What I Learned Off-Roading at Southington OHV Park in NE Ohio

[Lion77]

2024 RR that is stock aside from Pro Cal, tonneau cover and bug guard. Since I had just a cheap Husky air compressor I only aired down to 30 psi since it takes FOREVER to even get 10 PSI back into the tires.

Note that Southington is dominated by Jeeps, literaly 90% of the vehicles there were jeeps, and 75% of them were 10+ years old beaters. Most of the newer Jeeps on the trails were 4-door and 2-door Wrangler Rubicon's, there were a few Gladiators there but none of them did any of the trails (probably due to the length as the wheelbase is almost a foot longer than the RR).

I would argue as stock RR is actually better than the Gladiator Rubicon on trails due to wheelbase alone when you gotta make tighter turns, it also has a better break-over angle even if it doesn't have the jeep's legendary approach angle, but Wrangler Rubicon's are still better trail-focused 4x4's (not counting all the reliability issues, economy car-like-acceleration and worn out pick-up truck-like steering slop), as would the Bronco's, to nobody's surprise.

1. The RR, even though its' considerably smaller than the F-150 Raptor or BRaptor, isn't exactly "jeep" skinny, it will fit on most of the jeep trails, but not the heavily rutted ones (as in worn down almost 2 feet into the ground) due to the width. It's about as wide as I would ever want to go on a trail through wooded areas.

2. Stock 33" tires and ride height are not nearly as bad as people make it out to be and got me through most of the same stuff as a stock 4-door Wrangler Rubicon or Sahara's, but what I did find is the same complaint that most of the reviewers have had on trails, the side steps do get in the way on rough stuff and really hold it back clearance wise eve at the stock ride height and tire size. Slides alone would really up the "trail capability" of an otherwise stock RR without affecting its true nature as a Baja truck (i.e., high speed handling / performance).

3. Definitely need to air down below 30 PSI, my buddy's 2011 Sahara had a smoother ride than my RR. Obviously, the damping rates of the 2.5" live valve shocks are tuned to handle actual jumps, but that does make it bumpier on rough trails than the Jeeps. Note his Sahara was bone stock, and every passenger noted it had a softer ride than my RR. He was also at 40 PSI, so not even aired down.

4. A mild lift (1" front and 1" rear) with 34" tires would be a good compromise between a little added trail capability with limited detriment to high-speed handling. I'm thinking of eventually going to GOAT 1" strut spacers front and rear on a set of 285/75R17 KO3's. That would give me total of 1.5" more minimum ground clearance and no total weight gain if paired with a lighter wheel like the Method 703's something comparable. 10.7" + 1.5" = 12.2", same as the Colorado ZR2 Bison or the Canyon AT4.

The outer diameter of the stock 285/70R17's is 32.8", the 285/75R17's are 33.8". 56lbs vs. 63lbs. I really like the K03's for off-road and the mud. I might lose 2 / 10th's in the quarter mile due to the slightly taller drive, but it's not much and probably wouldn't be noticeable on-road, nothing like going to a true 35" tire in 315 width. For now, I'm going to stick with stock 33" K03's until they wear out to really get a feel for their limits in a variety of use cases, so far they did just fine in the OHV park and I would get a lot more benefit from sliders than slightly larger tires and mild lift for a lot less money.

1. 90% of my driving is on a variety of roads (paved, gavel and dirt) and highways. Some dirt logging / fire roads, rough back country gravel pack roads and highways, few farm fields. So, zero need for more clearance there.
2. OHV use is split mixture of 4x4 trails (slow, obstacle laden than favors clearance) and dunes (higher speed + jumping), about 50/50.

Given that most of the use cases are either on roads of some type and half the off-roading is going to be dunes, the 4x4 OHV trails is the least use case, I'm better off focusing on trying to avoid modifications that make the truck sluggish / tippy / imprecise just for an inch or two of clearance. At most I might get it on par with a ZR2 Bison while still preserving 95% of its handling, braking and acceleration dynamics, similar to the FP Race truck that ran the Baja 1000.

They ran 35's, but didn't alter the ride height. They only used stiffer springs for compensate for the added weight of the safety gear and extra fuel. The race team noted that the 35"s were really only beneficial for Baja 1000 due to the very rough terrain, not so much at Finke where it was smoother, so that's why I'm thinking a 1" lift and 285/75R17 combo might be a good balance down the road and for CHEAP.

If I wait til I wear out the stock 33's, I'm getting my money's worth, so I'd be buying tires anyway. 1" GOAT strut spacers are under $400 and don't require new UCA's, they don't even require a recalibration of the ride height position sensors with forscan. Also 1" spacers give just enough added clearance to avoid any rubbing with the 34" tire under hard use.

That's just my 2 cents. Also, will probably be adding some L-track in the bed to hold an air pump and a few other items.

My buddy drove into a mud-pit that was....a little deeper than he expected, ROFL!

There were several lakes in the park, really beautiful area. Perfect day for it!

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[iBrad81]

Southington is great, took my Bronco there couple times, not the RR yet

 

[Jason B]

That looks like a lot of fun. One day I'll take my FX4 for a trail ride, but I don't want anything too aggressive, just dirt/mud/sand trails. I'm a novice and don't want any rock crawling.
I always thought these offroad parks were expensive. $45 for a weekend pass here is a steal.

 

[BuenaRaptor]

Great intel and looks like a fun dirty place! If it’s any help I put Hot Metal Fab sliders on as well as Toyo AT3 35/11.5-17 and have had zero issues rubbing at all so far. Will be in Baja in a month so will see then but now it’s perfect. The sliders give you back a massive amount of clearance I feel as the are snug under the body and don’t stick out as far but still keep truck clean.

 

[superj]

i want to go somewhere that is not muddy or sandy for off roading. i basically want to trail ride and have some obstacles to play around, not so much on.

we have always done mud and sand and both are terrible on your truck. i have had to tear down so much junk on my jeeps and isuzu troopers after mudding that it made me never want to ever do that again. bearings, alternators, radiators clogged, all kinds of things get torn up from mud and sand.

but it is a ton of fun, ha ha ha. we always had a blast and the kids loved riding in the back of my buddies cj2 where they could stand up and hold the roll bar when they were little. they came out covered in mud and smiling

 

[Lion77]

Great intel and looks like a fun dirty place! If it’s any help I put Hot Metal Fab sliders on as well as Toyo AT3 35/11.5-17 and have had zero issues rubbing at all so far. Will be in Baja in a month so will see then but now it’s perfect. The sliders give you back a massive amount of clearance I feel as the are snug under the body and don’t stick out as far but still keep truck clean.

Sliders are my first choice of 4x4-trail-specific mods. The stock side steps are fine for dirt fire roads, gravel back roads, highway, back country gravel pack and sand dunes, which is all more "baja-like" terrain that allows for higher speeds, but they do get in the way for rough terrain that most would consider 4x4 types of trails.

I didn't have any big issues at Southington regarding clearance compared to other stock vehicles, but all the stockers stayed off of the tougher obstacles and used the bypasses when appropriate.

Once I get sliders, there's a few harder hills climb I might try that push the limits of the stock tire size and clearance, but even if that doesn't do it, I didn't buy the RR as a dedicated 4x4 trail truck like one would buy a Wrangler Rubicon for where it excels.

I got the RR because it was a hot rod Baja truck and good at a wide variety of things, with an emphasis on higher speed terrain. It's far better on-road than the Jeeps in any flavor and aside from the astronomically priced and flawed Rubicon 392, the powertrain just blows them out of the water.

All in all, I am very impressed with how much the stock RR can actually do and just a pair of sliders can give it a noticeable upgrade in the 4x4 department without any negative effects for its core focus. Everyone says that the dunes / high speed stuff is much more fun than 4x4 trails and I would agree (having come from a 470 HP Mustang GT, I do like the big power, high speed vehicles).

The RR is also a hoot to drive on those rough back country roads, but unlike the Mustang where I cringed every time, I hit a pothole or large bump, the truck just rolls right over it like it's not there, so I'm a big fan of Baja style trucks now as an all-around performance vehicle. They do reasonably well at a wide variety of things, including the mundane "truck stuff", something my Mustang could only dream of.

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