Is your 4X4 evolution good for your driving pleasure?

[spencurai]

I have noticed lately that the evolution of our vehicles is something that may or may not be beneficial to our driving pleasure. The more modified and trail ready our vehicles become, the easier it is for us to navigate trails. When things become too easy, we look for harder routes and harder obstacles. Is there a point where we lose sight of what we really wanted in the first place.


I for one want a tough rig that can get me through whatever i point it at. do we aspire to have our vehicles do all the work for us making driving boring? I enjoyed driving my stock suzuki samurai with bald tires!! I totally loved navigating it through body-pan bending rocks and mud holes. It was fun to see what a stocker could accomplish!! now that I am aspiring to the 35" d-44 full width crowd...am i going to get bored??

 

[Greg]

I am under the impression that you need to have a goal in mind, concerning the use of your rig......

What you find acceptable to run, and what is out of your reach.

Proving Grounds is surely out of my reach.......Upper Helldorado is very do-able. My goal is to have a rig I can drive to Moab, conform to the Utah Laws, not get hassled by Cops as I drive it and still be able to take it to incredible places.

I don't think we're limiting ourselfs with a well built rig, but opening up possibilities. My trucks potential probably won't be reached on Fins and Things, but that doens't mean I can't have a great time. The whole reason I got into wheelin was the fact that, I was able to go places most people would never see. I still enjoy that. The difficulty of making it thru those hardcore places has been reduced, allowing the chance to enjoy the time, rather than being worried about if my rig will survive intact.

I hope I can keep my desire to modify, at a 'street-legal' level and not get carried away in the future. I would love to own a Coilovered, Tube Buggy but it's just not what I need right now. I believe my truck fits my needs perfectly.

 

[Milner]

Yes, no, well I don't know!!

Yes, some trails are now boring, but now I look for harder lines and new extreme trails, but I still have fun on easy trails, just to be out there, to intro newbies to it, and simply wheel.

A lot of the fun for me is the modifying, building, and testing.

I have thought of building a more stockish rig just for fun.

Greg, as for Proving grounds, you can surely do lower pg and even upper if you are not worried about your bed. My wife did lower with here XJ open frt and 33's.

Biggest thing is to have fun, with whatever you have!!!! I lost site of that last year, I got burned out and pissed off. Now I am ready to have fun again!!

 

[Ryan]

There's always 2 wheel drive, and if you have selectable lockers, open diffs. We used to drive most of Golden Spike and a few other trails in 2 wheel drive. If you really get bored, let me know and we'll throw out a few cones for ya

 

[spencurai]

the streetable aspct of wheeling seems to have fallen by the wayside for a lot of my goals. the reality is that i dont have a full size truck to trailer somethign somewhere and i have been successful with flat-towing. my new buggy is going to be designed with street legailty in mine. i want to use a deep offset on the rims so i can make some fender type setups to get the tires covered.

I really like the fabrication of the vehicles too. the right tools make it more of a pleasure but it is sometimes a challenge to do it in a crunch without the right tools and still get the job done the right way.

there are many reasons that i haven't locked up the front of my current zuk. predictibility is one, streetability is another, and reliability of my stock components is another. I enjoy sticking around the basic evolution level as my fellow local wheelers but i would still like to run with the big dogs on occasion too. hopefully craig stumph gets UROC slip up into enough levels that we can all have fun competing!!

thanks for the current input...keep the comments rolling, i think 4X4 philosophy is a much neglected aspect of our sport

 

[Greg]

Originally posted by rckcrlr
I have thought of building a more stockish rig just for fun.

Greg, as for Proving grounds, you can surely do lower pg and even upper if you are not worried about your bed. My wife did lower with here XJ open frt and 33's.

Yeah, I guess I should have said Upper Proving Grounds. I ran Lower......no biggie. The Bed is going away, but it won't happen untill over Winter. Mabey I'll try Upper PG next summer, who knows?!

Thats funny you mention a Stockish rig, I've had the same thoughts. I really love the challenge of having to pick lines and think about tire placement with baby 31's. Mabey thats what I need for a Daily Driver!! Then I can get some good practice! Driving with 37's is no biggie, untill you come across the really big rocks. Untill then, there's hardly any thought that goes into picking lines.

Originally posted by spencurai
I have noticed lately that the evolution of our vehicles is something that may or may not be beneficial to our driving pleasure. The more modified and trail ready our vehicles become, the easier it is for us to navigate trails. When things become too easy, we look for harder routes and harder obstacles.

Spence,

I understand what you're saying and I think that my last trip to Moab was one of the best, because my trucks mods matched the trails I was running. Taking a Open diffed, poorly geared rig up Lower Helldorado is possible, but how much will it be enjoyed? I was able to play around, have fun, and just enjoy being in Moab. No anxiety......no worries! Even when I drove into a huge wheelstand, it was fine because getting out would be easy. Capability brings options!

 

[Vonski]

Originally posted by rckcrlr
I got burned out and pissed off. Now I am ready to have fun again!!

Was this before or after getting smacked in the teeth by that driveshaft? Just kidding man, glad to see ya back in the game. Let me know when you're going wheelin'.

 

[Vonski]

Depending on your setup, you can make easy trails more challenging. For example, if ya got a selectable locker or two, leave 'em off. If ya got a twin stick, do the trail in 2wd low range. Also, If the trail is fairly easy, stick a newbie behind the wheel. They'll think you're pretty damn cool, plus you get to see your rig work with an unexperienced driver.

This has been another installment of "Vonski's Corner"...
Wait a minute...that sounds pretty damn good! Greg, get on that will ya?

 

[Skyetone]

then there are guys like me...... Man I had some fun building one hella ugly 4by that will run with the "bigdogs" and have fun.
I soon will have a tow rig to make my stress of trying to get it home less woriesom.
But then there is my real life, the last time I wheeled was months ago. For the last couple of years I have had so many projects, and trying to sell my house, and figure out what i want to do with my life,that I wheel maybee 2 times a summer. I do however try and drive it on weekends to scare the lowriders. Thats my fun. But then i realise where the truck is lacking on the streets and it makes me wonder if i can justify the $$ to make it run solid again when I don't "play" with it much anymore.
So you reach a new goal of trying to get the time to play with something that you used to have so much fun with.
Man you want to talk about burnout......

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by Vonski
Depending on your setup, you can make easy trails more challenging. For example, if ya got a selectable locker or two, leave 'em off. If ya got a twin stick, do the trail in 2wd low range. Also, If the trail is fairly easy, stick a newbie behind the wheel. They'll think you're pretty damn cool, plus you get to see your rig work with an unexperienced driver.

This has been another installment of "Vonski's Corner"...
Wait a minute...that sounds pretty damn good! Greg, get on that will ya?

Hey, c'mon now Von. That's sounds an awful lot like "Ryan's Corner"(see the reply 3 or 4 up from yours)

Although I did forget to mention that I let my wife drive as well if it isn't too difficult

 

[Vonski]

Originally posted by Ryan


Hey, c'mon now Von. That's sounds an awful lot like "Ryan's Corner"(see the reply 3 or 4 up from yours)

Although I did forget to mention that I let my wife drive as well if it isn't too difficult

DOH!!! There I go again posting to threads in which I don't read all of the previous posts in their entirety. My bad. (now Greg, about that Vonski's Corner thing....)

 

[ewander]

I find myself in a downward spiral right now.....I really need my jeep to be a daly drive (for my marriage's sake). But, I keep wanting to make it tougher and tougher. When is enough, really enough? I guess I kind of feel like Greg, in that I enjoy Moab and other places for their asthetic value, as well as the tough trails associated with them. Will I ever do Upper Proving Grounds? No. Helldorado's and Pritchett, sure. The drive over the point of the moutain gets rougher every year though..... Maybe slap an on-board welder on the jeep and call it good

 

[Piraja]

I'm depressed just reading this, we all need to go wheeln'

 

[rustybronco]

You guys are making me depressed! Not only is my rig torn apart and waiting for money and time to finish, when I do get it back together, where am I going to go!? At least you guys have rocks to scale at your leisure. Maybe I'll go plow through the neighbor's corn field. How about it Demon Jeep? I know how much you love those corn fields! Since moving, my goals have switched from a rockcrawling beast to a smooth riding street machine. I think I'll go throwup.

 

[Skyetone]

hey rusty, get a big motor and big axles and MUD THE HE!! out of it...

 

[xjc]

It's all about having fun!!!

Spence once told me that all you need is a rig that can keep up with your freinds (or friends that can keep up with your rig) that's true!

As far as playing with less modified vehicles is concerned, If it sounds fun and you can afford it, Do it. It's all about having fun, nothing more, nothing less. Wheelin is nothing noble, and there is'nt much value in it if its not fun.

 

[84 4Runner]

I loved my 'Runner when it was stock, and I love it more now! I think one definently has to keep in mind what one truly wants out of the vehicle. I love having a truck that gets me where I need to go on a daily basis (usually) and that I can have fun with offroad! Sometimes I do regret the money-pit my 4Runner has become, but considering how much enjoyment I get out of having it, driving it, working on it, and wheeling it, I don't truly regret it. I enjoy trying out different lines to find something more challenging, and I love being able to go places where others can't. In my opinion, my 4Runner is perfectly suited to my needs, and vice versa.

It's all about having fun!!!

Agreed! If you're not having fun, you're obviously doing something wrong!

 

[Skyetone]

my favotie pic is in my IFS and on a trail that wasn't hard at all. I let my girl drive...She loved it and it got me bonus points cuz the rig didn't break.