4x2 Off Road

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Darrell F

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Do any of our members do any 4x2 off roading?

I used to play off road in a Nissan pickup I had and am kicking around the possibility w/ my 03 ST.

I swapped in a locking rear diff for my nissan so I would have to shop around and find one for my ST; just wondering if anyone else has lifted the body and locked the rear on their 4x2 ST.

She's paid off in '09 and I really want to keep her.
 
4X4s are sometimes overated, with a locker, the right tires and some wgt in the bed, A 4x2 can go 90% of the same places as a 4x4 no problem.
 
get the ranger lift spindles and the warrior shackles to get a some more height, get some aggresive tires and put in the locker and i would say you should be fine for most mild off roading. i have never truely needed my 4wd when playing around off road. i wouldnt take it rock crawling but light trails and a little bit of should be fine
 
First truck I ever had was an 88' F150 pickup, 2wd, inline 6, manual trans, regular cab...a hand me down from my Grandma. Although I abused that truck so bad I loved it so much, so many good memories connected to it (including my first "REAL" kiss :wub:). She was my surf mobile and took me WHEREVER I wanted to go. I did doughnuts with her, jumped hills, climbed rocks, you name it. Honestly, I took her where most wouldn't even dare take their 4 wheel drive.



When she was given to me, she had well over 150,000 miles on her and the only thing that broke down on me was the starter. Sold her to a workmate before I moved to Oahu and I still see her on the road every time I visit home :cool:
 
I have off roaded in mine many times. the key is momentum. if you stop in "sugar" sand/ thick mud you will be stopped. However there are tricks like rocking the car in froward and reverse with the wheels straight. and other things that you will pick up. the main thing is you will need a recovery method of some sort because you are many times more apt to get stuck. So you will need friends to pull you out. The last consideration is that the 4x2 has no skid plate on the vulnerable fuel tank which sticks 1" below the frame rail, so you have to mind that while wheeling. Lastly the recovery points, be careful and use sturdy frame centric point to pull from. things like bumpers and sway bars would be a very bad idea to be towed from! With any wheeling remember to ask yourself if the obsticle or the adventure will cause possible damage to your car and if that is reasonable.



But Most importantly have fun :D

Don D.
 
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The most impotant thing you forgot about is the transfer case helps the tranny. You are correct a 4x2 can do alot of the same things as a 4x4. But you are at a greater risk of burning up an already unstable tranny doing semi-difficult off-roading. I did 95% of the Top-of-World trail at Moab in 2 wheel drive, just to see if I could do it with only my rear locker. And my tranny was almost on fire by the time I got to the top. Probably why I have small leak still.:huh:
 
my job takes me to some out of the way places sometimes, I keep a portable electric winch just in case, but I have never had a problem. Usually I am going down access roads and fire roads to cell tower sites so the main thing is to have ground clearance.
 
Thanks for all of the comments friends; A lot of sound points to consider.

I'm now wondering if I shouldn't just sell and get another rubicon....I know, I have ADD. I can't make my mind up.

 
I never had any problems with my 2WD ST. However, I never took it into mud like I did my 4WD ST. I almost got stuck in mud the first time I tried it, and would have been very stuck in the 2WD. In my opinion, any front-wheel drive vehicle can beat a rear-wheel drive pickup off road as long as it has some ground clearance. My little Suzuki has no problems in the forests of Poland, and I drive a lot there (my girlfriend loves exploring the forest). The STs biggest problem is low take-off angle, not ground clearance (though raising the truck does make some improvement with that problem as well).



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