Trail Running

[iceman302]

It's all good - set up another thread and I'll share my experience with tuggin, and being tugged - hopefully others can post there too with what's worked for them (or not).

I can share one really bad idea.

I used to wheel with a few buddies in high school. We bet our friend Dustin that he couldn't make it through this particular mud hole. Now, I'd played around the edges enough to know this was some slippery, gooey sludge that would swallow his truck whole. There's nothing like a sucker bet!

He went barreling into this primordial ooze and got sunk exactly half way across, right up to the rocker panels. His Toyota was an '84 with both solid axles solid buried. He climbed out and we rolled on the ground laughing as he tried his best to slog his way out. At his point, we all felt a little guilty for setting him up and offered to help tow him out. Needless to say, our tow strap was inadequate and we didn't have shovels to dig him out. He decided to leave the truck and take his mom's car to work. He told us that he'd give us all a call later in the week when he had time to come back. Big mistake.

The weather went from pouring rain to sunny and hot the afternoon that we left his Toyota there. Apparently, it wasn't a huge priority for him to get back there because it was sometime the next week before we did. I don't know what this mud was made of but it was completely solid. We were able to walk right out to his truck. It looked like just a body laying there on the ground. It took us hours upon hours to break through the crust to the softer stuff and finally dig his truck out. Karma paid us back in a big way.

 

[JP7]

Lol - I've been there before, but Ice - don't feel bad. The result of the run is ultimately with the driver - and his acceptance of the challenge. So many holes are great in July, yet impassible in August due to the 'big boots" churning them into impossibility. Weather deinately plays a part - and can make mild trails impassible sometimes

 

[BIRDMAN]

after we left a truck in the woods for <2 hours and came back to find the windows smashed out and rock dents all over it, i learned never to leave a truck behind.

 

[iceman302]

Lol - I've been there before, but Ice - don't feel bad. The result of the run is ultimately with the driver - and his acceptance of the challenge. So many holes are great in July, yet impassible in August due to the 'big boots" churning them into impossibility. Weather deinately plays a part - and can make mild trails impassible sometimes

Oh, I don't feel bad. Its been over 15 years since that happened. Time heels all wounds LOL. That story has got more legs than a millipede.

 

[crashmc302]

It's all good - set up another thread and I'll share my experience with tuggin, and being tugged - hopefully others can post there too with what's worked for them (or not).

In my old club, I always had to run my Bronco in front of the Blazers because Chev could only dream of going where a Ford could...lol. I once did a 4 hour trail run in Parry Sound without detaching the strap from the Blazer - even though it wasn't broke. Well, it developed a few new body contours in the treed areas and needed new mirrors both sides, but whaddya do - it was a long trail!

HA! So true. Idk what has been done right w Broncos, but my 88 went anywhere w a weathered 302. The first wheelin trip w it, all I had done was a 4 inch lift in my driveway and a CAI and at 16 I didn't care how bad I beat this truck. Jumped it, snow, mud, hills, bounced it off a tree, that Bronco never quit. I haven't had time to wheel my Raptor yet (work has me runnin in circles) but I hope it pleases me as much as that Bronco did. And I did enjoy literally runnin circles around stuck Dodge Rams. I wonder if it wouldn't b too far fetched for Ford to make the Bronce again...

 

[JP7]

HA! So true. Idk what has been done right w Broncos, but my 88 went anywhere w a weathered 302. The first wheelin trip w it, all I had done was a 4 inch lift in my driveway and a CAI and at 16 I didn't care how bad I beat this truck. Jumped it, snow, mud, hills, bounced it off a tree, that Bronco never quit. I haven't had time to wheel my Raptor yet (work has me runnin in circles) but I hope it pleases me as much as that Bronco did. And I did enjoy literally runnin circles around stuck Dodge Rams. I wonder if it wouldn't b too far fetched for Ford to make the Bronce again...

I'm pretty confident you wont be disappointed with your Raptor. Yesterday I went out with NV Guy and with the extra suspension Raptors have, we went everywhere my old Bronco would have with the mild lift. Despite the extra length - with a little momentum this truck can go many places

 

[SoSmoked]

JP I have a question for ya

So u hill descent is reliable in reverse? I've never attempted using it in reverse and the few times I did use it in forward disliked it

Just the sound and smell it creates is enough to keep me from using it lol

 

[Vidiot]

I;ve used the hill descent in reverse. we dont really have too many big hills around here. but it operated and felt just as weird as it did in the forward direction

 

[crashmc302]

I'm pretty confident you wont be disappointed with your Raptor. Yesterday I went out with NV Guy and with the extra suspension Raptors have, we went everywhere my old Bronco would have with the mild lift. Despite the extra length - with a little momentum this truck can go many places

I have no doubts I'll be happy, I just need to find a place to go off roading in east NC. There's sand mine 5 minutes from my house that used to be open to anyone. The terrain is perfect for a Raptor: loose sand, whoops, a couple jumps and if I felt frisky, mud. But we had a verbal agreement w the proprietor that we'd clean up after ourselves, not destroy the woods or digging equipment and keep it on the down low to limit the amount of ppl there. At the time I had my db and my other F150 and would ride a lot there. Sadly, some jack ass lit his truck on fire for insurance money and got the place closed, on top of the 30 other uninvited guests that started showing up. Needless to say, it's now gated, locked, and periodically checked by the local sheriff. A Raptor holyland is now forbidden terrain. I'm pretty upset about it. So I'm stuck w either driving 6 hrs (w a 6.2) or findin a mud hole (not a fan). I miss Cali too damn much. To think, I go to NC and wish I was in Cali to go offroading haha

 

[JP7]

JP I have a question for ya

So u hill descent is reliable in reverse? I've never attempted using it in reverse and the few times I did use it in forward disliked it

Just the sound and smell it creates is enough to keep me from using it lol

Hill descent works in forward and reverse - I don't like it for going down hills, (personal preference - I use the gearing of the truck).

I have used it when attacking a hill that I'm not sure I'll make it on the first run. It takes some getting used to, but if the hill has a couple of turns or obstacles, it does make it easier to negotiate them on the way back down.

Just remember to get it into reverse! (Don't ask how I know...)