im gonna be going trail riding this spring with my two buddys.just wondering how you think my stock truck will hold up on the trail and mud.my buddies are rolling with jeep wranglers and the biggest tire they have is a 31" my truck is a 99 xlt f-150 4x4 off-road package ,tires are stock 265/70/17 goodyear wrangler ats.Do you guys think i will be in trouble because of the fact that i am so heavy and if i do get stuck (which i hope i dont)there is no way a wrangler is pulling me out . le me know what you guys think and any stories or advice you guys have.ok thanks

 

ats.... hmm, Well if those jeep guys don't have a winch and you get her pretty stuck. Those jeeps won't budge you. I would suggest either a better AT like the bfg KOs or some type of MT. But if you feel like your getting stuck shut her down don't try to be mr. power house v8 and get yourself sunk.

 

Depends on what type of "Trail" you will be running. If its in the tree's and tight, you will get some custom pin-stripping and will be doing a lot of 3-point + turns. If its wide open, shouldn't have a problem. A stock Jeep on 31's is not a "great" off road vehicle for rought stuff. It will handle normal trails just fine, but don't expect them to jump off in some mud or rocks. Limited slip diffs in the jeeps will be the downfall... as with your truck, unless everyone can drive good off road. A small hint to help you "cheat"... air down to around 15psi or so. Will make the ride smoother and let the tires grip better. Expect some tire damage though if you spin them on rocks much.


You should have fun though, and if you have never been.... expect to be hooked.

I have a Jeep as my play toy, and off roading can be a lot of fun.

 

Don't get her stuck too bad lol. When my truck was stock, I got it stuck in some mud on a construction site. I had my buddy come out with his 250 SD and he couldn't budge me. He ended up getting stuck too. So we called out another friend with a Chevy on 37s with lockers and 4.56s all the way around. He couldn't budge us either. We ended up hooking up a hand winch with each end attached to a truck and started cranking. Then it was just a matter of which truck came loose first. Surprisingly, the 250 did and after about another hour and a half he was finally able to pull me out.

Moral of the story: don't get stuck unless you have something that can definitely get you out. If something looks questionable, don't run it. And don't try to run everything just because the Jeeps are doing it. They are much lighter, and that will make a huge difference in the mud. Getting stuck like I did will ruin your day. It took us 9 hours to get out of there.

 

And Watch out for the water holes. Don't try testing them with your truck either I did that and ended up with my drivers side under water up to the headlight

 

Lol, is there anybody who truly hasn't done that? IMO, if you've never driven into a puddle you shouldn't have, either you've never been off road or you are one smart cookie. As for the rest of us, I guess we'll just have to deal with water damage.

 

I did in my Nissan hardbody. Pushed water with my windshield wipers and could look out my driver's side window across the water. Of course we only made it about 10 miles back towards home when the alternator went out (it was 12 miles home lol). That was the 2nd alternator I put in that truck. Who the heck puts it 12" off the ground anyway.

 

One thing you have to be careful of with these trucks is the placement of the intake. I'm not sure about 04+, but 97-03s are located in the driver side wheel well, which IMO is a terrible design. Even if I hit a puddle on the road, I will end up with a soaking wet air filter. I go through air filters so fast now that I permanently keep a spare sitting on the floor next to my 4wd shift ****.
Another problem I've had is starters. I replaced the starter on my truck 3 times in the first 6 months I owned the truck. Thank god for lifetime warranty. I know that starters don't like water, but there has to be something with the design of this truck that causes them to be more susceptible to water damage. I have plenty of friends who run through more water than I do and have never had a problem. I just try to avoid water now.

 

Yes I had to learn the hard way it was my first time offroading somewhere besides my friends gravel pit and I went in the hole a little ways and then tried to back out and spun and slid over into the deeper hole. And My starter went out like 3 days after I went offroading so yeah those are junk if they get wet.