So how many of you actually take your pups off road?

I'm new to the forum today.
I'm not new to off roading, but I bought a '93 Coleman/Fleetwood Pioneer yesterday, that I want to take off road with me.
I would like to put 235/75R15s on it on my factory ZJ wheels.
I know I will need to lift it(a lot), so I'm going to check this section out and see what I can learn!!

I have a '93 V8 Jeep ZJ with a 4.5" lift and 32s that is my TV, so I'm really low on the back of the camper when hooked up.

My family has 55 acres of land nearby that I explore and camp in the Jeep. I want to take my pup and go there on the weekends, to get away!

 

or when you pull into a non paved CS

 

We take our lifted Aliner offroad. Which might be why we flattened the leaf springs - twice.

 

Nice to have you here with us Maine J!! I'll guess that you know, you need to have your camper level or slightly high on the front, when attached to your tow machine, correct?

 

If anyone plans to leave paved roads you need a locking differential. A vehicle 2WD vehicle with a true locking diff. will go most any place a 4WD none true locking diff. I drive our Rubicon in 4WD and the rear axle locked and the front open because if the front diff is locked it does not want to turn. The low range talked about here is a must. W/O it you ground speed is enough to pull all the staples out of your cabinets and all the tech screws strip out. Thru bolt everything you can.

 

The only places we camp are off roads mostly dirt fire service roads, some better shape than others. I just went 2 weeks ago and almost got myself into some trouble. If the wife was there I would have never heard the end of it. I have yet to straighten the corner of the back bumper on my Utah from the last trip.....

 

We only camp off road, mostly forest service roads, some in better shape than others. Otherwise how else do you get this view?

 

IMO you absolutely do not need a locking diff when leaving paved roads. Wife and I have explored back roads in CA, NV, UT, AZ and OR , some a bit on the gnarly side, in our 88 Cherokee, then a 92 and finally a 97. All open diffs and no lockers. No traction control.

Our 2008 4x4 Jeep Liberty is open diff BUT it has traction control, and it locks up a spinning wheel so power is sent to the other wheel at the same end of the car. It works brilliantly !! I did not appreciate this feature until we started driving it in the back country.

We drive to trailheads and campsites (with trailer these days) and rock art sites and so forth. We do not go rock crawling.

Ordinary unpaved gravelled dirt roads are ok in 2WD if its dry or not too sandy. But I much prefer my Jeep (on one very sandy-deep patch I was accidentally in 2WD - and we still got thru (though not with the camper). I pretty much refuse to drive thru mud if at all possible, because getting unstuck to be so very unpleasant.

 

While hunting down a campsite off-road in Utah we bend both ends of the Aliner's rear bumper as we crossed a small drainage. Which is also why its good not to mount anything on the rear bumper, lest it also get ripped off..

 

Anthony, that is a locker. The earliest versions came out in the 90's Firebirds with the Corvette engines and the six speed transmissions. The diff was open until the computer sensed a percentage of difference of rear wheel speed at that point in time it started locking up the clutches in the diff. The other part of the traction control sensed a difference between rear wheel speed and front wheel speed. When this happened the computer started taking timing out of the engine killing HP. If you will reread that he had it stuck and almost did not get out. If you ever drive something with an ARB or an E-locker you will never go back. They are the best of both worlds. I always drive in FWD when off pavement. If it looks nasty I lock up the rear. Very seldom do I lock up the front because it does not want to turn. On a shelf road that can be dangerous. I have driven on roads in the Manti La Sal Forrest east of Moab not towing anything and was glad to have lockers and the front diff locked in at times. Spinning tires, slinging rocks and making it is one thing. Driving over the rough stuff w/o tearing up the road and treading lightly is a different thing all together. If you ever drive something with a 6 to one low range transfer case you will want one of those also. Yes everything you say can be done as a matter of fact I did all that kind of stuff back in the early 90's. A low geared transfer case will save the wear and tear on your PUP. In low-low I can get out and walk beside my rig with the engine idling. Low-Low is in the 70 to one ratio.

 

not a mechanical locker - it only brakes the wheel using the ABS system.

 

four wheel drive off road - I too tend to use it when not needed to improve control and reduce tire wear - and it reduces road wear