Fake Overlanding?
- Thread starter GUTB
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After a 1000 miles of continuous washboard, rutted, and pitted gravel roads I'll take my aftermarket shocks over the stock ones any day of the week. And for what it's worth, nothing else has broken due to the addition of better shocks. Personally speaking though, you know.
I'll disagree with you slightly. There are weak links from the factory that the aftermarket remedies and are better then what the factory has produced. Jk ball joints anyone? Even left in stock form some not all factory components are sub par. Speaking of jeep and ram mostly of my exp as a mechanic for chrysler. Careful and selective modification can produce the same reliability if not better from the factory within reason, I mean 44 inch swampers are just gonna wear down everything
I can hardly fit my fist between my bumpstops and front axle. With a proper suspension kit, I should be able to fit my head there, and still have proper downtravel. Weird measuring devices for sure. Maybe a higher end CV front drive shaft, maybe not.
Stock vehicles can be a compromise. In the case of my fullsize, towards towing and such. Minor mods make a huge difference. And more sidewall can smooth out a bumpy road nicely.
Stock vehicles can be a compromise. In the case of my fullsize, towards towing and such. Minor mods make a huge difference. And more sidewall can smooth out a bumpy road nicely.
Member III
I think it depends. I was thinking for instance of a chainsaw. A better quality and more capable (larger bar) allows you to be more efficient when cutting large logs. Total overkill for small branches.
Running off road beats up the vehicle. A better more capable vehicle will last longer with less damage. That's why I chose a Toyota and not something more likely to break.
Member III
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I'd love to go camping on the Buffalo with you Grubworm. I never saw that post, was it recently ? Right now I cant even get to bear Lake 8 miles away with my health problems. I guarantee that if I ever get my legs back I will meet you at the Buffalo for some fishing. I haven't given up yet on walking again, and I'm raising hell with the VA to get me to a specialist for the problem because I'm just sitting here rotting away.
Lanlubber
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Most of todays vehicles are engineered for highway use and modest dirt roads at best. According to the off road magazine experts that test these new vehicles, they were made into cram puffs about 25 years ago and have only made a come back of sorts in the past 3 years. That means if you own an older than 3 year old vehicle it should be modified to be more reliable than the factory made it. I think it is smart to get it up a couple of inches, up the tire size for the conditions you will encounter in a more severe terrane. The addition of shocks that will do the job better than stock is the way to go to handle the more punishing terrane of off roading or cross country ventures. I believe in off road bumpers, winches (even a portable trailer hitch type with doubling capacity), and skid rails for your vehicles body protection. These are all reasonable mods and I consider necessary for an all around good rig.
Apparently the secret to getting a ton of replies on your thread is to include the word "overlanding" in the title and then either try to define the term or else vaguely insult it. Guaranteed traffic! The amount of time this forum spends either defining or defending the term "overlanding" is pretty staggering.
Contributor I
I love this question, but I think the answers would be different depending on who you ask.
I went to some pretty remote places in two VW Jettas, with a carport-style shelter, tent, and cooler stuffed inside and in a roof box. I got stuck in mud once, and just had to camp until it dried up. That led to me get a more capable car, so I bought a Subaru Outback that got me to some amazing places (Baja Mexico desert, inside a volcanic crucible in Nevada, Death Valley, Mojave, Highways 50 and 70 from California to New Mexico, and lots of remote hot springs), most of the time towing a trailer filled with shelter, water, burn barrels, firewood, and more to set up group campsites. After setting up camp, I’d lead expeditions to hot springs or other destinations, and somehow never got stuck, but had some close calls.
That led me to buy a Subaru Forester and spend five figures on a lift, skid plates, rock sliders, winch, hi-lift jack, roof basket, gas carriers, and all-terrain tires/wheels with 2 full spares.
It’s an addiction of sorts. You go places and find routes that you aren’t equipped for, and it plants a seed. “If I only had a lift and skid plates I could have made it to that swimming hole,” or maybe it’s a hot spring/waterfall/meadow/campsite/other destination. So you dump money into your rig, because maybe next time you’re in that situation you’ll be prepared. Maybe you even save the GPS coordinates with plans to return someday. Either way, it’s driven by two things: FOMO (fear of missing out) and FOGS (fear of getting stuck).
So people like me spend money because we want to get somewhere (even if the economics of spending thousands to avoid the occasional missed opportunity don’t make sense), and we want to get home. Other types of people see us and like the look of our rigs, and they want to look like they are the adventurous type. These are the people who want a pre-built package with all the bells, whistles, and chromed plastic badges that say “4x4” or “Adventure Edition (TM)” in 150pt block letters. Never mind all the other preparations, it only matters that the vehicle looks ready for action. Those are also the type of people who charge their truck straight into a mud puddle and have to be rescued by me in my Subaru (it’s happened a few times). Of course, they probably aren’t the type to bring a recovery strap or tow rope, good thing for them that I am.
While I think there are people everywhere who fit into the latter category, it seems that most people in this forum are the type who want to get somewhere, even if they have an outrageous vehicle.
Enthusiast III
Wow, someone need to get out more.
So you can only argue with someone if you already have different mindsets???? So it is forbidden to play the devils advocate so we can built better agruiments ??? If you make a point, it is forbidden that i ask questions or question your point just for me to know were your opinion is comming from? I think that is a strange way of interacting. If friends can't ask questions or even question the otherones opinion, it has become a sad sad world.
Enthusiast III
Let me set one thing clear, i'm not jealous at all. Why should I be jealous at your stuff that you will never use? It was your money all along.
My point was that i don't care what you buy, but don't try to fool me by saying you NEED it, you WANT it yes but be honnest, how much of the stuff we buy we realy NEED. But thats goes fore everything in life and is due for an other tread or a nice talk around the campfire with a beer or two.
Enthusiast III
What else would we debate on? facts? there is no debating on facs, they are afterall facts. So we debate on colors and tasts. What do you talk about around a campfire otherwise?
For me it is fun to read all the different opinions and see people questioning my opinion, it makes my opinion stronger or makes me change my opinion.
But it seems that there are some people here who do not understand the art of debating and take every word you say so serious and start attacking the person, not the opinion.
I personaly have many good friends with very different opinions about life. Thats why you should only debate around a campfire after a beer or 2.
Advocate III
Damn, now I'm going to have to have all my Polo's re-embroidered to say "Off The Normal Path Exploring Adventurer with Modern Technology" . That's going to cost a fortune. [eye roll]
Influencer I
I feel you. Wanna hear crickets for real ? Fun fact #1 : you were the only guy to reply, and a huge thanks for that. Fun fact #2 : the BEER post has 200 replies. That's life, that's us.
Side note : the guy who started this thread is smiling so much right now
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Advocate III
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Thank you Steve, I appreciate that.
I think if folks were to actually get out for more adventuring they would spend less time in places like this asking about how to do it. They'd know more about how to do it.
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Enthusiast III
Enthusiast III
What else would we debate on? facts? there is no debating on facs, they are afterall facts. So we debate on colors and tasts. What do you talk about around a campfire otherwise?
For me it is fun to read all the different opinions and see people questioning my opinion, it makes my opinion stronger or makes me change my opinion.
But it seems that there are some people here who do not understand the art of debating and take every word you say so serious and start attacking the person, not the opinion.
I personaly have many good friends with very different opinions about life. Thats why you should only debate around a campfire after a beer or 2.
Advocate III
.I feel you. Wanna hear crickets for real ? Fun fact #1 : you were the only guy to reply, and a huge thanks for that. Fun fact #2 : the BEER post has 200 replies. That's life, that's us.
Side not : the guy who started this thread is smiling so much right now
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It's a shame, @76_overlander , the way forums like this are so popular, and often combative, that often worthwhile threads get pushed past the front page in no time, so don't get the response and replies they deserve.
I think most folks look at "New Posts" first when they log in, and that can bury a seldom-commented post in no time, especially if in Off Topic. This place too, is so convoluted and bloated in the way it is set up with so many redundant categories, coupled with the fact that the search function here is still near impossible to use effectively, that it makes my head spin trying to find stuff I saw recently that I might want to revisit.
Speaking to your project and 3D Printer, you may be interested in my adventure pal One Leg Drake (@drake_c0r on insta), who has been helping folks around the world get set up with new prosthetics. His insta is private and he may be using it only for adventuring now, but follow him and tell him what you have going on.
Just seeing what he's doing is inspirational and he may have processes in place that you can use with eNable or with what you produce individually. He is part of ROMP, the Range Of Motion Project and may have even started it (hence keeping his own insta more private now). ROMP is a non-profit, for-impact healthcare organization dedicated to providing prosthetic and orthotic care to those without access to these services. You can find ROMP on insta at @rompglobal
Good luck with your project. Pretty cool work. Let me know if I can be of help in any way in my travels.
@grubworm - search function here is not the best, but if you search Buffalo River you come up with a few guys like @Prerunner1982 who has camped there and mentioned this site , @CTO1Mike , who mentioned Buffalo River in a post about Arkansas, @Wandering Yeti, who posted some cool pics of the Buffalo River area, @Rudepossum Outdoors (whose profile pic is Buffalo River), and this thread started by @Jeff Tyson about Broken Bow to Buffalo .
Hope you find some spots. I'll come find ya and go camping there sometime.
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