I've always favored as light of a weight wheeling rig that can be build for the job. My first dedicated rig that I ever built is my current one. When I started I had a goal of 3000# without me in it. With spare and jack, I landed around 3400# (for reference it is a 1983 Toyota pickup, 35's, bobbed, homemade bed to fit bobbed frame, fabbed rollbar, just enough bumper and tow point, winch with steel cable, 20R and '85 trans/t-case). With tools, cooler and stuff probably 3550#.
I wheel with mostly Jeeps, mostly YJ Wranglers. A TJ and a couple of XJ's, a ZJ, and a Geo Tracker. The same guy with the TJ used to run a SB Comanche, welded rear, 32's. He had about the same $ amount invested (read:not much) in that as I do in the Toy. It got around off-road about as well as his f/r locked TJ on 35's.
I've been telling the Wranger guys for years that their shit is heavy and that's why they break more to go the same placed I do, or sometimes not even get there. Usually these conversations occur when they are trying to figure out why the toy seems to be as, or more capable than their Jeep. I do not think there is anything magical about a Jeep, Toyota, or anything else. As I grew up in a dirt-track racing part of the country, it's always been power, weight, and traction regardless of the platform. They always claimed their Jeeps weighed what I did so that couldn't be the issue.
Recently, my TJ guy and one of the YJ guys finally put their rigs on a scale. Even without all the stuff they might carry on the trail, the YJ weighed about 4350# and the TJ weighed about 4500#. Now they are speaking to me about weight and what I did and why I did it.
On the other hand, our recent trip to Kansas Rocks where it rained 5 inches while we were there, another friend of ours who just decided to come along in his 98 chevy x-cab with 35's did as good on most trails or obstacles as we did. It was greasy as shit and he could put the power down where most of us just spun.
So, what's everybody's preference, and why? Not a full-size vs. jeep discussion about exterior dimensions/body damage/wheel base questions, more of a relative discussion of size/tire size vs. weight.
I wheel with mostly Jeeps, mostly YJ Wranglers. A TJ and a couple of XJ's, a ZJ, and a Geo Tracker. The same guy with the TJ used to run a SB Comanche, welded rear, 32's. He had about the same $ amount invested (read:not much) in that as I do in the Toy. It got around off-road about as well as his f/r locked TJ on 35's.
I've been telling the Wranger guys for years that their shit is heavy and that's why they break more to go the same placed I do, or sometimes not even get there. Usually these conversations occur when they are trying to figure out why the toy seems to be as, or more capable than their Jeep. I do not think there is anything magical about a Jeep, Toyota, or anything else. As I grew up in a dirt-track racing part of the country, it's always been power, weight, and traction regardless of the platform. They always claimed their Jeeps weighed what I did so that couldn't be the issue.
Recently, my TJ guy and one of the YJ guys finally put their rigs on a scale. Even without all the stuff they might carry on the trail, the YJ weighed about 4350# and the TJ weighed about 4500#. Now they are speaking to me about weight and what I did and why I did it.
On the other hand, our recent trip to Kansas Rocks where it rained 5 inches while we were there, another friend of ours who just decided to come along in his 98 chevy x-cab with 35's did as good on most trails or obstacles as we did. It was greasy as shit and he could put the power down where most of us just spun.
So, what's everybody's preference, and why? Not a full-size vs. jeep discussion about exterior dimensions/body damage/wheel base questions, more of a relative discussion of size/tire size vs. weight.