The end of summer off road driving?

[Trapper77]

So, the dealer in my town got one in yesterday and I stopped by for a look. The look of the front grill is actually pretty good in person, looks tuff. The rest of the truck, well I am not so sure. Seems like they are trying to make this thing into an Escalade instead of a pickup truck. Tons of creature comforts and cool things, it just seems a little flashy for a pickup. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Are these things going to be alowed to go offroad in the summer and fall? The reason I ask is because we are all aware of the DPF and its regeneration cycle. I understand it gets hot, I did not realize how hot until I looked at the actual exhaust on the truck. There is a heat shield on the exhaust for the spare tire! It was welded to the back of the exhaust and covered about 1/4-1/3 of the spare. It the exhaust is hot enough to melt a tire what is it going to do to dry grass or leaves? This has me really concerned, should I not be so worried?


Trapper

 

[BigDaveZJ]

Frankly, your truck should be on existing trails only where there wouldn't be any grass or leaves to worry about.

 

[Tx_Atty]

That doesnt say anything for parking. You will have to pull off the trail, side of the highway, whereever, and there will eventually come a time when tall, dry grass is under your truck. It's already a fire hazard with hot vehicles so I doubt it will be anything but more so.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

That doesnt say anything for parking. You will have to pull off the trail, side of the highway, whereever, and there will eventually come a time when tall, dry grass is under your truck. It's already a fire hazard with hot vehicles so I doubt it will be anything but more so.

As far as the highway goes, it might just be a Colorado thing with the fire danger we have here but the grass on the side of the highway never gets more than 5-6" tall during the summer. And on the trails there are PLENTY of places to pull over where there is very little vegetation as well.

I would think as long as one makes a conscious effort to be careful it would not be an issue at all.

 

[Trapper77]

So your telling me you have never driven through a field with your truck? Farmers don't drive through cut fields of grass, wheat, alfalfa you name it all the time? If I am going to go out off roading I am not going to be taking my $50,000 crew cab pickup, I will take my Jeep. But there must be logging roads in Colorado right? Is there not leaves on any of these roads, brush close to the edge of the roads? Come on man, I am not talking about driving through the middle of the woods, I am talking about average Joe driving his truck to go deer hunting, or the average farmer using his truck for something other than taking the kids to school. I don't know that I would feel comfortable driving through a 5,000 acre field of cut wheat or prairie grass to go feed the cows with an exhaust that will get hot enough to warrant a heat sheild for a tire that is 8-10 inches away from the source. I drive in tons of fields of cut grass seed that ignite all the time from dust, I don't need my truck exhaust to get me into trouble. Is this the end of the working mans truck?


Trapper

 

[Tx_Atty]

maybe. you can thank the sierra club and thier ilk. all over Texas you will see burnouts on the highway shoulder from cars stopping and igniting the grass. It is not uncommon at all for it to be several inches high. Hunting and farming areas will be just that much worse.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

So your telling me you have never driven through a field with your truck? Farmers don't drive through cut fields of grass, wheat, alfalfa you name it all the time? If I am going to go out off roading I am not going to be taking my $50,000 crew cab pickup, I will take my Jeep. But there must be logging roads in Colorado right? Is there not leaves on any of these roads, brush close to the edge of the roads? Come on man, I am not talking about driving through the middle of the woods, I am talking about average Joe driving his truck to go deer hunting, or the average farmer using his truck for something other than taking the kids to school. I don't know that I would feel comfortable driving through a 5,000 acre field of cut wheat or prairie grass to go feed the cows with an exhaust that will get hot enough to warrant a heat sheild for a tire that is 8-10 inches away from the source. I drive in tons of fields of cut grass seed that ignite all the time from dust, I don't need my truck exhaust to get me into trouble. Is this the end of the working mans truck?


Trapper

Personally I have never driven through a field in my truck, or my Jeep. I bought my truck to pull my Jeep, which is built specifically for wheeling. We have a LOT of people here in CO that feel they can just drive their vehicles wherever they want to, and that simply just isn't the case. They are giving the greenies TONS of ammunition to get our legal trails shut down because of a few people who enjoy the sport illegally. Colorado has thousands of "forest service" roads, and I spend my summers on them so I know them very well and I wouldn't worry about some leaves on the road being caught on fire by your exhaust.

Your initial post didn't mention you using the truck as a "farm truck" where I agree that this would be a legitimate concern. My post was in reaction to my interpretation of your post where it seemed to me like there was a possibility you thought it was okay to just go driving off through the middle of the woods. Apparently I was wrong, and I apologize for that. But with all of the damage I have seen caused by irresponsible wheelers in CO and UT I am not going to keep my mouth shut.

If anyone has any questions about proper wheeling etiquette and how to preserve the trails check out www.treadlightly.org or www.staythetrail.org

Another quick note too, the average Joe going hunting does not have any special rights to travel illegally off established routes on public land. Private land is an entirely different story, but we get many hunters here in CO who feel they can drive their truck wherever they please. Had a couple guys about 5 years ago get two trucks stuck at about 12,000ft in elevation in the alpine tundra, over a mile away from the nearest established route. They had to pay for a helicopter to rescue their trucks.

 

[Trapper77]

I understand were you are coming from. I to have seen the damage that a few idiots can cause and have had more than a few of our favorite trails closed down because people think that because their vehicle can go places that they shoud take them there. We have plenty of forest service roads that are tight enough with brush that it looks like a s.o.s. pad was washing your truck if you are not carefull. If this exhaust is hot enough to do damage to a spare tire that is only 2 feet from the end of the exhaust I see the very real ability to light up things in close proximity to it. Obviously not from just driving by but what if you have to stop and idle for a moment? A lot of the forest service roads out here have a lot of grass that grows on them in the middle where they cross prairies, this could also cause issues. I understand what you are talking about and I think you understand what I am talking about, so let's get back to the topic at hand, is this exhaust going to be dangerous in working applications or applications where your truck might be subject to off the paved road debris?


Trapper

 

[Kleetus]

This probably won't be any worse than a gasser with a cat on it. Don't forget that peak heat is going to happen under full load, and I doubt you're gonna find that crawling around a trail. If it goes into regen while parked maybe, but I'd think a quick blip of the ignition key would solve that problem.

Should we have to worry about it? No.. but go thank a bedwetting bunny hugging liberal democrat for our out of control EPA. Bend over, it's only gonna get worse.

 

[Trapper77]

So Kleetus, if I am pulling a 30 foot gooseneck loaded to the hilt with hay across an unirrigated pasture field with 2 foot tall native grass, is that loaded and do I have a chance to burn the field up? Not trying to sound like a wise guy but I am not talking about bumping around a trail. I thought, maybe wrongly so, that a lot of people use these diesel pickups on farms and ranches. Is that not what they show us on the comercials, a bunch of tough ranch hands climbing out of thier comfy pickup after a hard days work? Is the new line of diesel pickups going to be used for construction workers and wreckers and not the farm?


Trapper