expeditionman says:

here's some pics and vids from our last outing........
s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh35/expeditionman/muddin



we took a ton of video so the clips are kinda long......

Crip says:

I'd put a 2" suspension lift in your trucks, no more than that, just to allow for a more aggressive tire, large lifts are not a good idea for street vehicles. I like the look of 4" & 6" suspension lifts, the ones with long trailing arms for flex, but the tire & wheel package for that requires a regear to get optimum performance, then you are getting into a real can of worms, while in it, lockers etc.
If I could get a TTB 50 and afford to put a transfer case in the van, I'd come play with ya. Looks like fun, soon you'll have it dug out to where your tires won't be tall enough, wind up high centering mid run.

lounge lizard says:

I have to disagree crip. I like a 4" lift for stret and off road running a good 33" tire with out having to regear (depending on the gear you are running) will work well in the mud that they mostly play in. and will work well in the mild hills they wheel on as well.

Paco says:

I want a 4 inch and 33's... or if i can swing it... I wanna sas it

expeditionman says:

i can run 33x12.50 right now without a lift, just need to trim the valance, but i wanna run 35's eventually.......as far as high centering.....i wound up doing that through the one hole that paco was just blasting through.....the weight of the expy makes it dig down alot faster than i'd like.....lol.....that and my trans crossmember found a nice sized rock to hang up on

Crip says:

Trust me, a regear will make you say WTF, hell yeah when you get in deep, I've wheeled with gears as high as 2.54 and 31's with my Scout II, International engines were built with low end power thank god. Unless you have 4.10's you need a gear change when you upsize from stock 31's to 35's, it makes a difference believe me. A friend put 5.14's in his Sammi on 31's, I witnessed it climbing an embankment that was like a 6' tall tall, used to take it to the rock climbing events. I've done the wheeling, you don't need a big lift and huge tires, but gears and wide tires are perfect, I'd love to have my van on 33 x 14.50 Swampers with a TTB front. A SAS is ridiculous on a street truck, to do it right, clearing the engine cradle, you gotta get it up high or do it right, pull the damn engine and set it up like the 70's Fords were mounted when they had solids up front. Paco, your truck is too big, you wanna get serious, look into a SWB 4x4 to play with, or a Jeep, I did things with my CJ 5 that would turn you pale white, high HP V8, and so short you could touch both the front and rear tire with your arms stretched out. Thing is, anything bigger than a 33, you're looking to start breaking stuff, I graduated to 35's on my Suburban, then got ballsy and started wheeling hard core, regular mud wasn't sticking it.

I'm hoping to swap a 4.10 in the van one day, has 3.50's and 31" stock tires, weighs so much, it's work getting it moving stoplight to stoplight, should increase city MPG, and lower tire mileage, after all, I can smoke 'em now. If I had some wide tires to play with and recovery hooks, I'd come play with ya, who could pull it out? Maybe a dually rear would have it pulling good, until the front sinks in.

lounge lizard says:

most vetrean wheeler will say the most lift you need is 4" and the biggest tire you may need is 35" 33" is where you would like to be.

but lately I have seen more rigs running 44" tires and I think it is because of the "top truck challenge" I think people who read and particapate in it think that now you have to have big tires, big motors to run trails. I have seen some really off the wall stuff out there where you would think that this thing is gonna break and will never get it out! to only make the run and do stuff you would not believe.

and then see some guy show up with this bullet proof rig with all the latest stuff on it. with loud exhaust and big bead locked tires to only have it break trying to get it off the trailer!

so I always say! just because you have the money don't mean you know what your doing.

now the industry seems to also be leaning toward low lifts for lower C.G. and big tires to raise axle height. with alot of flex, which inturn mean cutting fenders, removing inner fenders thing like that. which then takes away the roadablity of your truck. the fine line gets drawn in the sand every time this topic comes up! LOL

Crip says:

Love the fiberglass fender companies that mold replacements that allow running larger tires and cover them for keeping you street legal, down side is they shatter when the inevitable happens. Going big reveals the limits of your drive train, axles go first, then lack of sufficient gearing, etc. Keep it simple, beware body lifts, mod the suspension for flex and stay relatively low, one of the best wheelers out there was the Willy's Jeep from the 40's, had a flat 4, 31" unidirectional military tires, dual range transfer case allowing hi and low in both 4 and 2wd, and 4.56 gears. I saw a video of a restored 47 Willy's on the trail with modded Jeeps, he went through the same hole as they did with the ole 31's, their 38's didn't seem to give them an edge.
A 70's F-150 will run 35's with Bushwacker cut out flares and 2" lift, likely without the lift but they'd rub with flex.
Buggy's are getting a lower center of gravity, guess they figured out that raising it multiplies the odds on rolling over.
You can procure an old Willy's for around $500 or less, don't take much to fix them, nothing to one, embarrass friends with a budget wheeler that follows them around without spitting out parts.

Paco says:

Eh, I'm happy with my truck... I'm not gonna do much more than what I do with it now as far as trails. I'll get an old beater to hit the hard core crap with. I do atleast want to lift it 4 inches with some 33's.

We were just out having some fun!

lounge lizard says:

and with that set up you will be just right for what you like to do. not to big for the street and not too small for the trail. just don't get goated into more than you can do when it is all said and done!

Crip says:

Paco, if I was going to lift yours, I'd go with the ones with customized ttb housings, not just drop brackets for your stock set, they flex better, you just put you're junk in them.

Paco says:

Hmm! never seen those before... gonna go lookin!

Yep, that's what I had in mind Lounge!

FFTEX says:

I say duece and half with a diesel in it. I found a few for under $5000.

Wish I had the money. LOL.

Crip says:

Down side of the Deuce is what makes the first gen Hummer undesirable, size, and weight, when you get it stuck, it requires an army of vehicles to get it out.

lounge lizard says:

I agree with crip!

even stripping it down to a rolling gas can they are still very heavy trucks.

mbba98xlt says:

looks like you guys had a blast!!!

expeditionman says:

yeah mike it was....get yer truck fixed, move down and ya can join us

FFTEX says:

Mine is louder than all of y'all's.

I need fast internet so I can actually watch those vids. Matter of fact I could upload the new exhaust vid I made if I had fast internet.

Being poor sucks. LOL.

expeditionman says:



didnt realize we were all in a competition here...

i mean really, paco and i went out for one last time before his knee surgery to have fun. could we use lifts, sure...does it look like having stock trucks keeps us from having some fun?

we went and had a blast, yeah i got stuck twice, so what, thats the fun of it. i figured hey why not post the vids and pics of our day and then it turns into, oh you need this or that or ya shoulda done it this way intead