🎙️Chatter Central

c/4x4-enthusiasts

9

hannahm39•2d ago

Finally swapped my all-terrains for mud-terrains and wow what a difference

Honestly I spent like 2 years running BFG KO2s on my Tacoma because everyone said they were the best all-around tire. But last month I took a trip up to the San Juan Mountains in Colorado and hit some real nasty mud after a storm. Those KO2s just packed up solid and I was slipping all over the place. My buddy who lives out there told me to try his old set of Goodyear Wrangler MTs just to see. Ngl the road noise is definitely louder on the highway now but the grip in the slop is night and day. I crawled through stuff that would have had me winching before. Has anyone else made the switch and regretted the noise trade off?

20

finley_price24•2d ago

Vent: Overheard a kid at the trailhead say my rig was "grandpa's truck"

I was airing down at the Pine Creek trailhead last Saturday and this teenager walks past with his buddies and goes "nice grandpa's truck". I just laughed because my 1999 4Runner has taken me through Moab, the Rubicon, and back without a hiccup. His brand new Wrangler was parked on the side with a check engine light already on lol. Has anyone else gotten weird comments from the younger generation about their older 4x4s?

0

sanchez.pat•4d ago

My buddy Dave's trail truck made me rethink lockers vs. spools in mud.

I was over at Dave's place last Saturday in his garage near Waco, and he was finishing up a rear end swap on his '85 Toyota. He told me he pulled out his lunchbox locker and put in a full spool because he kept losing traction in deep holes. I've always run selectable lockers for the street manners, but his argument was that a spool never fails and you get 100% hookup every time. He showed me video of him crawling through stuff where my locker would have slipped before engaging. Now I'm wondering if I'm overthinking it for a truck that sees 90% mud and trail use anyway. Anyone else made the switch and regretted it for daily driving or was it worth it?

20

emmawood•4d ago

Hit 250,000 miles on my old Tacoma and the engine didn't even blink

I was driving home from a hike in Sedona last weekend and noticed my odometer was sitting at 249,997. I pulled into a gas station to grab a drink and sat there watching it roll over to 250k. That truck has been through floods in Flagstaff, mud in Moab, and a few times where I was sure the transmission was gonna give up. But it just keeps going like it's got something to prove. I bought it used for $3,500 back in 2011 and it's never left me stranded. Anyone else have a rig that just refuses to quit no matter how many miles you put on it?

25

cameronn62•6d ago

I keep telling people to air down more on forest roads and nobody listens

Was out near Sedona last month on Schnebly Hill Road and watched a guy in a lifted Tacoma bounce his way through rocks at full pressure. He ended up with a sidewall tear 8 miles from pavement and had to use my compressor and plug kit. I run 18 psi on trails like that and never had a single issue but everyone thinks they know better. Why is there this weird pride about keeping street pressure on the trail?

12

ryan369•9d ago

Rant: That $200 lift kit I bought from a no-name brand online

Installed it last Saturday and by Tuesday the front driver's side sagged two inches... had to pay a shop $400 to undo everything and put my stock parts back in. Anyone else get burned by cheap suspension parts?

12

verawhite•11d ago

Walked past a guy winching a Jeep out of a ditch last Sunday, didn't offer to help

He was struggling for maybe 20 minutes, straps all twisted, no recovery boards in sight. I just stood there watching from the trail like some kind of rubbernecker. Why don't we carry a basic recovery kit if we're gonna push our rigs that hard?

23

nora_walker57•12d ago

Got told to air down to 15 PSI on the Rubicon and thought the guy was nuts

A buddy of mine who's been running trails in the Sierra for 20 years told me to drop my tires to 15 PSI before hitting the Rubicon last summer. I argued with him, said I'd get a bead leak or tear a sidewall on those granite slabs. He just shrugged and said try it or spend the day bouncing off rocks. Well I went down to 18 PSI instead, and after three miles I was bouncing all over, losing traction on the steep stuff. Finally aired down to 15 at the next pullout and holy cow the difference was night and day, crawled right over stuff that had me spinning before. So is 15 PSI really the sweet spot for big granite trails, or was that just the right call for that specific setup on my 35s?

8

joel_butler•12d ago

I finally figured out why my winch kept overheating on a trail near Moab

Last summer I was stuck on a slickrock climb outside Moab, pulling my buddy's Jeep up a steep ledge, and my winch started smoking after just three minutes of hard use. Turned out the synthetic rope was spooled too loosely from when I installed it, causing it to dig into the lower wraps and bind under load. Has anyone else dealt with winch spooling issues messing up pull power on technical trails?

13

raymitchell•12d ago

Chat with an old timer at Big Bear last weekend changed how I look at my Jeep

I was airing down at the trailhead near Big Bear lake and this older guy in a beat up Tacoma pulls up next to me. He saw my new 35s and asked if I'd ever actually wheeled on worn out tires. I said no, figured fresh rubber is always better. He laughed and said his last set of MTs had 60k miles on them and crawled through shit I'd probably chicken out on. He told me that grip comes more from knowing your line and throttle control than the tread depth. Honestly, it hit different because I've been obsessing over upgrades but barely practiced on my own trail. Has anyone else noticed that gearheads with clapped out rigs just drive circles around built ones?

16

bennett.mason•12d ago

A buddy laughed at me for airing down to 8 psi on fire roads

Last summer up near Flagstaff, my friend Mike watched me drop my K02s to 8 psi and said I was asking for a bead blowout on the rocks. He convinced me to try 12 psi instead and honestly the rig felt way more stable crawling over those sharp basalt sections. Anyone else get roasted for a specific trail pressure and find out they were doing it totally wrong?

27

rubys80•15d ago

Just realized my winch install took 6 hours because of one hidden bolt

Spent all Saturday under my truck trying to fit a new Warn winch on the bumper, and it was that little bolt behind the frame rail nobody talks about that ate up 3 of those hours. Has anyone else fought with a bolt that seemed like it was put there just to mess with you?

5

cora863•16d ago

Tried airing down to 12 psi on my Jeep in Moab last weekend and it backfired hard

I thought going super low would give me more grip on those slickrock trails, but I ended up peeling a bead off the rim on a sharp turn. Limped back to camp with a half-deflated tire and had to use a whole CO2 cartridge just to reseat it. Anyone else had a bead pop on them when pushing the pressure too low?

15

faith_carter•18d ago

I always thought locking the front diff was overrated until I got stuck on a wet hill in Moab last spring

I spent years running open diffs front and rear on my old Tacoma, figured they were fine for most stuff. Then I took a line up a slickrock climb near Poison Spider Mesa and just sat there spinning one tire for 10 minutes while my buddy in his Jeep with a lunchbox locker crawled right past. I finally welded up a cheap Spartan locker in my front axle for like $250 and it made a huge difference on the next trip. Has anyone else had a similar moment where they finally gave in on something they thought was unnecessary?

9

daniel474•19d ago

Put $300 into a steel bumper and it bent on the first rock garden

I figured an aftermarket bumper was worth every penny after my stock one got dented. Spent roughly $300 on a 'heavy duty' steel bumper from a local shop in Denton. First trip out to a rocky trail and it bent in on the driver side corner after a small hit. Did I get a cheap model or are most aftermarket bumpers just decorative? Anyone else have a bumper that folded like paper?

17

shane_fisher37•20d ago

Compared my buddy's lifted Tacoma on mud tires against my stock XJ on all-terrains last weekend in a mud pit near Fredericksburg

I thought my old 4.0 straight six with open diffs could handle anything, but that goopy clay just swallowed my tires after three feet. His Tacoma with those 35 inch mud terrains and lockers just crawled right through without even spinning. Honestly it was kind of embarrassing watching me get yanked out by a winch cable while he sat there sipping coffee. Made me realize how much difference real tires and gearing make versus just being stubborn. Anyone else have a moment where your setup got shown up by something totally different?

14

terryk28•20d ago

Found out my Jeep's tires were 8 years old last week

I was rotating tires in the driveway and actually looked at the date code on the sidewall. DOT stamp said 5216, meaning they were made in late 2016. That's 8 years on rubber that looked fine but was probably hard as a rock. Checked a tire shop forum later and found out the industry says replace at 6 years max. Anyone else ever run old tires and not realize it?

9

the_alice•20d ago

Pro tip: A buddy told me my winch cable was spooled wrong for years

He pointed out I was wrapping it clockwise instead of counterclockwise, which was putting stress on the drum. Anyone else only realize they've been doing a basic thing backwards after some random guy at the trailhead set them straight?

7

rodriguez.felix•21d ago

Threw $600 at a cheap winch and it died on the first real pull

Bought one of those off-brand Amazon winches back in February thinking I was saving cash. Spent a Saturday afternoon bolting it to my Jeep's bumper. First time I actually needed it, stuck in some mud near Moab, the thing smoked out after maybe 3 pulls. Motor completely seized, no warranty support. Anyone else learned this lesson the hard way or just me?

1

rubys80•22d ago

Folded my rooftop tent back up with the sleeping bag still inside

Got to the campsite at Moab after dark and realized my tent was lumpy because I'd left my sleeping bag wedged in there. Had to wrestle it open in the rain with a headlamp on, felt like a complete rookie lol. Anyone else done something this dumb packing up in a hurry?

22

the_emery•22d ago

Truck tires: mud-terrains for the trail or all-terrains for the highway? I just slapped on a set of muds and my highway ride is brutal now.

Seriously, I went with the aggressive tread for rock crawling last weekend and now I'm wishing I kept the all-terrains for my daily 30-mile commute. Has anyone else run into this trade-off or found a tire that actually does both okay?

30

victorhill•24d ago

Mud tires on dry pavement totally changed my mind about highway driving

I took my Jeep out to Big Bend last month and ran into this guy named Dave at the gas station in Terlingua. He pointed out my aggressive mud tires were gonna wear down in 10k miles if I kept driving 75 mph on pavement. I always thought big knobby tires were the way to go for any off road rig, but he showed me his all terrains after 3 years and they still had good tread. Now I'm thinking about swapping before my next trip to Moab. Anyone else run mixed terrain and made the switch?

11

sarah_hart•25d ago

Old timer at the gravel pit said to run my tires at 18 PSI off-road

I was out at the Bighorn National Forest last weekend with my 4Runner and that guy Mike from the local 4x4 club told me to drop my tire pressure way lower than I usually do. He said run them at 18 psi on the trails and I thought he was nuts since I always kept them around 25. But after getting through two muddy sections without spinning out and a way smoother ride on the rocks, I'm wondering if I've been missing out this whole time. Anyone else had a tire pressure recommendation that completely changed how your rig handles on trails?

6

alice89•25d ago

Wasted $300 on a cheap winch from a discount truck parts site last spring

I figured I'd save some cash and got this unbranded 12,000 lb winch for my F-150. First time I actually needed it, out on some trails near Broken Bow, it just fried its motor after three pulls on a muddy slope. The solenoid box melted and I had to get towed out by a buddy with a Warn. Took me two months to get a refund and they made me pay return shipping. Shoulda just saved up for a decent one from the start. Anyone else get burned by one of those no-name winch brands from sketchy websites?

19

wadem89•27d ago

Found out I was airing down my tires all wrong on a trip to Moab last month

I've been airing down my 35s to 18 psi for years thinking I was doing it right for off road traction. But on a trail called Poison Spider Mesa in Moab last month a guy in a built Jeep pulled up next to me while I was airing back up at the trailhead. He asked what psi I ran and I told him 18. He just laughed and said I was basically riding on balloons and that I should be down around 12 psi for that kind of rocky terrain. I told him I was worried about popping a bead but he showed me how his beadlock wheels let him run 8 psi without issues. Even without beadlocks he said 12 is totally fine if you take it easy on sharp rocks. I tried 12 psi on the next trail and the difference was night and day. The tires actually conformed to the rocks instead of bouncing off everything. Has anyone else been running too much pressure and not realized it?