Essential Mods Prior to First Offroad

Forget what you see on instagram for overlanding. The trucks are set up for looks. They’ll be apt to roll if you wheel them. For overlanding, you want good tank range, low center of gravity, good highway performance.

This means no lift, moderate all terrain tires, no roof rack (imo), sliders just to protect from oopsies, and minimum weight.

 

I speak from not experience, but from my ability to report I have little. That is because I have looked at some roads and decided I have some laundry needs washing.

The line between go/no-go changes every time, and most often the decision is based on my skill rather than the truck. I still cannot outdrive the stock suspension.

 

I second this. So many people get wrapped up in the Instagram rigs. Really the question to ask is how technical you plan on getting with the trails you want to use to camp. Forest roads? Then you're truck is plenty capable as is. From there you can add some stuff to the truck to carry what you want and then would need a little more weight capabilities with an add a leaf or something.

 

When I get the urge to buy something, it goes on a priority order list. This is usually enough to resist the impulse buy, and very often items get pushed down to the bottom or deleted entirely as I learn more and decide it isn't near as important as I initially thought.

If I decide to engage an activity at a different level, the list gets reevaluated.

 

Agree, and I also want to emphasize that overlanding is like 80-90% highway driving. The instagram mods make your rig worse at off roading and worse on the highway.

Good tires, locker, sliders. Boom done. If you are going very deep into the boonies and want to spend a lot more and only get diminishing returns, then sure, regear, move up to skinny 33s, maybe consider adding a winch and rear bumper (but those add a lot of weight and definitely detract from on road driving). Use aluminum wherever possible.

 

None of this shit is new. Car camping has been around for about as long as cars have. Essential would be water and food. Maybe a fishing pole. lol

 

What, no beer?

 

It was either
https://youtu.be/7ZC3NUdjtug
Or
https://youtu.be/tDxH70O52C0
And if you were super cheap and liked puzzles...
https://youtu.be/oEDwkWI3hRs

 

Anybody old enough to remember the "wild Raniers" ads for Ranier Beer?

 

A little bit before my time.

 

It's so weird that people with Tacos are always bragging up their trucks, and the money they spend on mods... and I've always assumed much of it is our primitive drive to attract that ridiculously hot girlfriend... but no one ever posts pics of their girlfriend... bending over or otherwise.

 

Uhhh because thats a violation of TW code. This isn't "jeepworld"

 

There are some things I wish I could un-see. Time to physically burn away some brain cells.

 

Not suggesting nudity...

Surely TW has no rules against hot girlfriends, or posting pictures of them... or am I wrong?

 

Who knows. Post pics of your hot girlfriend.

 

You are very wrong, well... let's just say it's in the hands of the crowd, then it depends on the moods of the moderators. We'll just say it a 50/50 chance around here. Anything political or religion in gen pop (open threads that hit the front wall)... then there is the off topic section and the new "dumbgeon section) there we can talk about most anything expect political or religious scenarios and even racey or naked photos. If you want that, I suggest a different
We talk about everything here, some conversations are good for the public wall and others are meant to be kept private.

 

For essential mods, I'd say recovery gear is a must-have. You never know when you might get stuck, so a recovery strap, shovels, and traction boards are a good place to start. Plus, they're relatively cheap compared to some other upgrades you're looking at.

As for your wishlist, those are some sick products! If you can't afford everything at once, I'd say start with the sliders and skid plates. They'll protect your truck and make it easier to get over obstacles. The bed rack is also a good choice if you plan on carrying gear.

The lift kit and bumper can come later if you need more clearance or protection. And the wheels... well, they're more of a cosmetic upgrade, but if you want 'em, go for it.

 

L

Sometimes all of that doesn't help... winch, straps, recovery boards when you are stuck up th the axels and all by yourself.
This is why it is so important to practice getting stuck if you want to do this sorta thing. Just like the police, fire, and military practice everyday. So, they don't think, they just do what they are trained to do. Not saying there are monkey wrench thrown in to overcome and adapt too.

 

Right on, thanks

 

do the coating yourself, if you can wipe your dishes dry, your most of the way there. No one should spend $1500 on something that costs $200-300 with complete prep and correction, just requires research.