Actually, many of the "tundra 110's" in Iceland and elsewhere do not upgrade axles with those big-*** tires. The tires are to spread load/weight and "float". The axles don't encounter the tremendous torque forces that are "forced" upon other axles as snow and ice don't lend themselves to that kind of driving style. Take one of those trucks and drive/crawl it over rock and dirt for a while and you'd snap an axle in no time! They are "built" but in a different way. The object is to get as much tire on as possible - articulation and HD axles be damned!
ICELANDIC 110s?
- Thread starter IPSC_GUY
- Start date
Actually, many of the "tundra 110's" in Iceland and elsewhere do not upgrade axles with those big-*** tires. The tires are to spread load/weight and "float". The axles don't encounter the tremendous torque forces that are "forced" upon other axles as snow and ice don't lend themselves to that kind of driving style. Take one of those trucks and drive/crawl it over rock and dirt for a while and you'd snap an axle in no time! They are "built" but in a different way. The object is to get as much tire on as possible - articulation and HD axles be damned!
RETROFIT
Observer
Sorry I should have mentioned the particular type of snow encountered in Iceland (I'm no expert but I have been there a few times). But I would hold the same chain of thoughts if I was to drive a rig in the Arctic (Been there wayyyyy to many times). But I would agree that in some snow situation bigger isn't always better.
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
HAHAHA I was just gonna Say "MAtt Tracks" (if you're not familliar with them here they are: http://www.mattracks.com/ Oh and HIJACK, check out the "power Board"!!!!!!!! How cool is that?!?!?!?!?!?!) however these trucks that the great northerners build are no joke, they're well engineered most of the time and they've been doing it for a long time so they're pretty much the experts in that realm. Seems to me they mostly do Toyotas, but it seems like ANY truck found in ICeland has been treated to the big floater tire's eh.
There are also a bunch of guys in Canada who use old Gamma Goat suspensions and convert Jeep's and Cruisers for extreme snow wheeling with, you guess'd it!!! Great big wide tires!!!!!! It's all about float in the deep untracked snow. Manual tranny's and 400+ CI V8's help keep chugging and make the trucks realy reliable.
Cheers
Dave
Trying to reduce ground pressure so they can stay on top of the snow. Yes, the stresses must be huge.
Personally, I think this is a more practical solution.
1/4 PSI of ground pressure with 1 rider. I think they run those tires in the single digit PSI, actual ground pressure would be even higher. Snowmobile probably costs about as much as the mods needed to put those tires on the rig. <shrug>
so how do you carry 4 guys and scientific gear and food and such for a week on a snowmobile?
yes I know you can pull sleds but the bottom line is that you will not travel in the comfort that the 110's of iceland travel in.
4x4s have been a part of the culture of iceland for a long time and people onlt seem to see and hear about the huge tired rigs designed for travel over the glaciers. To say that they dont know what they are doing there is just absolute crap. There are all kinds of 4x4 build styles in iceland and they are some of the most hard core 4x4 enthusiasts on the planet.
for all those that think iceland is just all about driving over glaciers 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EetUh57PV_I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EetUh57PV_I
CharlieV
Adventurer
I was in Iceland in May with OEX for a week and can say from experience that when the snow is 1500 feet thick you need more than momentum. Larger isn't better when you have terra firma underneath on which to bite, but is when there's just more snow. Momentum is great for a short crossing but not for several miles. The bigger/wider the tire, the more float. We were aired down to 2-3 psi during the trickiest of glacier crossings and you'd be amazed what letting 2 psi out will do when you were only at 4 to begin with.
The 110s we were driving were all on 38"s, our guides'was on 44"s. He snapped a front half shaft just a few minutes before we navigated through a six hour whiteout. Being the driver of the only other 110 with locked axles I had the opportunity to lead the group (via GPS and instruction from my intrepid instructor Garret :costumed-smiley-007) for the whole crossing. It was a great experience that I will always remember. Regarding our guides 44"s (running stock 26? spline LR axles)he could definitely go places (through less dense snow) than we could on the 38"s. Unfortunately, the tires are really expensive there and even in the hands of a professional mountain guide, can cause broken components, especially when said mountain guide jinxs himself the day before by bragging about never breaking axles!
I do have to agree it's an artform and it does require an exceptional amount of feel, something most of today's drivers seem not to have learned. It was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see a raw, rugged, beautiful country. I'm on the hotel's business center computer and am not going to open the youtube link, but I hope it's subject is the Icelandic ladies.
Sk'al-Charlie Venezia
overlander
Expedition Leader
Here's a good link I found about the kind of modifications they make to fit the big tires: http://www.4x4offroads.com/land-rover-defender-1.html
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
With 4 machines.
The Inuit who live up in the arctic full time use snowmobiles, not 4x4's.
When in Rome...Interesting old link:
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-3-189.pdf
It really depends on what you're trying to do. I find snowmobiles more fun to drive than trucks. If you must travel by land, they make more sense to me. If you're actually trying to get somewhere far, you take an airplane.
Truck based travel on snow seems me always starts with the question: "Can we drive a truck there?"
CharlieV
Adventurer
Not all of them, but certainly a disproportionate amount by normal standards.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
That's cool. That was all I was trying to convey.
I was told that when the Vikings were plundering England and Ireland (in order to populate Iceland) that they specifically took only the prettiest women... Makes sense if you Joe Viking, kicking in a farm house door intent on steeling women, ya take the pretty ones. As such Icelandic women are from what I understand DROP DEAD GORGEOUS ! ! !
Ok back to making 110s travel over the Icelandic country side.
Here is a clip from Fifth Gear on the 110. Kind of simplistic but fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LsSXXxczqE
AHHHHH HA ! ! ! That is what I was curious about, the how of it. THANKS ! ! !
IPSC_GUY
SIERRA II ALPHA
Last edited:
As stated before...........Icelandic women vs. British women.....(I venture no opinion on this topic) but these guys do.........or maybe its the beer talking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6XAETjdjQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6XAETjdjQU