Purchasing four wheel drive vehicles is a costly exercise and considering (mostly) they're nowhere near ready to tackle rough terrain when they leave the factory the purchase price is just the beginning. It's something a lot of people don't understand, probably because advertisements portray vehicles driving happily through rough terrain in a bid to entice people to buy them; it's very misleading but it works and many thousands are sold every year.
Here, things can get very rough, a quick look at this video will demonstrate it pretty clearly, and factory-spec vehicles have no place in rough terrain, they belong on the bitumen and possibly a smooth gravel road from time to time.
I was chatting with a non-four-wheel-driving friend who is thinking about getting off-road with a purchase of a new Ford Ranger 4x4 and he asked about what he may need from an accessories perspective. It's a big list, and costly, but I mentioned a few things I feel are essential and which I have had on my four wheel drives:
Suspension upgrade and lift, under-vehicle protection plates, extended differential breather pipes, diesel pre-filter, front bullbar, winch, snorkel, spot lights, UHF radio, steel rock-sliders/side steps, auxiliary battery system and charger (to power on-board fridge), roof rack storage, recovery equipment, front and rear recovery points...All of that (on the Ford Ranger) will come to about $25,000 - I know that because I had it all on my own Ford Ranger. There's other things of course, but there's the basics.
My buddy was a bit disconcerted considering the vehicle will cost him $80,000 to drive away from the Ford dealership; he thought seeing the vehicle driven through a bit of mud on the advertisement meant it was capable. Nope.
If you watched the video I linked above you'll see a Chevy truck that's worth (after all the modifications) about $300,000...yep, that's a capable rig...and yet (if you watched the video) you'll see what happened to it; the resulting damage totaled $250,000. Keep in mind, a standard four wheel drive out of the factory would never even made it to where the incident happened!
I have done enough off-roading to know that it can be incredibly challenging, and amazingly rewarding also. I've not destroyed vehicles but have damaged them even though all of my vehicles have been heavily modified! Four wheel driving, getting to remote areas and into rough terrain isn't something that should be taken lightly, it can and has killed people and has certainly destroyed vehicles costing owners a lot of money - Insurance doesn't cover off-roading mostly. But it can be done reasonably safely if the right form is followed.
My responsibility to my mate was to tell him how it is without any bullshit; I'd hate to hear he went off half-cocked and destroyed his vehicle or was injured or killed. So, I'll be working with him on it, yep, he's still super keen to get into it, and will help him get the stuff he needs (over time). I'll also take him out and teach him some things about assessing terrain, driving techniques and recovery methods which will give him a good (and safe) head start.
It can be a difficult and rocky journey towards learning new things but we're often able to lean on others to smooth out the rough roads and make the journey more comfortable so to speak.
Have you ever given a friend valuable information about something you have a good understanding of? I mean a hobby or interest, not your job. We all have areas of expertise and knowledge and by sharing it with others who show interest can help them along and make their enjoyment of the same hobbies and interests that much better. If you have done this, or have been the recipient, and would like to share the scenario please go ahead in the comments below.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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As I've bragged before, I got my best buddy to buy a bitcoin for 5,000 euro she was storing in her freezer. I've given quite a bit of diet and training advice to friends, never unsolicited and rarely followed.
Yes, unsolicited advice is not very welcome. I've killed people, some twice or three times for the same person, for doing so. Lol.
You mention unfollowed which happens a lot. I call people like that askholes. People who ask for and want your advice then go and do the fucken opposite.
Please Play THIS Next time your off-road. 😁
Haha, you bet ya.
Yep...
It is dangerous!!
Must watch out for falling rocks, and 4x4's.
Sorry Sr, this so much money you said me the accessories are most expensive than the vehicle.
This sounds crazy.
I broken my carter the oil deposit in a rock and was hard, because y burn my motor for this, but well this adventure looks like so nice.
By the way you do not mention the arnes Winchester in front of your vehicle.
It's a lot of money for sure.
My current four wheel drive cost me $100,000AUD to buy and I've modified it and added accessories to the value of $25,000 on top and there's still other things I could add. I've been conservative and have focused on what I need mostly.
The thing is, when I take my vehicle out to the places i choose to go it will either break (costing way more money) or simply not make it and either way that doesn't make good sense to me.
We all live in different worlds and in mine, Australia, it costs this sort of money to go to remote places with one's own vehicle and my life is too short to waste it sitting around doing fuck all; I'd rather be out living it the best I can so that at the end I can say it was fulfilling and meaningful. I make that happen in various ways and having hobbies like this is one such way.
I am agree with you, a man said
What is expensive?.
Expensive is not have enough money to pay a good or services.
My last car was a geo tracker, and the other was Toyota Rav 4
A short cars but for recover short wild street.
And yes the life is very very short to stay in front of a tv seeing how others living their life.
Is better living by your own account.
You've done some off-roading? The Geo Tracker was brought down here as the Suzuki Sierra I think, fairly capable small light-duty off-roaders.
off-roading? The most wild route that I was do was this,
From Guazapa to Tultepeque, this place is very wild and dark, because exist a dust street in the middle of the forest and exist in the river of the street a big trees, and the roots cover the street, you need to be very carefully with your car, and the up of the trees produces a big shadow in the street, it was at 3 pm and you think the time is 6.00 pm because the shadows disappear the light of the sun.
This was hard because you think I am alone here without nothing, no water mo food, and if your car will broke you are in trouble.
And then we cross the forest , cross a hill in la Loma del Espino, and then cross Hoya galana.
And come to Quezaltepeque it is the most wild of road I was doing,
In other parts, I am an amateur biologist and I love to practice the foraging and love going to go to the forest and for this reason I move with my car the most closer to the forest.
But I am not take a risk, with the off road because I have only one car and I know the cost for repairs it is a little expensive, for this reason I prefer walking in the wild places, and my car only uses in a street clear.
With my dad one day, we enter in a land with the Geo trackers, and yes it was very strong car, and the stomach of our car was damage because a lot of big plants in the soil we found in our adventures, for this reason I take a risk calculate because as you said you can dye or damage your car.
In the process,
I would like to do but in this moment, is a risk I am not take completely,
Looks like you might have had some fun on that trek. Every off road adventure comes with risk to people and vehicles, but can be very rewarding too.
Hi Galen, those necessary expenses cost a lot of money, especially considering that the manufacturer implies in its advertising that the vehicle does not need them when it leaves the factory.
Yeah, it's difficult for manufacturers to cover all bases so they build generic cars and leave it to after market manufacturers to provide what owners need to do what they need to do. It's really the best way to be honest as each person's needs are different.
I'm sure it is. But the advertising they offer seems to me to lead to confusion.
My son and his mates are right into 4wds and it costs them a small fortune. I helped early on working on some of the modifications, bull bar, winch, snorkel. I even did my own prado with the same but it all soon got way out of my league and they now teach me.
Yep, a small fortune for sure, and sometimes not so small.
Modifying a 4x4 with the correct equipment to get out and about with safety and minimising potential damage and breakage is a critical part of that hobby; get it wrong and it can go badly...which can also happen when the modifications are correct also. These days there's so many great products out there but most are costly...there's cheap variants but those often aren't worth the money one pays mostly.
It's great that you helped, that would have saved some cost, but I've always left it to the experts...it's far too complicated with modern vehicles.
My job as a librarian was basically offering advice and providing leads for further information, but you said jobs don't count.
When my friend was buying a house, I tagged along because my drafting background gave me some useful information as a preliminary home inspector. I'm able to see big obvious-to-me structural issues or design and layout flaws a bit better than most.
Here in the PNW, a factory 4WD is helpful for snow and bad back roads, but four wheel drive still does not mean four wheel stop on ice. I would even trust most factory trucks in driving up logging roads with some ruts and bad bits. But they have no place on serious trails.
Advice in job functions count, I was just more interested in hearing about people's interests rather than their professions.
There's some capable four wheel drives out there, but capable for what is the question as you point out. Most are fit for purpose meaning on road and the odd gravel road or hard packed beach but in the rough stuff...nope,that's why there's a very healthy after market industry.
I always thought it was a bit funny when Jeep had their big push several years ago adding the "Trail Ready" tag to some of their vehicles. I used to own a Jeep Grand Cherokee and while it was a nice ride, I wouldn't have considered it trail ready. Though I did take it bouncing through the woods a couple of times. My buddy bought it from me and put a ton of money into a lift kit, rock slides, and all other kinds of stuff. It was basically a totally different vehicle when he was finished with it.
Yep, exactly but so many people head out there thinking they have the right stuff and then... Bogged or broken or worse.its not something one should jump into I guess.
No, not at all!
It can be very ungrateful if you try to give someone well-intentioned advice (even when he asks you for the same), when that advice does not fit into what he himself imagined.
So a friend of mine, who bought an apartment, asked about the organization of the furniture, and when I advised him to invest minimally in separating the kitchen area from the living room, he told me that it was stupid... Until he moved in and started using it. But by then it was already too late.
He fill the space with furniture that he could not move. Maybe he will remember my proposal in 5 years when the time comes for him to buy furniture and renovate the apartment....
And when it comes to 4x4 vehicles, if I were to buy such a car, I would look at the model used by adventurers in my area. For a little money, you can get anywhere you imagine...
You took good photos with this Lego model, it's all about the perspective 😀
Sometimes advice is not delivered well and sometimes not taken well.
For me, friends have come to me to ask about financial advice or even about crypto stuff. I have a personal interest about these things and they seem to find it useful to have a second opinion to supplement views and ideas from their personal professional advisors.
That's a good use of your knowledge and a credit to them that they have asked someone who knows.
The information you gave your friend will be very good for him, he will surely make good use of it. And yes I have shared my knowledge about painting, crafts and also about the learning I have done and I love it and it has been well received. I like to give information that at the time was useful to me and if it helps someone else, I welcome it.
A particular case, my mother's cousin was painting a portrait of her father and she called me because the face did not look the same as the photo, I gave her some advice, I painted a little and she did the rest, it looked great!
Painting advice, I assumed if you answered it'd be something like that.
It's my biggest hobby! It couldn't be any other way hahahah!
That's a great way to guide someone as sharing knowledge like, this can save so much trouble down the road. The toy car in the photos looks amazing. That's a toy car, right?
Yep, it's a Lego Technic Land Rover Defender. Well spotted.
¡Me gusta mucho el carrito!
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