Those are some pretty cool pictures Larry. Jess really liked them also.
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Overland rigs, expedition rigs, whatever else you call it
- Thread starter natemc
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Jess would be my better half! 
She recently started hiking in the backcountry with me and has been looking at videos/pictures on the forums. Getting out away from the public scenery spots interests her a lot. Her family is starting come around also. We've been together 12 years now and no one believed me about the beauty of the world. They would see something on the tv and comment on it. When I would tell them that I see that kind of stuff they would look at me funny. I only started taking pictures recently when I got my first smart phone. I haven't packed a good camera until this year. I am not a photographer and can't capture the beauty in a picture. Jess likes taking picture though so I bought her a good point and shoot. She will get a DSLR as soon as the budget allows.
She recently started hiking in the backcountry with me and has been looking at videos/pictures on the forums. Getting out away from the public scenery spots interests her a lot. Her family is starting come around also. We've been together 12 years now and no one believed me about the beauty of the world. They would see something on the tv and comment on it. When I would tell them that I see that kind of stuff they would look at me funny. I only started taking pictures recently when I got my first smart phone. I haven't packed a good camera until this year. I am not a photographer and can't capture the beauty in a picture. Jess likes taking picture though so I bought her a good point and shoot. She will get a DSLR as soon as the budget allows.
Does this count as DED? I've racked up as much as 80 miles of dirt a day before. Some of our tree farms are large in acreage.
sixb
1/2 ton status
I like this!
Larry it may just be me but you make it sound like to takes something special or you have to be special to do this stuff.
I also have been all over Utah in a completely stock 97 f250 supercab long bed 4x4 and never had a problem. I have only been stuck in the snow with that truck in northern ut hunting a special season for antelope. That was probably the closet I ever came to having a problem but a few hours with my high jack and we were out of there. I easily could have spent that few ours hiking back to the highway and been fine.
If it takes 6 hours to drive in chances are it will only take that long to walk out. There's a place on the south slope of the Unitas that we drive into that takes 4 or 5 hours to get into but it's only 11 miles. In my old Ford your lower back would have a rug burn from bouncing around in the seat. I could easily walk out of there in less than 4 hours.
I'm not trying t be a dick but it doesn't take anything special really to see most of the back country Utah has to offer and probably the same thing goes for the rest of the other western states to.
The hardest thing for most people is gonna be the time.
Hay natemc,
I didn't know you dealt with forestry equipment.
I have built a number of prototype logging machines in the past, for Tigercat and Timberjack.
Now we build and install the adapters for the S series grapples and Rototilt units for a company called Hultdins, with subsidiaries by the name of Olofsfors, and Indexator.
We build their stuff on a weekly basis.
Small world!
I didn't know you dealt with forestry equipment.
I have built a number of prototype logging machines in the past, for Tigercat and Timberjack.
Now we build and install the adapters for the S series grapples and Rototilt units for a company called Hultdins, with subsidiaries by the name of Olofsfors, and Indexator.
We build their stuff on a weekly basis.
Small world!
I would rather do a light camping/wheeling trip than go to Hollister and kill my truck on tank trap.
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No, no… not at all. All you need is a durable vehicle and the knowledge to fix it when something breaks. Everything else is just a bonus. The Dodge that goes along on our long trips is practically bone stock. Being a dick? Well, that might be debatable.
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sixb
1/2 ton status
No, no… not at all. All you need is a durable vehicle and the knowledge to fix it when something breaks. Everything else is just a bonus. The Dodge that goes along on our long trips is practically bone stock. Being a dick? Well, that might be debatable.
I agree.
I think to many people get hung up on all the must have upgrades or a particular kind of vehicle. I bet the majority of the ck5 members here in the west already have a vehicle that will take them where they dream of going when reading these kind of threads, probably there DD.
I know this is way off topic but people need to just get out and enjoy what they have local to them what ever it is. You would be surprised how many people here in SLC never have been up in the mountains, a stones throw away, I know I am every time I meet one.
Earthroamers, Revcons and the like sound awesome with 4x4 and true luxury comfort, until you realize they are too heavy to hit any soft surfaces with (17,000lbs!), too tall to take down forest trails (12.5 feet) and possibly too small to bring the whole family (sleeps 4).
Can I claim DED with a gravel driveway?
Can I claim DED with a gravel driveway?
SUPER'BURB
1/2 ton status
Yep, I have several guys that work for me in their mid twenties that talk about going to the mountains or the snow for the first time (California Bay Area) and I am always shocked. The Sierras are just 2 1/2 - 3 hours away.
To keep it on topic I have always loved the Quigley's (spelling) conversion van idea but I want to be able to access my entire engine with a bit more ease than a van provides.
COCHEV
1/2 ton status
Man, the chevy conversions are so hard to find. I always see way more 4wd furd vans. I think a 4x van would be a bit better than a burb for camping/ back country action. Lots of room inside. Nightmare to pull an engine out of tho.
This *may* be true, but one thing that must be kept in mind is that Larry refuses to go into the southwestern desert unless it is at least 115*F. With that in mind, the amount of water that would be required for five to six hours of strenuous hiking in that heat with no shade makes it very impractical and tremendously dangerous. Most likely, IF you made it to a highway, you would be so dehydrated you'd forget who you are, how you got there and why you went. If the situation allowed you to wait until dark (non-life/death situation) you would probably stand a much better chance of making it provided you could successfully dodge the creepy crawlers.
THIS!!
If anybody gleans ANYTHING out of this thread, this is the MOST IMPORTANT STATEMENT MADE. Way too many people believe the CK5 mantra that in order to take their vehicle on a trail that it must have the following equipment:
Dana 60 front axle with a locker
14 bolt full floater rear axle with a locker
203/205 doubler transfer case setup
Massive front and rear bumpers
Minimum 37" tires with beadlocks and rock rings
56" front springs for maximum flex
minimum ten point roll cage
hydro assist steering
etc, etc.
We have seen it time and time and time again. Someone new to the truck/offroad scene buys a nice truck, K5, Suburban, whatever that is very capable in its current form, but instead of fixing whatever issues it has, they proceed to instantly tear it into a million pieces (the easiest and cheapest part of ANY build) intent on doing a full-on build because that is what everyone on the K5 site does. The unfortunate thing is that the vast majority(!!) fall off the first page, then the second, then the third until they languish to a point the owner is willing to sell the immobile mess to anybody that will pay anything even resembling scrap price for it (I was very near this point myself). I think with all of the super-builds that go on here that many people lose sight of just how capable these trucks were from the factory. Now don't get me wrong, I am in awe of some of the builds that go on around here and elsewhere and often times take ideas from their projects. Yeah the super-builds can do some amazing things, no doubt about it, but I have no interest in doing those kinds of things (or buying/maintaining the super-double-throwdown, high-zoot parts required for those rigs--the price of tires alone scares the hell out of my wallet and those wear out and need replacing occasionally). I'm way too cheap for that hobby.
Larry and I have rigs that have a couple of the "must have" items (axles) in them (mainly because we have motors that can destroy axles with an un-intended blip of the throttle), but we have a mutual friend that we travel with who runs a bone stock (new motor, trans and transfer case--that's it--seriously) 1970 K20 Suburban. Now mine has a lift and a locker, but his has nothing. No lift, no locker, no disc brakes anywhere on it and you know what?? He goes everywhere I go. Have I been places his rig would not be able to make it to/through?? Yes, but very few. When running a trail I will pass an obstacle and think boy I am glad I have the ground clearance or the locker or the whatever and I look back and he rolls right over it with none of the above. It really puts the "must have" equipment in perspective. I think too many people have forgotten what these trucks can do with no help from the aftermarket. Make your rig reliable and drive it. I have done the build. I have done the driving. The driving is much more enjoyable.
Is there any other kind of weather to explore the desert in?
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magik235
Still Alive
That's it. I'm saling everything and buying a motorhome! 
. Who needs 4wd anyways?
. Who needs 4wd anyways?
Hahaha!
Idle threats will get you nowhere!
You couldn't, wouldn't do it.
That's it. I'm saling everything and buying a motorhome!
Idle threats will get you nowhere!
You couldn't, wouldn't do it.
I'll show you idle! . Ok. So you called my bluff
. Ok. So you called my bluff
love this post!!!!
