Minimum Ground Clearance?

[IMFONYC]

Hello everybody,

hope you enjoy your weekend! :)

I am about to buy a car, SUV, Truck...(whatever) to explore mainly the northern east of the US (also with some camping) and I was wondering what the minimum ground clearance for an simple overland setup should be. And I thought who could answer that better than experienced explorers like you.

One can certainly say "well, it depends on the route you want to take" ... I understand. I don't want to climb rocks or whatever. But what's the minimum heights to survive a typical day on a National Park Track and not be an obstacle for others?
For example, an original Jeep Grand Cherokee already has ~ 8 ".... do you think this is fine for most situations? Is there a "magic number" ?

Cheers,
Flo

 

[smritte]

Most of your useable ground clearance will come from your tires. From there its paying attention to things sticking out of the ground. If I had to throw a number at things, I would want 8" as a baseline. Lowest point of vehicle to ground. Subaru outback is a very capable vehicle. They claim 8.7". I have seen cars cruising around some of the desert and mountain roads I frequent with significantly less.

Quick check, Subaru WRX 4.9". Take that chassis and throw some dirt tires and rally race the crap out of it. My favorite is the 911 rally car. High speed dirt and I bet their both around 6" when your done.

 

[IMFONYC]

Thanks for your feedback Scott. Yeah the Outback a good car and is already on my list. Good onroad and offroad performance from what i read. Some guys on youtube also use them for more advanced trails. But i dont want to modify the vehicle right from the beginning - ok, beside of tires. The WRX is also an awesome car but because of the missing Trunk space not suitable for my needs (i know older models were also available as a wagon but they are also quite expensive) ... thats why the outback is more interesting.

"... I would want 8" as a baseline." - this is what i wanted to hear :)

So lets say 8.7 in the the outback example plus a slightly bigger all terrain tire .... will result in about 9". Well, this could be a starting point. I will also check out other cars with these numbers. Cheers!

 

[Billiebob]

an original Jeep Grand Cherokee already has ~ 8 ".... do you think this is fine for most situations?

Plenty. A good driver has no trouble with less. I've been on powerline roads over mountain passes and follwed a 35? year old Ford Tempo. He had no problems.

Then there is this.
A good dog route finding makes all the difference.

 

[rgallant]

At 8 to 9 inches I would think you would be fine in most cases, as noted it is really about picking a line to avoid obstacles. Here in BC you Subaru's and similar vehicles on forest services roads and more complex tracks a fair bit. But most the Main FSR's here are like bad gravel roads, even the side tracks are generally not too bad.

Remember as you add weight you may lose some ground clearance and if you air down you could lose some more. Just something to be aware of if you buy used the springs and shocks could be marginal.

 

[IMFONYC]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Plenty. A good driver has no trouble with less. I've been on powerline roads over mountain passes and follwed a 35? year old Ford Tempo. He had no problems.

Then there is this.
A good dog route finding makes all the difference.

And in his case, a good deal of self-confidence and a no risk, no fun attitude. hehe.

At 8 to 9 inches I would think you would be fine in most cases, as noted it is really about picking a line to avoid obstacles. Here in BC you Subaru's and similar vehicles on forest services roads and more complex tracks a fair bit. But most the Main FSR's here are like bad gravel roads, even the side tracks are generally not too bad.

Remember as you add weight you may lose some ground clearance and if you air down you could lose some more. Just something to be aware of if you buy used the springs and shocks could be marginal.

Good point. I will keep that in mind. And to be sure: put on the tape measure and ... measure. Hmmm. There was a time in my life were i was more interested in getting lower than higher with my cars. Time is changing. (BTW: British Columbia: such a nice area!)

 

[Smileyshaun]

Something to think about .
If you look at let’s just say the subi or really any other unibody rig compared to a body on frame rig .
Now even if they both have 8” of ground clearance The body on frame rig has a big advantage . The unibody rig may have 8” of ground clearance but after that low point it’s ground clearance may only jump up to 10” at the most but probably closer to back at 9” so if you have to drive over something that’s 9” tall you can easily get the diff portion over it but then may get hung up when you have to drag the whole rest of the car over it . Now in that same scenario a body on frame rig will have a big jump in clearance after the low point so after you drag the diff over that 9” obstacle nothing else is contacting till you get to the rear diff .
I’m not hating on Subaru’s having owned a few myself and explored a ton of places with them putting them places I probably shouldn’t of made it through .
Find what’s comfortable for you and that also balances out well with the rest of your life .

 

[Billiebob]

25 years ago we had a Honda Accord Wagon and an F250 Crewcab. Any long distance trips were done in the FWD Honda and it went everywhere Man. Alberta to Bella Coola and on the way back to the south end of Tatlayoko Lake which was mostly 2 track with shrubs coming up between them.

Pretty much like this.
Altho this was last month in the Rubicon.
25 years ago GoPro and DashCams were still a dream.

 

[LostWoods]

Keep in mind that ground clearance is a misleading number. You'll see ratings on trucks like a Tacoma or Gladiator and SUVs like a Wrangler or 4Runner and think they're not much higher than others. Thing is, these are frame vehicles and the body has several inches above the rated number which is typically the differential pumpkin. When you see minimum ground clearance on a unibody vehicle, it' can more or less be assumed that's the clearance of the entire undercarriage where my Gladiator will have a fair bit more before I start hitting the frame and even more for the body.

Basically, ground clearance is a terrible metric for judging a vehicle. What matters is how things are laid out and what that vehicle will allow you to do.

Original Grand Cherokee is unibody but it's not a typical example. The reason it only has 8" is because it came factory with some pretty small tires but still has to rate the diff pumpkin since it's solid axles. The body and undercarriage is a fair bit higher and I think you'll find the WJ is a very capable vehicle.

 

[MidOH]

Depends on the vehicle picked.

A pickup with solid axles and a frame shaped like a bent banana (like this ^ ) needs way less clearance than an independent suspension car with a perfectly flat belly. Especially if those axles are pig iron an inch thick with armored diff covers that can be dragged on things without damage.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

We have about 9" of clearance on the patriot. I think that is enough for most situations for sure. Unless it gets really rocky. The wrangler is still out on how much clearance I will have since I am waiting for my lift and components to arrive.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Plenty. A good driver has no trouble with less. I've been on powerline roads over mountain passes and follwed a 35? year old Ford Tempo. He had no problems.

Then there is this.
A good dog route finding makes all the difference.

A classic.

 

[IMFONYC]

Thank you for all your contribution, I really appreciate your help. And it keeps me seeing things from a different perspective. Thank you!

Something to think about .
If you look at let’s just say the subi or really any other unibody rig compared to a body on frame rig .
Now even if they both have 8” of ground clearance The body on frame rig has a big advantage . The unibody rig may have 8” of ground clearance but after that low point it’s ground clearance may only jump up to 10” at the most but probably closer to back at 9” so if you have to drive over something that’s 9” tall you can easily get the diff portion over it but then may get hung up when you have to drag the whole rest of the car over it . Now in that same scenario a body on frame rig will have a big jump in clearance after the low point so after you drag the diff over that 9” obstacle nothing else is contacting till you get to the rear diff .
I’m not hating on Subaru’s having owned a few myself and explored a ton of places with them putting them places I probably shouldn’t of made it through .
Find what’s comfortable for you and that also balances out well with the rest of your life .

First i just found suuuper expensive and HUUUGE Trucks and SUVs with the body on frame ... but after some extra research i found for example that some Trucks or SUVs thats already on my list HAVE their body on a frame. the Nissan Xterra, Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer, ... all around the Model Years 2005 to 2015 and they are in budget Thats pretty cool.

Keep in mind that ground clearance is a misleading number. You'll see ratings on trucks like a Tacoma or Gladiator and SUVs like a Wrangler or 4Runner and think they're not much higher than others. Thing is, these are frame vehicles and the body has several inches above the rated number which is typically the differential pumpkin. When you see minimum ground clearance on a unibody vehicle, it' can more or less be assumed that's the clearance of the entire undercarriage where my Gladiator will have a fair bit more before I start hitting the frame and even more for the body.

Basically, ground clearance is a terrible metric for judging a vehicle. What matters is how things are laid out and what that vehicle will allow you to do.

Original Grand Cherokee is unibody but it's not a typical example. The reason it only has 8" is because it came factory with some pretty small tires but still has to rate the diff pumpkin since it's solid axles. The body and undercarriage is a fair bit higher and I think you'll find the WJ is a very capable vehicle.

The fact that I used ground clearance as a guide is because I am a newbie to all that. (as you see :P) But this is really good to know that there are other values to consider ... similar to what Shaun already mentioned.

Here in my neighborhood are some cars that I like parked right on the streets ... so when nobody is watching i will check out how the vehicles underbody is looking like.

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

I don't know the numbers, but I feel like any basic SUV, truck, or Subaru outback 'type' vehicle has plenty of ground clearance with careful driving. Good tires make so much difference as well.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Tires make all the difference in the world. More than any other modification. Don't pass unibody vehicles either. I am after owning two patriots and they can go surprisingly far in the back country. Tires are a great improvement.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

8.9”

I was going to say 9" but that's close enough. haha ha.

 

[leeloo]

People are doing the canning stock route .. the longest off road trail ever in the world, and with some difficult bits in a Forester with little modification, usually a small 2 inch lift to compensate for the load .
Most subaru's even the old ones are very flat so no surprises there.
On an Independent suspension vehicle, bigger tires don't do much to give you ground clearance. Pure solid axle front and back are almost extinct, only Jeep and Landcruiser 70 series are still in production.
That means most vehicles you see on trails are IS or for pick ups and a few others they are solid axle in the back - IFS in the front. And they do fine. I don't agree with the statement that an 8 inch ground clearance at the pumpkin is actually more ina a pick up or jeep or what ever. That is the lowest point, it is quite bulky and you will hit it, even if at front you have 11 inch. Ignore this at your own pocket.

 

[ryanorr280]

For me, minimum ground clearance is 9-10 inches. Years ago, we had a crosstrek. It was great, but when loaded down for a trip in Colorado it bumped the ground a few times on an easy trail. We now drive a 4Runner with a small leveling kit. We still bottom out once in awhile. But that’s on trails I would not have attempted in the subie.

 

[WY_Tigger]

I was on a budget, but wanted new, so I went with a 2019 Crosstrek at 8.7" of ground clearance. I'm running 215/75/15 KO2s

 

[Billiebob]

stick to your stock jeep, it gives you more cred than bragging about dragging a car threw the bush.
and a good driver (crown vic) would know where his tires are at going into the bush- he's just more "lucky" than good. i've seen other vids of his vic and he drags it over everything....pity the next person who buys it off him when he sells it. and where he went, doesn't even require 4by. slick rock is like driving pavement

wow, bad day ?