Are you passionate about hard core offroading?

[jackbombay]

It seems many threads here about 4wd/awd/syncro vans end up talking about a vehicles capabilities in "Hard core off road situations", but I think that most people that post here have little/no interest in hard core off roading, so here is a poll to find out.

IMO hard core off roading is easy to romanticize, I've done a bit and I find getting thrashed around inside a car/truck/van to be pretty annoying. I know that it is rush for people that are into it, seeing just what their vehicle can and can't do, but I'd rather not beat up my car/van and go hiking/biking instead. My $.02

EDIT/// I'd define hard core offroading as pushing your vehicle hard enough that you occasionally get it stuck, or are notably worried about (looking forward to?) getting it stuck.
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[syncro2x]

I take my syncro off road all the time, but I won't say it is hard core. Try to avoid beating it if I can. I drive around giant mud bogs not thru them like the guys in jeeps with 33 inch tires.

[crazyvwvanman]

I'm in my 18th year of Syncro ownership. We got one because we found ourselves getting stuck at times in our 2wd Vanagon and there were places we wanted to go but couldn't. The Syncro solved those issues for us and it still does. I consider my Syncros to be tools to do an important job. Flogging them on bad terrain just to prove they can traverse it doesn't make much sense to me. I guess I'm not that hardcore.

Mark

[vanagonjr]

I think it is hard to define what is hard core off-roading. I've been to Moab, (not in a Syncro) but not the crazy trails. My last venture (not in a Syncro) into a remote lake in Montanna was a wee bit challenging and I locked the rear, but probably didn't need to. A big Ford 4WD PU spent 10-15 minutes trying to get through this spot - yet I would not call it hard core.

When I think of hardcore, I think of purpose built trail rigs that go beyond Syncro capability.
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[danfromsyr]

there certainly is a split in understanding between the difference of opinions here when it comes to Syncros and their uses.
with the majority in the Western US vs those on the more tame eastern side. not that there aren't syncro wild owners in the east, it's just a drasticly smaller percentage..
for me (and I don't have myt syncro project running yet) it's always about enabling me to go and go safely where I'd like to go. and that does include the occasional trail bash..
but I'd built a pretty sweet baja in my younger years and I learned quickly that the bigger the grin the more the broken parts.. and often a $$ tow/recovery or such. so I adjusted my style/lifestyle.. and I still own my baja from my teen years..

the 2wd automatics we have get stuck if you look at them funny or lean on them while in wet grass, sand, snow or mud..
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[jackbombay]

[jebiga41]

[WestyBob]

I used to do a lot of syncro hardcore off-roading in sanctioned OHV places like Tillamook (here), Holister (CA), etc. and on other difficult roads like in Moab, Death Valley, Mojave Preserve, Eastern Oregon, and etc. for the purpose of testing the syncros capabilities/limits and simply for the thrill. These OHV sites in particular usually have different difficulty ratings for various trails and I really defined most, except for the easiest, as hardcore. Often the highest difficulty rated trails are simply impassable for a syncro, only tanks.

I do very little of this anymore except, as Mark mentioned, as a tool to get me places otherwise inaccessable or risky and if that may involve moments hardcore off-roading then I might give it a try depending. Otherwise I'm mostly relegated far more often to what I call backroading which can involve a screamer at times but mostly just getting dirty and woodsy off the pavement.

I also know many syncro owners and tend to mentally classify them (their syncro use preferences) similarly. Most of the people I know who do hardcore syncroing are gearheads with all the stuff, facilities and things one needs to do their own repairs and upgrades, both in the field and at home. For someone who doesn't fit that description it can get very expensive fast and in some cases if one doesn't have the driving skills, dangerous.

If you can attend Syncrofest or SdM this coming late spring you can meet a lot of syncro hardcore types, enjoy their amazing hardcore skills, ride along with some, yet not have to jeopardize your own rig if you're not ready for that or simply aren't so inclined.

[buildyourown]

I have no desire to do any type of trail driving. Dirt roads, sure. But really I want to have a van that can drive comfortably on rougher potholed, washboard logging roads with the occasional washout. A little lift and high quality shocks is what I'm going for.
I'd much rather ride my mountain bike on really rough terrain.

[joseph928]

[hans j]

I definitely plan to find the limits of my syncro, it's what I bought it for. One of my first short trips will be down to Little Sahara Recreation Area in Utah to drive on sand and test out my sand ladders and on board air. Honestly I don't PLAN on getting stuck anywhere, but I really want to know what I can and can't do in a relatively safe environment.

I'm not interested in winching my van up trails just to say I drove on it, but there are some cool places in Utah where I would have to walk 3 days one way to get to it without something more off road capable then my slightly lifted Rabbit truck (my knees and hip don't like me after that kind of hike anymore).

I plan on going to Syncro Solstice and hopefully Syncro Safari; I don't know where those two would fit in your list, but I clicked the top one. Utah is going to be a fantastic place to be a syncro owner
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[canasync]

I look at it this way. There is hard core off roading and then there is Syncro hard core off roading. Do I Syncro hard core off road, Yes.

Do I rock crawl, mud bog, or climb up the side of a Volcano in a vehicle pushing 300+ HP like they do in Iceland, No.

When I go "wheeling" or off roading in my Syncro its usually not just to play around but rather to get to a destination, be it a lake, hot springs or just a clearing in the bush.

Just for fun check out the link from the guys in iceland. The goal is to reach the top with the best time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKpWGy1slVs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAnShHFouyI&feature=related
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[jackbombay]

[syncrodoka]

I only use my syncro as a mall cruiser and have yet to get it dirty without a thorough scrubbing afterwards.

[kurt vonnagon]

EDIT/// I'd define hard core offroading as pushing your vehicle hard enough that you occasionally get it stuck, or are notably worried about (looking forward to?) getting it stuck. WHAT? SINCE WHEN IS GETTING YOUR BUS STUCK HARD CORE ? Boy look at that beautiful valley better not, don't want to get stuck. Are you kidding wheres the adventure in that. I vote dumb pole. miss spell ill change it what a stupid poll

[vwjedi]

[rubbachicken]

lucy is not capable to go seriously offroad, that said she has been places marked strictly 4x4 only

if i had the money we would have something to go offroad with, i think trips like that would be me on my own, as mrs rubbachicken does not like offroading
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[vanagonjr]

Perhaps what jackbombay is getting at is that a lot of people have Syncro-lust but are they really going to use it? Are they really going to need it - that's my take on this thread - hopefully the correct take. I think one reason a Syncro is so envious is that our 2WD vanagons have such poor traction that they get stuck on flat wet grass even where s 2WD PU with no weight in the rear would go fine.

Also anything beyond mild off-roading without another vehicle with you is not a great idea. Here in the East, there isn't a burning need for 4WD. I almost got a FJ60, till I looked into where you could off-road in Mass. Virtually no-where - some club activities, a few places to play. In the west it is different, 4WD gets you to places - like that remote lake off the Beartooth highway in Montanna. I visit Utah and WY and get to use a friend's 4WD -if I lived there I'd own a 4WD.

Still - even in the East there is the romantic ghost about doing some huge road trip to the West or Alaska or Canada or So.America - even though most of us have family, work or a wife who simply is not interested in it. Also anything beyond mild off-roading without another vehicle with you is not a great idea. So it is with me - still, I plan to install that syncro tranny in my Vanagon some day, install some BFG-AT's or similar - or I could just get a Bay window bus and get all the capability that I will ever use.
_________________
John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
LiMBO (late model bus club) www.limbobus.org
LiMBO is on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/
FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798

[kurt vonnagon]

(I'd define hard core offroading as pushing your vehicle hard enough that you occasionally get it stuck). How is getting stuck hard core offroading? Does bending skid rails and bash plates count as hard core. how about bending rims cleaning all the mud and water out of her. then yes I go hard core. If I didn't I wouldn't know what to fix next. Dam thing never brakes down on me. Mine must be a special syncro off road model. Glad I got this one. I would hate to have to sit and watch everyone elt's have fun.
As syncrodoka uses his for a mall cruiser good idea . If i sat at the shopping malls all i would have to fix is all the door bashes.

[Alaric.H]