Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Actually it would have been even easier to get around in a Prius. The washboard might have killed a Prius though, or at least made it very slow going. I drove most of the washboard in 2wd, until my wife finally told me to put it in 4wd and it seemed to smooth out a bit, less kicking around, even on the valley floor before we started the climb out. She’s a good co-driver.

 

Never been to the washboard but I heard it's a real rear shocks killer. Trona, what a town. Wondered what property values where at over there and saw house and land for as low as $30K.

 

The washbaords in Death Valley are directly responsible for the cracks in my upper radiator support and my hood catch locking thingy. And indirectly responsible for my driver side inner core support failure.

 

My front grill is out there somewhere. I looked for a couple of hours and couldn’t find it.

 

Was looking at some old pics of mine and found this pic of me from over 25yrs ago . This was during a CA4WDC Panamint Valley days event , can't remember the exact trail location but was some distance North of the camp in Ballarat near 178/190

 

Death Valley washboards strike again...

I've had a noise up front for a while. It usually makes itself known during certain turning maneuvers. Today I decided to investigate a little bit. Low and behold the core support is cracked on the drivers side, inboard of each headlight also has some cracks, and the hood latch loop area has a crack too. I don't know how many miles I've driven along the washboard roads but I've got 150K on my truck with a good portion of those being off-road in some form or fashion. Fortunately a good citizen whom I've met here on TW is going to help with the repairs.

 

Which is worse, washboard roads or Chinese opera?

 

One you can easily avoid. The other, not. Especially if you want to get to get from A to B.

 

Fixed with one from a 91 Tercel, cashier at the Pick-A-Part laughed when I tried to pay for it..


And the rest of the cracks/failures from DV..

 

Ouch, that doesn't look good.

 

Long stretches of washboards are a nightmare. You can go slow and bump yourself along, or go fast to float over them, but hard braking on washboards can put you into a ditch. It's all about the suspension. Best suspension I've had for washboards is the TRD Baja package on the '12 Tacoma.

 

So what you're saying is my stock SR5 suspension will dominate compared to your LT setup and I can just gun it and run it?


Really though, how fast were you going? I'm surprised the LT didn't absorb more of the beating

 

Whatever the speed limit is whichever that is

 

No signs, no problems

 

One more washboard induced casualty..

 

How fast do you guys usually take washboards? I tend to find 40-50mph smooths a lot of them out pretty good.
Love Death Valley......been going there once or twice a year for well over 20 years!

 

Sounds bout right.
Sadly Toyota uses lame metal for their "off-road" vehicles.

 

What I Like about trails is that each trail and each truck and driver is going to handle it different. So many variables go into trail conditions, composition of dirt, moisture, average speed driven on road. Truck factors, like air pressure, tire type, all factors of suspension, wheel base, etc.

But yeah, there is a sweet spot for each truck. And of course the risk factor rises with speed...

 

Adding to @Crom’s comments with my tires aired down and the suspension on my truck I can run at pretty much any speed smoothly. Without airing down the there is a sweet spot more to the 40-45 mph range for most washboard I encounter but that’s getting a bit fast to be safe. So I prefer to air down so I can run at appropriate speeds for the trail without feeling the need to speed up to smooth out washboard.