Overlanding with "stock" 4X4

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

No, I am in the north eastern corner of the state, almost in Hell’s Canyon. Coos Bay is about 8 hours away from here.

Then you are close to Vsnce.

 

[M Rose]

Vsnce ?

Then you are close to Vsnce.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Vsnce ?

Oops, Vance. @4wheelspulling

 

[M Rose]

Ya, he’s about 6 hours away, I’m about 3 hours from Boisie, and 4 hours from Portland.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Ya, he’s about 6 hours away, I’m about 3 hours from Boisie, and 4 hours from Portland.

When I talked to Vance he told me he was about 6 hours from Coos Bay, you said you are 8 hours from CB, yet he is in Wa, I thought in the sw corner of the state, am I wrong. I need to come up that way and see for myself, I didn't think Or was that big. I hitched down from Seattle to San Francisco in 1953 when I was discharged from the Air Force. I liked Or. And wanted to come back but it didn't work out.

 

[M Rose]

It takes me 8 hours on the freeway to get from La Grande to Eugene. Vance lives about east central Washington. 2 West hours down the free way, cross the gorge, then 3 hours up north on The highway (not free way).
I have family down in Las Alamos, White Rock, and Albuquerque NM, I spent a lot of time exploring the Native American ruins at Bandalier, and the deserts down by Las Crusis when I was younger.

 

[4wheelspulling]

Coos Bay, OR. is a good 10-12 hours for me to drive each way from my home here by Chelan, WA. Vance.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Coos Bay, OR. is a good 10-12 hours for me to drive each way from my home here by Chelan, WA. Vance.

I was mistaken about what I thought you told me back when I was asking you about giving my daughter some overlanding advise when she bought her van.
She got sick and was in hospital for a week after a trip to see her brother in Seattle-Sammamish area. I worry about her constantly but she is very independent.
Her roommate bought a 96- LRD1 there in Coos Bay for $1000, I hope it was a good buy for them. I havent heard anything since.

 

[Buckaroo]

IT CANT BE DONE !!! DONT TRY IT !!!! how could you imagine going over landing without a roof top tent, without Max tracks and gas cans strapped all over your rig , How would anybody know you’ve gone somewhere without patches all over your ceiling

Thats done it. I'm out of this overlanding malarkey.
NOBODY is sticking anything to my carpet lined and insulated ceiling.
I shall just go back to choosing a far off destination and pitch up camp in several places along the way.

 

[peeeeetey]

Pay no attention. Stay with your way of doing things.

 

[Jeff Lloyd]

Recently we had some people that did not come to the overland campout because their rig was "stock" I see a whole ton of people who want to go outside. Who want to hang out next to the campfire. Sometimes their only experience with this is YouTube or Instagram. I like looking at all the new shiny things on youtube and insta. But that is not what you need! We need to do a better job of showing people what bone stock vehicles are actually able to do. And that is alot! I hear things like this vehicle can go farther than that vehicle and it depends on this variable or that. That's all bullshirt. People helping other people is the only true variable we are dealing with. If you want to go to a rally point that I am going to and all you have is a 1988 Honda Civic and your vehicle won't make it I will tow it there or you can throw your camp stuff in my rig and we will go that way!

 

[M Rose]

Recently we had some people that did not come to the overland campout because their rig was "stock" I see a whole ton of people who want to go outside. Who want to hang out next to the campfire. Sometimes their only experience with this is YouTube or Instagram. I like looking at all the new shiny things on youtube and insta. But that is not what you need! We need to do a better job of showing people what bone stock vehicles are actually able to do. And that is alot! I hear things like this vehicle can go farther than that vehicle and it depends on this variable or that. That's all bullshirt. People helping other people is the only true variable we are dealing with. If you want to go to a rally point that I am going to and all you have is a 1988 Honda Civic and your vehicle won't make it I will tow it there or you can throw your camp stuff in my rig and we will go that way!

This is exactly it. Like you said “Stock”. Right now my rig is stock minus tires (2 sizes larger) and added lights, and a couple interior upgrades. My rig even without the upgrades was completely capable to get me to 90% of the places I like to go. I added tires because the tires that came with my rig were bald and I was scared even a piece of gravel would puncture them. I went oversized because I liked how they looked, along with the benefit of raising my ground clearance 2” and lastly because more meat between the tread and rim is always good when hitting that rock going a little faster than one should. I added lights because I have a hard time seeing at night, and even more so out on the back roads. My interior upgrades include seats out of a newer truck, center console out of the same truck, and “gun racks” for holding all my fishing rods (I love fishing). The seats were a requirement for two reasons, first was safety. The original seats were worn out so bad that you could lift them off of the adjuster rails. The second reason is I have a couple of small physical disabilities that make sitting in most rigs longer than 30 minutes very uncomfortable. So far all of my modifications haven’t helped me go any deeper into the back country other than tires.
now to go to those last 10% spots, I need more traction and lower gears. going lower gears means I lower my fuel economy, so instead of changing my differential gearing for only 10% use out of overall use of my rig doesn’t make sense. Instead I decided that a 5 speed swap is required to get me a lower 1st gear over the stock Automatic Transmission 1st gear, and a better over drive final drive ratio to save gas in Overdrive vs that of stock 4th gear Overdrive. Also to help compensate for lower gearing I am adding a second transfer case gear box to essentially give me a 5:1low gear out of the back of the transfer case. This mod will allow me to have superior low range over stock, but still give me a better overall high range for freeway driving as well.
Again, I am only doing this for a 10% usage gain, and if the mods I am doing wouldn’t have fallen into my lap, I wouldn’t have even considered going this rout at all, and left my rig as is.

To all the novices reading this: Drive what you got. Don’t worry about what others might think of you based on your rig. I would weather see you at the camp site at the end of the day than sitting on your couch at home wishing you were out at the campfires. Get out and explore any way necessary. Sure that decked out 4Runner looks great with the RTT and Recovery boards strapped on top. But a cheap backpacking tent and a shovel is just as good if not better. Find others to go out with you and just have a good time while treading lightly.
After a year of upgrading your kit, then start worrying about upgrades to your rigs. Look at your rigs strengths and build upon those strengths, know your rigs weaknesses and drive according to this weaknesses.
I have built quite a few Overlanding rigs throughout the years, upgraded my “kit” many times, so I know what “I” need to achieve “my” goals. What works for me, will not work for you, because “you” aren’t “me”. And what works for “you” won’t work for “me”.

 

[Adamw1212]

This is a great read! I have a 2016 jku and only thing I’ve done to it is bigger a/t tires. Yes I’d love to mod the crap out of it but my mind set has changed a lot lately. I’m following the k.i.s.s. method (keep it simple stupid). I’ve been looking more into the camping gear and recovery gear then i have new bumpers and other goodies that are out there for jeeps. Yes I’ll most likely go out and do a small 2” lift and add a roof rack and roof top tent but it’s not needed right now. I haven’t gone out overlanding yet but i still know owning a Jeep i can get to most places I’d want to go without doing a whole lot and also spending a whole lot of money. The only time I’ve slept out of my Jeep I’ve folded the back seats down rolled out the foam sleeping mats and sleeping bags and called it a night.

 

[reaver]

This is exactly it. Like you said “Stock”. Right now my rig is stock minus tires (2 sizes larger) and added lights, and a couple interior upgrades. My rig even without the upgrades was completely capable to get me to 90% of the places I like to go. I added tires because the tires that came with my rig were bald and I was scared even a piece of gravel would puncture them. I went oversized because I liked how they looked, along with the benefit of raising my ground clearance 2” and lastly because more meat between the tread and rim is always good when hitting that rock going a little faster than one should. I added lights because I have a hard time seeing at night, and even more so out on the back roads. My interior upgrades include seats out of a newer truck, center console out of the same truck, and “gun racks” for holding all my fishing rods (I love fishing). The seats were a requirement for two reasons, first was safety. The original seats were worn out so bad that you could lift them off of the adjuster rails. The second reason is I have a couple of small physical disabilities that make sitting in most rigs longer than 30 minutes very uncomfortable. So far all of my modifications haven’t helped me go any deeper into the back country other than tires.
now to go to those last 10% spots, I need more traction and lower gears. going lower gears means I lower my fuel economy, so instead of changing my differential gearing for only 10% use out of overall use of my rig doesn’t make sense. Instead I decided that a 5 speed swap is required to get me a lower 1st gear over the stock Automatic Transmission 1st gear, and a better over drive final drive ratio to save gas in Overdrive vs that of stock 4th gear Overdrive. Also to help compensate for lower gearing I am adding a second transfer case gear box to essentially give me a 5:1low gear out of the back of the transfer case. This mod will allow me to have superior low range over stock, but still give me a better overall high range for freeway driving as well.
Again, I am only doing this for a 10% usage gain, and if the mods I am doing wouldn’t have fallen into my lap, I wouldn’t have even considered going this rout at all, and left my rig as is.

To all the novices reading this: Drive what you got. Don’t worry about what others might think of you based on your rig. I would weather see you at the camp site at the end of the day than sitting on your couch at home wishing you were out at the campfires. Get out and explore any way necessary. Sure that decked out 4Runner looks great with the RTT and Recovery boards strapped on top. But a cheap backpacking tent and a shovel is just as good if not better. Find others to go out with you and just have a good time while treading lightly.
After a year of upgrading your kit, then start worrying about upgrades to your rigs. Look at your rigs strengths and build upon those strengths, know your rigs weaknesses and drive according to this weaknesses.
I have built quite a few Overlanding rigs throughout the years, upgraded my “kit” many times, so I know what “I” need to achieve “my” goals. What works for me, will not work for you, because “you” aren’t “me”. And what works for “you” won’t work for “me”.

Abslutely, THIS RIGHT HERE. I highlighted and made the important part red. I've said it many times on this forum and others. It's all about good tires, and picking a good line. Most people would be surprised at where they can go in a stock vehicle. Knowing when to back off so you don't break important things on the trail is equally important. I drove a bone stock 2004 colorado, and that's what got me into this hobby. The only thing I did was put mud tires (not even a different size tire), and skid plates on it. That's it. Mounted a CB in it, and called it a day. Went all over the place with that truck, before I replaced it with something that was better suited to what I wanted to do. I still have the truck, but it's no longer my expo rig. Get out there and explore using what you have. Figure out what works, and what doesn't. Adjust what doesn't, and repeat.

 

[peeeeetey]

I'm bone stock except for lights. I even have a busted transmission that needs to be fixed...Doesn't stop me. 4wd and 1st gear gets me through.

 

[grubworm]

That's all bullshirt. People helping other people is the only true variable we are dealing with. If you want to go to a rally point that I am going to and all you have is a 1988 Honda Civic and your vehicle won't make it I will tow it there or you can throw your camp stuff in my rig and we will go that way!

And people like YOU is what makes this a great experience.

 

[Jeff Lloyd]

This posting gave me an idea. So I just picked up an '89 trooper for $400. It didn't run but a few minutes of putting the spark plug wires on the right spark plugs it fired right up! We are going to build this up on a "what you can do with no money" theme. It's going to stay stock and cheap. And on that I just installed the "It didn't cost me a dime" spare tire trash bag. Which is an old canvas backpack. Gonna work great!

 

[Anak]

This posting gave me an idea. So I just picked up an '89 trooper for $400. It didn't run but a few minutes of putting the spark plug wires on the right spark plugs it fired right up! We are going to build this up on a "what you can do with no money" theme. It's going to stay stock and cheap. And on that I just installed the "It didn't cost me a dime" spare tire trash bag. Which is an old canvas backpack. Gonna work great!View attachment 133263

My kind of build. Deserves its own thread.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

This posting gave me an idea. So I just picked up an '89 trooper for $400. It didn't run but a few minutes of putting the spark plug wires on the right spark plugs it fired right up! We are going to build this up on a "what you can do with no money" theme. It's going to stay stock and cheap. And on that I just installed the "It didn't cost me a dime" spare tire trash bag. Which is an old canvas backpack. Gonna work great!View attachment 133263

More power to ya. I like your idea, have fun.

 

[Munga Brown]

This posting gave me an idea. So I just picked up an '89 trooper for $400. It didn't run but a few minutes of putting the spark plug wires on the right spark plugs it fired right up! We are going to build this up on a "what you can do with no money" theme. It's going to stay stock and cheap. And on that I just installed the "It didn't cost me a dime" spare tire trash bag. Which is an old canvas backpack. Gonna work great!View attachment 133263

I loved my wife's old Isuzu. I'll be watching for more on this.