Wanted: Serious 4x4 owners in here <==

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

popkidu2

War Child
Joined
Sep 2, 2000
Messages
897
Location
Half a mile from what she said...
I'm wondering if there are any 4x4 owners here who do trail riding and/or modify their vehicles.

I just bought an XTerrra recently and have been getting into this stuff. I already am an avid hiker/camper, but figured there are many ways to get away and have fun.
 
I occasionally take my Cherokee off road. It is stock, but when I ordered it in '96, I opted for the Up-Country Suspension Group which has everything I need for off-rad use: skid plates (sounds funny, I know), heavy duty shocks, 2 inches more ground clearance, and front and rear towing hooks.

I would say that towing hooks (especially in the front) and skid plates under the drive train and oil pan are a necessity, as it is better safe than sorry. Your XTerra proably has 10 inches of ground clearance, which is sufficient for most "tread lightly" type off-road use. But if you plan to go in the mud like a little (pop)kid, make sure you have all-terrain tires with good tread, or better yet, mud tires.

I am not really crazy about lift kits/suspension lifts or oversized tires. Not only do they make the vehicle more top-heavy and prone to rollover (especially when off-raoding in the hills), but the suspension mods may void your warranty, and even if your warranty is up, it is likely to give you suspension problems in the future. The bigger tires can also de-calibrate your speedometer.

I have never had any undercarriage or suspension damage on mine, possibly thanks to the Up Country system. I think similar upgrades will allow you plenty of fun.

Just don't harm the environment or the people in Free Your Mind will be after your ass.

~U2Alabama
 
Hi popkid, my hub and I have had a Jeep wrangler now for almost ten years and I absolutely love it :love:

We put a 2" lift kit on it because of the bigger tires, replaced the bumpers, shocks, muffler, etc etc.

There's lots and lots of goodies in this 4 wheel drive catalog that we get every couple of months but I don't have particulars cause I'm at work now. Will get more info from the hub.

Backcountry Utah rules!!!!!!!!
 
I don't think I''m gonna do the lift kit thing. I figure if I put skid plates over the diff and the gas tank I should be ok.

The tires on it are all-terrain. I'll probably get some winter tires in Nov/Dec.

Anyone got any good off road stories?
 
popkidu2 said:
I don't think I''m gonna do the lift kit thing. I figure if I put skid plates over the diff and the gas tank I should be ok.

The tires on it are all-terrain. I'll probably get some winter tires in Nov/Dec.

Anyone got any good off road stories?

popkid, unless you are going to do radical off-roading, your all-terrain tires should be fine. You probably also have good clearance :D

We've been a lot of places and amazingly never got stuck (we didn't even get a winch until recently) until we went out for a day trip last winter not the far from home :eek: for the first time ever, my hub and I got stuck in blowsand!!! and the winch didn't do us any good cause there was NOTHING to latch onto. We didn't even have a shovel :eek: so we would dig out the sand around the tires with our hands, go a few yards, then start all over again. Neither my hub nor I were in real good physical shape at that time (I recently had had shoulder surgery and my hub was getting ready to have surgery) Luckily, it was a lovely day (what if it had been hot?) and we had lots of food and water. If I had to, I could have walked to the highway, about 2 miles away. But after digging out for about a mile (seemed like five), we were able to get enough traction.

It was kind of spooky :eek:
 
Last edited:
PopKid-
My only suggestion is you take Bama w you when 4-wheeling.
You see you will need him and his Jeep to pull u out when your Nissan gets stuck;)

DB9
JEEP-There is only ONE:)
:banghead: :dance: :cool:
 
Back
Top Bottom