I know it doesn't matter what I drive...

[Faneius]

I have serious rig envy when I look at a lot of these builds. The above is my daily driver and my overlanding rig. Its been dubbed the "Angry Meep" (there's a story there) It seems silly to want to give the Meep a little lift but I've been wondering if its even possible.
Has anyone ever heard of a lifted Pontiac Vibe?

Member 8127
Oh, I wonder where this goes!

 

[Mike W]

what is the drive train in that? 4wd? definitely not designed for rough use, but im sure you could make it down 90% of the forest roads you might want to take. Just catch a ride at the trail head. it really doesn’t matter what you drive, you can still take trips and explore. it may matter where you drive though ;)

 

[old_man]

People think they have to have the expensive rig before they can go and have fun. I had more fun rock crawling when I had a bone stock Cherokee. The key is to get out and go. Don't get so wrapped up in buying all the toys and then not be able to afford to actually take off work and go. I can't say how many nights I slept in the back of my vehicle. Those were the good old days. Slow down, enjoy, take lots of pix, have fun.

 

[Brandon Harvey]

It doesn't matter what you drive! The goal it to get out and explore. My family and I did 3500 miles this summer in our Mini Countryman. Much of it on country roads both paved and not. Spent less than 400 of it on Interstate. Did 5 states, 6 Mountain Ranges, spent time above 10,000 ft, visited 3 National Parks and had a blast. This is a photo of us stopped in Yellowstone. My son wanted to get out to spot for animal. Just make the memories and visit this glorious land.

 

[vagabondexpedition]

I have no idea if you can lift that at all, but just remember throughout your 'envy' of the other rigs that EVERY vehicle you see here has limitations - some more than others but they all have limitations. Just work around your limitations, go explore and have fun!

 

[Boort]

@ErinF

I have serious rig envy when I look at a lot of these builds. The above is my daily driver and my overlanding rig. Its been dubbed the "Angry Meep" (there's a story there) It seems silly to want to give the Meep a little lift but I've been wondering if its even possible.
Has anyone ever heard of a lifted Pontiac Vibe?

Member 8127
Oh, I wonder where this goes!

Your tagline "Oh, I wonder where this goes!" is about how I found out about Haggermans Pass (http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/938-hagerman-pass-usa.html) between Leadville and Basalt Colorado. At the time I was driving a full size Ford e150 van as my daily driver and my overlanding rig. This was not some Sportsmobile conversion with transfer case, locking diffs, serious meat, and a 4" lift. It was an old city van that was bought when a service company updated their fleet. Ground clearance almost enough to clear a pothole or speed bump and a break over angle LOLOLOL...

Still took it over watched the rocks and tried to keep them away from anything important. Made it over the top, wrote my name in the snow at the top, and started down towards Basalt. Only turned around when we came to a 24" deep water crossing that would have swamped the van and all of our camp gear. backed to a wide spot, W-turned that monster and headed back to Leadville.

Since that trip I've been up there many times, once in a VW Bug (all skidplate till the oil pan), and my Tacoma. One time saw a dude BOMBING that road from the Basalt side in a Honda Civic! Not sure if someone was dying but he made it off the mountian (or rolled it down a cliff so far I never saw the wreck).

TLDR: learn the limits of your gear and skills and work to expand them as you encounter places you want to go that is beyond those limits.

Boort

 

[Faneius]

Thanks guys! You helped me remember that I've taken the Meep through the back roads of The Bull Run to Lost lake in Or, up Skakalkaho pass in MT and explored forest roads to the point they became goat tracks. I've gotten decent at backing down those tracks when there's no wide spot to turn around and I no longer cringe as much when the trees kiss my paint. I would like a rig with a little more height and ability to go in the snow more than 6" deep though but I do enjoy my 25-30mpg :)

Member 8127
Oh, I wonder where this goes!

 

[H3Coyote]

Don't forget about wheel "spacers" that have the same bolt pattern but just move the wheels out, and measure everything first (wheel bolt length is crucial here), I've seen a vibe on 31 inch BFG tires go some pretty intense places.
And just a tip, a hockey puck makes a great one inch lift under a body mount to help with those tires also...
I dig it..!