CK5 - The Full-Size GM Off Road Community

dont view this the wrong way, and remember that I cant afford a trailer and tow rig to sooooo...

Ok thats it! This is the 6 or 7th time trailering has got my mind going.

Just wondering...

other that the thought of breakage, when most people I think of wheel thay bring alot of serious spare parts and drive their truck to the trail.

If you are running 1 tons, a maintained truck tranny ect and dont get stupid I would call it a reliable trail truck. Am I being ignorant? I can understand not wanting to drive 1000 miles in a open truck if you are 40 or something but come on! /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif

Maby it is jut that 2 really great wheeling spots are with in 1 hour of me? Other than those all I could want to wheel is Farmington or Moab. Dont the TTC competitors drive to each event..no trailers?


Hell have the people I know running one tons could set up the axel them selves so couldn't you just pack an open carrier and some welded spiders or some thing for spares?

Or wouldn't having a tiny offroad trail trailer be easier and cheaper? Or you could even have a set of Mishelen xml's that measure to 44's or some thing and get awsome milage then when ya get to the trail unload those 42's and bolt them up. Of coare for those tires I would have a custom ATV or tranny jack to aid in installing them /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif

So why is everyone wanting to trailer? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I cant imagin even driving another truck other than my blazer, heck for the price of a tow rig and trailer I could afford to have two spare trannys and a 350 motor every where I go and still have a fat house /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif


exsplain what I am missing /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif

or am I just 19 and dont "GET IT"

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I tow because I can't afford the 1 tons, etc, etc at the moment and also, because if I can't attack any obstacle that crosses my path without wondering if I'll make it home, then where's the fun in that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif

Piece of mind.

I used to drive everywhere but I wheel hard and after sleeping in the back a few night due to beakdowns, I had enough. The last experience was when I exploded the rear CVC, ripped a tire off the rim that in turn ripped off the brakeline 70 miles from home. I drove it home with no brakes and on the front driveline but that was enough for me.

I also trailor depending on how far I'm going.

I think its like having a winch. Before you get one, you dont worry about it and just deal with it. Once you get one and use it a few times, you wonder how you got along without it.

I'll take a stab at this one. For me, towing was a no-brainer. With 42's, lockers in both axles, and drive flanges, it's not a matter of driving it on the road more than it is keeping it between the lanes. Not to mention TSL's don't last long when all they see is asphalt. Besides, my truck rides like a paint shaker with the beadlocks and it's the last place I want to spend my ride home from the trails... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I used to feel the same way as you, and honestly looked down on the "trailer queens" as not being really hard core b/c they didn't drive their rig to the trail. BUT, after wheeling with the "trailer queens" I can understand where they're coming from. It's nice to know that no matter how bad you break, or even if you break, all you have to do is get it on the trailer to get home. I know that I can try just about anything I want to on a trail, and I don't have to worry about an astronomical towing bill if I tear up something that would keep me from driving it home. Not to mention, I don't really have the flexibility at my job to take off a day to travel several hours back to where my rig broke to try and fix it.

Now this doesn't mean that you can just say "ok, I won't try the hard stuff and everything will be cool and I can drive home." I watched a guy try and negotiate a small ledge in his stock blazer with 33's only to see tranny fluid pouring out underneath after he broke the adapter and the back of the transmission. The tranny had a hairline crack that wasn't found until it was too late. No trailer, no $$$ for tow truck. He wasn't flogging it and didn't expect to break. So it's hard for me to say that every time I go out wheeling I can drive it back for sure. You never know what will happen. That's why I trailer it. This doesn't include the fact that it won't be street legal next year... /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

BIGJ

the closest wheeling for me is 2 1/2 hours away. last time out, i broke a rear leaf. Now its a 3 hour drive home because i am riding a broken rear leaf, and have to be carefull what i run over, and i didnt want it to let go at 70mph. The next closest is about 4 hours away, and it only gets longer. i drive to school and work everyday, and getting beat up day in and day out just isnt fun. and, once again, peace of mind. if i grenade something i dont expect to on the trail, i will know i can get home. without the $300 tow bill. that, and it is actually cheaper. i dont insure the toyota anymore, and the blazer serves as a tow/ DD.

Shawn,
you know I don't tow mine. If I know I am gonna run really hard (like next year at moab) I would barrow a trailor and my mom's 1 ton. It is a safety issue at some point. I always have at least one person with a trailor I can borrow for an emergency trail removal. This weekend alone Rob had to drive home with a pinched off brake line. I drove home with oval drilled shackles (field machined) 1/2 bolts through the bushings with no sleeves. Popin our tails on a trailor would have been nice, but not as much of an adventure.
oh, marv rode up to table mesa in dj's f-250 with windows and a heater towing the funbuggy (lucky guys)

Hmmm, how about $350 each tires that don't last on the road and don’t grip well there either? Or less compromises? I don’t have to worry about street ability, just maximized trail performance. I also don’t have to worry about driving a marginally safe vehicle to/from the trail. No insurance cost. No unnecessary systems. No hassles with the law that think it *might* be illegal so they check it out. No 8 mpg. Or how about AC in the summer?

And of course, if I break or roll hard, all I got to do is drag the carcass back to the trailer then ride home in style! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Ask Rob how nice that is when you get stuck on Upper Helldorado, in the rain, when the temp drops from mid 70s to mid 50s and the wind picks up. I drove the 10 miles or so back in heated leather seats. He got to hang his head out the door cause he couldn’t see out the windshield. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif I’m still not sure what some of the words he called me mean! /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Dont the TTC competitors drive to each event..no trailers?

[/ QUOTE ]
Well besides the airport where they do the braking and acceleration test, all of the events are with a a 1/2 mile radius of each other. And yes most of the competitors trailer their rigs to the comp.

[ QUOTE ]
So why is everyone wanting to trailer? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ] Well, when you have no doors,top or tailgate.(Like yours) http://www.socalbigdawgs.com/albums/Esteban86K5/abe.jpg
And you have a couple of these that love to go with you on wheeling trips that are 4hours away. http://www.socalbigdawgs.com/albums/Esteban86K5/abh.sized.jpg
Then you CHOOSE to take the Expedition with the DVD player smooth, quiet ride and the Blazer behind it. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

[ QUOTE ]
or am I just 19 and dont "GET IT"

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
YUP!!! /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
or am I just 19 and dont "GET IT"

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
YUP!!! /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey I'm 13 and I get it /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Currently getting ready to build this:

http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/1217307-goosetop.jpg

I tow cuz I like to have fun and I break stuff /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifNow I sorta have a "Who cares what breaks,just git me back to the trailer" mentality.Ask Greg72 or Burt4x4 about looong open air trips.They drove to Moab for BB02 in thier first gens with no tops.It was ****in 100*+ just about the whole way.I was towin with my F250,windows up,AC cranked,and Starbucks in the cup holder /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I drive to the local trails but anything over an hours drive I tow.

(on the way to Moab.Starbucks,AC,quiet...)"Burr,its cold in here" /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/508/2386frizzlefry_loaded_and_haulin-med.jpg

ok I got ya,

Mostm places I go are under an hour, guess I am lucky, I do have a 99 3/4 ton 4x4 suburban with leather if I feel like towing to bb 2004 /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

i would like to tow, if for no other reason than to justify a 2500 Silverado whith a D-max /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
But for now, my luv dosnt break vary easy. Its only on 28s and has full underbody skid plates so its perty durable. But some day ill be cruisin in style, an isuzu powered tow rig, pulling an isuzu trail rig /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

some people have to be back to work the next day. some times the trailers the only thing that makes that possible

No Trailer + No Job = no new parts

your kids look so happy in that photo /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Thats the same reason I trailer. Kids

A couple of my kids want to go with, but don't want to wheel. Then there's my wife she likes going with but would much rathe maintain base camp than go wheeling with me.

So it gets us all out there and gives the rest of the family a place to relax while I'm out breaking things. Course I sold my old trailer a few years ago and need to get a new one now or else it's no long distance wheeling trips for me.

Well part of it is that you're only 19...
/forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif
Just kidding.

Well you already have a list of reasons but there is more:
Some people have rigs that are missing so much they are not street legal anymore.
Some have buggies or truggy's these are definitely not street legal.
Then you have the expense of driving there and back with a souped up engine that gets 2-4 mpg versus a tow vehicle that could get anything from 9-10MPG if gas to 20mpg if you have a diesel.
I am still a firm believer in building a truck that you can drive to the trail bash up and still come back home, and so far I am doing it, but I am getting a trailer soon and I already have a tow rig.
Another thing is when you have a trailer, you can have all these spares you talk about in the trailer instead of in the truck you are driving on these knarly trails so less weight on trail. Plus all the tools you could think of, instead of minimal tools in the truck.
Want more?

Shawn,

I hate to say this, but your just 19 and don't get it period...

My blazer is street legal, and it drives down the road. But, after a day of flogging it hard, and or some type of trail breakage, and something always happens, to have to drive home in the elements, with some new wobble, or some new issue, it's just damn nice to jump into your tow rig and start the engine and drive home without dealing with it.

Besides if you wheel in a group and someone breaks in your group, it's nice to offer the trailer to someone who needs it to get home.

Besides, I'm getting old, and it's really nice to drive a tow rig home after 3 or 4 days of wheeling hard, AC is sure nice in the summertime.

You will get it when you get older and your girlfriend won't wheel with you because she hates to drive in the blazer after 2 days in a row......

/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

actually after my last time out..I get it now /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I think you are starting to get it, but thought I would add my $.02...

Try loading up a family of 4, a couple of dogs, camping gear for a weekend (including food and shelter) as well as enouogh spare parts into a K5/Jimmy. Then load up for a 3 or 4 hour drive. Doesn't make for comfortable, even reasonable, travel.

When it is just me and the oldest, I do drive to the "local" wheeling spot 3 hours away. But how I wheel completely changes under those circumstances. If I break hard, that means somebody isn't getting back for school and I am not getting back to work. Aren't a whole lot of parts houses open on Sundays in the boonies. And you NEVER break the part you have a spare of!

Sure, you could take a spare tranny and so forth, but who wants to spend their wheeling weekend fixing their rig offroad? If I trailer and it breaks hard, I load it up and spend the rest of the weekend riding. And I don't take away from my friend's wheeling weekend.

Finally, try wheeling all weekend in the hot Texas sun and then load up for the bumpy, uncomfortable ride home for a few hours at 8-9 MPG and serious tire wear. Compare that to riding in an air conditioned, DVD equipped crew cab, crusing along at full highway speeds while getting 18MPG.

I will take the trailer and my 2500HD D/A over the Jimmy for highway driving anyday!

But I think you get it now!

I bought a tow rig so this $201 ride home does not happen again. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/500/246dsc00741.jpg

I took the picture, so I am not one of the big boy's in it. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

<font color="blue">Yeah Pete but you had a nice ride home with the biggest smelliest one!! /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

I trailer for a lot of reasons:
- I can have fun on the trails without worrying if the next obstacle will leave me stranded 3 hours from home. If I break something, I drag it onto the trailer and cruise home in style, then worry about it later
- I can fix anything on my truck too, but who wants to sit in a gas station parking lot 200 miles from home rebuilding a transfer case at night when its 30 degrees out? I saw that the last time I was at Paragon new years weekend, the guy has bought a trailer and tow rig since then
- I would rather drive in a brand new comfortable truck with heat and A/C (and doors and a roof for that matter). My Blazer is very uncomfortable on pavement even when its nice out, and this isnt Arizona- we get weather here.
- I'm very lazy and dont like to air up (my SX's have been at 8 PSI all year)
- My Dodge towing 6500 lbs of trailer and Blazer gets better mileage, cruises faster and handles better than my Blazer by itself could
- I can do whatever I want to my truck and not worry about it being street legal /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif or even streetable.
- I can set up a tent on the bed of my dodge and have more room to camp in.

When I first got my tow rig, I used to tow just to far places. Then I broke down on the trails in the pouring rain one night 1/2 hr from my house and had to bum a ride back home to get the trailer that I took my Blazer off of earlier that day. That was August, I havent driven it to the trails since and dont plan on it (been wheeling 3 out of 4 weekends since then too). Your 19, and just dont get it. I'm only 22 and I was the same way you were when I was 19. I'm just guessing you've never towed your truck to the trails? You dont know what your missing out on

I agree with everyone here. I LOVE driving my truck. No matter what, it will ALWAYS be streetable and I will enjoy driving it, BUT, if I know I'm going to be wheeling it hard in the future, I'm going to tow it.

I envy Rene, tRustyK5, for driving his rig to BB '03. That's really cool. I just can't see myself doing such a thing.

Last trip I went on was a 2 1/2 hour ride, 120 miles each way. WAY worth it, but I was nervous all day. Leaving my rig at my friend's farm is no big deal. Breaking it miles from home on a Sunday without spare parts and having to leave it there makes me very nervous. I have poured my heart and soul into my rig and I'm not risking it without a trailer to bring it home if the worst happens.

On an off day, where I'm not beating it, sure, I'll drive it down the highway. 38.5s and all, I LOVE MY TRUCK, I just am not stupid enough to think that after a long day of wheelin 1,000 miles from here that I will necessarily be able to drive home.

I've been lucky this year. Nothing has broken that has kept me from driving home. The rear driveshaft and axle are the most dependable parts of my rig.

[ QUOTE ]
the closest wheeling for me is 2 1/2 hours away. last time out, i broke a rear leaf. Now its a 3 hour drive home because i am riding a broken rear leaf, and have to be carefull what i run over, and i didnt want it to let go at 70mph. The next closest is about 4 hours away, and it only gets longer.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is not true at all. Next summer I can show you some legal places to 'wheel within a 30 minute or so ride down I-80 from your house.

This is why you tow your rig, so when your buddy does this: http://www.offroadrepublic.com/gallery/albums/albun56/abs.sized.jpg

You don't have to ride home for 2 hours in 50 degree weather like this:
http://www.offroadrepublic.com/gallery/albums/albun56/abn.jpg

I first I thought, "What da fock!?" then I saw that y'all are from College Station, so I was like "Ah, makes sense"

j/k... /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

you should have seen the looks we got from people going down the hi-way!!! After it happened we had to tear the roof off and drive to walmart to pick up the bandanas, goggles, and sweatshirts. The doors were pretty much jammed to so we just all jumped out of it, people really like that. Then we put all the headgear stuff on in a gas station, you should have seen the retired people eating fried chicken, they all got scared and thought we were going to rob the place!

Redneck engineering at best. That's got to be the best trail fix I've ever seen! /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

Mike