Off-Road Truck Driving Techniques and Safety

As truck ownership has increased in America, so has the amount of off-highway recreation. There is no special license required to drive off-road, even though there are many different techniques and practices involved. There does exist an often unspoken etiquette that is practiced by old-school four-wheelers, which developed not just so that everyone can get along on the trail, but, primarily, for safety considerations. With the availability of trail-ready 4x4's, both in the traditional truck mold and outside of it, the slow and steady progression of four-wheeling initiation through involvement and camaraderie has been bypassed. The honor-by-association process misses the chance to be taught to the enthusiastic guy who just bought his first real 4x4.

Responsible 4-wheeling is about finesse. Other features and driving techniques assist in the overall safety of your off-road outing, but finesse is the first and most important portion of your driving repertoire to acquire. Here are some hints to help you out in this area.

1. It's important always to drive within your ability. There are times when in soft sand, like beaches and washes, speed needs to be moderate and flotation through mud and snow needs to be kept up, hence "within your ability." Usually taking your time on the trail will allow you to pick a smooth path and allow you time to react to the varieties of terrain you can encounter like moving rocks and logs under the tires. If you have a ground clearance deficiency, going slow helps here, in that, if you do hit a rock with the differential or other rock grabber, it will usually stop the vehicle on impact or you will lightly scrape over it. If you were going too fast and hit a rock or other obstacle, it could knock a hole in the oil pan, differential, or even knock off the oil filter.

2. Avoid surprises by surveying the road ahead before you encounter it. Make sure the trail goes beyond the obstacle, doesn't become a bottomless quagmire, has no back side to the hill (cliff?) or just plain ends. You can get a good idea where to place your tires and the differentials to have a plan of approach. And follow through to beyond the obstacle.

3. Driving diagonally = Rollover. Always drive straight down hills or steep terrain. Know your approach and departure angles, the bumper to tire distance. Some trails will require off-camber driving. In situations like this it's best to go slow, keeping the tires in the tracks. Make every attempt to avoid losing attention and ascending up a rock or stump on the up side of the hill. Trucks will tend to slide sideways before rolling over - the tires will slip sideways a little. Stop if the slide puts you off the edge of the track. If it is clear downhill and a rollover is imminent, immediately turn the vehicle into the slide and drive it down. If that is not an option, and you are going over, turn the vehicle off and hold on to your seat-bottom while hoping that the seat belt works properly.

4. Reducing tire pressure will increase traction on gravel and sand. For most 4-wheeling purposes, a tire pressure of 18 to 20psi will be adequate. Highway pressure is another consideration altogether. The tire is marked on the side, i.e., 50psi at 3300 pounds. In essence, that one tire could hold my Defender up. Depending on the weight of the loaded vehicle and the size of tire, a tire pressure of between 28 and 35psi works in most on-highway applications. Never overlook the importance of reading the manufacturer's label. The air pressure difference between the front and rear is due to the tire and auto manufacturers' experimentation for over/under steer and load variances.
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5. Cross ditches or logs at an angle so that one wheel at a time goes over the obstacle; the other three help the one wheel to climb over. Dropping the tire into a ditch or crack in a rock can put you and your truck in a vulnerable position. Sometimes the vehicle pitches and one or more tires will catch air. Be very deliberate and careful when approaching this challenging section of any trail. Logs can bounce up and catch the undercarriage, so come off these obstacles slowly and carefully. Turn the vehicle at an angle to facilitate the one tire at a time approach. Be careful not to allow one of the front tires and one of the rear tires to get in the ditch at the same time.

One of the most crucial aspects to off-roading is understanding the absolute importance of tire pressure. Among the most pertinent tire pressure considerations in regards to summer off-roading is utilizing optimum sand tire pressure. Optimum sand tire pressure is a combination of many things, of which truck-owner's myths are least productive. However, your tires, their construction methods and materials, what your car weighs, how it is loaded, and wheel width, all play into the sand-pressure tire formula with predictable results. Why low pressure works, and how to determine your best sand pressure, follows:

It's a simple fact, which some diehard truckers still deny, the bigger the footprint, the softer the stuff you can travel in. Boiled down, it's nothing more than a fact of nature. For those who say skinny, hard tires are better for snow, mud or whatever, please tell me why they don't use ten-speed bicycle-type tires on snowmobiles? Sand rail people and mud boggers know big feet work better as well. With that out of the way, let's take a look at tire pressure and footprints.

The choice of tread pattern, otherwise known as your tire's footprint, is extremely important to consider during your new tire decision making process, and especially so if your are fitting your truck for an off-road adventure. Tread pattern should be chosen based on the intended use of your truck. The most popular tread pattern for all around off-road use is a mud terrain pattern.

The mud terrain or mud tire pattern is characterized by large lugs on the tire with big voids between these lugs. The large lugs provide plenty of bite in low traction conditions while the big voids allow the tire to clean itself by throwing off mud or other material when spinning, thus providing a good bite on every rotation of the tire. These tires are also very popular for rock crawling as the large lugs can provide a way of gripping and pulling the tires up and over irregular rocky edges where a smoother pattern would just spin. The biggest disadvantage of these patterns is that they run rough and loud on the highway. To reduce this problem; choose a tire with irregular or asymmetric spacing of the lugs and voids to reduce harmonic vibration at highway speeds. There are also situations such as light powdery snow or sand where an all-terrain pattern would be better.

The general purpose all terrain tire generally has an interlocked tread pattern with siping (small cuts) on the tread blocks. The voids in these tires are usually much smaller than those on tires designed for use in the mud. The more dense pattern of blocks and smaller voids make these tires more quiet on the street. It also increases the surface area of the tread which gives the tire improved flotation on surfaces such as light powdery snow or sand. The increased siping can be important in snow were it is the number of edges, even quite small edges, biting into the snow that provides the traction. The downside is that the smaller voids cannot clean themselves as easily of packed mud or slush. If these voids fill up with mud the tire loses much of its bite and traction is lost.

A variety of manufacturers also offer a family of tires sometimes called trail tires or some similar name. These are most often tires designed for use on light trucks or sport utility vehicles which see most of their use on the street. They will generally be quieter, get better gas mileage and last longer than either of the other off-road patterns. The tread patterns are designed to provide significantly improved comfort or performance on the street which can sometimes compromise off-road capability. Fortunately this is the limit to which most of their intended market are likely to take them.

Choose From A Wide Variety Of Off Road RC Trucks To Play In The Dirt

Are you tired of driving your cars only on the road? Are you looking to get a little bit dirty? Or even a lot dirty? If you need a change from RC street racing, it is time to go off-road with the extreme off-road RC trucks. With a large variety of RC trucks to choose from, there is something for everybody, and every skill level.

Why an RC Truck?

If you have experience with RC cars, you might be thinking, why do I need an RC truck? What is wrong with my RC car? Well if you currently drive a streetcar, you do not know what you are missing. With a remote control truck, you can live out all your 4 x 4 dreams. Depending on the type of truck you get, you can take your truck in the dirt, in the mud, through snow and ice and even drive it through streams and puddles!

Get wet and dirty with extreme RC Trucks! The types of trucks that you can buy range quite dramatically. The most popular types of RC trucks are:

1) Monster trucks

2) Sport trucks

3) Suburban style

4) Hummers

5) Ford styles

You can get RC trucks in almost any make; however, the Hummer styles have become quite popular as well as the Ford styles. This is likely due to their reputation as being rough and tough trucks.

Can You Race RC Trucks?

RC trucks are not only for taking off-road. You can experience the speed and thrill of the race by racing your trucks as well. There is a whole segment of Radio Control trucks that are mean solely for racing. These trucks are generally built with a smaller body and are designed to be lightweight so that they can go faster. In order to race off-road trucks successfully you need the perfect combination of a fast truck, a rugged truck, and a light truck.

You can race off-road trucks on specially designed dirt racetracks with obstacles and jumps. Some tracks are especially designed with ramps, mud puddles and obstacles that you need to race through and avoid all together, Other racetracks are built the same as RC car tracks. These courses are built for speed and are carried out on pavement or some other track like surface.

What Is The Best Type Of RC Off Road Truck?

There are many different types of off road truck, and the best kind depends on what you are looking for. The first thing that you need to determine is if you are looking for an electric or nitro vehicle. The electric trucks are typically less expensive; however, they are not usually as fast or as rugged as their gas-powered counterparts are.

A good quality off road 4x4 car is the Traxxas Stampede. This is an extra tough and powerful truck. The Stampede is known as the pit-bull of trucks because it is the meanest and toughest around. With its huge tires and high clearance, this truck can handle all types of terrain. Because of the quality, rugged construction, this truck is especially for first time RC truck owners. First time drivers can be especially tough on a truck as they learn how to manage their vehicles. You do not have to worry about breaking a Traxxas Stampede truck easily. The truck comes with a fully assembled chassis, a ball bearing equipped engine with a recoil starter. The truck comes ready to run, just paint whichever color you choose, add the decals and you are ready to drive.

The T-Maxx is another great 4 x 4 truck. This truck is built for racing with 60 percent more horsepower than you can find from other racing engines. This truck is nice and lightweight, which is the perfect formula for off-road truck racing. Every good racer knows that you need more power and less weight in order to achieve faster speeds and quick acceleration. With the T-Maxx truck, you achieve top speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour, and do wheelies on demand. This is the perfect truck for performance-minded drivers.

The Final Word

There are many different types of off-road extreme RC trucks. The type of truck that you choose will depend on what you are looking for, and what your budget allows. If you are looking at an electric truck, the prices will start around $100. The prices on these trucks increase as you add features, and nitro-fueled trucks are more expensive as well. No matter what type of off road RC you choose, you are sure to have fun feeling like a kid again, driving it through the mud, snow, and taking it off dirt jumps. Whether you are a professional or a hobbyist, the name of the game is to have fun.

He Said - Sell My Truck

My friend had been trying in vain to sell his truck in his local newspaper. After, spending way too much on advertising, he finally approached me and said, "will you help me sell my truck?"

I agreed to help him and we began to discuss the easiest way to do the job. I immediately said that if I were to decide to sell my truck the first thing that I would do is look online for a solution.

It would be easier to sell my truck online simply because there is a huge audience all across the country who desire automobiles such as new and used trucks.

We continued to talk and I said that when people search the internet, they are generally searching for a specific item or product whereas the newspaper is a hit or miss situation since the viewing audience is so spread out in their needs.

He said, "will it be hard to sell my truck on the internet since I've never done it before?" I told him that there were several online classified services that provided fairly easy instructions on how to post an advertisement.

Then he replied, "will it be expensive to sell my truck?"

Of course, I could not give him an exact quote on what it would cost him, but I did tell him he should go online and search google, yahoo, dmoz, msn, and the various search engines to find pricing on truck classifieds.

However, I did say that if I were to sell my truck online, finding a good web site to advertise my truck would probably cost anywhere from free to around a hundred dollars. It all depended on the web site, their options, and the number of people that would be exposed to my advertisement.

The New Truck From Honda: Ridgeline

The Honda Ridgeline is Honda's new pickup truck on the market. It uses Honda's unibody large vehicle platform, shared with the Acura MDX and Honda Odyssey. It is powered by an all aluminum 255 hp 3.5 L V6 coupled to a 5-speed automatic transmission with all wheel drive capable of towing 5000 lbs. The Ridgeline will be the first pickup truck with a fully-independent suspension.

Some of the more innovative features of the Ridgeline are its tailgate, which can fold down or hinge to the side, and an 8.5 cubic foot "In-Bed Trunk" below the truck bed. The bed is integrated with the body, similar to the Chevrolet Avalanche. The Ridgeline comes with anti-lock brakes and side-curtain airbags as standard equipment.

The bed is 49.5" x 60" with the tailgate up. With the tailgate down, you get 49.5" x 79". And remember, the tailgate also swings to the side so you can easily access the in-bed trunk. The tailgate is designed to support 300 lbs. While driving. The steel reinforced composite bed resists dents and corrosion. Another neat feature were ample tie downs in the beds and several cargo lights.

Standard towing features include prewiring 4 pin and 7 pin, along with a brake controller. Heavy duty radiator, power steering cooler, and transmission cooler keep things cool when the work begins. Huge 4 wheel disk brakes help stop quicker with the aid of the Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD). All the dealer has to do is install the hitch and harness.

The 8" ground clearance works well with the 4 wheel independent suspension. Yes, all 4 wheels. Unheard of in a truck, but this is a Honda. They wanted their truck to instill confidence in the corners and a stable, responsive feel while maintaining ride quality. The closed box frame and unit body construction means this truck is tough and ready to work.

Traction control is standard along with a locking rear differential for extremely low traction conditions. It can stay locked with a push of a button up to 18 mph. Along with traction control, you get stability control called Vehicle Stability Assist. This corrects your cornering problems before they even become a problem.

The tires come with tire pressure monitoring systems which will be standard in all vehicles very soon (government mandate). Air bags are all around in front, side, and side curtain. It will only deploy what is necessary depending on the type of accident. These safety features along with ABS braking make this one of the safest trucks on the road.

There are three trim levels starting with the RT, RTS and the luxury RTL. You can get heated leather seats and a moonroof. These amenities were only thought to be available in cars. This truck also has available navigation system, homelink, and a hidden in dash cd changer.

The 22 gallon tank is ample for the 16 MPG city and 21 MPG highway EPA mileage estimates. The six color combinations come with 3 interior choices. Options include a bed extender, tail light "garnish", chrome bumper trim, 17" wheels, body side protectors, roof rack, fender flares, running boards and a towing package mentioned above. I've also seen hard tonneau cover-locking for the bed, and in-bed trunk dividers. There's a larger brush guard for the front bumper available for you off roaders.

Wireless Network Sensors in Trucking in Convoys

Over the Road Trucks Using Wireless Networks to Caravan or in Convoys will soon be a reality. Using small Wireless Network Sensors it maybe possible to have hundreds of trucks act like giant trains, by traveling together very closely. Literally tailgating by only three to four feet. By doing this they will cut down on the co-efficient of drag and have increased fuel efficiency.

Now mind you with fuel prices higher now and looking to go up again. And driving a truck all over the country. It behooves the mobile command center to stay at 55-60 mph and to travel in long lines of trucks, which flow the air out of the way, cutting down the head wind. Trucks moving down the road will pull your hat right off your head. Many cars often sit in the vortex behind trucks to improve fuel consumption for 50 miles or more. Tailgating is not too safe, but if the Wireless Sensor Networks are controlling the vehicle instead of eyes glued to the back of the trucks humans, then it can be done safely. Thus we save energy and drag.

Now realize on I-10, I-5, I-40, 20, 70 etc. in the middle of the night with little traffic there is little danger. In the movie with Tom Cruise, “Minority report” you saw the cars generally cruising without any intervention from the people, no cars hit each other at all, because they were communicating with each other and their missions and destinations were pre-configured. This is not to un-similar than Net Centric Warfare, or a computer assigning tasks to a larger network to break into pieces large problems by dividing and conquering or the packs sent through the Internet when sending a email. This technology is available and if we can reduce the coefficient of drag by 80% we can decrease fuel consumption by as much as 40%. The other friction is that of the tires on the ground, that can be fixed by use of magnetic levitation or low air-pressure methods of hydro-craft systems on specially designed highways and what will most likely be the future of rail within the next 100 years. This idea has many implications for military convoys as well, especially with Army recruitment quotas not being met. You can the importance of such logistics. Having done this research and trying to figure out the intervals that are safe and realizing that there is not a need for human reaction time or human error and using this data;

It figures that four to five feet is very doable and also that the air dams on larger trucks are about four feet from the box. The best thought would be for the air dams to move closer to the trailers from the towing vehicles or bobtail at speeds in excess of 48 mph when the co-efficient of drag starts its exponential climb where energy is pitted against the gains in speed. If Look at the hyperbolic curve on charts such as for an aircraft you will see very much the same scenarios.

In racing the quarter mile any real street racer will tell you if you want to increase your quarter mile time by a tenth of a second either add 50 hp or shave off 100 lbs. Well there comes a point of diminishing returns. Trucks, which haul double and triple trailer set ups can do even better with one truck. As fuel prices rise and other costs associated there is a need to cut down on accidents to save insurance premiums and fuel costs. By using Wireless Sensor Networks these things can easily be done. When the Garbage industry went to trucks with only one driver and one mechanical arm they were able to lower costs and remove the trash more efficiently thus the cost savings was unbelievable.

The issues of safety, use of freeways at night and congestion, driver shortages, accidents and insurance, complaints by four wheeler drivers about trucks, expensive insurance, fuel costs, our reliance on foreign oil, etc. All this can be solved by wireless sensor networks without relying on a master grid which could fail, like the cascading of our power outage. It could work within the DOT framework, but independently. Many things are being done to set up grid networks for watching systems and if these systems run independently, you can watch them. In the future use the best and most efficient designs;

The future of trucking and integration of wireless network sensors in transportation for Homeland security of freight, efficiency of fuel or the best use of our infrastructure for all purposes will be a future reality and we are talking less than two-decades.

Selecting The Best Mid-Size Delivery Truck

Comparing Mid-Range Work Trucks

Comparing Mid-Range Work Trucks is a difficult task with all the variables, we are interested because we need the most efficient work trucks for our customers.

The NPR Isuzu seems to be the favorite at least in the last four or five years. Supply is good and you can buy it in a GMC too. $600 extra decal option, but same unit exactly. Only difference is the name. The NPR has a payload of 9,000 lbs., and is 1,000 lbs better than the next closest competitor in that size. We often use the 109 inch wheel base versions although they come in three sizes.

The Mitsubishi once king of the class has similar characteristics but 8,000 lb. payload but a 12,000 GVW as opposed to the 14,000 GVW Isuzu. Hino is 15,000 GVW, 8,400 payload on the option package.

Nissan or UD is 7,000 payload and nice looking truck but not in the ball park of the others, excellent turning radius and visibility and good enough for government work.

The Hyundai coming out next year in this class is owned 12% by Daimler Chrysler and probably another soaker like the Bering, which sunk most of their dealers last year.

No numbers yet, but judging by Chryslers exploits probably inline with Isuzu even if they pay out more in warrantees to place themselves at the top of the payload food chain in that class.

We use the Isuzu trucks for our company. We like them and agree that they are the best choice we have experienced so far, others might disagree, but not many I have talked too as I travel the country and set up franchises.

Truck Maintenance Hibernation Services

There appear to be significant possibilities in long term storage of trucks for an avenue to expand into. Hibernation of trucks, which are no longer needed in the slowed economy are piling up and need care otherwise they will deteriorate further and be of zero value except for sparsely parted out salvage.

For instance disconnecting the fully charged batteries from the ground. Putting the trucks on blocks so no flat spot develops on tires and drop pressure to 15 PSI and coating them with thick silicon jell. Induce fuel stabilizers and micro-biocides so microbes cannot grow in tanks. Silicone jell on rubber door jams seals, and hoses and belts. Pump fresh grease into zerk fittings. Wax and poly coat the paint. Tape up exposed engine openings, periodically check for mice and other small nests and rodents living in the truck. Truck engine over without starting a few revolutions to keep inside of engine lubricated.

Our cost for Hibernation Services will be. Prep Work $600, quarterly services $30.00 per truck. Our company is considering offering such services after studying this, http://www.truckwashguy.com site soon, Many companies are looking into such services and will also be offering hibernation maintenance to prime contractors of US Military to maintain all their units after the war is over, until we can cause another conflict somewhere else soon, These types of services are definitely something to think about.