Date:         Fri, 14 Mar 2003 13:45:48 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Subject:      Re: Off-Roading in 2WD Vanagon
Comments: To: "Richard A. Jones" <Jones@COLORADO.EDU>
In-Reply-To:  <3E720872.8FFBBF63@colorado.edu>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Fri, 14 Mar 2003, Richard A. Jones wrote:

> Anyway, I did it a lot.  The secret (as in a lot of
> Jeeping) is speed.  You have to have enough
> momentum to get over the rough spots and gain traction
> again.

I agree.  It has to be speed with finesse, though, especially on sandy
surfaces.  You want to keep your momentum up, but you *don't* want to spin
a wheel or you'll dig in and get stuck.

Anyway, it'll do okay for two-tracking and logging roads.  Not real "off
roading" (as in no road at all), though.  A lot of vehicles you wouldn't
think of as off-road candidates can be coaxed down fairly rough two-tracks
without much trouble if you're careful.  I used to do a lot of exploring
in a '90 Ford Econoline.  (The price of this was a fair amount of time
spent driving in reverse -- it takes a *lot* of room to turn around an
Econoline.  It was an awkward vehicle, but the suspension was tough as
nails and could take all kinds of abuse.)


David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si