Overland Journal: Discovery I, 5-speed

[craig]

I'll bite on this one...

Yes, the ARB is weaker and in many situations this is preferable. If you run into a deer the ARB gets bent and twisted, but it absorbs a lot of the shock rather than transferring it to the frame and ultimately to the passengers. Would I want an ARB for rock crawling? Heck no. Would I want one on a truck that spends most of it's life on highways in the mountains going to and from hiking trailheads? Absolutely. Ask an ARB sales rep and they'll tell you the same thing. They are designed to bend when the truck runs into a Kangaroo in the Australian Outback. A Kangaroo crush can.

RTE and ARB make bumpers for different applications. I'd rather have an RTE for my truck, but I certainly understand why someone would want an ARB and seriously doubt the ARB is going to prevent Scott from getting to point B.

 

[BIGdaddy]

I'll bite on this one...

Yes, the ARB is weaker and in many situations this is preferable. If you run into a deer the ARB gets bent and twisted, but it absorbs a lot of the shock rather than transferring it to the frame and ultimately to the passengers. Would I want an ARB for rock crawling? Heck no. Would I want one on a truck that spends most of it's life on highways in the mountains going to and from hiking trailheads? Absolutely. Ask an ARB sales rep and they'll tell you the same thing. They are designed to bend when the truck runs into a Kangaroo in the Australian Outback. A Kangaroo crush can.

RTE and ARB make bumpers for different applications. I'd rather have an RTE for my truck, but I certainly understand why someone would want an ARB and seriously doubt the ARB is going to prevent Scott from getting to point B.

this is exactry my sentiment...:ylsmoke:

 

[yubert]

RTE also makes a Fat Bumper

If you want 'looks' and strength, RTE makes a FAT bumper that is fully boxed with an optional integrated skid plate, and an open winch tray.

 

[Momrocks]

:iagree: Winner!

 

[Mike_rupp]

That's pretty funny coming from a guy who has publically posted that he'd buy an ARB fridge before a locker if he did it all over again.

C
Edit: Sorry for hijacking your thread Scott.

Craig, it is all about priorities. Most of us don't come into this with $20k sitting in a bank account for the sole purpose of outfitting a vehicle. So we start one piece at a time. My point was that most people will go for modifications that are about show off vs. function.

Take a RTT for example. Why someone would spend $1000+ on a RTT, when most of us have a perfectly functional tent is beyond me. I'd rather have spent it on something functional. By the way, if I remember correctly, didn't you choose to buy a RTT before you bought HD axles? Now that I think of it, did you even buy HD axles?

Getting back to the ARB and my comments about getting the ARB before a locker. I have wasted enough money in poor purchase decisions to have bought an ARB or 2. I bought my truck in 2000 and started reading Discoweb's various threads about suspensions. I thought that the OME shocks were too simple and boring, and fell into the more is better trap. I spent a pile of money on Rancho shocks, cones and the ancillaries to make them all fit. If I remember correctly I spent about $800 on all of that stuff. Of course you know the outcome; the shocks are completely horrible, lost fluid in them 2 times, and were replaced with guess what, OME shocks. Had I listened to the people that had already ventured down that road, I could have bought an ARB fridge instead of throwing that money in the garbage.

 

[JSQ]

You seem to be talking a pretty tough game. Let's see where you've gone.

Hey, come on, fresh sushi is a requirement for truly classy backroads travel.

Rob already got outed as a rookie and poseur on discoweb, but apparently he feels safe here on expo.
In fact, he's so comfortable here that he's feeling brave enough to try to question Aaron's trail credentials. Bad move. Unfortunately for Rob, while Aaron may not be Bill Burke he's logged plenty of trail time and can both set up a truck and drive it.

Those are just a few pics from the trips of mine that Aaron has been on. Anza Borrego, Baja, Dusy Ershim etc. Aaron does his own **** too. Often solo. He knows what he's doing. On Dusy he was the least experienced fourwheeler and yet his lines were zen. He never had any trouble and he had no damage or breakages. Grasshopper snatched the pebble from my hand.


Oh and if you happen to notice such things, you'll see that Aaron had the POS TJM bumper in the early days and ditched that nightmare for the RTE. He's experienced the difference.

 

[JSQ]

In the words of Easy-E:

Cuz the boyz n tha hood are always hard
You come talkin that trash we'll pull your card
Knowin nothin in life but to be legit
Don't quote me boy, cuz I ain't sayin ********

 

[JSQ]

I'll bite on this one...
Yes, the ARB is weaker and in many situations this is preferable. If you run into a deer the ARB gets bent and twisted, but it absorbs a lot of the shock rather than transferring it to the frame and ultimately to the passengers. .

Your physics sucks.
When you hit a deer with a solid bumper like the RTE, the "shock" gets transferred to the deer. You've watched too many crumple zone auto ads.

Do you have a Disco2 perchance?
You might be interested in an ARB with crush cans.

 

[JSQ]

Overlanding is a comfy term some people use to give themselves an out. There is a perception that it is somehow offroading-light.

IMHO, overlanding is the one area of offroading where no compromises should be taken. Rockcrawling, on the other hand, has a relatively low penalty for failure. If you break something in Moab, there will undoubtedly be someone rolling along in a few minutes. If you break something on a seldom used trail in British Columbia, it might be a while before someone rolls along to help.

CHURCH!

This is gospel. Score a hymn to it and sing it reverently.

 

[Scott Brady]

I like that bumper. I do not see it anywhere on their website though. Maybe it will come with their new site. Any pictures of it mounted?

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Why would you settle for something like this:

(Dan?) Those pictures are meaningless without context. We don't know what that guy did to the ARB, and we don't know how an ARB would have done unless you take one and ram the same car at the same speed. That's not even good enough to be circumstantial evidence.

Guess you should have had some sand ladders.

Absolutely.

If you want 'looks' and strength, RTE makes a FAT bumper that is fully boxed with an optional integrated skid plate, and an open winch tray.

Besides being twice the price by the time I got it, I don't like the mounting of that compared to the 03-04 model ARB. Mine has two vertical pins per side, not one, and there are tabs top and bottom.

Take a RTT for example. Why someone would spend $1000+ on a RTT, when most of us have a perfectly functional tent is beyond me. I'd rather have spent it on something functional. By the way, if I remember correctly, didn't you choose to buy a RTT before you bought HD axles? Now that I think of it, did you even buy HD axles?

Because I have a family, and pitching a large ground tent takes about 1 hour, meanwhile the kids get cranky. My RTT takes 1 minute to set up, and 2-3 minutes to pack away. That makes a big difference if you're moving every day. I never have to worry about level, rocks and stones on the ground, or pounding stakes into hard ground. It's warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, and much more likely to keep me dry. The mattress is infinitely more comfortable, and I can leave my bedding up top, so all of that and the tent don't take up room inside the truck. I can set up camp in the middle of a muddy field if I have to, or the side of a road or trail if required.

Rob already got outed as a rookie and poseur on discoweb, but apparently he feels safe here on expo.
In fact, he's so comfortable here that he's feeling brave enough to try to question Aaron's trail credentials. Bad move. Unfortunately for Rob, while Aaron may not be Bill Burke he's logged plenty of trail time and can both set up a truck and drive it.

Rookie, yes, poseur, no.

You continue to miss the point Jack. I didn't question Aaron's trail credentials. I questioned where he's going on a long solo journey with his wife and kid in tow. He made my point.

 

[traveltoad]

I have been thinking about this notion of turning around. Of course, there is always a chance that one just cannot go forward and going back is the only option. But... if you plan to travel to places unknown (at least to you) why would you not want to at least minimize to the best of your ability the need to flip a U-turn?

Here are a couple signs found in UT. Not extreme terrain, relatively remote.

Which sign(s) will make you turn around? You are only a poor overlander, not a rock crawler, you are not into 4x4 stuff, and you have never found the need for lockers and heavy duty axles or fully boxed bumpers.

Do you just ignore them all and hope that if things get nasty you still can turn around? What if the conditions behind you have changed in the few hours since you went through? Or do you heed them all and go home? Why bother going out at all then, I am sure you can find the photos on line anyway.

FYI the road/trail after all of these signs could have been traveled by a stock Disco. The most difficult trail we found had no signs, in fact it was a graded road... that is until the rains/flash floods (about a week earlier) washed the road away leaving rocks ruts and lots of off camber stuff.

If you do the kind of adventuring that we do, including the drive to and from your planned adventure (which admittedly will also include a bunch of paved and gravel roads) you need a vehicle with some size and some road manners. With this choice you have already made a huge sacrifice when it comes to the vehicles off road abilities. That is just a fact.

My Disco is too heavy, has too much body work, has a crappy departure angle (even with trimmed quarters) has too small tires and on and on. So why would I want to make it even worse but installing a bumper (or anything else) that won't put up with abuse when there is an alternative? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Scott's build is a different story. He is not building this D1 to be his "go to" vehicle when he ventures into the unknown. He has other vehicle(s) for that. Maybe he would make different choices if this was his one and only truck... I don't know.

 

[traveltoad]

I like that bumper. I do not see it anywhere on their website though. Maybe it will come with their new site. Any pictures of it mounted?

I think I saw (somewhere) that this was made by RTE to meet a customers request. I am sure that they could make another one.

 

[traveltoad]

I questioned where he's going on a long solo journey with his wife and kid in tow. He made my point.

I did? Huh, I guess I missed that part.

EDIT: I do not mean for this to be a pissing match as to who is the most "extreme" in their adventures. I am only questioning to decision to put parts on a truck that are known to be weak. Sure, I can link to a bunch of pictures of my truck on paved roads... gravel roads... lazy two track... I even have photos of my truck in the driveway. So does that mean I should purchase and install parts that I know will fail one those "rare" occasions that i do find myself on a difficult trail or in a pickle in some other way?

If it is your truck... and you have researched the parts and know what you are putting on, ok. If you know a bumper (or anything else) is weak but you like the way it looks, ok. I do not have any problem with that. Your truck... your call. I do have an issue with saying "I am an overlander not a 4-wheeler so I don't need any of that".

 

[cruiseroutfit]

In the words of Easy-E:

Cuz the boyz n tha hood are always hard
You come talkin that trash we'll pull your card
Knowin nothin in life but to be legit
Don't quote me boy, cuz I ain't sayin ********

LOL, I honestly never thought I would see the day EE was quoted on ExPo

This bumper debate is very interesting. On quick note that comes to mind, check your local laws regarding bumpers, specifically their dimensions. Here in Utah the main bar of the bumper must be 4.5" tall, so 'blade' style bumpers as you are calling them could result in a failed safety inspection or a 'fix-it' ticket from the law. Back to the regularly scheduled debate. Waiting for more Easy-E quotes.