mortonm
Expedition Leader
My brother and I went a little weekend adventure to check out some of the dirt roads near our cottage in Eastern Ontario last weekend.
We ran the Lingham lake hydro line, then proceeded to explore some dirt tracks we found in our Backroads Map-book for Eastern Ontario.
Our trip was completed in my 2001 Nissan Xterra. I have only had it for about 7 months and other than some winter snow driving and a bit of mud sloshing in the spring this was my first "real" shakedown since I had bought it.
Few modifications, mostly PM including timing belt (and all other belts) some AC work as well as replacing the tires.
I am currently running 235 85R16 BFG AT tires. They fit with almost no rub (a bit of trimming on the front mud flap). this is just about the perfect size tire for this truck. I have no lift (and an almost 12 year old suspension.) On the hydro line we reached max flex (not much, although the rear sway bar has been removed) and there was no rubbing.
My intention for this vehicle is not a rock crawler of any kind. I like to camp and mountain bike and explore, and this vehicle is perfect for that. My wife has a 2006 corolla which is perfect for us in all other on road aspects of life. This is my daily driver for work, and as such wont see too much more in terms of rock crawling performance modifications, as I believe it fulfills as my current needs off pavement.
Here are a few pictures from the first day, the hydro line, which was also by far the toughest stretch we encountered.
We ended the day down a track that was supposed to take us to our campsite for the night, however it was closing in on us quickly and we were losing light. The track looked easy enough on the map but the first few km suggested otherwise. Our cottage ( beds bbq and beer) was only 30 minutes away and as the light was fading and bugs swarming we decided to bail on finding the campsite.
We ran the Lingham lake hydro line, then proceeded to explore some dirt tracks we found in our Backroads Map-book for Eastern Ontario.
Our trip was completed in my 2001 Nissan Xterra. I have only had it for about 7 months and other than some winter snow driving and a bit of mud sloshing in the spring this was my first "real" shakedown since I had bought it.
Few modifications, mostly PM including timing belt (and all other belts) some AC work as well as replacing the tires.
I am currently running 235 85R16 BFG AT tires. They fit with almost no rub (a bit of trimming on the front mud flap). this is just about the perfect size tire for this truck. I have no lift (and an almost 12 year old suspension.) On the hydro line we reached max flex (not much, although the rear sway bar has been removed) and there was no rubbing.
My intention for this vehicle is not a rock crawler of any kind. I like to camp and mountain bike and explore, and this vehicle is perfect for that. My wife has a 2006 corolla which is perfect for us in all other on road aspects of life. This is my daily driver for work, and as such wont see too much more in terms of rock crawling performance modifications, as I believe it fulfills as my current needs off pavement.
Here are a few pictures from the first day, the hydro line, which was also by far the toughest stretch we encountered.
We ended the day down a track that was supposed to take us to our campsite for the night, however it was closing in on us quickly and we were losing light. The track looked easy enough on the map but the first few km suggested otherwise. Our cottage ( beds bbq and beer) was only 30 minutes away and as the light was fading and bugs swarming we decided to bail on finding the campsite.
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