2WD Overland Thread
- Thread starter RocKrawler
- Start date
In different segments I've been from Salina Oklahoma to hwy 21 in Arkansas. I did both the blue and green routes that intersect 412 in Oklahoma.
rho
Lost again
Getting ready to do some more stuff to the partners truck... I'm opting to swap out the other LCA and while I have that apart also replace the spindles with some RC or CSA lift spindles to bump the front up a little bit more. I'm still not sure what to do with the rear, but I'm thinking about just rebuilding the spring pack, adding two leafs to each one and ditching the overload leafs, then adding some longer shackles for the rear (which will lower it, but depending on what the height looks like from the leafs, I think i'll get where I want) to try to get some more down travel from the rear and to soften up the ride and increase articulation.
The truck doesn't really ever get used as a truck to haul or tow but does see a lot of time on terrible backcountry roads so getting the ride quality better with more ground clearance is the main goal. I'm still talking with my partner about what to do for the rear as it had a hard bed cover and one of our goals is to make it so we can sleep in the back... We have a bedslide in it so I think doing elevated platform, keeping the bed slide and putting a soft-topper its starting to seem like a workable plan.
The front two tires are getting really worn and are having trouble keeping air pressure so I'm going to do tires on it soon (and an alignment). I'm not sure what tire I want to go with or what size but the truck has stock 16" rims and P-rated 255/somethings and I think a C or D rated 32" or 265/75/16 would be about right for what we use this truck for and a tiny bit more clearance. I run E's on my JKU and it rides fine, so Im not concerned there. Just... lots of choices. LOL
Question for y'all in 2WD land, what tires have you liked and work well for dirt and fire road duty?
The truck doesn't really ever get used as a truck to haul or tow but does see a lot of time on terrible backcountry roads so getting the ride quality better with more ground clearance is the main goal. I'm still talking with my partner about what to do for the rear as it had a hard bed cover and one of our goals is to make it so we can sleep in the back... We have a bedslide in it so I think doing elevated platform, keeping the bed slide and putting a soft-topper its starting to seem like a workable plan.
The front two tires are getting really worn and are having trouble keeping air pressure so I'm going to do tires on it soon (and an alignment). I'm not sure what tire I want to go with or what size but the truck has stock 16" rims and P-rated 255/somethings and I think a C or D rated 32" or 265/75/16 would be about right for what we use this truck for and a tiny bit more clearance. I run E's on my JKU and it rides fine, so Im not concerned there. Just... lots of choices. LOL
Question for y'all in 2WD land, what tires have you liked and work well for dirt and fire road duty?
Recently went back DOWN the same hill with my wife. She said "uh, I don't think you should be driving your truck down this." I told her it had no problem coming UP it in the snow months before!
A while back we were ripping around some back roads and bonked a large pothole pretty hard. Knocked my original 160k mile hub loose which gradually got louder and louder before I finally replaced it along with the Power Stop Z36 front brake kit (highly recommended.)
What did you end up putting on the truck?
I'm looking for some 18's we can use on the Cayenne for an upcoming Colorado adventure. It can fit 265/65R18 and I've run the same size on my GMT800 in the past. So I could swap a set of K02s between vehicles if I wanted to. We have a lot of things laying around that can be used on either vehicle and I like having those options.
rruff
Explorer
I did fine for many years in a 2WD Toyota truck. I liked to so well I almost went with a 2WD Frontier for my new rig, since they are so cheap. 5spd manual, 4cyl. Was planning on a mild lift, bigger tires and a regear. 4WD is a luxury nearly all the time. It extends where you can go slightly, but 2WD is fine for getting away from the crowds.
rho
Lost again
Hey! We ended up putting some 285/75r16 Falken AT3W's on it about 3mo ago and they've been awesome so far! We had the truck out on its first dirt adventure this weekend and it did fantastic. Amazing what a V8, lower gears and a locker can do, heh. We ran into some issues with the front end unloading and topping out its travel somewhat violently so thats next to tweak, it really did suprisingly well on some narrow, steep and washed out fire roads.
Downside is that now my partner wants a new front bumper for the beastie as it was scraping a bit because of the awful approach angle on the stock one... Oi. Never ends!
Partner and kiddo!
rho
Lost again
Yeah, it looks a lot better than the Chevy one. I've thought about maybe doing a tube-thing with a skid under the factory metal bumper and getting rid of the plastic and re-locating the fog lights, but who knows. Approach angle on the front tires is our biggest problem right now to solve.
rho
Lost again
I'd bet there just isn't enough of a market for it when a lot of the go-fast desert people just rip it off and do a super simple tube bumper. Which honestly might be the best solution here as well, but who knows. Gotta look at options, of which there are few....
dirtnsmores
Member
I just read through everything here. What a great thread. I'm always trying to change my mind back and forth if I want to trade it in for a four-wheel drive or not. But right now my 2wd Tacoma does pretty darn good. Traction boards have got me out of deep sand. Definitely invest in them. And a good air compressor.
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
I have zero second thoughts about sticking with my 2WD 2019 Ford Transit. We bought for longer-term travel, and I'm glad we bought it when we did. So many people were clamoring for the new AWD Transit, or getting their 2WD Transits converted to 4WD. Not us. I'll continue to refine & equip our 2WD for travel/sleeping, and it'll serve double-duty as a BOV (yes, I'm a "prepper type"). The honest truth is that we won't need 4WD 95-99% of the time (I have owned a LOT of Jeeps in the past, so it's not like I haven't driven 4WD vehicles).
Craig
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
That's one of the main reasons that my last 3 trucks have been 2wd.