Taking B+/C Offroad Experiences
Anyone have experience you could share taking a B+/C on rutted trails with dips and some steeper inclines? We are considering replacing our dually 3500 4x4 Bigfoot TC with a 24 foot Born Free. Has...
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I have never driven or even ridden in a truck with TC, but maybe I can contribute to this thread anyway.
My 4x4 C history: 15 years with a custom Toyota built on a 1983 stock chassis with 22R engine. I bought it used after many months of looking for a small C. Had never even been in a 4x4 vehicle before, but it met my other criteria so...I learned how to use the 4X4 mostly from books and trial/error. Dangerously under-powered. Overweight for the brakes and transmission. Drove it about 50K miles, had lots of adventures and lots of repairs. Lots of desert and Eastern Sierra explorations, plus some long trips such as SoCal to North Dakota.
By the time I wanted and could afford a replacement RV, 4X4 had gone to the top of my wish list. I had the Tiger built for me (some additions and some deletions from the factory's 2006 product), have driven it 93K miles so far. It has battle scars from many dirt road trips. Chassis is a stock Chevy 2500HD 4x4, regular cab, 8.1 L gas Vortec Engine, Allison 6 speed transmission. My options and additions: limited-slip differential, skid plates, bolt-on anti-sway bar on rear axle, electronic push-button drive mode changer on dash so I no longer have to get out in the mud to lock the hubs.
Not necessarily. Pretty much no two Tigers are alike. I usually described what my 2006 Tiger CX can do without damage to itself as "4WD lite" and am constantly reminding those who think that having a Tiger would make all of their off-road dreams come true that A TIGER IS NOT A JEEP. Actually, even Jeeps won't do everything that some of these unrealistic folks plan to do.
Hints for those wanting an RV that can safely explore off-pavement:
Keep it SMALL, which is almost impossible in these days of size inflation, and have enough engine power to safely haul it.
MINIMIZE HEIGHT to fit under trees and such. It is expensive to replace/repair roof stuff damaged by tree encounters. (Don't ask me how I know this.)
MINIMIZE WIDTH. Squeeze between bushes to get on down the road.
MINIMIZE LENGTH. No long rear overhang. Fit into standard parking space. Turn around in a very small area.
Once you have this dream rig, KEEP THE WEIGHT LOW. Not necessarily always, but at least move a bunch of stuff from overhead cupboards and beds to the floor before going where the rig will rock and roll down the road.
Maybe someday you can find a tesseract (look it up) on 4x4 wheels, but for now if you want to get out and explore without waiting ages for a special build, you will need to make some compromises.
Happy Trails!
My 4x4 C history: 15 years with a custom Toyota built on a 1983 stock chassis with 22R engine. I bought it used after many months of looking for a small C. Had never even been in a 4x4 vehicle before, but it met my other criteria so...I learned how to use the 4X4 mostly from books and trial/error. Dangerously under-powered. Overweight for the brakes and transmission. Drove it about 50K miles, had lots of adventures and lots of repairs. Lots of desert and Eastern Sierra explorations, plus some long trips such as SoCal to North Dakota.
By the time I wanted and could afford a replacement RV, 4X4 had gone to the top of my wish list. I had the Tiger built for me (some additions and some deletions from the factory's 2006 product), have driven it 93K miles so far. It has battle scars from many dirt road trips. Chassis is a stock Chevy 2500HD 4x4, regular cab, 8.1 L gas Vortec Engine, Allison 6 speed transmission. My options and additions: limited-slip differential, skid plates, bolt-on anti-sway bar on rear axle, electronic push-button drive mode changer on dash so I no longer have to get out in the mud to lock the hubs.
thestoloffs wrote:
either keep your Bigfoot TC or find something like a used Tiger Adventure Vehicle.
Not necessarily. Pretty much no two Tigers are alike. I usually described what my 2006 Tiger CX can do without damage to itself as "4WD lite" and am constantly reminding those who think that having a Tiger would make all of their off-road dreams come true that A TIGER IS NOT A JEEP. Actually, even Jeeps won't do everything that some of these unrealistic folks plan to do.
Hints for those wanting an RV that can safely explore off-pavement:
Keep it SMALL, which is almost impossible in these days of size inflation, and have enough engine power to safely haul it.
MINIMIZE HEIGHT to fit under trees and such. It is expensive to replace/repair roof stuff damaged by tree encounters. (Don't ask me how I know this.)
MINIMIZE WIDTH. Squeeze between bushes to get on down the road.
MINIMIZE LENGTH. No long rear overhang. Fit into standard parking space. Turn around in a very small area.
Once you have this dream rig, KEEP THE WEIGHT LOW. Not necessarily always, but at least move a bunch of stuff from overhead cupboards and beds to the floor before going where the rig will rock and roll down the road.
Maybe someday you can find a tesseract (look it up) on 4x4 wheels, but for now if you want to get out and explore without waiting ages for a special build, you will need to make some compromises.
Happy Trails!
