Advice on solid axle or buy a jeep

[93Ranger]

rick, do you think that would do it or not though?

Solid Axle's are great, do a swap with an ARB, and there you go.

or buy a Jeep.

 

[Jefe]

Ok, I fully understand breaking a torsion bar. Its under a lot of stress constantly, and like gerald found out, when hit/scraped by a rock, etc it will weaken it.
An upper control arm. . . maybe. . .especially the pasenger side where the caster adjustment is.
But a lower control arm? I've hit a rock at 35 mph and bent it a hair.

It'd be nice to know exactly what you were doing and what broke.

 

[Michigander]

Originally posted by 93Ranger
[B[or buy a Jeep. [/B]

That was my answer. Dead Link Removed

 

[93Ranger]

right on mich.

i was considering getting a CJ5 or CJ7. pimpin it out purely for off-road.

but then im getting the ZJ, so i figure that'll take care of my off-road excursions. now i would just need a road rocket and i'd be set, can we say NOS for the ranger?

 

[GJarrett]

Anything can break

I've tried to stay out of this discussion, but since I keep getting mentioned I suppose I'll offer another opinion.

As I recall, Andrew has a V8 and does not have a low range. I have witnessed the technique that has to be used by "low-rangeless" V8 owners who cannot crawl, and the violence of the trail contact thereby. I watched what both he and also Heath had to do to participate in a simple excursion during the CCR2001 run.

I can also guaran-damn-tee-you that I have observed the strength of typical Jeep parts when subjected to similar stress levels. Jeeps break when used. A lot. And you are fooling yourself to think otherwise. Buy a Jeep, don't engage low range, then gun the hell out of it, and see what happens.

I don't wheel my Explorer fullthrottle balls-to-the-wall and hit solid objects at speed because I have a low range and don't have to. So I don't have to blame my vehicle and decide to embrace another brand because mine couldn't handle a fullthrottle 6g impact to make up for the fact that I bought an AWD grocery getter instead of a 4wd trailrunner and then decided to try to use it in a fashion that it was never intended to and then complained because it didn't work.

FYI, I've beat the everlovin' hell out of my 4wd trailrunnin' grocery getter in extreme situations and it has NEVER left me stranded on the trail (yet). Damage to my torsion bar occured as a natural consequence of significant blows to it while on the trail - and it STILL held up after the damage to it. It only broke later on when I was driving on a street at high speed hitting a crossroads dip in sub-freezing weather. A situation that probably is a close parallel to your having to attack an obstacle hard in high range in Colorado weather, so it doesn't surprize me a bit if you've broken stuff too.

I don't plan to hit a curb at 30 mph and subzero temperature. And even if I do via accident, I wonder how much better a Jeep would fair that had already blew it's measly axles on the same trail that I already successfully finished.

Compare apples to apples and not to oranges. The real Jeepers I've met that really know their stuff and wheel hard and use their vehicles have all made significant modifications to their vehicles to the point that it becomes a scholastic debate concerning whether their Jeep really is a Jeep anymore. I can count on one hand the times I have been on a run with Jeeps and none of them broke or had major problems on the trail. Axles. Electrical. Diffies. U-joints. Suspension components. Steering boxes. Bushings brackets and bearings. Doohickeys thingies and Jeepamacallits. Jeeps break everything. The norm on an Explorer run is everyone gets home with no problems.

I'm not derrogating Jeeps or your decisional question whether to change brands. It looks like the Jeep Rubicon, if it comes out, really raises the bar and is a fine vehicle. But to buy a Ford AWD station wagon that isn't even equipped to handle your local terrain and then complain that it can't do stuff that it wasn't even designed for in the first place is basing an opinion on weak criteria.

You want to go fourwheeling and find a vehicle that doesn't break while doing it. Let me know when you find the vehicle that doesn't break under the abuse we put them through, and we'll all buy it and become rich marketing it.

I'm too longwinded. I guess I am saying that maybe the next mod or decision for you shouldn't be a solid axle or Jeep, but a transfer case with a low range. Then worry about the rest. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much you don't break when you no longer have to attack obstacles aggressively in high range with over 200hp of muscle.

 

[93Ranger]

good points Gerald. i disagree with you on the Jeep topic however.

a Stocker Grand Cherokee will hold its own with a modded explorer. ive seen it. ive seen Jeeps pull X's out and vice versa. after a while, any vehicle will be just as well equiped as another once modded out. a Suzuki will be equal to an X once it reaches a point in modding.

no doubt that Gerald's 4.0L Grocery Getter/trail blazer is an awfully hardcore rig, there is mucho modding on it.

and i have been in a Jeep when it drove up and over a 8" high curb to park on the grass at a basketball game at my school. low range pulled it up. there was a V8 explorer, tried to get up, it didnt. 4.0L got up, took a little longer but that was driver fault not vehicle fault.

to a point of off-roading, like Gerald said, your V8 is not doing what it is meant to do.

everything is all about perspective. I love explorers, but i happen to like Jeep's more. i like their size and power. i like their handling, i like their ride, and i like how there is that extra centimeter of pedal room that i never noticed that downshifts even more. my friend got his up to 85, and it was pumping 3rd.

thats the problem with magazines. Jeep has built a reputation for being off-road vehicles, mainly because of their previous owner (or they owned) AM General. so magazines see the Explorer as a grocery getter, and in stocker form, thats exactly what it is. but if you read/make an article for off-roading of fully stock vehicles, you would probabally find that some are equal to eachother, while others excell in some spots and lag behind in others. the Stock Jeep Grand Cherokee would probabally kill a stock X off-road and on-road. but once modded, they become roughly the same. get me? good.

 

[GJarrett]

Well, I'm gonna be even more agreeable concerning the Jeep thing. I think we do agree. See how nice I am?

Concerning my "mucho-modding"; that's my whole point, I don't have any. My rig is definately "softcore". Forget the other stuff that doesn't matter: all I really have is a rear locker, oversize tires, and enough lift to clear the tires. I still stand by my belief that any vehicle can break at the level of abuse we subject them too, and that buying and then bringing one in that is not designed to even be there in the first place does not constitute a basis to render a verdict as to its incompetency.

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by GJarrett
. . .I still stand by my belief that any vehicle can break at the level of abuse we subject them too, and that buying one that is not designed to even be there in the first place does not constitute a basis to render a verdict as to its incompetency.

 

[GJarrett]

Jeff, what's the question? All I am saying is that any of us can break stuff at this level, and Jeeps certainly do it as much or more than we do, and to base an opinion of the ability of an Explorer on a 4wd trail by basing it on the performance of an AWD model that was never designed to be there in the first place doesn't hold a lot of water in my opinion. I could be wrong; just my opinion.

 

[Jefe]

oh. . .I totally agree with you. . .it just took a couple of times (like 5 or 6) reading through that sentence this late at night to figure out what you were saying.

 

[GJarrett]

Post-midnight compound sentences are a b!tch after a few beers, aren't they ?

 

[RFR2212]

hmm
Gerald... Isn't it past yer bed time out there on the east coast? Sure I should be "sleeping for class tomorrow" but oh wait, I don't got any tomorrow! Fridays off!
Pete

 

[Michigander]

Originally posted by GJarrett
All I am saying is that any of us can break stuff at this level, and Jeeps certainly do it as much or more than we do

I agree without a doubt. But to me, it came down to cost. Even if the Jeep breaks as much as my explorer it will be A LOT cheaper in the longrun. It's a known fact that there are more parts out there for Jeeps and therefor are cheaper to maintain. I bought the Jeep for $1400. 2 months ago I had tranny problems that was about $1800! This way I also don't have to worry about the water leaking through my doors in river crossings, dents, etc. I consider my Explorer to be a very nice (and clean) rig, and I want to keep it that way... those are my thoughts

 

[93Ranger]

Gerald, i totally agree with you. one thing is, however, that you do underestimate the Jeep a bit.

the common thought of Broken Jeep syndrome is all about driver fault. they think "oh, im in a Jeep, and its 4x4, so i can go 25 through a technical section, and ford a foot and a half deep stream, and get full articulation with the sway bars still connected".

explorer's are designed for what they are designed for. any 4x4 can do what most of the modded vehicles (only get stuck more often) as long as the driver knows what they are doing.

the Scooby Brat (everyone loves it, i know) can hold its self with the big boys as long as there is a capable driver in there.

all the mod's we do to our trucks are simply to make the Wheelin more fun. Less concern about contact patch and tire pressure, and tread siping, and camber, and all that **** means more that we can focus on the trail and have fun.

look at Rick, he probabally has the most trick ex on the board, and he probabally has some serious fun. then look at someone like me, in a stocker Ford Ranger 2wd. its harder for me to off-road because i need to worry about getting stuck, and keeping the truck dent and scratch free.

so what it all boils down to is that every vehicle is just as capable as the next, its just the driver and their confidence behind the wheel that gets the job done. because i can gaurentee that there is at least one stocker in everyone's group that at least is out there having fun.

just my .002, but hey, its all worth it.