Why yes they are, and the dodge nitro is on the next generation liberty plateform, the nitro is made at the jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. The 08 liberty looks like a small comander.

 

I have all stock parts, never did anything special to my '01 4x4 Escape and it does just fine on the beach. And I'm not talking flat <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Daytona Beach</st1lace></st1:City> type beaches, real ruts and bumps but I wouldn't go ripping through the sand real fast or push it too hard off road. I don’t think it could handle that speaking from how it feels on the beach.

-Mellissa<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

my only complaint is that power goes to the wheel with the least amount of traction on the front and rears, it got me stuck in snow one day, so I guess that could happen in mud and sand too. Fixing that would be a big help I think, like a Quaife if they are available.

 

At best, it has limited off-road capabilities, but I do believe Ford designed it for just that.

 

, correct it pretty much handles it's intended purpose, it may work fine in most off-road situations but it really wasn't designed like a trail rated Jeep and the like. But when pushed it can still take some harsh conditions like some of the other guys have experienced. In my situation off-road means going up my driveway

 

The Mariner is too new to take it on any trails, but I did take it on some fire roads a week ago. Started sliding and drifting it around corners like I use to do with my Subaru RS that I had setup for rallying. I was very impressed with the the manners of the Mariner in this type of driving. I could see the Mariner being able to do pretty much everything my Subie did if I set it up right.

Being that tires and suspension lifts are available for our rigs, I think the real limiting factor to making them go way off road will be the lack of a low range. Other than that and if you are not afraid to use the skinny pedal a lot you should be able to take these rigs pretty far off road.

 

Limiting factors:
Low alternator
CV joints in front
No LSD or lockers available
No mechanical 4 wheel drive connection (not necessarly bad)
No low range

PLuses:
2" lift kit available
Larger wheels and better tires available
Intake kits available
Exhaust available
XCal 2 available

 

There may be a lsd for the manual, I'm not sure what tranny the escape uses, I know Quaffie and torson make them for the focus. I'm not sure, it was just a thought.

 

nope, been looking since 2001

 

There are a ton of videos of Escapes going offroading on youtube, some are very impressive. just search ford escape at youtube.com or click here.

 

This winter I got myself stuck in a snow bank and one wheel was spinning on the front and rear axles, the wheels with the least amount of traction were spinning. If I could have gotten the opposite wheels to spin I could have gotten out of the tough stuff. We got freed by digging ourselves out with some assistance. Is there anything you can do in these situations ?, someone mentioned that I should have tried using my brakes , would this have helped to move power to the other wheels or would the ones with least traction still spun on each axle ?. This is the first time I've owned a 4wd drive vehicle so I wasn't sure what was happening at the time, I kinda thought it was very hard to get these trucks stuck in the snow. If it wasn't for the least traction wheels getting all of the power it would have been cake to get out of the snow bank, but they got the best of me. Any advice would be helpful so I know what to do next time. thanks

 

There's a trick you may want to try in this situation, try alittle brake presure, this can cause the opisite wheel to start grabing. It's an old trick that has been used open diffs for years. On my truetrac in my ranger, a little brake presure will cause both wheels to pull together like a locker if one wheel is jacked up in the air.

 

thanks for confirming that, I'll definitely keep that in mind if I ever get it stuck again. much appreciated.

 

Hi all;
I know this is an older thread, but i feel i need to add my 50 cents.
I take my '01 escape off-road frequently, and through some exceptionally rough Australian-terrain!
Other than sporting a great set of 50/50 (All-terrain) tires, my Escape is stock, without any changes.
Whilst I have found that other than some front clearance issues (Auto-trans sump tends to be an issue on the BIG rocks), i have found the Escape to be a GREAT 4x4 for the family. Not only can this little car handle pretty much everything we throw at it, but it keeps us comfortable at the smae time.
The only real hassle i have with this particular vehicle and 4x4ing is that it tends to chew through the auto-trans fluid after a hard trip. Luckily the filter-less sump means that dropping & changing the fluid is a quick, enjoyable, process.

Well, thats my 2 bob!

Cheers;
Kyle saltmarsh

PS. Would anybody happen to have ideas on snorkels (High-fitted air intakes) as i'm stuck finding any here in Australia; is this the case everywhere, and does anybody have pics of homemade solutions?

 

I live in upper michigan and take my escape off road all the time. Mine is all stock, 3.0 v6, and 4x4.....I use mine for serious mud and offraod trails, havent broken anything yet and have nevergotten stuck. All you need is a good set of winter tires for mud and you're fine. Deepest I've gone through is a 2 foot deep mud hole and didnt get stuck...that's no exaguration.