This past weekend i attended a three day rock crawling weekend in River Rock ORV Park in Milledgville, Ga. This was my first real experience with serious offroading vehicles and trails. There was over 200 ORVs there and just about all of em, with the acception of some wranlgers, were older model trucks and SUVs. Now i realize one of the main reasons people choose these vehicles to build is because they have solid front ends. But its made me think about wheeling in the future. Today just about every 4x4 that comes from the factory, with the acception of some HDs and Jeeps, are IFS. What does this mean for wheeling in the future? These older model trucks are just going to become more and more scarce. What vehicles will people build when the only trucks and SUVs available are IFS. Is IFS really that worthless. I dunno this was just something i was wondering about seeing that i plan to continue to go offroadin till i die.

Will

 

this has nothing to do with your actual question..... you like RRORV? i think especially for a new park it is awesome! and the owner is as nice as can be. I've only been once and haven't had the pleasure of driving the trails yet but everything looks great and all i hear is great things!

Did you get to see anyone try peanut butter hole? thats a bad mamba jamba!

-cutts-

 

The older vehicles will become scarce but there are enough offroad companies that make custome solid axels that they will allways be around.

 

theres another new orv park here in alabam as well....morris mountian orv...couple of ghuys fromhere rode there this weekend

now i have two more off road parks to try out....i really wanna run riverrock because its so darn close to our hunting land

 

aside from the solid axles, old trucks are just so gosh darn simple. You dont have any sensors or computers to work out. The advantage to fuel injection is you can about run upside down, but i dont see new trucks with all the electronics making a desireable trail rig. I dunno, that's my 2c

 

I think that with some time (ALOT) we will get used to the new trucks and you will start seeing alot more of them on the trail. There are ways to build IFS, and beef it up. I still want a solid axle though.

 

Jeff's bronco graveyard manufactures new frames and all the body parts, everything needed to build a complete new bronco to '66-'77 specs, all you need is a title to an early bronco.


many companies manufacture fiberglass tubs and fenders, frames, drivetrain componets cam be rebuilt over and over agin if they are heavy duty, eith moser and currie new solid axils are endless. Jeep cj5s, scout2s , early broncos should always be replaceable if there is demand for them to be made.

I drive a bronco 2 but the EFI was too hard so I brought home a '67 scout that I found in somebody's backyard that the floor boards were rusted away .I need to do a complete frame up and re engineer the whole vechile , V8 swap , bigger axils, roll cage, relocate the gas tank , new sheet metal, ect but it is mine!!

 

In the back of my mind I have this idea of an electric motor/hub in each wheel capable of producing 500 hp each and act as brakes, running off a hydrogen fuel cell. Some sort of A-arm suspension/IFS or maybe a portal axle design. Exterior roll cage, body of an "old" '04 Avalanche with a rhino lined interior and drain holes. Not sure if I really need anything else. Oh wait, those new solid rubber tires that are being introduced for the skidsteers, I can see some potential in that. That about sums up the future for me.

I think there will always be solid axles available. 74fordtruck said it best. "simple"

Of course, eventually our kids will be computer programmers and EFI computer controlled "stuff" won't be as intimidating, and everything will end up being plug and play just like computers anyway. Right now we are still working in DOS, figuratively speaking. Just like computers, the cars will get easier to deal with (I hope). If nothing else, some crazy guys in their garage will come up with a car like the Apple. You turn it on and you're ready to go. You wanna change the hub motors? 10 bolts, 30 minutes, and 1 connector. Don't like the body? 5 connectors, 6 bolts, 1 hour. Afterall, the body is made of plastanium (made that up myself) and your 3 yr old daughter could lift it by herself.

 

Guess I flunked that metallurgy test then...

 

I figured some company would come up with something cheaper and stronger then carbon fiber. The logical conclusion was a flexible type of titanium. Plastanium fit the bill perfectly. I'm just glad I don't have to figure it out how to make it.

 

The same vehicles. Just then, this company will become much bigger!

 

my truck is an 86 IFS f-150. i havent really had any problems with the front axles. it all depends on how you use the vehicle you are in. i dont do rock crawing but ive been in some pretty deep holes, just check out my gallery. my truck is basically stock, suspension wise. i think the big down side to IFS is the fact that lift kits for them are more complicated and expensive, compared to the lifts for a solid axle front end. just think about it, would you rather just put add-a-leafs on, or completely redo the front end just to get a 6 inch lift. i like both styles, im just workin with the hand im dealt. my truck came with IFS, so thats what i support. just my 2 cents.