You own a car? Care to share?

[foothead]

*If you want to see some of the great outdoors here in America a truck with 4x4 is a necessity.

No, it isn't. If you want to explore the outdoors, get off your ass and go for a hike. Sitting inside of a truck does not count as being outdoors. You're sitting inside a completely sealed off, air conditioned vehicle which is propelled by a 200 horsepower gas engine, driving down a 20 foot wide area that's been completely stripped of all vegetation. I can't think of anything further from being "the great outdoors." I've seen way too many beautiful places ruined by off road vehicles. Not only do they completely destroy the landscape, but they're also a huge nuisance to hikers. Your truck is clearly audible from miles away. It completely ruins a hike when all you can hear the whole time is awful engine noises. Whenever trails meet up with the 4x4 roads, I always get mowed down and splashed with mud by inconsiderate jerks going way too fast.

 

[particleman]

No, it isn't. If you want to explore the outdoors, get off your ass and go for a hike. Sitting inside of a truck does not count as being outdoors. I've seen way too many beautiful places ruined by off road vehicles. Not only do they completely destroy the landscape, but they're also a huge nuisance to hikers. Your truck is clearly audible from miles away. It completely ruins a hike when all you can hear the whole time is awful engine noises. Whenever trails meet up with the 4x4 roads, I always get mowed down and splashed with mud by inconsiderate jerks going way too fast.

When I go hiking I go for days sometimes weeks. How in the middle of Arizona am I going to carry 12 days worth of water food and gear for 2 people 10 miles off the road? I use my 4x4 to carry all the gear I need. There are ghosttowns and mining towns many many miles out of walking distance. When you don't know what you are talking about and you are just talking to talk you look like an idiot.

 

[foothead]

When I go hiking I go for days sometimes weeks. How in the middle of Arizona am I going to carry 12 days worth of water food and gear for 2 people 10 miles off the road? I use my 4x4 to carry all the gear I need. There are ghosttowns and mining towns many many miles out of walking distance. When you don't know what you are talking about and you are just talking to talk you look like an idiot.

I was under the impression you were referring to off-roading as recreation. My bad. As you can probably tell, I've had my fair share of awful experiences with it.


I'd still say a 4x4 truck is hardly a necessity though. It's nice in the situations you mentioned, but I'm a pretty avid hiker, and I've never once run into a situation where getting a car somewhere was a necessity. I don't even own a car, and I still manage to get where I need to with all my gear. Sure, a car would let me carry less/not walk as far/whatever, but I don't go hiking for the convenience.

 

[particleman]

Its not possible here if you do any more than a day hike. You cant carry enough water for more than a day. I have climbed several Colorado 14'ers and have done a lot of day hiking here in Az. If you want to get to the secluded areas of Az you need a 4x4.

 

[foothead]

How much water are you drinking that you can only carry a day's worth? Wow. Do you go camping in the desert during the middle of summer? I do understand not wanting to carry 15+ liters of water and camping gear in a backpack though. I've done that before, and it was quite the experience. I tend to bring a bicycle for the situations like you're describing, where there's no drinking water within 50+ miles. A touring bike can carry a lot of weight without affecting ride quality very much. So there are other ways to get by, just not as simple/common as a truck.

 

[particleman]

How much water are you drinking that you can only carry a day's worth? Wow. Do you go camping in the desert during the middle of summer? I do understand not wanting to carry 15+ liters of water and camping gear in a backpack though. I've done that before, and it was quite the experience. I tend to bring a bicycle for the situations like you're describing, where there's no drinking water within 50+ miles. A touring bike can carry a lot of weight without affecting ride quality very much. So there are other ways to get by, just not as simple/common as a truck.

In the desert while hiking I go through at least a gallon every 4 hours. So that is 2 gallons every 4 hours for 2 people. I carry at least 5 gallons of water per day for 2 people. so if I plan on being gone 5 days that is 25 gallons of water. at 8 lbs a gallon that is 200lbs in just water. If you are hiking and plan to be gone 4 hours you better carry 8 hours of water with you. If you fall and break your leg and cant walk and have no water you are in trouble. If you get lost and have no water you are in trouble. I live at the base of Superstition Mt. every year and I mean every year some out of stater comes here thinks he is a hiking pro gets lost and dies. Google lost hikers superstition mts.

 

[foothead]

Five gallons a day?! I recall Grand Canyon National Park suggesting one gallon per day. I can't even imagine how bad it must be to cause dehydration that severe. Kudos to you for actually putting up with that.

 

[particleman]

Yes 5 gallons a day at least 3 for drinking between 2 people and some for cooking and some for washing if I have a half gallon or so left over that is fine. Even if its not 125f it is still super dry which sucks the moisture out of your body. The RH here during the day is usually around 7 to 15%. Also in the grand canyon there is a giant river other streams and springs. In the Sonoran Desert there is 0 water. So if you run out you die.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Ha ha, even my MB can tow a trailer . Or is it called an RV? This is the wagon version of my MB.

Here are my 2 vehicles:

This first one is a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 4WD with Duramax diesel engine. Crew cab to accommodate my family (4 kids). It's a real stump puller. I use it to pull a 30 ft. Travel Trailer. This is an actual pic of my truck.

Fuel mileage while towing trailer is about 10MPG but I can get over 20MPG on the highway when not towing.

This is just an image I found on the web but it's pretty close to mine (wheel's are different). Anyway, it's a 2006 Pontiac G6. This is the daily driver although I don't drive it everyday since I work from home nowadays. It's got a 200HP V6 in it, not a hotrod but plenty of power for passing and climbing hills. Gets decent gas mileage as well.

I'm a sedan guy so forgive me for skipping the truck part. But I can't skip the monstrous looks. I love monstrous looks on cars that's why I love 80's-90's Mercs.

Is that Pontiac FWD or RWD? if it is RWD, that would be really cool.

2002 Volkswagen Jetta MkIV TDI (diesel) 1.9L Turbocharged, chipped, and a freaking BA car

A tuner car!!! It must be really quick with that small body and a forced induction-ed engine.

Be careful tho, that light body can't withstand hard hits.

Current rig is a VW Touareg. Awesome in foul weather and on rugged terrain. It tows, holds a bunch of stuff and doubles as an emergency hotel room

View attachment 1370

German cars always had that cool ride feeling in any weather. I tried many Japanese and American cars but non of them felt as good as even my old rundown MB W124. I do own a Ford Crown Victoria too.

Nice car, and you honer me with your presence ma'am

 

[strollin]

Smart Guy - That MB wagon with trailer looks good but just because a vehicle CAN pull a trailer, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good tow vehicle. That MB wagon may be a great match to tow that trailer but there's no way to know by simply looking at a picture of it with the trailer hitched up. I'll bet that MB wagon costs more than my truck.

My truck has 4WD but I don't take it off road. I mainly use the 4WD in certain situations when towing my trailer. One situation that I encounter fairly often that requires 4WD: backing into a site, uphill, on loose gravel. Without 4WD I might just spin my tires trying to get backed in, but put it in 4WD low and I can easily back right in.

There's a saying about 4WD: It just let's you get further off road before you get stuck.