What's a good vehicle for off-road?

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letitsnow

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Another inexpensive option - s10 zr2. They do OK off road, and some of the parts for the drivetrain swap with the gmt400.
 

1952Chevy

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It all depends on how hard you will be driving it. I am building my Suburban with that purpose in mind(99 K2500). Is it the best? Absolutely not, the 3/4 ton suspension is stiff, my remedy for that is to run a lower tire pressure. It fits me, the wife, the kids, and the dogs in comfort, while still allowing room for camping/recreation gear. I don't plan to do any major rock crawling or technical trails. For me its about exploring the outdoors, and getting the whole family out. Right now it's stock. I plan to do maybe a 3 inch lift, and a locker in the rear. Other than that it will stay stock. People often forget how capable a regular 4x4 is. We see purpose built trail rigs, that can do 10x more than they are ever asked to do. A mild lift and a rear locker will take me everywhere I will probably ever want to go. Anything more than that and I will get a atvs/dirtbikes etc.
 

letitsnow

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It all depends on how hard you will be driving it. I am building my Suburban with that purpose in mind(99 K2500). Is it the best? Absolutely not, the 3/4 ton suspension is stiff, my remedy for that is to run a lower tire pressure. It fits me, the wife, the kids, and the dogs in comfort, while still allowing room for camping/recreation gear. I don't plan to do any major rock crawling or technical trails. For me its about exploring the outdoors, and getting the whole family out. Right now it's stock. I plan to do maybe a 3 inch lift, and a locker in the rear. Other than that it will stay stock. People often forget how capable a regular 4x4 is. We see purpose built trail rigs, that can do 10x more than they are ever asked to do. A mild lift and a rear locker will take me everywhere I will probably ever want to go. Anything more than that and I will get a atvs/dirtbikes etc.

It seems like any vehicle that is a serious off roader, ends up built with at least a 3/4 ton drivetrain anyways - I like your plan.
 

Trenton

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This is MY TOPIC, right here! The biggest reason I moved to Colorado is so I can go off roading.

I have off roaded my 1998 K3500 CCLB SRW in some amazing off road trails in Colorado. It does really well for its size, but that's the problem, its SIZE. The long length and horrible turning radius we have will make it hard for you to do switchbacks and narrow tree trails.

That being said, I assume that K3500 of yours has the 10.5" 14 bolt rear end. That thing is SOLID. If you have the G80 in the rear, it'll take you a lot of places without issue. I've done a lot of trails in 2WD that surprised people. The full float rear end is what a lot of off roaders use because its common to find, extremely durable, and there's a huge aftermarket support.

I havent had an issue with the 9.25" IFS on my truck so far. I do want to upgrade my tie roads with Kryptonite rods. If youre stock height (or with a leveling kit), a Cognito Idler/Pitman arm support will brace the idler and pitman arm. I rubbed my pitman arm loose once, that was more of a mechanical mistake I made.

A solid axle would definitely be more durable for heavier off roading, and would be a lot more flexible than our IFS system. Offroaddesign.com makes everything you would need to swap to a Dana 60 front axle, passenger side or driver side drop. I may be biased since they're just up the street from me, but they literally do have everything. Offroad Design is pretty much GM specialty, so anything 1973 to 2010 they have off road parts for. You could use a Ford '77.5-'79 or '85-'91 Dana 60 and retain the driver's side drop, or you could use a GM Dana 60 and change over to a driver's side drop transfer case.


I'm actually about to buy a 1982 Chevy K10 Shortwide running pickup from my buddy. The shorter wheelbase (117.5" vs 168.5") will be a lot better in the mountain trails. If you can find a squarebody for cheap that runs, the drivetrain is a solid platform to start for an awesome off road build. Offroad Design has a TON of off road goodies for square body trucks. Theyre already solid axle, and the 4WD comes with an NP205 t-case I believe, which has a LOT of aftermarket support. Upgrading to a Dana 60/14 bolt in a half ton is relatively easy. The engines are kind of your limiting factor. Carburetors are fine at sea level, but higher elevations (say 5,000 ft up to 12,000 ft) they start to sputter if not tuned for the elevation. LS swaps are a common thing to do for off road trucks that see that high elevation like I do.

Other than that, i see a lot of Toyota Tacomas, Toyota 4Runners, Jeep Wranglers, and FJ Cruisers on the mountain trails. Toyota Tacomas/4Runners are a really reliable option if you want great off road capability yet still be able to daily drive it. Jeep Wranglers are fun and really good off road, but they aren't the most reliable. I worked in a shop and know Jeeps wear out fast.

Here's some pictures of my off road adventures:
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Erin

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Agreed.

Yep, big fan of Matts Off Road Recovery. Recently I discovered Fab Rats. I also used to watch BSF Recovery Team.

Have also watched a few LS swapped Jeeps videos on YT. Very nice!
I’m still kicking myself for passing on an 80s model wrangler with a 4.3 vortec/700r4 swap for $6,700.
 

stutaeng

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It all depends on how hard you will be driving it. I am building my Suburban with that purpose in mind(99 K2500). Is it the best? Absolutely not, the 3/4 ton suspension is stiff, my remedy for that is to run a lower tire pressure. It fits me, the wife, the kids, and the dogs in comfort, while still allowing room for camping/recreation gear. I don't plan to do any major rock crawling or technical trails. For me its about exploring the outdoors, and getting the whole family out. Right now it's stock. I plan to do maybe a 3 inch lift, and a locker in the rear. Other than that it will stay stock. People often forget how capable a regular 4x4 is. We see purpose built trail rigs, that can do 10x more than they are ever asked to do. A mild lift and a rear locker will take me everywhere I will probably ever want to go. Anything more than that and I will get a atvs/dirtbikes etc.
Nice! That's kinda what I wanted to hear about folks running their rigs. The 04 has the 4.10/9.5" G80 (same as my K3500, but that one has the 4.10/10.5" G80). The 04 needs a tiny bit of work, mostly cosmetic: a dented hood and a good washing inside. Drivetrain is solid. I had bought it for my wife, but we needed to upgrade to an Express van, so it's just sitting.
 

b454rat

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I had an 80s S-10 blazer that I used to wheel. It was 100% stock, but didnt do anything hard core. Where I am is mostly mud, no "crawling" to speed of. Woods trails, river/creeks, anything that was offroad. I build a couple trucks for mud, but anymore it's limited places to go. I have 2 CCSBs, trying to decide which one is gonna be offroad'd, but it won't be anything extreme anyways. CCLBs can be wheeled, just depends what you wanna do with it. The wheelbase can help, or can screw yah haha.
 

b454rat

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Or as someone mentioned an ATV. I have a Can Am Outlander 1000 XXC, a monster is an understatement. There is a reason they put a sticker on it that says that this machine can kill you!!! If you dont know what ur doing, then you don't belong on this machine lol. And it will fit in the back of the truck....
 

DonYukon

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As someone who has been wheeling for 17+ years and all of them in a GMT400 heres my advice...

The two vehicles you listed the 3500 is just too big and heavy and probably so is the Burban. I'm saying this while I wheel a Yukon.... so first off you need to decide on what you like . full size, jeep, or SXS. those are really the main categories next is budget. and finally, the time you have to enjoy it.

here is my experience

If you decide to build your rig: BUDGET AND TIME are your biggest enemies.
it took me roughly 10 years to get my 400 the way I wanted it. Why you ask???
So in between wheeling it pretty much stock and built and everything in between I would obviously break parts. that said budgeted build money was supposed to be "Mod" money. would end up being spent on repair parts. I.E on at least on 2 different occasions I had the money for my first 6-inch IFS lift. well on those 2 occasions I would break something of some considerable value so the lift would be postponed. Add to that Kids, Life and other priorities and what you thought you might have had with money or time is not there.
For me in the beginning first 4-5 years I didn't have money but I had the time. Now I have the money and hardly the time. either way mine got built with all the goodies and i couldnt be happier, still not completly done though.. :fc5716bd:
Also have a clear image of what you want to do from the start. Or at least have the best idea on how mild or wild you want the build to be. your interest or idea may change with every improvement you make.
Take guys that's been doing it for years advice. I was told on many occasions: "son you need to SAS that thing with how you wheel it or by the size tires you're going to use." I didn't take it seriously and, in the end, I essentially wasted the money on my 6-inch super lift (great lift kit BTW) because I ended up going the SAS route after burning up multiple front-end parts I.E (hubs,CV's, 2 right side tie rods and a few sets of ball joints.)
Unless you want to build something that's completely yours Build it...

Not saying I regret going the build route but it would have been cheaper if I didn't

MY ADVICE:

Buy one. I love my Rig Almost too much that sometimes it hampers me on the trails. sometimes I look at a sketchy ass line and wonder ... "IF I roll this thing i could lose all that time and money, I've invested in it". Granted ive done some wild stuff in my rig but as ive gotten older and the more time and money I've sunk into this damn thing I've calmed down a bit.
but in the same regard I might be missing out on an awesome line to run because of it. sometimes I've toyed with buying a backyard built XJ that I could care less about and just beat the snot out of it.
Buying one also takes alot of the fustration out of sourcing parts, building, testing , tuning ect...and usually is ready to go out of the box (depending on what you buy). Also buying a decent rig is usually a steal anyways as i could never get back the money i spent in mine... Ive got receipts for over $25 grand in parts and upgrades... IF i sold it today id be lucky to get maybe 8k for it to the RIGHT buyer that knows what I got in it.
the biggest risk to buying a built rig is If you dont know what you're looking for you could buy a death trap or a headache. or both. either way expect at least some repairs. remember its extremely likely that it's been ran hard and put away wet. Most guys aren't me that spend 2 days washing it, replacing fluids and repacking bearings to be ready for the next trip.

As for what to buy wether its stock to build it or built already my thoughts:

GMT400 - Great reliable platform but takes some money to make it really capable.
Jeeps (XJ/WJ ect..) - SO XJs are a great option that's cheaper than their Wrangler cousins and are a blast to drive. they do have some issues as with any vehicle and there are some years to steer clear from. but modifying them prove to be rather easy until you run into some unibody issues on the extreme side.
Jeep Wranglers- While extremely capable with the right options, and the community and aftermarket support to back them. they are EXTREMELY OVERPRICED. and depending on what your plans are with them will cost more to push them over their capability ceiling. the only plus here is that it should retain its resale better than the XJ.
SXS - as stated in a previous post they are extremely fun, but IMO Way overpriced. if you want a more open expierence these things are great and honestly there is more offroad parks available to these than that of full size OHVs. little tip: its actually cheaper to repair a Jeep XJ in most cases. Out of the box though these things pretty much outperform anything discussed prior. but after my last rainy cold trip to Uwharrie I found out I was more comfortable on the trails with dry heated seats. vs being wet and cold.

finally, and I'm glad someone brought it up is trailering. IF this is going to be a designated trail rig you have to factor in trailering it with your budget. (if you dont already have one) a SXS while they can become street legal. pretty much needs to be trailered but with a Full-size OHV you dont have to do so.

Really comes down to preference over anything. just spewing some wisdom for you to chew on.

hope it helps.
 
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