Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Tires are a complex subject.

What I can tell you is that Death Valley poked three holes in my LT C rated Duratracs... And through their 40K life, one sustained a sidewall slice, and another a sidewall rip. Maybe Goodyear improved them since 2011, but the ones I got were terrible. haha Can't blame the tires for the holes though...

I very much feel that LT- E rated tires are generally better suited for off-road. Often times you can't get the toughness without moving to the heavier tire. There is just more material that goes into them.

My MT Toyos have a 3-ply polyester sidewall. The casing is 3-ply polyester, with two spiral wound nylon cap plies, and two wide steel belts. Very tough tire!

In the end, out there in the wild, it is all relative. I mean, if you drive over a nail on hard pack, or street, it's going to go in, no matter what!

All you can do is try to stack the deck in your favor, and be prepared for when it doesn't go your way.

 

My truck isn't a daily driver, so for me the choice was easy - E rated. Especially since I run at around 18 PSI off-road around the Mojave probably faster than I should go there is always a good chance of losing a sidewall. It isn't that the roads are particularly awful, it is just that I'm on them for so dang long the odds of eventually having something get them goes up. My first truck years back had C's on them when I got it and one blew badly up in the Panamints. Have had E ever since and never lost a tire.

That said, for a daily driver like all modifications you got to think through the trade-offs. And like everything else, there isn't one right answer. You can drive slowly and more carefully, you can be better prepared for tire repairs, you can be prepared to abort your trip once you are one tire down, you can have a back up plan for extraction if you lose multiple tires (e.g. travel with friends, patient friends that is). All reasonable things to do if you want to keep your daily driver with lighter tires.

 

My tires attracted 7 nails at one mine site in one day.
Many DV structures fell victim to fire, nothing left but nails.

 

I ran into a guy out in the woods a month or so ago who was stranded with a flat and had no spare at all. I was going to loan him mine, but then we discovered that he had non-standard lug nuts on his truck, and neither of our lug wrenches would fit them. I ended up just giving him a ride back into town.

So, you would be shocked at what some people consider adequate preparation.

 

For my uses I've alway run C or D rated tires without issues. Maybe it's the way I drive or that I've always had light weight setups, but I've had very few flats over the years and what I've had wouldn't have mattered what tires I was running.

So for my experience, the insurance of Es are not worth the trade offs. The ride and deflection are just so much better with lighter, softer tires. But of course YMMV.

And I've rode with a p rated smaller spare too

 

yea that's a good point and I agree. Usually when I'm on the trail most of my gear is back at base camp with the trailer. So the tires and rig aren't being stressed with too much weight. Did 4 days in DV in April on my Toyo AT2 LTC's no problem. Had C Duratracs before that. That being said If i was running an EXPO rig fully loaded on the trails then yea E rated beefy tire would be the choice. I also only air down to 18-20 so I can ride back on the road for short distances and air back up at camp. I carry a PSX so I can air back up if needed. For now she's still a DD and spends 98% of the time on tarmac so dont want to roll heavy ass tires. To each his own

 

Yeah, if I had a heavy expo rig and was running DV 6x a year, Es would make more sense.

 

If my work approves my time off request I'll be in Saline for new years

 

Brave soul! I usually only visit when I know it won't be crowded. I did visit Christmas Eve about 15 years ago and that wasn't too bad crowd wise.

I'm hoping to be out there week of 12/5 this year.

 

Nah. Murphy goes on new years too. The cold keeps the crowds down

 

Avoid the annual "49ers" RV club convention, usually near Thanksgiving. Happened on it by accident once. The Texas Spring campground next to the Furnace Creek complex was temporarily expanded by 13 acres of overflow space. Not a pretty site, or quiet.

 

We used to go either the week between Christmas and New Year's, or on MLK weekend. It's never very crowded either time.

I'm trying to put together a reunion trip with the gang of guys I used to go out there with in high school. But it's like trying to herd cats.

 

Indeed. This is happening next weekend (Veteran's Day Weekend) and it is insanity. Panamint Valley Days which is a whole different group of people occurs at the same time and means the usually empty Panamint Valley and canyons that drain into it are suddenly full of explorers as well. I usually avoid the whole park the week before and after.

This Monday I'm going to spend the week in Mojave National Preserve instead hoping that those events will have made MNP even more empty than it usually is.

 

Most of the desert region is filled with rv encampments during Thanksgiving week. Mostly along 395 on the way to Trona from my experience. Panamint valley gets busy.

 

OHV areas are crazy on Thanksgiving. Nothing like ripping the shit out of a dunes environment with a recreational activity invented by Japanese manufacturers who wanted to enter the US market with bikes that couldn't pass regs for highway registration. Very American kind of celebration.

The OHV areas south of Ridgecrest along the 395 and Searles Station cutoff get a lot of visition then but the granddaddy of Thanksgiving insanity is Imperial Dunes. Especially crazy to see it at night. I don't understand how there aren't more fatalities there.

Anyway, everyone has their own traditions. I just avoid the desert around Thanksgiving too! Plenty of other times to get solitude.

 

I was fortunate to spend 4-days and 3-nights in the park last week with my family. It was wonderful. I'll compile a trip report soon.

 

Did not see you, or I would have said hello.

I saw the lifted 4-runner with over sized tires in the rear of the convoy. It pulled in right behind Greg. I recognized Greg's truck, which is why I stopped. We had previously met in Big Bear back in September. Behind the built 4-runner was a jeep, a Dad and his son. I thought they were with you guys but he said he was not. I had crossed paths with the jeep a few days prior. He asked a few questions about the route ahead which I answered. I think they were headed to Barker Ranch.

I only got to talk to Greg for a very brief moment. We had been in the park for several days and were on a mission to get out, and home, racing daylight. Mengel was fun, and a few other rock obstacles. I thought I blew a front shock in Butte Valley, however in retrospect it seems it was just severe shock fade.

Anyways, we ended up getting back to San Diego at about 11 p.m. that night.

It was a helluva exit!

 

Roger that. So you guys camped in the Goler the first night and Geologists cabin the second? When I came through, Geologists was occupied, with what looked like an FJ and another unknown vehicle. Stellas's and Russel cabins were vacant.

 

Sounds great amigo!!!