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Going off road

zulu52
Explorer
Explorer
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
40 REPLIES 40

anutami
Explorer III
Explorer III
from my experience I have yet to roll the truck





I have gotten my share of Stuck though


1 time in particular I lost my drawers a bit




that was about the same time I soiled my drawers when this happened :0
2001 Ford F350 LB Diesel 4x4 CrewCab Stick
2015 Wolf Creek 850 Thermal Pane Windows, Oven, Reinforced Anchor Bolts, 200w Solar, Torklift Tie Downs, Fastguns, Stableloads

zulu52
Explorer
Explorer
Last year was an epic record setting year for seaweed.
Galveston removed about a thousand tons of it.

SALTYDOG5435S-T
Explorer
Explorer
Bubtofat,

It sounds like you went to PINS (Padre Island National Seashore) during seaweed season. If I find some one going during the spring months I try to warn them about the seaweed. I have seen it piled up 2-3 feet next to the water. The seaweed replenishes the beach so it is good. Just a pain in the backside if you try to camp at that time of the year.

As far as storms in the gulf, I was there when a small squall came up. I camp with my nose pointing north. That morning the water was in front and behind the camper. Things looked to get worse before better. Woke up the wife and said we were leaving. We were about 10 miles down. We loaded everything up, put it in 4X4 and left. To heavy to help other people. The park rangers came by and said they were closing the beach. Did not matter to me as I was going home. Finally got a cup of coffee at a quick trip. Very interesting day.

And now my rant about the trash on the beach. I donot know how many post I have read about the trash on the beach. It comes from the ocean. PINS is at a curve in the shore line and what happens to your cell phone when you take a sharp curve? That is why the garbage collects there.

The only clean up is the Billy Sandifer Beach Clean up. It happens once a year in the early spring. All volunteers. Other than that it is nature at it's best. Everyone that camps there brings off more than just their garbage. It is what you do to help.

PINS Is to be enjoyed. If you want a pristine beach, go to Florida. My rig is setup for PINS and I like it the way it is.

Hope the MODS donot take this the wrong way.
Cliff aka Saltydog
2002 F350 4X4 Crew Cab Longbed SRW
2003 Lance 845
USMC 70-74
#1 fishing partner since 1981: My Ladybug

zulu52
Explorer
Explorer
JEFE,
You are a better man than me. That video had me leaning the opposite way and I wasn't even in the truck!

We are new to this. We have only camped in our TC 4 nights so far and looking forward to more.

I was afraid of tipping over if I ran over a curb the wrong way.
I'll run over curbs with more confidence now.:B

How much does your camper weigh?
I believe mine to be around 2100 lbs. dry. I read that somewhere about the Arrow 8.5.

Michael

Robert78121
Explorer
Explorer
zulu52 wrote:
Anybody ever been on Padre Island in Texas?

Thanks for the help.
Michael


Yes, and it's an awesome long stretch of mostly desolate beach once you get past the entrance and main areas. Keep in mind though, depending on the time of year, the beach is not exactly what I call pristine since there is not much clean up for most of the year. It's an amazing adventure however.
Washington DC Area (NOVA)

Camper: 2004 Damon Daybreak 3285 WorkHorse 8.1
Toad: 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ 4x4 - BlueOx
Toy: 2012 Ninja 650 - Versa Haul VH-SPORT-RO

Spent three years full time, so I know a little about it.

jefe_4x4
Explorer
Explorer
Yep, the cabinets held on this one. Occasionally I'll find a cabinet door open and much of its contents on the floor, which would be corn chips and beer cozies. I don't carry anything heavy up high and most of the 'mass' up high in the Lance is air. You can feel if you've loaded the goods up too high as the sway increases. Some of the older pop-up steel scissor hardware weighs more than the 'air' up high in my Lance. IMHO, it's an illusion that a hard side in it's unchangeable state looks heavy up high. It was a fun study to see the angle lines above and how close, or not, the tip over angle was. Not even close, but not just because of the intersection of the lines. The other salient point is the rear track of the truck with 15.5 inch wide super singles on 12 inch wide rims with a 4.5 inch backspacing. Take a look at this pic for the wheel track on the rear axle: about 6" narrower that a set of duals.

With the wider track under the major weight of the TC the tip over point angle is extended. Then again, after rolling my CJ-8 a dozen times while rock crawling, you get a feel of how far you can go and I was forcefully reminded 12 times where too far actually is. I've gone through layovers, right and left, complete barrel rolls all the way from tires to top and back to tires; a front endo where your tail comes over your head and you wind up upside down the hard way. The only roll I have not experienced, 1st hand is the rear endo where your front end comes over your head.

'01.5 Dodge 2500 4x4, CTD, Qcab, SB, NV5600, 241HD, 4.10's, Dana 70/TruTrac; Dana 80/ TruTrac, Spintec hub conversion, H.D. susp, 315/75R16's on 7.5" and 10" wide steel wheels, Vulcan big line, Warn M15K winch '98 Lance Lite 165s, 8' 6" X-cab, 200w Solar

c_traveler2
Nomad
Nomad
DWeikert wrote:
kohldad wrote:

If you look at Jefe's photo, assuming the camera is level, you will see he still has a good way to go.


Even this has the CoG very high, IMHO. Unless jefe loaded the camper with very heavy items in the upper cabinets (unlikely), the orange and blue lines should probably intersect below the roof line of the truck cab, showing he's not even close to the tipping point.

But I do hope his cabinet latches all held. ๐Ÿ™‚


jeje4x4 has had his rig off camber further than the above photo, here's a youtube video
Mojave Death V- Notch
2007 F-250 4x4 /6.0 PSD/ext cab/ 2020 Bunduvry

Lance 815/ 85 watts solar panel (sold)
2020 Bunduvry by BundutecUSA

Travelingman2 Photo Website
Truck Camper Trip Reports 3.0
travelingman21000 YouTube Videos
Alex and Julie's Travels Blog

DWeikert
Explorer II
Explorer II
kohldad wrote:

If you look at Jefe's photo, assuming the camera is level, you will see he still has a good way to go.


Even this has the CoG very high, IMHO. Unless jefe loaded the camper with very heavy items in the upper cabinets (unlikely), the orange and blue lines should probably intersect below the roof line of the truck cab, showing he's not even close to the tipping point.

But I do hope his cabinet latches all held. ๐Ÿ™‚
Dan
2008 Chevy D/A 2500HD ECSB
2010 Northstar 8.5 Adventurer

Bubtoofat
Explorer
Explorer
I have a different take on Padre Island than the other posters here. We were there last year and camped about 10 miles down on North Padre. South Padre if for teens, drugs, and partying. North Padre is for fishing and drinking.

I have to say it was the worst camping experience we have had to date. I will NEVER return. Wind, masses of seaweed, oil laden slimy goop covering the truck and camper. I still have sand and salt blowing out of the vents whenever I turn on the blower. But the worst was the massive amount of trash all along the beach. They should call it Trash Island. Most of it was diapers, beer bottles, empty beer cartons and fishing line left by people who just don't care. We picked up enough trash just in our little camping spot to fill 4 large blazing orange trash bags that the beach patrol was supposed to pick up. They never did. They drove by them about 30 times though.

And if you are a non-resident be prepared to pay through the nose for a fishing license....oh and you have to give them your Social Security number too:R.

As far as driving on the beach is concerned, we didn't air down and had no problem. Although I did watch a girl bury her Tundra right next to our camper. She finally dug herself out.
Mike
2005 Chevy 2500HD Crew 4X4 6.0
2011 Northstar Adventurer
Hellwig Bigwig, Ride-Rites, Fastguns, KYB Monomax.


"No matter where I am, I can't help feeling I'm just a day away from where I want to be."
Jackson Browne

Capt_Eddie
Explorer
Explorer
North Padre is our favorite place to go. We tow the jeep and spike camp along to the to Mansfield Pass. It is nothing like south Padre.

zulu52
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for all the tips.
I did the Northern end of my Padre Island trip with a buddy in his jeep. We had to put it in four wheel drive only about 5 times but we needed it then.

Anyone considering the trip has to think about this.
Check the weather!
If a tropical storm moves into the South Gulf of Mexico, the Padre Island tides will get real high.
Maybe so high that there is no place to go. The dunes are too soft for most vehicles.

Michael

Arktikos
Explorer
Explorer
Great thread! That 63 mile beach in Texas sounds fantastic.
Just got back from the first trip in our camper and did a bit of off road too in British Columbia and Yukon territory. Since every campground was closed in B.C. we ended up finding forest service roads to camp out on. Some worked out better than others however. One road that looked promising ended up being a bit of a trap. It was plowed one lane and we kept thinking we would find a wide spot to turn around in, but after one mile, two miles we cut our losses and backed all the way out! All I can say is that I was happy I had 4 wheel drive..

kohldad
Explorer III
Explorer III
Okay, did a little digging on Padre Island.

Padre Island NP wrote:
Depending upon current beach conditions two-wheel drive vehicles may drive safely on the first five miles of south beach, after that four-wheel drive is necessary as there are frequent pockets of soft sand down to approximately the 25- or 30-mile marker and an area of deep, soft sand for a few miles after that. Somewhere around the 35-40 mile marker, however, the beach starts to become solid again. However, even with a four-wheel drive vehicle you cannot reach South Padre Islandfrom here.


More info can be found at the Padre Island NP
2015 Ram 3500 4x4 Crew Cab SRW 6.4 Hemi LB 3.73 (12.4 hand calc avg mpg after 92,000 miles with camper)
2004 Lance 815 (prev: 2004 FW 35'; 1994 TT 30'; Tents)

kohldad
Explorer III
Explorer III
If I remember correctly from my reading, most of Padre Island is fairly hard packed sand. So it would be a TC's dream.

With your truck being a 3/4 ton, I believe you will find you have 8 ply tires, also known as E rated.

As an off roader, it was common to air down my tires to 15psi for traction. When I first asked about air down the truck tires for carrying the tc on the soft beach of NC, I was told down to about 20 pounds. I couldn't believe being over 10,000 pounds the tires would handle it. So I air down in the driveway and sure enough, was confident there wouldn't be a problem, though think 30psi will be the first attempt until I felt the truck struggling (and hope it isn't too late). Just make sure you have a way to air them back up before you hit the pavement.

Another advantage of airing down is it lets the tires absorb more of the shock from road deviations. In regards to deviation, when going over rocks, if you can't completely avoid the rock, catch the rock completely with the tire. The side walls of the tire is the weak link and easy split by a sharp rock edge.

For a typical non-basement camper, draw a line from the inside edge of the tire to the middle of the top of the truck cab. For a basement camper, I would use the center of the cabover for the top point. This is a good rough line you can make go vertical safely without the truck rolling over based on nothing on the roof. The trick is that the closer you get to that tipping point, the slower you need to go. It is usually the rocking momentum that will do you in.

If you look at Jefe's photo, assuming the camera is level, you will see he still has a good way to go.

2015 Ram 3500 4x4 Crew Cab SRW 6.4 Hemi LB 3.73 (12.4 hand calc avg mpg after 92,000 miles with camper)
2004 Lance 815 (prev: 2004 FW 35'; 1994 TT 30'; Tents)

whazoo
Explorer
Explorer
Pictures deleted, sorry, I get carried away. Never been to Padre but I'd sure like too. I'd also listen to what others have to say about it. Good luck!!