I’ve been requested to write an article on off-road driving with our Tundra’s so I’ll put a couple thoughts on paper and just say that one can learn a lot by reading but in order to appreciate the “written word” one has to actually physically experience the many thrills of the off-road. I’ll only touch on a few topics, mainly for beginning off-road drivers, as this could go on for more pages than one really wants to read at one sitting. Most of us have experience driving on trails, getting stuck in mud and snow, and negotiating rutted trails with a few obstacles that could puncture our oil pan or gas tank if we tried to drive over them as opposed to around them. You’ve learned how to drive off-road through experience and maybe from tips and tricks you’ve gleaned from your friends or off-road magazines.
Think you’re ready to tackle the Golden Spike in Moab, Utah? Damn right you are if your Tundra is set up right. What’s right? That’s the $64,000 question. You have to take a couple of things into consideration with the Tundra, such as your wheelbase, it’s a little long so you need more ground clearance than say a Bronco. Our standard 3:90 gears are a little high for crawling, climbing or serious mudding. Our undercarriage has a few things sticking down, so you have to eliminate anything hanging down that can impede your travels and get snagged, banged-up, scrapped or ground off by the sheer number of slow moving rocks passing beneath your vehicle. BUT, when you make certain adjustments like lower gears ie: 4:56 or 4:88’s to lower your crawl ratio, the more heavy duty your drive train must be to compensate for the added torque on the components. It's all part of a nasty mechanical chain, so we are always trying to anticipate the weakest link for the activity we’re engaging in. What’s right for me is the following:
1. Increase ground clearance by adding true 33-inch tires at a minimum.
2. Selectable lockers front and rear. (ARB)
3. 4:56 gears, this gives me a 33:1 crawl ratio. The optimum is considered to be 50:1.
4. Armor – Sliders are a must to minimize body damage. A good after market front and rear bumper is also highly recommended. Make sure the bumpers improve your stock bumpers approach and departure angle, otherwise you “really” haven’t improved your off-road capabilities IMO. One important thing to remember is the after market bumpers are normally welded/bolted onto the frame, so any “head-to-head” matches with immovable objects results in one hell of a jar to all vehicle occupants, which greatly increases your chances of getting injured. Don’t even think about suing the bumper people for your decision to “build a go-anywhere” vehicle. Either take your lumps and move on in life or stick to Forest Service Roads with a slightly modified Tundra.
5. Skid Plates are a must to prevent a lot of dings and undercarriage damage.
6. Lug tires having at least a 3-ply sidewall rating.
7. A winch in the class of 6,000#s and up. Remember, a big winch is a heavy winch and weight is one of our enemies.
8. Recessed rear differential drain plug.
I don’t want anyone to think they need lockers to crawl around obstacles or traverse really difficult terrain as very polished off-road drivers can do wonders with LSDs but lockers do make everything sooo much easier to accomplish and IMO with less wear and tear on the vehicle’s components. I also don't want anyone to think they can do any really serious/heavy/major climbing or crawling without front and rear lockers! So it all comes down to degree of difficulty as to whether or not you really have a need for lockers.
Are you now ready to climb over rocks taller than most grade school kids, straddle ravines, work your way up rocky steps and ledges and negotiate narrow rocky spines up a 60+degree slope/hill/mountain? Probably not, but you have to start sometime right? So don’t let yourself be intimidated by all the BS off-road tales. Most only happened once, if at all, and if it did occur it was probably either a fluke or someone used real bad judgment. Take the “Lion’s Back” at Moab. One guy messed up several years ago and rolled down the damn thing and got all kind of news print and ultimately a reputation as a “dangerous” climb. It’s a walk in the park with a stock Tundra, so again, listen and learn but separate the BS from reality. If your Tundra is setup properly you can do most anything using good common sense, a sense of adventure and possessing a little luck. The Tundra has a long hood and it’s hard to judge “exact” tire placement so either a spotter or luck is very helpful on occasion. When on a difficult rated trail and using a spotter, make sure you react to the spotter's directions immediately, as the spotter is directing your wheels. If you don't react to his directions in a very timely manner this is what could happen.
http://www.stu-offroad.com/images/vid/tracyroll.mpg Without a little luck, I always experience less success on the trails. Just remember two ole truism, “Luck beats skill every damn time” and Kiss, “Keep it simple Stupid”. I’ll give you a little insight on how to get through a good day of wheeling with “minimal damage”. Expect a little “excitement” and prepare for it as “ole Man Murphy” is always around such places as Moab, the Rubicon and your friendly back roads.
Here’s the equipment you’ll probably need as a minimum. After each trip make a list of what you should have brought to make things easier and more enjoyable and add them to the list you currently possess.
Hi-Lift Jack (preferably 60” as opposed to the standard 48” model)
Bottle Jack
Several wood blocks and timbers (2-8"X8"X8", 2-2"X4"X10", 2-4"X4"X8" and maybe a couple of 6-foot 4X4’s) These will come in handy when using the bottle jack or when you have to stack rocks to get up a ledge and there are no "small" rocks to be found. I'm sure you'll find other uses for the wood blocks also.
Power Tank with tire accessories including a good tire pressure gauge, valve cores and a valve core remover.
Couple of 16-foot lengths of Chain & 50 to 100 feet of nylon rope and/or winch with a couple of snatch blocks and shackles.
Sufficient tools for trail repairs.
At least one half axle if you’re climbing rocks.
Here’s a typical wheeling day.
1. Arrive at the trailhead and air down. I recommend the following for 33” MT tires on 16” rims:
20-25#s for typical Forest Trails. (comfort)
14 to16#s front – 12#s rear for rock climbing. You can go 12#s all around if you want to but you’ll probably increase your opportunities to blow beads coming off rock shelves in the process. 15#s is a lot studier in these conditions.
10/12#s all around for sand/beach conditions. You can go 6#s to 8#s if you’re basically driving straight ahead and cornering at very low speeds.
Just remember – you’ll lose a little ground clearance in an aired down condition and you can’t carry much of a load but your traction will be greatly enhanced.
2. Adjust your outside mirrors so you can see your rear tires or at least the bottom of your rear quarter panels. Remember to tuck them in when you get into tight off-camber situations and in heavy brush.
3. Clear your GPS and start a new track so you can find your way back to the trailhead.
4. Head on out into the unknown. A couple of tips for the beginner. A. Keep your thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel. You’ll probably forget this little point until you learn your lesson the hard way but no worries mate, 99% of you will not break a thumb or your wrist in the lesson, although it might feel like you did. B. Go slow and enjoy the scenery, nature and the other joys on the trail. Your vehicle will also thank you. C. Momentum is always your vehicle’s friend as it causes less strain on the driveline components as opposed to stopping and starting on hills, rock gardens etc. and it is normally very helpful in climbing successive rock ledges and other climbing obstacles. D. While navigating big rock gardens, crevices or anything else you have to crawl over use both feet. One foot on the gas pedal and one foot on the brake. It will take a little practice, as when a person gets a little “excited” they have a tendency to press on both pedals at the same time, which usually causes a “hard landing”. Once you get use to it, you’ll be able to crawl with an automatic transmission just as smoothly as a seasoned crawler with a manual 5 speed. While crawling and climbing I highly recommend using 4L and as soon as you’re able, switch back into 2-wheel drive to continue to the next obstacle, as your CV joints, universals etc. will last a lot longer. (I wish you the best trying to disengage out of 4-wheel drive after you’ve completed your objective and still on rock or a hard surface.)
5. Always look down the trail to the second, third or even forth obstacle in order to determine the proper line to take. With experience this gets easier but to begin with, following the leader works best. If the leader experiences problems, it probably means he misjudged the obstacle and its best you take a different line. You can learn a lot by watching other driver’s “mistakes”. Wherever possible, always keep your vehicle as level as possible and always avoid the temptation to “ride the rim” (meaning going completely around the very top of the hill in an off-camber attitude.). Of course this isn’t always possible and in some off-camber situations “baby-wipes” might be called for. When traversing across a fairly steep side-hill, it’s always better to be in regular 4-wheel drive as opposed to being locked. If locked, you’ll probably experience a little or maybe a lot of slippage to the downhill side.
6. When you come to a sizable rock put a front wheel on it as opposed to trying to straddle it as if you misjudge the clearance, you will bugger up something underneath or even possibly get yourself high centered. Try to put your wheel squarely on the rock. Go slow and ease up onto the rock and come down gently as possible onto your sliders and proceed slowly until your rear tire climbs the rock and then comes off the rock. (A good departure angle here is necessary not to bugger up your rear bumper/quarter panels.) It’s when the trail has several “large” rocks in very close proximity that things get interesting. You’re going to get plenty of air time when you climb a couple of boulders and one tire starts to come down while the other continues in an upward direction. Direction of travel really doesn’t matter in these cases, as you can be climbing or going down a rather steep boulder infested hill or traveling on a relatively level path for that matter and when you feel a tire lift off, you had better slow to a crawl (measured in inches) until you feel your high tire coming down or your low wheel starting back up. I’ve never “flopped” on my side yet so I can’t tell you how the steering “feels like” just before that critical moment but you can get a lot of air before that occurs. I’ve had over 2-feet but under 3-foot of air under the left rear tire with no problems. You will encounter some instances where you just know it isn't a good idea to proceed and drop a tire in a deep hole while the other tire is going up a rock and in those instances you'll definitely want to stack a few rocks in that deep hole to give yourself that extra margin of safety.
7. When you come to a climb, take it head-on if you’ve got the proper approach angle, otherwise you’ll have to take it at a slight angle to clear your bumper and then straighten out while making the climb. While in a steep climb with the Tundra, you can’t see a damn thing over the hood except “Sky”, so make sure you look the climb over real good prior to your start-up. If it isn’t a well-known climb then walk it first to know what’s on the top. Several climbs have a sharp turn to them at the very top and if you continue a couple of truck lengths past the crest of the hill you could end up in a roll-over situation or worse, so always walk a very steep unknown hill. The same is true for a “watery mud-hole” – several people every year drop their engines into a deep watery mud-hole because they were on an unfamiliar trail and were too lazy to get out and check the depth of the “brown water”. When you come down off that hill also take a straight line if possible. Use engine compression via lower gears to assist your brakes in keeping your speed under control when traveling downhill. If you ever have to back down a hill, back straight down if at all possible. (Here's what can happen if you backdown at a poor angle even on a mild hill.)
http://www.wattora.com/rob_work/GeneFlop
8. When crossing crevices or logs do so at an angle if possible, bringing one wheel at a time across the obstacle.
9. If you come to an area that is really tough and you’ll need a lot of momentum (speed) to get you through, one should consider using the winch as opposed to “attacking” that area and getting partially into it and then grenade your CV joints or something worse! Just ease into the situation picking a good line and when the Tundra has met it's match just start winching. If you don't have a winch, then either take your chances with speed or else just turn around and live for another day.
Enjoy yourself and the out of doors, as that’s what it’s all about. If you haven’t already learned, I’d suggest you learn to laugh at yourself because when you're crawling around rocks or running mud holes, you'll get yourself in some of the damnest situations that you'll just have to learn to laugh with the rest of the wheelers, which will make every wheeling day a terrific day. But when you're hopelessly stuck and working your *** off to get out just contemplate on a couple of ole time “Ranger” sayings “Pain is only weakness leaving the body” and “Every day is a good day to die” and you just might come to understand how those sayings came about.
