Locker / Gear setup...

[FishPOET]

I agree with you Ryan - I only visit the SoCal section of NAXJA...I hardly ever visit other areas, besides the "Adventure Forum" and sometimes the national "For Sale" area. I have found that the guys in my local section are awesome and knowledgable and definitely range in age...in fact we just had a thread on ages

It was the So Cal Chapter that turned me sour. I am good friends with kartsic and have nothing but good to say about guys like djblade, gsequoia, cal, goatman, kyung, johhny and a few others. I have read with much interest the posts of Dr Moab and IntrepidXJ in the Adventure section.

Unfortunately the "Black Sheep Crew" are allowed to run wild and unchecked on the So Cal Chapter forum and they stand for everything that is wrong with the "outlaw" side of offroading.

Drinking and driving is my biggest pet peeve with offroaders. On my very first NAXJA run there was a drunken night run. When I inquired as to why it was allowed I was told it was OK because it was not an officially sanctioned NAXJA event. It was my last NAXJA run.

http://www.vimeo.com/1695887
This video was shot of the Black Sheep Crew in the San Bernardino National Forest. The camp host had to call the rangers. Shortly after the video ended a drunken night run commenced that lasted until daylight(mainly because they got lost)
And then......

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1009790&page=5

Reply 74. It was reported and nothing was done.

It was the last time I will have anything to do with NAXJA.

 

[SWbySWesty]

Wow - bummer. Funny you mention those names because those are exactly the names I'm thinking of! Jeeperjohn, Cal, DJBlade, Karstic, Goatman and a few others whom I met out at JV or the xmas party. I actually haven't met the BSC people nor have I wheeled with them yet....

 

[Nikson]

It was the So Cal Chapter that turned me sour. I am good friends with kartsic and have nothing but good to say about guys like djblade, gsequoia, cal, goatman, kyung, johhny and a few others. I have read with much interest the posts of Dr Moab and IntrepidXJ in the Adventure section.

Unfortunately the "Black Sheep Crew" are allowed to run wild and unchecked on the So Cal Chapter forum and they stand for everything that is wrong with the "outlaw" side of offroading.

Drinking and driving is my biggest pet peeve with offroaders. On my very first NAXJA run there was a drunken night run. When I inquired as to why it was allowed I was told it was OK because it was not an officially sanctioned NAXJA event. It was my last NAXJA run.

http://www.vimeo.com/1695887
This video was shot of the Black Sheep Crew in the San Bernardino National Forest. The camp host had to call the rangers. Shortly after the video ended a drunken night run commenced that lasted until daylight(mainly because they got lost)
And then......

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1009790&page=5

Reply 74. It was reported and nothing was done.

It was the last time I will have anything to do with NAXJA.

Well, that was a waste of few minutes of my life (watching the video of that guy's speech)...

Thats a bit overboard... and may be its an okay thing to do when you are in a close "friend" group, but not on a run where few "others" are present...

 

[DrMoab]

Yeah that sucks. I've heard rumblings of the "blacksheepcrew" but never paid much attention to it because it was kind of out of my area.

Sorry to keep this hijack going.

To redeem myself....

I am not a fan of LSD's of any kind. I feel like they give you a sense of security only to really let you down when you need them the most.

I put ARB's in the front and back of my XJ. I don't use them a lot but it seems when I have the need for the I really really need them and a LSD would have let me down in those situations.

 

[Nikson]

Yeah that sucks. I've heard rumblings of the "blacksheepcrew" but never paid much attention to it because it was kind of out of my area.

Sorry to keep this hijack going.

To redeem myself....

I am not a fan of LSD's of any kind. I feel like they give you a sense of security only to really let you down when you need them the most.

I put ARB's in the front and back of my XJ. I don't use them a lot but it seems when I have the need for the I really really need them and a LSD would have let me down in those situations.

Thus is my consideration to figure out actually how many lockers does one need... I've never driven a rig with lockers, so dont really know the difference.

I've been able to get around where i've gone at this point without lockers, so now I am thinking AM I really going to get that much further / better with lockers...

 

[SWbySWesty]

I found that in a canyon with deep sand going uphill at about a 30% angle, my front locker pulled me out when I had to stop. In 2wd with the rear locker I just dug holes. I had to stop because a little kid on a dirtbike was having issues going up it too.

I guess it depends on the terrain. A front locker would be ideal because you won't know it's there until you go into 4wd. And even then if it's selectable you have even more leeway.

 

[Black Dog]

I found that in a canyon with deep sand going uphill at about a 30% angle, my front locker pulled me out when I had to stop. In 2wd with the rear locker I just dug holes. I had to stop because a little kid on a dirtbike was having issues going up it too.

I guess it depends on the terrain. A front locker would be ideal because you won't know it's there until you go into 4wd. And even then if it's selectable you have even more leeway.

I was going through some murky muddy water once, it wasn't that deep but I still got stuck. My tires got down in some deep ruts and my axles hung up on the high part and I was going nowhere fast! I think if I would have had a lock in either axle or both I might have been able to get free easier because I still had some traction, just not enough to get myself moving. To get out I wound up using my hilift and jacking up my back end and putting pieces of wood and sticks and stuff under the tires, worked perfect.

 

[FishPOET]

Thus is my consideration to figure out actually how many lockers does one need... I've never driven a rig with lockers, so dont really know the difference.

I've been able to get around where i've gone at this point without lockers, so now I am thinking AM I really going to get that much further / better with lockers...

There was a story on Expo a few months back about a guy who drove a whole bunch of miles offroad in a 2wd sedan.

Do we really need 4wd? or clearance?

IMHO 4wd, clearance, aggresive tires, winches, lockers, etc. all bring peace of mind.

 

[Black Dog]

There was a story on Expo a few months back about a guy who drove a whole bunch of miles offroad in a 2wd sedan.

Do we really need 4wd? or clearance?

IMHO 4wd, clearance, aggresive tires, winches, lockers, etc. all bring peace of mind.

I tend to second that. There is a mountain here with a road to the top and a sign at the bottom that says "4x4 ONLY NOT INTENDED FOR CARS OR TRAILER TOWING". We get up to the top and what do we see in the parking area? A crappy old 1980s Subaru.

 

[Root Moose]

Easy now, a crappy old Subaru of that vintage may have low range.

 

[Nikson]

I found that in a canyon with deep sand going uphill at about a 30% angle, my front locker pulled me out when I had to stop. In 2wd with the rear locker I just dug holes. I had to stop because a little kid on a dirtbike was having issues going up it too.

I guess it depends on the terrain. A front locker would be ideal because you won't know it's there until you go into 4wd. And even then if it's selectable you have even more leeway.

So really, it all comes down to what terrain you ride on. Selectable locker is giving you the HIGHEST possible options available.

What about transfer case lock, or thats something already is built-in into a 231 case?

 

[Nikson]

There was a story on Expo a few months back about a guy who drove a whole bunch of miles offroad in a 2wd sedan.

Do we really need 4wd? or clearance?

IMHO 4wd, clearance, aggresive tires, winches, lockers, etc. all bring peace of mind.

Just makes it more ASSURING...

I guess in reality, its there when you need it... like car insurance... Do we really need one...? No! but when you get into an accident, you sure are happy you got one...

 

[Nikson]

I tend to second that. There is a mountain here with a road to the top and a sign at the bottom that says "4x4 ONLY NOT INTENDED FOR CARS OR TRAILER TOWING". We get up to the top and what do we see in the parking area? A crappy old 1980s Subaru.

I would have to say "IT all about the DRIVER"... A lot of times, my 4x4 is not even engaged, sine 2WD makes it a bit more of a challenge and fun...

 

[Black Dog]

What about transfer case lock, or thats something already is built-in into a 231 case?

I've never heard of that before. The transfer case just sends power to one or both of your axles, so whether it is full time or part time 4 wheel drive, or even an always-on all wheel drive like in a Scooby, it does basically one job and does it well. Unless there is more to it than that.....

I usually keep it in 2wd most of the time too. Going up that mountain having 4x4 made things easier, and going down having 4L was a big help because then I wasn't riding the brake the whole time.

 

[Root Moose]

What about transfer case lock, or thats something already is built-in into a 231 case?

NV231 is locked as soon as it is moved into 4x4 mode (low or high).

NV242 has 4x4 mode without center lock (full-time) in addition to the NV231 locked modes.