front steel bumper, when it looked like a flat moonscape.

Maybe you offroad in places that demands a full steel bumper- or maybe you need a jeep trail toy. I recco you buy an older beater and build it. I would agree spending 70k on a new jeep, then modifying it just to beat it up offroad, is a stupid decision.

All depends on how much money you have I guess

 

Don't tell me you believe that our truck has 9.6 in of ground clearance lol. No more than 8.5, that's what it has

 

I don't even know how it's measured, so I have no way of verifying. If I had to guess, it refers to the lowest point between the axles. But, I've never gone underneath with a tape measure, except to measure to the skid plate under the front sway bar. The extra low front skid is one of the down sides to KDSS.

Regardless, unless you know how it's measured, and have gone underneath and measured for yourself, you're just speculating.

 

What do you measure ground to diff? Remove the rear skid for accuracy. The rear diff is probably the lowest point.

than subtract some for lift and larger tires

 

I took the picture after the damage, pictures weren't my only intent. That was a minor accident, and I got scratched. In order to avoid those kind of minor accidents and some big accidents, you need a steel bumper, you can't just leave bumpers behind on the trail all the time. Trail damage is real and can happen to the best of us. Here in PNW we have some mean trees as well that scratch your paint, that I avoid all together. Look, this is a beautiful truck, I don't want to damage it. I did lift and tires just to improve my pathetic angles a little. Initially I had planned only KO2s, but that changed real quick.

 

Ground to diff, it wasn't 9.6. It is 10.2 now after lift and 34s. All these guys lie. Or ground to diff is not their method.

 

I will say that I'm appreciating my bumper more all the time. Once I decide for sure if I'm keeping this one, a rear bumper, and possibly a full front will be on the agenda.

 

We have to. This thing is stupid long. Long is good for a lot of things that are important to us, but it affects you on the trail. Full steel bumper is the way to go. Beat the crap out of it and paint it.

 

The ground clearance is decent enough on the 4Runner stock. Better than what I had on my XJ when I started wheelin.

But it’s that approach/departure angle at the corner that will get ya - and all in an effort to improve fuel economy by improving the aero.