Do You Need To Mod?

At least when I roll it because I suck at driving, my suspension will look cool.

 

The thing nowadays is unless you "off-road" on technical trails, majority of camping or outdoor recreation can be reached by, at the very worst, a dirt road full of manageable ruts. Everything else is gravel or paved. A Prius can get to majority of the camping areas out there.

So unless you are going on a rocky/technical trail to purposely test the off-road prowess of your vehicle or on an expedition out into rough terrain, none of the "mods" anyone does on here are necessary over what a stock truck can do.

Mods make the truck super sharp though!

 

Started with a '72 Chevy in 1979. Modded the hell out of it. Got it stuck, got it broke, got it smashed. I then bought an '84 4Runner. I modded it but not near as much as the earlier vehicles. As I am in the east, I did a lot of the trails here. That was the first truck I took out west via Texas. Did some trails there, went to Utah, did some trails there, went to Colorado, did some trails there, went to Nevada did some trails there. This was throughout the '80's and early 90's. Started a family and off roads and camping slowed way down. By then though I had other vehicles, and as I got older (maybe a bit wiser) I realized that, the absolute most reliable and durable vehicle is a vehicle in stock form, with any exception like weak axles that were known failure points. And tires and a few choice bits of armor of course. I never did high speed desert. That does require a different suspension if you want to go fast. My point is, over time, I learned that the driver was the key, unless again, you want to run the Rubicon or go fast through the desert.
Nowadays, most of my off roading involves my job, and usually only a few miles at a time. We still get together and do some fire trails and stuff but nothing serious. Also, I have never been to an off road park lol. I am also a firm believer in taking the easiest path to the destination. If there is a bypass, I'll take it.

I also realized that, looking back on my travels, almost all the failures I had (except the known weak links) were the parts I used to mod, or the mod itself. Remembering the guys last year in the stock vehicles is what got me thinking about it again. That's my story.

 

X2

Clearance clearance clearance. And armor. Sliders do way more than just protect the rocker panel.

of course 90% of my wheeling is in the rocks. Climbing a grassy hill is probably fun too.

 

Exactly. And, I do have a TRD Pro grille, a cool decal on my hood, vent visors and a bed cover. I don't consider those mods though, just accessories. Makes my truck a bit more personal, as mentioned above.

 

Work and other projects.

 

All my mods have been tech and cosmetic related. New grill, bed header rail, bed light and a CB. (there is more) Some such as a dual USB port at the back of the center console was missed features by Toyota. Others like the grill was for me.

I go off road with the stock tires and suspension. I beat he tar out of the truck...she is hungry for more.



Eat it up my bitch.

 

To each their own...

Why mods are so versitile!

 

But then I won't fit in with the crew at Golds Gym

 

Fist bump Bro...

 

Mods is nice to have but if vehicle is stock and you encounter some complicated obstacle along the trail that you think your truck couldn't pass through, would it be okay to just go ahead and fix that portion of the trail? Maybe removing some big rocks that may touch underneath the truck, some digging on the trail edges to counter the lean and angle balance.. what i'm saying is like you improvise , think how to get out of it...

 

A lot of mods are done for the worst case scenario that we hope never happens.

A winch for example is the ultimate in expensive addons that - if we're honest - we hope we wont ever have to use. But on the occasion when we do need it, we need it badly. I was up in the Uintahs one spring with a friend who had an H1 Hummer. We were just out for a little trail running, no big plans of getting all hard core, no food with us, etc. We hit the end of a little two track trail in the woods and as we started to turn around to leave, the big heavy Hummer beast broke through the top two or three dry inches of dirt, and sank to the frame in a puddle of hidden mud. Had we not had his winch that day, there's no way we would have retrieved that thing. (I was in a CJ-5 at the time so no way I could yank the thing free)

My point to this story is just that a lot of us have found ourselves in unplanned "oh shit" moments, so the reason we add winches, high lift jacks, suspension, tires and the like is for those times when the unplanned happens. That, and the fact that some of us live in close proximity to places like Ouray, Colorado and Moab, and there are plenty of places in destinations like that where you might be putting yourself in some serious jeopardy if your rig isn't setup with some modifications to give you increased clearance and traction.

That all said though, I totally agree that a person who knows what they are doing off-road can get a lot of places with a stock vehicle without a lot of trouble, while at the same time, an idiot with a pocket full of receipts can wreak an enormous amount of havoc no matter how well the rig is built.

So the moral to this story is, fix your rig up for the type of use you'll put it through and then learn to operate it well when you leave the pavement.