Off-Road Tips and Gear List

Good stuff. Sub’ed

 

As other older posts have mentioned, if you carried EVERYTHING on this list, you'd probably need a Peterbilt to handle the weight, lol.

The OP has a VERY inclusive list, but it's not a list of stuff you are supposed take on every trip. If you're only out for a day, obviously you don't need a bunch of camping gear.

It does seem like his tools list was just everything he saw in the shop, and the spare parts list was just all the parts he could name, lol. But again, I don't think this was intended as a list of ALL the stuff you should bring.

So use the list as a starting point, but don't take it as gospel. Everything is a compromise. Sure you could bring ALL this stuff with you and be almost guaranteed of repairing anything that could possibly happen, but as already said, that's a redonk amount of weight. Just by carrying all this extra weight you run higher risks of breakage because of the added stress, especially on our compact pickup trucks.

I generally opt for less is more. I actually don't carry a lot of spare parts. I carry a bunch of stuff that will allow me to hobble back home. Duct tape, bailing wire, tire plugs and spare valve stems, that type of stuff. As long as you are properly prepared (safety and communication wise) even something as catastrophic as breaking an axle or poking a whole in your transmission isn't a life or death situation, it's merely an inconvenience and a delay in your trip. If you break a CV, that's actually pretty easy to replace in the field, but it's also not really a deal breaker. You can still drive around in 2wd (unless you have a front locker, just take it out of 4wd...). Some things, like our lower balljoints, are deal breakers. If they fail, you're stationary, but a failed BJ can also damage other parts that may prevent you from driving, even if you have spare BJs.

You can always get towed out, drive around in 2wd, or get a message out and have the proper parts brought in.

As the OP and others have stated, when/if you break something, it's generally best to upgrade to a stronger part. Not always, though. Take CVs, you could go throw the world's strongest CV in there and never break another CV, but now you've just made another part of your drive train, like maybe the diff or your ADD hub, the weak point. So if you break your diff, you're up shit creek - NO ONE carries spare diffs with them. If you make a habit of breaking axles or CVs, you need to reconsider your driving style or get some 1 ton axles.

On board welders are cool, I guess, but again, a lot of extra weight and extra stuff to bring and keep track of. Rarely do I see a Toyota with a broken [something] that needs a welder to get out. If that does happen, inevitably there's a jeep behind you with a welder, just use his, lol. Plus, you can still drive with a broken shock tab.