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pavement princess or trail king?

Pavement princess or trail king?

  • Pavement princess

    Votes: 5 41.7%

  • Trail king

    Votes: 7 58.3%
  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
reddog64

reddog64

1/2 ton status
Joined
Nov 9, 2000
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Location
Federal Way, Washington
So i cant decide what to do...

Pavement princess or Offroad toy...

Please help me decide...

It's a 78 K5 in really good shape...
Dana 44 / 12 bolt
4" lift dual exhaust
350/th350NP203 3.73's 33 12.5 15's

Body is straight... real straight minus the cracked rear hatch and one busted mirror mount on the drivers door... no rust anywhere...

I know if i "pretty" this thing up i'll never want to take it off road.. and eventually will.. ponly to be pissed i did and scratch my (would be) fresh paint...

However...
If i just camo it... and dana 60 14 bolt it with soem nice 35's... i know i can have more fun but it wont be as funon the road...

How have you guy's made the decisionon what way to take your rig?
 
If your truck is in really good shape, i'd say find a beater for the trail. You won't cringe if you f-up a $500 beater. Plus, if you buy a rusty beater, you can trim like crazy and run 35's with no lift. I still get a ton of satisfaction out of my truck looking good on the road (although i don't really wheel anyways), and every time i've considered modifiying it for more off road duty, im glad i've kept it as a street truck.
 
I bought mine with the intent of tearing it up, so I looked for one that wasn't pristine. Had I bought one that was all nice and pretty with no rust I probably would have turned it into a tow/recovery vehicle and found something else to beat up. When you start taking these rigs out on rock trails you will get body damage. Not every time, not most of the time, but it will happen. I wouldn't take something out on the trail I would be upset about denting.

12bolt and 44 would also be just fine for 35's.
 
yeh if u want a street rig there is something nice about it. i built mine real nce with new paint etc. went out on thanksgiving and kissed a tree. not a big deal cause i know it will get beat
 
Don't relegate it just to the street you can still build nice and wheel, you just have to be careful and you can't be swayed by other people saying your a wuss. Build it nice and wheel it
 
If your truck is in really good shape, i'd say find a beater for the trail. You won't cringe if you f-up a $500 beater.
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x2. i'm keep my dd looking great and got the k5 specifically for offroad/beater fun. doesn't mean i abuse it, but my friend is always too paranoid about his jeep to have fun. what i'd really like to do is get a rarer one, either a 2nd gen full-vert or a first gen and restore it, and keep my 82 as the offroad truck.
 
blazinzuk said:
you can't be swayed by other people saying your a wuss. Build it nice and wheel it
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x2 and dont drink while your wheelin, save that for the camp or when you get home. I built a fairly nice 84 half ton one time. swapped in 3/4tons and locked it so it would be more capable but it was a very nice dd and wheeler. until I started letting my buddies get to me. so called friend: "bet ya cant drive over that," me: (chugs a beer) "haha, watch me" In the end it now looks like a crumpled up tin can rusting away in my mom's yard.:doah:another lesson learned.

you can have a nice truck and wheel it too, you just have to set some limits and be careful. if you want to do some hard core wheeling, build a beater just for that and you can have the best of both worlds.
 
If its a jewel I probably wouldnt wheel it, but I would say my k5(daily driver) is in pretty good shape and I wheel some pretty tuff trails with it. Im all for build it nice and wheel it, but dont think its possible to wheel it and escape without any kind of damage. Ill wheel with some pretty capable rigs and hard trails, I am usely the most conservative but with a full size rig, body damage is going to happen. With bumpers and rocksliders I have been able to keep it to a mininum. Build it beefy because its got to get you home too;). If I can I usely try to get trailored if the trails pose any threat.
 
I'd just keep it as a daily driver and get a trail beater...

Its not like it already has 1 tons, extensive suspension work, wheels/tires/gears, etc. so if you get that stuff just toss it in a beater and have fun...

I was in the same boat since my '85 k10 is so clean so just recently we made the decision to drop my k10 down to a 6" lift on 35's and keep it as a daily driver and build up a pre-smog toy...
 
Avery4jc said:
Its not like it already has 1 tons, extensive suspension work, wheels/tires/gears, etc. so if you get that stuff just toss it in a beater and have fun...
...
Click to expand...
Beater or not, doesn`t need any of that to have fun.
 
I know 1 tons will end up under there.. and a big block or 383... and a th400/205...
Maybe i'll just primer it black and thin about it for a while...
It's cheap to paint it anyways....
 
I agree where are the pics? no decisions can be made without some idea of what we will be sending out to be slowly destroyed
 
make ur truck a trail rig, a light one. and keep it as a dd too. if u go extreme likerock crawling, tight twisty trails, etc get another rig, but for easy to med trails, etc use it on both. its not like u drive the rig in the woods 90 percent of the time if u keep it on the road.. my 80 gmc is the same. i will fix it to be somewhat nice, but if i have to *kiss* a tree so be it. life is short. have some fun on road/off road. otherwise most kids today are mall crawlers.
 
For me it was a mix of the two, since I couldn't afford to do two trucks, I just try to be careful but yes it does have a couple dents. But I have had a heck of a good time with it and I can wheel some pretty cool places without body damage then take it home , wash and wax, and cruise the streets in style.
 
Somewhere between pavement princess and trail king is a cool place to be at with a truck. I wish i would have stuck with that build philosphy...

Rene
 
my truck is my DD thats also a fully 1ton cross over, locked trail rig.. and i am pretty proud of my trucks body, it is clean and straight, a lil rust on the rocker but no dents and i have done some pretty gnarly trails with a buddy who LOVES body damage.. i just choose not to listen to him when i know in the end of the day my truck will be straight and still climb like a goat!
 
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