Backcountry Vehicles

[Artemus]

These are blurry because my hand is still shaking... Story in an upcoming trip report. The water had already gone down a foot. Truck kaput.

 

[Dan]

is that grand gorge of the muddy?

nevermind - poison springs?

 

[Artemus]

is that grand gorge of the muddy?

No, it is Poison Springs (the tributary of the Dirty Devil) of all things. I am awash on the road itself.

 

[HomerJ]

Dang all of you and your 4x4's. I'm jealous of you all!

I'm with you Zep. Although I've loved my altima, it just doesn't do the dirt roads. My dream truck has always been the Tacoma. I just love the look of them! Someday... hopefully soon!

 

[Dave]

The clearance issue is what concerns me the most about Subarus. That and the opinion that they just don't fall into my classic view of a backpacking/outdoor vehicle.

Pff.


Car camping by ashergrey, on Flickr


Parking Lot by ashergrey, on Flickr


High Clearance 4WD by ashergrey, on Flickr


Crossing West Fork Blacks Fork by ashergrey, on Flickr


AWD by ashergrey, on Flickr


Stuck by ashergrey, on Flickr


Bottleneck by ashergrey, on Flickr


Girl on Car by ashergrey, on Flickr

Sorry for the photo bomb but I see plenty of SUVs cruising the streets that will never receive the punishment my beater wagon gets on the backways. Is a Subaru going to get you up and over giant obstacles? Of course not. But are they far more capable cars that people give them credit for? Without question. Plus I can fold down the rear seat and sleep in the back.

There's a reason why when you go to hike in Utah, odds are every third car at the trailhead is a Subaru.

 

[Aldaron]

Yeah, ashergrey, made me feel like a pansy when I saw his Subaru at the end of the West Fork Blacks Fork road and I had parked my Xterra before the river crossing! In my defense, I didn't even look at the crossing...the book said park before the crossing, so that's what I did!

 

[Zep]

...every third car at the trailhead is a Subaru.

When I lived in Vermont, the percentage of people who drove Subarus was probably highter than that, maybe 50% (I'm exaggerating but they did seem to be THE vehicle in that neck of the woods). People loved them for the long winters, hilly roads, and minimal snow removal.

Maybe it's the fact that I grew up partially learning to drive on an old white station wagon that we called the "white beast", or maybe it's just vanity...

It is nice to see the pictures of where you've taken the Subaru. When I think of places I've been or places I've wanted to go, clearance most often seems to be the limiting factor. I think that is the main reason I haven't seriously considered one.

...a Forest Service Road that I had no business being on

I've been in this situation far too many times in the past. It's always been nice when someone in a jeep or truck comes by to help us out. It would be nice to have a vehicle that might be able to return the favor.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and photos.

Zep

 

[DAA]

There's a reason why when you go to hike in Utah, odds are every third car at the trailhead is a Subaru.

Yeah... And the reason is, those people are HIKERS. Not people who drive dirt roads very often or very far .

In all seriousness, I owned a Subaru for years and it was one of the best cars I ever owned. Good on gas, fairly reliable, very easy to work on when it did break, GREAT on snowy roads etc. And surprisingly capable offroad - it was nothing short of amazing what it would pull itself through with the fronts chained up. And I fed it a very steady diet of offroad the whole time I owned it. Took it more places, more often, than most Subaru owners would believe a Subaru capable of. Stuff that makes the Blacks Fork TH look like a ride on the back of a transport truck. That said, a steady diet of dirt also made for a steady diet of new CV joints/half shafts, ball joints, hubs, clutches and tires. I had to replace each of those components multiple times while I owned the car. The CV joints especially, using it offroad it just ate those things up, I think the car spent more time clicking-clacking it's way around corners than not while I owned it. Broke upper ball joints twice, before I started replacing them regularly just to avoid having them break at a bad time. It spun hubs several times too - an ugly sound but a relatively cheap and easy fix. And lacking a true low range or low gearing, the clutch couldn't help but get worn out quickly with offroad use. I changed it often enough that I got to where I could do it by myself in under 4 hours - including pulling the engine out and putting it back in. I held none of this against the car, I was using it beyond it's design and accepted the consequences.

But I think the biggest drawback for offroad travel to a Subaru or anything else like that is the small P rated tires. The small size makes for some rough riding on any kind of dirt road, which is hard on many other components. But the P rating means weak sauce and lots of flats, shredded sidewalls and just generally ruined tires. I used to carry two spares for my Subaru and ended up using both at once several times. Even "good" graded dirt like the Pony Express trail or the North Slope road could be bad ju-ju on those little P rated buggers. Especially right after the road had been grated, exposing fresh sharp stones. But, on the bright side, a couple of times I had to change tires on that car I didn't even bother with a jack, I just lifted the back corner up while a friend pulled the old tire off and put the spare on .

At any rate... I'm actually a Subaru fan, great little cars. But, my opinion, based on my experience, if more than just an occasional mild dirt road is on the menu, I'd look for something a bit more robust.

- DAA

 

[Deadeye008]

I drive a Grand Cherokee with the V6. Gets decent gas mileage and has gotten me everywhere I have wanted to go.

 

[DAA]

View attachment 6466

View attachment 6467

YIKES!! That had to, well, that had to SUCK, for one thing. And it had to scare the CRAP out of you, for another!

Every time I drive PS and look at the plentiful evidence of floods, I can't help commenting on how much it would bite to get caught in a flood there.

Wow... Sorry for the headache you incurred, glad you are okay, looking forward to hearing more about it.

- DAA

 

[gnwatts]

My beloved Bronco, had to sell due to the recession: 6 banger, 3 speed, all original, topped out at 55mph. In low, it was a monster. Shown at the Cactus Park trailhead in Dominguez Canyon, and at home right after I bought it:

 

[Dave]

I won't quote the entire DAA post, but he makes great points. Thankfully, newer-age Subarus do have better stock tires. With Outback suspension my little old wagon can fit 27-inch tires. I plan to put larger all-terrains on there in the future.

Older Subarus did come with low-range transmissions and there's a whole community of people who turn them into offroad machines. Unfortunately, Subaru hasn't really targeted that crowd for a couple decades and technology has left them behind.

Anyone planning on doing serious offroading ought not do it in a street car. It will wear and tear faster, it will run into obstacles it can't handle. But for $1500, the wagon has taken me to about 85-90% of the places I'd have otherwise gone in a more capable 4x4.

 

[HomerJ]

My beloved Bronco, had to sell due to the recession: 6 banger, 3 speed, all original, topped out at 55mph. In low, it was a monster. Shown at the Cactus Park trailhead in Dominguez Canyon, and at home right after I bought it:

That's one sweet bronco! Sucks you had to sell it.

 

[xjblue]

Nice photos of the Subaru in action asher.

Yikes on that Poison Springs situation, worst fears come true.

My remote trail head conveyance of choice is a mildly built Jeep Cherokee.


Jeep Highlife by xjblue, on Flickr

While my Jeep has been down for engine rebuild I've enjoyed the passenger seat in Randy's Wrangler Rubicon many times, my brother's 09 OME lifted Tacoma, and a friends OME lifted WJ Grand Cherokee. Ditto they are great choices, I can vouch for those. My Honda civic has scraped bottom and plowed sand more than once reaching the random easiest to reach trail head, parking spot, or camp site, in usually the fairest weather, but very uncomfortable feelings to do even that much in it.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

This is the Jeep that got it all started for me...I actually finally got rid of it last year.

The beginning....


The Badlands Offroad Park, 2003 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Moderate


Klondike Bluffs, 2003 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Muddy - Icy


The Cliffs Insane Terrain, 2005 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Extreme...


21 Road, 2006 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


21 Road, 2006 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


21 Road, 2006 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

 

[Artemus]

My beloved Bronco, had to sell due to the recession....

Sweet truck, Greg ! I love classics - especially functional ones. Sorry you had to part with it.

 

[Artemus]

This is the Jeep that got it all started for me...

Holy smokes Randy!! I think this is officially off route.... Maybe your moniker should be InsanityXJ

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I think this is officially off route....

I'm not into that kind of rock crawling anymore...I'd rather be hiking these days. But just so everyone is clear, I was on an official route here....not driving somewhere that vehicles were not allowed....I would never do that. This is an extreme Jeep trail with big obstacles like this.

 

[Artemus]

Aw Randy, I was just joking... I am impressed and would really like to know how you got into the situation, how you got out of the situation and what the route name is as well. A trip report perhaps? I have rock crawled quite a lot - up to 3+ but that picture shows you off the charts. The scale only goes up to 4+ doesn't it? Wild. I still off road a good amount but now mainly to get to a desired canyon or climb or to a great camp spot. Again, no offense or accusations intended - just a good natured tease.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Aw Randy, I was just joking... I am impressed and would really like to know how you got into the situation, how you got out of the situation and what the route name is as well. A trip report perhaps? I have rock crawled quite a lot - up to 3+ but that picture shows you off the charts. The scale only goes up to 4+ doesn't it? Wild. I still off road a good amount but now mainly to get to a desired canyon or climb or to a great camp spot. Again, no offense or accusations intended - just a good natured tease.

I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression....that's all

I purposely drove into that situation...though I didn't think my back end was going to lift up like that. When it did lift up, I though for sure I was going all the way over, but luckily the Jeep kind of balanced there and stopped. To get out, I slowly continued to drive forward and hoped I didn't go over....I was actually able to drive out of it.

This trail is known as 21 Road aka Hunter Canyon and is just outside of Grand Junction in the Book Cliffs.

Here's my old blog report from the trip, but be warned....this was back in 2006 before I really started writing trip reports, I mostly just posted photos back then, plus I was using a Sony 3MP point & shoot camera at the time: http://www.myxj.net/blog/grand-junction-21-road/