Off-Roading | Gear and Cylinder

Off-roading is a sport that many enjoy. People from all backgrounds with all sorts of different types of vehicles enjoy zooming through the desert or down some muddy dirt road. Most people look at off-roading as something that is specifically reserved for vehicles with 4wd. There are many trucks and SUVs however that are made with only 2WD that is still advertised as being adventure or off-road vehicles. Can you go off-roading with a 2WD? Off-roading with a 2WD vehicle is very possible. Though 2WD cars may not be able to handle some off-road terrain as well as 4WD cars do, they are still plenty capable of handling many types of off-road terrain. With proper technique and preparation, many 2WD cars can do nearly as well off-road as some 4WD vehicles. 2WD vehicles are often looked at as lesser than 4WD. In some cases this is true, when it comes down to it 4WD vehicles will usually be able to make it through terrain that 2WD cars would wind up getting stuck in. There are certain things that you can do to help your 2WD car work more effectively as an off-road vehicle which we will talk about later in this article. The point is that you should be just fine taking it off-road you just might want to care how far you push it. Off-roading In A 2WD: Can It Be Done? It is more than possible to off-road in a 2WD vehicle and it isn’t just something that is talked about; a lot of people make it a reality. Though off-roading can be much easier in a 4WD, most 2WD vehicles are more than capable. There is a large number of people who greatly enjoy off-roading that have plenty of fun with 2WD vehicles. Many people that are new to the sport of off-roading start with 2WD vehicles because they are often thousands of dollars cheaper than 4WD vehicles. Difference Between Off-roading With 2WD And 4WD Two-wheel drive vehicles are like most traditional vehicles do, this is when the engine is giving power to only two of the wheels. Typically the front two wheels are what is powered by the engine. 4-wheel drive vehicles receive power from all four wheels and are specifically designed for being able to drive on difficult or slippery terrain where grip is limited like mud or snow. The way you drive off-road with a 2WD drive off-road is slightly different from how you approach driving off-road with a 4WD. With a 2WD truck, you want to avoid putting all of the weight on the back wheels or elevating your front tires because essentially you will have no way of moving the truck. After all, there is no power that is in the back wheels. This also means that you want to avoid getting your front tires stuck because there is no way of moving your truck if only your back wheels have traction. Tips To Improve Off-roading With A 2WD The good news is that many very experienced off-road drivers have figured out how to improve the off-roading capability of vehicles with two-wheel drive. When looking at what 2WD vehicles need to compete in off-road terrains, you can boil it down to two main categories, lift kits and traction. Lifting a vehicle is something that even most 4WD vehicles need if you are planning on doing any serious off-roading so you don’t shred up your undercarriage. Most off-road type vehicles will already come with some kind of lift but adding a few inches of lift can help ensure that you don’t damage your car while going over larger rocks or stumps. There are many different types of lift and suspension packages that you can pick for a 2WD vehicle. These kits can vary from lifting a couple of inches or lifting your car a large amount. These packages also vary with the price tag. Lifting may cost a lot but depending on the type of suspension that you want in your vehicle you may need to pay a pretty penny. Suspension isn’t only important for your comfort but the worse your suspension is the bumpier the ride is going to be and it isn’t only you that is feeling the bumps as the car is taking more of a beating too. The easiest thing that you can do about traction is to get good tires. There are hundreds of different tires and treads that you can pick for your off-roading car. Again tires can vary in price and quality quite a bit so you have to decide how serious and committed you to want to be to off-roading before you go and throw the most expensive tires on your car. BFGoodrich has a good history of quality off-road tires showing their worth again and again in Baja and Paris-to-Dakar rallies. Another thing you can do to help with traction is to make sure you have good weight distribution. If you have an SUV, then your weight is probably already well distributed but trucks often have all of the weight at the front of the truck so making sure you have something in the back of the truck to weigh it down can help give the back of your car more traction. The other thing you can do for a 2WD to help with its off-roading capabilities is to look at the differential system on the car. Your vehicle may have a limited slip or automatic locking differential and this is fine for off-roading situations that aren’t too serious. If you are getting into any situations or staring down any hills where you are thinking, “oh, 4WD would be nice right now” then you might want to think about getting a manual locking differential. According to Mobil, having a manual locking differential can help get your 2WD vehicle to get up 95 percent of things that you would want to have a 4WD for. Locking manual differentials can transform the off-roading game of your 2WD vehicle. If you don't have lockers on your 2WD vehicle, you are probably wondering if it's possible to install them. You can, and you can read more about it here in our article "Can You Put Lockers On A 2WD?" Best 2WD Vehicles To Off-road In And Why When it comes to 2WD vehicles that are preferred for off-roading, three specific vehicles are the most popular. The Toyota 4runner, Jeep Wrangler, and Toyota Tacomas are three of the most popular and considered the best off-roading vehicles. The Jeep Wrangler and the Toyota 4runner are both SUV-style vehicles while the Toyota Tacoma is one of the best trucks you can have for off-roading. One reason that both the Toyota 4runner and Toyota Tacoma are great off-roading vehicles is that they have great durability. The 4runner and Tacoma are some of the most durable vehicles on the market in fact, not just among off-road vehicles. Having a vehicle that won’t break down when you are in the middle of nowhere is pretty important when it comes to off-roading. Another thing that is important with these vehicles is that they have very good engines for the size of vehicle they are. The engines pack enough oomph to make it up inclines and the feather throttles they both have allowed for nice touch-and-go situations as you slowly crawl up hills or hard maneuver terrain. Most 4runners come with standard 4-cylinder engines that are plenty powerful enough for off-roading while the Tacomas can come with either 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engines. Both of these vehicles have versions that come with reinforced frames that can add safety when off-roading as well. The Jeep Wrangler is just looked at as one of the best off-roading classics of all time, a complete classic. Jeep Wranglers have a low center of gravity and great weight distribution that help them avoid rolling. Jeep Wranglers also have engines that can produce a pretty good amount of torque to help them drive up some crazy terrain. Jeep Wranglers are often built standard with a lot of clearance and great suspension that makes them super popular for off-roaders because there isn’t nearly as much work to put into Wranglers to make them off-road ready. Another thing that makes Jeep Wranglers great for off-roading is that they are customizable and since they are so popular there are a ton of different accessories that you can add to them. Jeep Wranglers, and the other two cars I mentioned for that matter, have a lot of different accessories that you can add to help with your off-roading thirst. Things like roll cages and undercarriage plates can help not only protect your car but also protect everyone inside it in the unfortunate scenario that your car does roll. There are also things that you can add to these vehicles like winches and light bars that can also be very useful in off-roading situations.