Off road driving.... Is it really that hard!!

[Toylux]

Was out shooting on one of the estate's in Norfolk at the weekend!!!! Why do people make such a meal of going off road, they have the tool and yet still fart about... is it me?? am i not doing it right ??? or is it old farts stuck in there ways.....

3,, 4x4's My gen 3, and landy and a shogun All very compatant cars.... So ive never been off road and had to follow the 2 in front, we get to a crossing thats absolutly bogging!!!! (about 40 meters accross start to finish) 1st up landy into 4 wheel drive LOW RATIO (huh,,, what its a Fooken puddle for christ sake,, Anyway) off he goes 3 mph and 5 meters in gets stuck, car wont move back or forth, DOH
!!! what!!!! after 30 mins of pushing, turning wheels finally makes it to the other side!!!! Phew!
NEXT!!!!! Shogun low ratio (what!!!!!) off he goes, makes it a bit further but still stuck!!!! about 10 meters in,,,,This time landrover has whinch to pull him out.
My turn, all looking at me a smiling "about to get stuck and get your shinny truck dirty" yeah right.. R reverse back 50 meters... D Drive selct 4wd. slowly build speed.. Hit the bog doing around 30 mph and Ta da Drive right though it,,,,,Stunned look on everyones face..... NOW this is just silly, all of those cars could have gone through if they had held a steedy 15 - 20 mph,,, But no its not the done thing ol boy.... Why the hell do you have to stop and look at it!!!! JUst drive through it!!!!! waste of a days shooting if your spending half of it digging / dragging your car out..

Someone is about to say im crazy arnt they!! well i dont care.

So can anyone tell me what was going on, Why do people drive so slow going offroad? Sometimes its clear when terrain is dangerous or very rough that a slow reduced speed is the safe way, but it dosent seem to matter if its a 6inch bog or a 6ft deep river they always seem to drive very very slow.....


Someone put me in the picture...

[BUSHWHACKER]

Was out shooting on one of the estate's in Norfolk at the weekend!!!! Why do people make such a meal of going off road, they have the tool and yet still fart about... is it me?? am i not doing it right ??? or is it old farts stuck in there ways.....

3,, 4x4's My gen 3, and landy and a shogun All very compatant cars.... So ive never been off road and had to follow the 2 in front, we get to a crossing thats absolutly bogging!!!! (about 40 meters accross start to finish) 1st up landy into 4 wheel drive LOW RATIO (huh,,, what its a Fooken puddle for christ sake,, Anyway) off he goes 3 mph and 5 meters in gets stuck, car wont move back or forth, DOH
!!! what!!!! after 30 mins of pushing, turning wheels finally makes it to the other side!!!! Phew!
NEXT!!!!! Shogun low ratio (what!!!!!) off he goes, makes it a bit further but still stuck!!!! about 10 meters in,,,,This time landrover has whinch to pull him out.
My turn, all looking at me a smiling "about to get stuck and get your shinny truck dirty" yeah right.. R reverse back 50 meters... D Drive selct 4wd. slowly build speed.. Hit the bog doing around 30 mph and Ta da Drive right though it,,,,,Stunned look on everyones face..... NOW this is just silly, all of those cars could have gone through if they had held a steedy 15 - 20 mph,,, But no its not the done thing ol boy.... Why the hell do you have to stop and look at it!!!! JUst drive through it!!!!! waste of a days shooting if your spending half of it digging / dragging your car out..

Someone is about to say im crazy arnt they!! well i dont care.

So can anyone tell me what was going on, Why do people drive so slow going offroad? Sometimes its clear when terrain is dangerous or very rough that a slow reduced speed is the safe way, but it dosent seem to matter if its a 6inch bog or a 6ft deep river they always seem to drive very very slow.....


Someone put me in the picture...

Brilliant! way to go dude, you kicked ass!!

[TonyN]

Slowly will never break anything if there is any nasty like a tree stump or rocks under the surface, and you'll get out easier if stuck.

Some instances like your talking about, sheer momentum will get you through, but others its not such a good idea, its all about assesing the situation, which is why people get out and have look if you can't see the bottom of a muddy hole or water.

The trouble will hitting it fast is that if it does get stuck, its far harder to recover. A 2 ton truck at 20 mph will bury itself a long way into a mudhole before its stuck, and will be a nightmare to get out again.

There is no one way of driving offroad, different situations require different approches.

One this is garrenteed though, if you think its just a matter of blasting through it, one day you'll regret it.

[Gamedawn]

The blast through approach works ok if you've got a couple of disposible guinea pigs to check out the puddle first

[MattF]

So can anyone tell me what was going on, Why do people drive so slow going offroad? Sometimes its clear when terrain is dangerous or very rough that a slow reduced speed is the safe way, but it dosent seem to matter if its a 6inch bog or a 6ft deep river they always seem to drive very very slow.....

Water and speed most definitely do not mix. It may look impressive, and you
may get through intact, but that is more down to luck than judgement. You
can have holes or rocks which are not visible for starters. The water itself can
rip bodyparts off as well. The pressure you cause when slamming into water
could easily leave parts of the vehicle behind you, bonnet being a prime
example. For wont of a better description, you are subjecting the vehicle to
an almost instant hydraulic ram if you approach water at speed.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Water and speed most definitely do not mix. It may look impressive, and you
may get through intact, but that is more down to luck than judgement. You
can have holes or rocks which are not visible for starters. The water itself can
rip bodyparts off as well. The pressure you cause when slamming into water
could easily leave parts of the vehicle behind you, bonnet being a prime
example. For wont of a better description, you are subjecting the vehicle to
an almost instant hydraulic ram if you approach water at speed.

Jeez you guys, take the fun out of why don't you!!

[NFC]

"As fast as necessary, as slow as possible".

Recce the ground if you're unsure then tackle appropriately because big fun can lead to big damage. To your car, to the environment and to our chances of keeping rights of way open (although I note that in this instance you were on private land so the last point is irrelevant in this instance).

[NFC]

PS: Anybody seen my numberplate? I think I left it in a puddle in Yorkshire.

[stormforce]

Water and speed most definitely do not mix. It may look impressive, and you
may get through intact, but that is more down to luck than judgement. You
can have holes or rocks which are not visible for starters. The water itself can
rip bodyparts off as well. The pressure you cause when slamming into water
could easily leave parts of the vehicle behind you, bonnet being a prime
example. For wont of a better description, you are subjecting the vehicle to
an almost instant hydraulic ram if you approach water at speed.

i know Matt is desperate to say this but wont.

especially if your a hairdresser....

[Apache]

It is a 3rd gen, so it may have stripped itself down to a 2nd gen when he went through

[legendgamesmaster]

fun though!

I went down the aptly named Bath Road in worcester when it was flooded.... at 30 in a foot of water... ooooh the spray was ace ! and it cleaned the truck. but I did see another flood later with manhole covers popped and water gushing up. It then dawned on me that I could easily have dropped a wheel down an uncovered manhole and ended up looking a right berk .

[BUSHWHACKER]

I went down the aptly named Bath Road in worcester when it was flooded.... at 30 in a foot of water... ooooh the spray was ace ! and it cleaned the truck. but I did see another flood later with manhole covers popped and water gushing up. It then dawned on me that I could easily have dropped a wheel down an uncovered manhole and ended up looking a right berk .

Not a problem with 33" or 35" tyres!

[MattF]

i know Matt is desperate to say this but wont.

especially if your a hairdresser....

Christ, don't tell me I missed out on a commentable vehicle without even
realising it?

[Apache]

I went down the aptly named Bath Road in worcester when it was flooded.... at 30 in a foot of water... ooooh the spray was ace ! and it cleaned the truck. but I did see another flood later with manhole covers popped and water gushing up. It then dawned on me that I could easily have dropped a wheel down an uncovered manhole and ended up looking a right berk .

Get over to Upton! The back roads were under anything up to 2ft the week before last and have been up to 4ft last week! Only went as far as periscope depth (headlamps). It's quite unnerving when the splashing stops cos your tyres are submerged

[da SLUG man]

i knoiw exactly what you mean...
some people can make a meal out of driving into a boot sale car park!...


but there again, i've beat the absolute $hit out of my motor by going too fast / hard...

i.e. splashed mud across windscreen and lost it in direction of trees... through big X axle ditch without thinking, nearly went over, but the bent wishbone saved it!... using object to stop instead of brakes... and nearly donutted into the back of UDTrev's motor once, but i'm not sure that he really knows that!!