Goodies from Death Valley!! (Pics and Vids)

Just got back from Death Valley, and had a lot of fun. Did Titus Canyon, and Darwin falls trail. The truck performed very nicely, had no problems exept maby a slow tire leak, but other than that everything was solid.

I wanted to go to the racetrack but one of the park rangers said that it was probablly not a good idea because the volcanic rocks are very sharp along those trails and would tear up my tires. He said that i would need 20 ply tires to make it through safely. Is this true?

I also found that at one point the trial map looked wierd and I wasnt sure if I was going to take the right turn so my girlfriend tried to find the route on our tomtom GPS and it actially worked!! dont know how but it saved is from making a turn that we would have regreted.

Picture time....





















Vid



enjoy.

 

That video looks awesome. Were these trails prerunner friendly?

 

ya they all were, on the darwim trail i had to use 4x4 twice to get up some rough parts but i could have probablly made it without.

 

Nice, great pictures and video. BTW, what is the noise rolling around, sounds like a ball in the cup holder.

 

Ya i know its not the truck, it could have been our gear in the back, or just the rocks and gravel.

 

Wow! That looks like so much fun. Thanks for sharing.

 

awesome pics and vids. I would love to be there now. This cold weather my way is really depressing. Beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing

 

It was still pretty chilly in the valley, around 60's, and at one point there were small patches of old snow in the shaddows of some of the mountains.

 

anyone know about the 20 ply tire thing?

 

I was just out there last week leading a geology field-trip, drove the Titus Canyon trail in a 15 passenger van, saw a Subaru Forester go down it while we were checking things out. It's not a rough road. Racetrack road is rougher, but it's not too bad (we had 7 ply tires on the van). You could probably do that road in P-rated tires if you drive slowly, though I'd probably want to run something a little burlier.

 

I dont know what ply you would need, but those volcanic rocks are gnarly. If you do go over them I guarantee you your tires will lose a few chunks of rubber.

 

ya i figured i wouldnt risk it.
Theres always next year or sooner to go again.

 

i worked at a tire shop for a few years and the highest ply i found were a few 18 wheeler truck tires that were like 15 or 16 ply and some military tires that were 18 ply.. but i never seen any that would fit on our trucks.. too much sidewall and tread..

 

hmmm okay, well what ply tires would work best on that volcanic rock stuff.

 

LT tires w/load range C through E would be fine for most rocks, including fairly sharp volcanics. Run right over some things directly (really pointy obsidian), no tire is going to survive.

 

What trail was that video taken in? Looks great.

 

the video is from inside titus canyon.

 

Ha drove thru titus in a rental kia sportage a few years ago.. Death Valley's an awesome place.

 

FALSE.

It's a shame you got bad information from that ranger. I was there in November '09 and I drove in certain places up to 50 mph on racetrack road with my rugged trails. I do not have mudflaps on so my sliders got rock blasted... Anyways, Racetrack Road was recently graded sometime late in 2009.

I posted my Death Valley experiences in this thread here: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/off-roading-trails/60777-death-valley-off-road-adventures.html