I am talking about x and s 4x4 models!

For the first time I went more tough off-roading with my X.
I would rate the trails from moderate to medium.
So far I only picked the easy trails because I was most of the times all by myself.
But this time I met a guy on the trail and so we wheeled together. He drove a 4x4 jeep liberty!
Both vehicles have very similar setups.
Both are about 3 month old and stock vehicles.
He has limited slips on his and I have ABSL on my X.
What I see on the trails is this guy just drove over everything without a problem
and I got a lot of troubles to catch up with his jeep!
What I learned is my X slips a lot and ABSL seems not to kick in at all.
I never got stuck but for all the obstacles I have to try at least twice or more.
The jeep just went over everything real easy!

But for your info I am a bloody novice in off-roading.
So I hope it is me and not my X. I can learn to handle my X.
But if it is my X then I am lost .

Any comments !?

If you really wanted to compare, you should have swapped with the Jeep to see. But honestly, the driver ability is probably your best tool off-roading.

I too am a novice offroader...I think it comes down to driver ability. I needed a spotter a few times this past weekend, whereby most people didnt. I didnt have enough experience on how to avoid ruts...so I kept getting stuck.

Yeah - the issue is your newbie - ness.



Knowing where to put your tires makes more difference than anything else.

I've seen lifted locked monsters driven by people who built-first, learned to drive second...like they would not even attempt to go offroad the first time until their rigs were built to the hilt.

These people could get stuck in spots where stock rigs made it through...because they just didn't have enough experience to know how to use the truck to its full capabilities.

The X and the Liberty are pretty close in performance, the X has the edge on ground clearance, the Liberty has underhood stuff placed higher and more out of the way of water and so forth.

I'd say if you swapped trucks, he'd still kick your ass.



THe important thing is you tried, hell, everyone has a first time, and there's no experience without it...and the more you go, the more you learn, and the more you can do.

Watching where the spotter puts you, watching the lines the other trucks take and how they navigate their way...will teach you a lot...even if they don't make it, you get to see what DIDN'T work too, etc.

Once you get the concepts and experirment with your own ways, it will come more naturally...just like when you first learned to drive ON road.

x2
well stated

I think the X might be a couple of hundred pounds heavier and those awful rear factory bumpstops suck for axle articulation. The front won't help you, so a little rework on the back helps alot.

That said the locker in the OR with shorter bumpstops to let the axle move more is a nice upgrade. I still consider mine a station wagon for the most part.

another secret...always air down to 20 lbs (if not 15) and things really get easier. that combined with a little bit more suspension movement really helps.

The Libby has a small advantage for a novice because of traction control and a looser swaybar. The ground clearance is much better on the Xterra and will allow you to get over bigger obstacles in the future. The Xterra can also fit much bigger tires than a stock Liberty for additional capability.

The Liberty also has a Dana 35 axle which is garbage. If you snap a shaft (easy to do), the whole shaft slides out (with the wheel).

I rent a lot of cars and wheel the 4x4s when I get the chance. I rate the Libby 1 step below the Kia Sorento for offroad. Not even in the class as your X once you start needing ground clearance.

well said TJ...there was alot of stuff I learned this past weekend...including how to get out of this prediciment...

What I posted over on the theNewX.org

The liberty is a very capable SUV but it is no better than an X.

There has been a lot of good advice to make wheeling the X easier while you learn to read the lines.

Use 4Lo. When going up/down hills or over an obsticle it gives you more torque at a slower tire rotation. This allows you to crawl over things instead of just spinning your tire. It also allows you to decend hills without using so much brake.

Use 1st gear when climbing a steep hill (or decending a steep hill). This has a similar effect as using 4lo. The less your tires spin, the more traction you are getting.

Air down (20psi should be good). This gives you a larger foot print which gives you better traction. It also lets the tire mold around rocks giving you better traction.

Pick your lines. Watch the vehicle in front of you. Watch what lines it takes and see if it has any problems. If it does, look for a slightly better line. Some times there is on, some times there isn't. Hell, some times YOU pick a line and the truck doesn't like it and decides to pick it's own.

There are many reasons the Liberty seemed better. It could be anything from more OR experiance to slightly better tires to he wasn't worried about getting dings and scratches.

Wheeling a lone is also not a good idea. Anything can happen out there and some trails can be a really long hike back to a main road for help. Find a local OR club and go on some runs with them. Not only will you learn a lot, but you'll also have someone there to help you out of a jam.

All very good advice.



I'd also offer an example of line picking, as its referred to a few times above, but seems possible that its a new concept to the newbie....

Lets imagine a rock in your way...

1. If its short enough, you might be able to drive right over it and have it pass beneath the truck...so just plow ahead.

2. It might be short enough to drive over, IF, you can avoid your rear differential and spring hangers for example, so you might go over it, but steer the X so that the rock will pass to the side of the diff w/o hitting.

3. It might be too tall to clear your underbelly...so you need to CLIMB it...put a tire on it to raise the truck up high enough to clear...but...

4. Make sure that the rock is wide enough so that your rear tire will get to climb up too, before the front comes down off of it, so that the rock doesn't end up hitting you right in the middle...

5. There may be OTHER nearby rocks that you can use to pick your tires up on, to make it over that big one if it wasn't wide enough to get front AND rear tires onto, etc.



So - you look at what's in front of you, and you imagine yourself on it...and say, well, THAT baby looks too tall, what's next to it I can use to ramp over it?

Another example - Mud...you can't see what's under it per se...but, you can THINK about what's under it.

Mostly RUTS from other's tires before you...if your tires drop into the ruts, it may lower your frame onto the mud between the ruts, high centering you (You get stuck).

So - You imagine where the average Joe would go through, (And the Joe in front of you for example...) and thats going to be the main rut area, and you try to keep your tires out of it, maybe hug the edges, maybe cross at an angle, what ever makes sense.

________

This stuff adds up as you do it...and eventually, you are not thinking out loud about it...no more than you now come to a turn, and say "OK, I need to go left, so I will apply the brakes, and activate my left turn signal to alert others of my change in direction"....you just do it auutomatically w/o thinking.

Hope that helps!

No it's not; I drive them frequently as rentals.

It is a piece of crap with no ground clearance, small wheelwells, unibody frame and a glass-fragile rear axle.

Even a Subaru Outback with traction control can make a novice Xterra driver feel like a chump, but that doesn't make it a suitable offroad rig. Like the Libby, it simply does not have the durability.

.....

Get some decent tires and sliders, keep your tires on the high ground, and you'll learn quickly.

Good luck!

I have wheeled with quite a few Liberty's and every one of them was very capable. But I guess it would depend on the trail and your idea of capable.

Just go have FUN!!!!

haha, please tell me you weren't wheeling in 4-hi.

Yes I was
until I realized and turned the knob and got freed but then I didn't have fun any more and went home for the day!

And thanks for all the comments and advice.

Looks like fun. Join a club and dont wheel alone. Perhaps its the weight or the constant computer/driver interference but I havent been impressed with my 05's offroad capabilities. Heck its used mostly as a grocery getter anyhow.

I don't know how much wheeling you have done with your 05, but mine has gotten me every where I have wanted it to go. Sure things are easier to get over in my Rubi, but it's also locked in the front, got 35's and a solid axle. I would expect it to be able to climb 3' high ledges easier than the X.