Going off road

[zulu52]

Being a new guy to the TC world, I have a few questions.

I have been looking through the camper pictures and see a lot of you off road.

Are you ever afraid of turning over with all that weight on top?
I don't yet know how much my rig can safely slant.

How about going on the beach? I have four wheel drive but weigh about 10,000 lbs. Ever been bad stuck?

Anybody ever been on Padre Island in Texas?

Thanks for the help.
Michael

[SALTYDOG5435S-T]

Hope this helps.





Enjoy the adventure.

[SALTYDOG5435S-T]

Padre Island National Seashore is a truck camper's dream. You have 63 miles of beach, after the end on the pavement, to drive on.

In my old 250 with the current Lance 845, I have been down 40 miles. I have not been down that far in the new 350. Getting to know the truck.

No I do not air down. Running 845 BFG's and have had no problems.

Just remember, you have to be able to take care of yourself.

Go and enjoy. There is nothing like watching the sun rise with a hot cup of coffee at the 30.

Cliff

[bcbouy]

in my neck of the woods off road is standard if you like to fish.i don't know what my rig weight is and frankly i don't care. i pack a winch,pick shovel and tow a boat.i've been stuck launching my boat into an undeveloped lake campsites a few times but the winch pulls me out every time.my campers are/have been pop ups so i can go wherever i'm brave enough to wander in to.my tires are always aggressive m/t tread 31's or 33's.i try to avoid rv campsites like the plague.if i can see campfire smoke i'm too close to my neighbor.

[ajcal225]

I'm 9,900 loaded. 285/75/16 BFG AT's, 4 wheel drive and air lockers on the tow rig, but I have still been stuck in the dirt 4 times. 3 of them ended up being soft dirt, pulling the trailer and turning, where axle scrub on the trailer overcame traction at the truck. Straitening out, backing up a little and going forward before turning again has gotten me out.

The last, no trailer, parked facing slightly uphill. When it came time to leave, I couldn't back out (someone behind me) so I had to pull out forward uphill, and it just dug in right to the diffs.

Surprisingly, about 5 guys pushing hard on the back of the truck was enough to get me moving again..

Now I make sure I always park facing downhill if there is a slope, and I am more mindful of where my trailer is going to walk.

I worry *A LOT* about rolling it, for whatever reason my camper is way top heavier than I would have expected it to be. You will never find my rig at the angle you see posted earlier in this thread, but then I've ridden in other rigs that were heavier and seemed way more comfortable too.

[Bedlam]

My F250 was over 7000 lbs empty, so I rarely took it where it could get stuck even though I was running 275/70R18's. Once I went 245/70R19.5's it limited me even more in sand but still did well on rocky trails and snow. For soft sand, I haul other vehicles with me that do much better but I was not afraid of areas where the sand is packed or wet with my 11.5K lb truck/camper combination.

My 5500 weighs over 10K lbs empty and has 225/70R19.5's. It's not a practical vehicle for soft sand, but it has already seen the packed sand on the Pacific coast.

Low tire pressure, light throttle application and traction mats are your friends in soft sand - You want to float on top of the material under your tires instead of digging into it.

[jefe_4x4]

It just looks bad. There is very little weight up high. I've been on a lot steeper side hill than that, but over a long time and by degrees testing the waters, so to speak. It's all by feel. Don't need no stinkin' tilt-meter. There is a point at which it will go on it's side but I have not gotten there yet, at least not in the TC. During my hardcore jeeping dayz i rolled my CJ-8 maybe a dozen times, each time learning something new about the edge. Nothing on the roof. All weighty objects stored down low. Jacks off. LSD or locking diffs help on rocks but not much on sand. You might get a little lift to get the breakover angle and clearance in general to be taller. BTW, I would say your loaded TC weighs about 11K pounds.
Basically, try it with some other vehicular company. Since you already jeep, just apply those techniques to your TC. Just jump in and make your own mistakes. Your own mistakes are the best teachers. Adjust, Overcome, Make do, Make it work. Have a great time doing it. Ours on a short bed with all the over-time recommendations above:

jefe

[zulu52]

That would make me have to change my pants.!!!

Padre Island is 105 miles long but it has a cut in the middle and there is no bridge.
I have been from the North end (Corpus Christi) to the cut before (55 miles) in a jeep.
You access the south end from Port Isabell near Brownsville and can drive all the way to the cut also.

Once you go about 10 miles, you see almost no one at all.
Take a fishing pole.:B

Michael

[zulu52]

Truck is a 2015 Chevy 2500 crew cab 4X4 long bed.
Camper is a 2009 Northstar 8.5 Arrow.

Tires are 265/18's. I believe they are 6 ply.

[jefe_4x4]

Michael wrote:
"Are you ever afraid of turning over with all that weight on top?
I don't yet know how much my rig can safely slant."

jefe writes:
Indeed, welcome to the whacky world of truck camping. The answer is: no, not afraid of rolling over. Most of the weight is down low on a TC (or should be) making it have the ability to side hill a lot more than you think.

*******************
"How about going on the beach? I have four wheel drive but weigh about 10,000 lbs. Ever been bad stuck?
jefe writes:
Yes been bad stuck, but not in the TC. Well, maybe the one time in the pic below. I use wide super single rear wheels and tires and play with the air pressure, just the way i did coming from a jeepers headset, and carry a 20# CO2 tank that will blow up 22 tires from 10 #'s to 65 #'s quickly, no matter if there is compressed air available or not. Here stuck on a dune. lowered the pressure to 22 front/20 rear and backed right out.

Here's what the sidewalls looked like after we got up to the dirt road:

Anybody ever been on Padre Island in Texas?
I tried to go there a few years ago, but it was right after a terrible Hurricane and all the flotsam and jetsam cluttered the beach so badly it was almost impassable. I will try to get there before I'm done. It is reported that you can drive over 100 miles, on the beach. There is more to preparation than meets the eye. Search around a bit to find who is doing what you want to do.
jefe

[Dave_Pete]

zulu52, you might share your tire size too. Regarding off road, less tire pressure gives much better traction than highway tire pressures, especially in sand. Of course the problem with "airing down" is when it's time to get back on the highway, you need to air up. There are some solutions for that, and I think some threads regarding both that issue and the issue of loosening tie downs for more truck bed flex on uneven terrain. And with a load on, you have to be careful not to air down so much as to lose a tire bead seal (a lost bead seal between wheel and tire is that much worse than a sand stuck). Experience, and a little at a time are good measures to help learn.

Off road with any RV is always going to be easier with smaller and lighter versus larger and heavier.

[bka0721]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you share what truck (year/Make/Model) and truck camper, or what you are planning on getting,(Year/Make/Model)?

b