The LR4 — Crossing America Offroad with Tom Collins at the helm!

[madmax718]

Hard to say its "factory support"- Factory sponsored, but supported? Your out there in the field, factory support in my mind means that they've got a team and crew of parts, gear, and technicians ready to swoop in to do tire changes, refuel, and change drivers. Wait, thats nascar. Or Baja. There is no chase vehicles here. They might be able to get replacement parts quicker, but its not out in the field with them. Good ol fed ex still takes care of that, not a personal technician on a G5 flying out.

If you try to twist what factory sponsored means, you might as well say anyone with AAA has a 24/7 support team.

 

[bobDog]

Hard to say its "factory support"- Factory sponsored, but supported? Your out there in the field, factory support in my mind means that they've got a team and crew of parts, gear, and technicians ready to swoop in to do tire changes, refuel, and change drivers. Wait, thats nascar. Or Baja. There is no chase vehicles here. They might be able to get replacement parts quicker, but its not out in the field with them. Good ol fed ex still takes care of that, not a personal technician on a G5 flying out.

If you try to twist what factory sponsored means, you might as well say anyone with AAA has a 24/7 support team.

Good point, but Im sure if one of them were broken down in Columbine Colorado they wouldn't be waiting by the only mail box for UPS. Whether they have chase and parts support you an bet they have a back up system in place. After all they can't fail or it would look bad and ruin the whole.

 

[madmax718]

Thats very true, and their not really that far from civilization. Kinda like an ORV park. You break down, your not 600 miles from civilization.

You and I may be using ups 2nd day ground, Im quite sure they would spring for Fedex priority overnight early saturday delivery.... for a CV shaft, that might cost a few bucks just in shipping.:ylsmoke:

Plus, they have a quicker person to call from their dealer network. If I call I get "Joe" in the parts department and he's always "out to lunch" or "You just missed him."

but so far, other than that CV, they have been pretty solid- and CV's pop all the time- h2's, h3's, explorers, anywhere with any high articulation and low traction event happens, CV's pop. I wonder how the vehicle electronics compensated for it, that would be intriguing if it just treated it like no traction to the whole front end of the vehicle. It can't use the brakes to articulate the power transfer in a E-LSD/Locker style.

 

[LR Max]

I think they have three vehicles. If you notice from the photos, there are the two vehicles...and then photos of them driving along. That said, a third vehicle with spare CV's, sensors, and a computer to talk to the car would go a long way to helping at the last minute.

I watched a video of some Merc G-wagons out in Australia being driven by the media. They blew out all their shocks on the first day (WHAT). They had repair guys on site and had spares flown in. With them posting LRNA all over this, I think they got everything they need.

 

[bobDog]

I think they have three vehicles. If you notice from the photos, there are the two vehicles...and then photos of them driving along. That said, a third vehicle with spare CV's, sensors, and a computer to talk to the car would go a long way to helping at the last minute.

I watched a video of some Merc G-wagons out in Australia being driven by the media. They blew out all their shocks on the first day (WHAT). They had repair guys on site and had spares flown in. With them posting LRNA all over this, I think they got everything they need.

I always assumed the 3rd was a photo op truck cause its always ahead looking for that great shot. I'm sure they see everything first right?

 

[PJPR01]

Hey Paul, they ran Black Bear Pass a couple of days ago. Can't wait to see more photos, that trail is as great a background as it gets. Here is one off Instagram they posted yesterday:

Remember this? Different angle, nicer weather, same place... Ah, memories.

Grazie Umberto...fond memories of that trip indeed! Time to get the LR4 Firenze Red out there again - let me know when you're ready! I'm heading up in a week to do a Moto trip and see if I can make it all the way thru Colorado/Wyoming and up to Glacier Nat'l Park and back...on road (not off road). Glad to see the guys are doing some of the signature trails...it must be awfully bumpy on lower profile tires, I'd hate to be bouncing around on anything less than a 60 series tire!

 

[Scott Brady]

Images are starting to come through from our team. Ray is documenting the most remote sections for Overland Journal

 

[chirigringo]

Reminds me of a pic I took on Cedar Mesa in UT this spring. A little less dust, though.

 

[nwoods]

LOL. Utah dust is special indeed:

 

[madmax718]

I don't think they broke anything now that I've looked through anything. Maybe a flat tire. But definitely no CV's on this trip. And no "truck full of parts" being dragged along, or ahead "Scouting".

I used to carry a spare drive shaft, outer knuckles, a spare alternator, belts, hoses... and I wasn't more than 20 miles from civilization either.

Yet some people are criticizing their travel for a shot in the dark that somehow their's hidden chase trucks, parts trucks, rescue squads, etc... even though there's no proof of such things existing.

I would love to see each mfg submit a vehicle, driven by their own driver, at a event such as this. While I imagine the jeep Rubicon might be the most capable overall, there are few contenders in U.S. that are current production SUV's.

Here's my votes:
Jeep: Wrangler, rubicoon obviously, but would like to see the Grand Cherokee in that spot, as the wrangler isn't really "full sized".
Dodge: I don't see anything I'd think worthy of putting in. Powerwagon is a pickup.
Ford: Raptor would be good, but its not an SUV. You can get a choice of Expedition, or Expedition EL, as everything else isn't full sized.
GM: You get the.. Tahoe? or Suburban? or Acadia.
Toyota: You can get the Lexus GX', sequoia, or any other large variant, non pickup
Mitsu: No contender in the full sized market.
Mercedes G Wagen, or GL . G wagen may give the rubicon a run for its money.
Vw/porsche: Toureg/Cayanne
Audi: Q7.


and Im sure there's a few that I've forgotten. But are any of these vehicles really geared for "off roading"? Water fording depths, cameras on the side to see obstacles...

I don't have one, but am thoroughly impressed with the LR4.

 

[overlander]

I would not add the Jeep JK or the G wagen in this hypothetical comparison. The LR model for comparison to those two is the Defender, which obviously is not sold in the US market.

 

[Scott Brady]

I don't think they broke anything now that I've looked through anything. Maybe a flat tire. But definitely no CV's on this trip. And no "truck full of parts" being dragged along, or ahead "Scouting".

Correct. We have a team member with the adventure currently (Ray Hyland), and there are no support vehicles and there was no pre-scout. There have been no failures of note beyond tires.

My hope is that LR recognizes that the HD package MUST have a 17 or 18" wheel package to be appropriate for serious trail work. The vehicle has so much potential, but it is like an M5 governed to 90mph and 4,000 RPM with those tires.

 

[goodtimes]

My hope is that LR recognizes that the HD package MUST have a 17 or 18" wheel package to be appropriate for serious trail work. The vehicle has so much potential, but it is like an M5 governed to 90mph and 4,000 RPM with those tires.

I've never been a fan of 18" wheels - mainly because the one time I did have a set, it was difficult to find tires on short notice. Is this improving? Are rugged 18" tires becoming more available without having to order them from distant cities?

 

[Scott Brady]

I've never been a fan of 18" wheels - mainly because the one time I did have a set, it was difficult to find tires on short notice. Is this improving? Are rugged 18" tires becoming more available without having to order them from distant cities?

I wish they had 17s, but even an 18" would be a huge improvement.

Yeah, 18s are available pretty much everywhere now. What is funny - try to find a 15" tire at the local Discount Tire now

 

[David Harris]

I wish they had 17s, but even an 18" would be a huge improvement.

Yeah, 18s are available pretty much everywhere now. What is funny - try to find a 15" tire at the local Discount Tire now

I noticed that even the ROW diesel models are listing only 19 or 20 inch wheels now.