One Man Teaches Lessons in How NOT to Off-Road (photos)
There is something about a fail video that makes it hard to stop watching. Luckily, this truck owner's video has a lot of useful lessons within it, so here's what NOT to do when driving off-road.
1. Stick to the Trail
The first rule of off-roading, for your own safety and to preserve the areas we all love to play in, is to stick to the trail. Before the video has even started, the F-250 driver seems to have strayed off of the more well worn trail, and only by about the width of the truck. Unfortunately for him, he did it at a soft, muddy spot, that was steeply sloped downhill. There was also a tree.
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2. Have the Right Equipment
The first piece of equipment that could help anyone when off-roading (especially a novice) is a good spotter. The best spotter is a friend that knows how to off-road, standing outside the truck to help guide you out of ditches like this, and avoid getting into them. In this case, the stuck F-250 attracts a crowd, and many voices are telling this off-roader where to aim the wheels and what to do. However, the driver is still not following the advice most of them are giving. The second piece of equipment that could help a big, heavy truck like the Ford F-250 out of tough, muddy terrain is gnarly off-road mud tires. This gentleman has the lift kit already installed, but is rolling on smaller tires that have no business being anywhere near mud like this.
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3. Plan Your Extraction
The beginning of this video might be the hardest to watch. Before this off-roader fell down the ditch, and got wedged against a tree, it was hooked up to trucks trying to pull it out. Unfortunately, they did not plan and coordinate, and as the rescue truck started to pull it backwards, the F-250 still had its wheels turned all the way to the left. Not only does having the wheels turned make it harder to pull, but this caused the truck to veer to the right, and slide much further down the muddy slope. At that point, wedged against a tree, the F-250 has no choice but to continue trying to get out on his own, by continuing down he hill. Not only does he mess up his truck's body work, but he drags the tree along with him the whole way.
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4. Know your Left From Right
Once free from the tree, and headed downhill, the crowd around this off-roader began giving him better direction. Apparently "left" and "right" weren't working, so there are cries of "passenger" and "driver", and finally "punch it!" But, having multiple spotters can't make up for a total lack of off-road experience, and over inflated tires with little traction.
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5. With Power, Comes Responsibility
As Spiderman taught us, with great power comes great responsibility, the the Power Stroke diesel makes great power. Whoever is driving this truck doesn't seem to realize that there is any throttle setting between idle, and foot on the floor. Any number of times in the video, when a small amount of power may have allowed the truck to creep up and over an obstacle, the drive floors it and spins all four wheels. Remember the old off-road piece of advice - Drive as slow as you have to, as fast as you can.
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6. Expect Scratches, Scrapes and Dents
In the end, no one is hurt and the Ford F-250 Super Duty proves just how hard it is to kill, even when you do everything wrong. This video is a perfect example of why you ought not to off-road a leased truck, or someone else's pride and joy. Things happen off road, things that aren't just going to wash off or buff out. Remember, armor, skid plates, and the rock rails aren't on your truck to make it look good at the mall. A good tubular rock rail on this truck may have allowed it to slide along the tree, instead of wedging it between bed and cab and tearing it out of the ground. If you want to cringe, and you need to see how bad the damage is, check out the full video of this off-roading attempt HERE.
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