Most Important Upgrades

[Lamah]

I'm looking to get into some trail riding and i'd like to not get stuck on easy trails. What are some important upgrades or parts that seem to break a lot when on the trails. I need to get my 4x4 fixed, but other then that, i dont know what else i need.

Thanks
Jeff A.k.a. Lamah

 

[RU MAN]

The first thing is tires, Manual Hubs(Warn Hubs)
If u want to go the whole nine yards: lift,gears,lockers,winch,35's,etc....

 

[Lamah]

i have all terrain radials for now, and i'm looking into getting the manual hubs.

thanks
Jeff A.k.a Lamah

 

[mattadams]

do you mean what's the most important modification you can make for off-roading, or the most important spare parts to bring with? If we're talking about modifications, first most important is manual hubs. Second most important is better tires. Third most important (and some people disagree with me here) is a winch. Basically anything else you buy for your Explorer (lockers, new gears, suspension lift, off-road lights, etc.) are merely to prevent you from getting stuck, none of them will actually get you un-stuck. Once you have the winch then fill in the other things later. If you only plan on doing easy to moderate wheeling, you have no reason for a winch and should instead spend your money on lift's and such .
By the way, some of the best spare parts to bring along are oil, transmission fluid, and grease. I'll tell you what I usually bring along with me in my box, is all my wrenches, sockets, drill bits, and hand tools (hammers, etc.) for tools, I also bring along a spare tube of grease, and extra set of brake pads, plenty of zip ties and duct tape, spare u-joints for both my axle as well as my driveshaft (even though I'd have a very hard time replacing them on the trail), a tire repair kit (these proved useful more then once at the CCR2000!) a can of fix-a-flat (even though it won't do much good on bigger tires, but it might help someone else out), a few spare spark plugs, jumper cables, an extra positive battery cable, and other various bolts, screws, cotter pins, etc.

 

[donkey boy]

Tow straps

Originally posted by mattadams
... Third most important (and some people disagree with me here) is a winch...

I partly disagree with you, Matt. From my experience, if you don't go wheeling alone (and you don't go wheeling alone, do you?) 90% of all stuck situations can be solved with tow straps. HiLift Jack, straps and a chain make a fine emergency winch for another 7% of the cases, so it's just in about 3% of all stucks you would be way better off with a winch. I think I was twice happy somebody in my group had a winch; both times to get the first vehicle over an obstacle; once the first truck was on the other side we strapped the rest of the convoy, which was a lot faster.

And, I have seen more trucks with a winches stuck in situation, where it actually took three winches with snatch blocks and the whole equipment or an agricultural tractor to get'em out, just because they were over confident "I have a winch, I can go through anything". Additionaly, if you don't know how to use a winch proparly, it could get a kind of dangerous.

Of course, a winch is a great thing I also would not mind to have one. But if you do it right, a good, strong winch, second battary, probably bigger alternator, with good auxilary equipment (snatch block, tree and recovery straps, earth anker etc.) it's quite a big investment and - in my personal opinion - this money can used in more efficiant things.

 

[Brian1]

Just my $.02 on the winch issue. This is going to be my next big upgrade because of a wheeling experience a month ago. 3 of us mostly stockers went out in the mud to play. Although I did not get stuck, the other 2 did. In one case, trying to strap the Explorer out did not work. We then got a 6x6 tractor to pull him out. The 6x6 did nothing but spin its wheels. He was then pulled out by a winch with ease. If one of us would have had a winch it would have been a much better trip.

Lamah- do you have front and rear tow points? This is a mod you would need to make. As far as breaking something, I don't think I have, well except my manual hubs.

 

[Lamah]

i already have better tires, they arent bigger, but they are all terrain tires. As fas as i know the explorer is stock, but it has nice tires, heh. I had read on here or some explorer site that someone had gone out to a trail and bent something, which is why i was wondering if there any parts that should be replaced with stronger ones. Eventually i will probably at least get 30" tires, if not a lift and larger ones ( but the gas millage is what i dont like about bigger tires )


Anyways, thanks for the info

Btw: Brian, in the back a have a trailer hitch which i could hook something onto and in the front i'm not sure what i have. I'd go look but its in the shop at the moment.

Thanks,
Jeff A.k.a Lamah

 

[leebo]

I doubt that you'd have anything to tow with in the front....could be wrong??? As for bending something....no matter what you do if you wheel hard enough you'll bend something.

In my mind one of the biggest mods isn't to your truck...do a search on the site for "trail equipment" Get these. A stocker can do a ton of stuff but even a super explorer will get into trouble. Just little stuff like tow straps and hi-lift jacks can save your butt at anytime. On top of that most of these are cheap to get.

 

[rpenner54]

Well I have to disagree about the whole winch thing. I sure wish I had had a winch on my vehicle or around it when I got stuck for the first time snowbashing. It took a full size chevy with chains and a huge tow strap to pull me out. Even he had trouble! If I had had a winch it would've take a few minutes instead of hour and hours. Winches are extremly handy in the snow.

 

[mattadams]

Originally posted by rpenner54
Well I have to disagree about the whole winch thing. I sure wish I had had a winch on my vehicle or around it when I got stuck for the first time snowbashing. It took a full size chevy with chains and a huge tow strap to pull me out. Even he had trouble! If I had had a winch it would've take a few minutes instead of hour and hours. Winches are extremly handy in the snow.

wow, people agreeing with me when I expected everyone to disagree, very cool! LOL. Yeah that's the situation I'm talking about, because if you have two vehicles and you are in snow or mud or icy situations, another vehicle with a tow strap will do you little or no good, as many have already experienced. That only helps if you can't get traction and someone else can (which does happen occasionally). Plus the tow strap is only about 20-30 feet max (You wouldn't want much longer), so if your trying to strap to someone further then that, you'll have to use more then one strap which can get dangerous. Most winches come with between 100-150 feet of winch cable, I've used up to about 75 feet of mine (getting my buddy out of the middle of a freezing river, LOL). Although many times winches won't help you out at all either, for example if your in the middle of the desert and theres nothing to winch to... quite useless...

 

[Lamah]

that is so not true .... winch to a cactus

 

[<<MONOCHROMOUS>>]

i bet the cactus would love it if you tried!

 

[Lamah]

screw the cactus, if i'm stuck, that cactus will die if neccisary ... even if just for fun

 

[Ray Lobato]

Originally posted by mattadams

Although many times winches won't help you out at all either, for example if your in the middle of the desert and theres nothing to winch to... quite useless... [/QUOTE]
Not if you have a Pull-Pal, pretty easy to use and works good, or you can bury your spare and hook to that. This is alot harder to do because you have to bury it deep, but if that's all you got, it's better than doing nothing.

 

[mattadams]

that's true, I know there are also other techniques, but I won't ever forget the spare tire/lug wrench combo . I bought a book on off-roading techniques one time that was a total waste of money, but one thing they recommended (and I don't see how it could work) is to take stakes and tie them together and bury them in the ground... that requires takinga lot of stuff with you though, I prefer the lug wrench/spare tire buried in the ground one .

 

[donkey boy]

I don't doubt that there are situations a winch can come handy (I change the porcentage from 3 to 10 OK?) Anyhow, I think that if you don't have a winch, you might be tempted to think "this recovery would have been easy with a winch" That's not always the case. Most of the times I was involved in some winching, it actually was a heck of a job. As Matt said, trees sometimes are rare where you would need them the most, the cactuses might not be strong enough and digging in a pul-pal or earth anker, as I called it, or the spare wheel safely is also not always easy. Most of the recoveries I ever did was with the strap, (maybe because I never had a winch ?!?!?! LOL) and most of the time, it worked fine, also on snow!

Well, thinking it over, it actually is great if a lot of people do have winches. Like this, the chance that the guys I go wheeling with can winch me out of trouble and I don't need to make the investment myself is a lot bigger.

Again, I'm not opposed to winches, I would just set them priority wise a lot more to the back.

[Edited by donkey boy on 12-01-2000 at 09:24 PM]

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Winch VS Yank Strap

Matt and Donkey Boy:

I actually think you're both right. A winch is a great tool if the situaion is right, ie., good anchor points are available either natural or man-made. But... I'd say that 90% of the recoveries I've participated in were best and most eficiently handled with Yank Straps. The other 10% were often situations similar to Rick's at the latest T-Haven ,where the winch was used to prevent further tragedy or damage by keeping pull on from a particular direction that had to be varied in length etc. and from angles and distances where straps wouldn't reach.

Winches are inherently dangerous, especially without any rigid and mandated inspection/ maintenance standards on cables, hooks, mounting hardware etc.

Bottom line, a winch is nice to have, but a Yanker is a MUST have. If your resources are limited, spend your money on the reccomended offroad equipment in GJarret's article. Even though I've got one, a winch would be way down my purchase list.

As for a winch in snow... Since I learned to, and drove many miles in Maine, I know a little about snow...and still, I believe it falls onto the "nice to have" not the "must have"
category.

 

[leebo]

I'll even go as far as saying that I'd rather use a strap with the Hi-Lift over the winch. A winch in my mind should only be used when the strap would not work.