I have a thought I'd like to hear some advice concerning. I ran into an off-road situation while in the desert where I had to turn around, I was not happy about that. As I looked at the obstacle I thought if I had some ramps I would have tried. But, who the h carries ramps, right? Well I got to looking and all I found for expo use were ramp type devices for sand/mud use. None would support the weight of the vehicle off of the ground. What I did find was this...
http://www.discountramps.com/car-trailer-ramps.htm
They can be had in 5' or 6' lengths weigh 18lbs each with a rating of 2,500 or 3,000 lbs per axle. Plenty for the task I have in mind. Around $250, not bad. I could carry them either under my trailer or under the roof rack I have on top of my trailer neither way would affect off-road clearances. They would even ride nicely on the top of my roll cage if I left the trailer at camp. I could even use them at the house for other reasons. This type of rigid ramp could be used in sand, mud, or rocks.
Are there better products out there for what I have in mind out?
Here is the situation that made me think ramps may not be a bad idea. I have a decently well-built jeep but there are still limits to 35" tires and my wheelbase. I was going up a trail north of Yuma, north of Martinez lake, where the road diverged. There were homemade arrow signs that said "the easy way" and another that said "4x4s beware" and something to effect of good luck trying it. Well, I had to take the hard way of course. There was nothing there I could not handle, at one point I passed some side by side atvs that turned around due to a hill, the hill was not a problem for me. The trail went into a dry river bed like many of them are in that area and I came across a rock ledge about 4 foot high with a straight drop off in 'v' shaped portion of the canyon just large enough for my jeep. I put some love marks on my armor getting through it. With a little digging to remove some river sand buildup so my front bumper would not dig in I easily got past that one. A few hundred yards up the canyon river bed there was another drop off. This one there was no way I could make it well, may be with ramps as I said. I had to turn around and back track close to 15 miles to go the "easy" way.
Now I am sure the rock crawling crowd would probably make fun of carry ramps but my purpose is keep going forward on my expedition. With ramps I could have even taken my trailer through this "4x4 beware" trail. In my opinion to make it down this obstacle would have required a buggy with over 40" tires and a lot longer wheel base than my 2 door JK. In my opinion carry a set of ramps would be a force multiplier for expedition use with a minimum of excess weight. The other choice would be to cut logs and make ramps although in some terrain that is not possible, as in deserts. I can think of a situation in every terrain where they might be useful from the desert to the jungle. Admittedly my 4x4 needs maybe excessive when compared to most expo people and my rig mild when compared to rock crawlers. Am I wrong or do all of you secretly carry ramps?
Let me know if I'm a progressive or just way behind the times. :26_16_2:
http://www.discountramps.com/car-trailer-ramps.htm
They can be had in 5' or 6' lengths weigh 18lbs each with a rating of 2,500 or 3,000 lbs per axle. Plenty for the task I have in mind. Around $250, not bad. I could carry them either under my trailer or under the roof rack I have on top of my trailer neither way would affect off-road clearances. They would even ride nicely on the top of my roll cage if I left the trailer at camp. I could even use them at the house for other reasons. This type of rigid ramp could be used in sand, mud, or rocks.
Are there better products out there for what I have in mind out?
Here is the situation that made me think ramps may not be a bad idea. I have a decently well-built jeep but there are still limits to 35" tires and my wheelbase. I was going up a trail north of Yuma, north of Martinez lake, where the road diverged. There were homemade arrow signs that said "the easy way" and another that said "4x4s beware" and something to effect of good luck trying it. Well, I had to take the hard way of course. There was nothing there I could not handle, at one point I passed some side by side atvs that turned around due to a hill, the hill was not a problem for me. The trail went into a dry river bed like many of them are in that area and I came across a rock ledge about 4 foot high with a straight drop off in 'v' shaped portion of the canyon just large enough for my jeep. I put some love marks on my armor getting through it. With a little digging to remove some river sand buildup so my front bumper would not dig in I easily got past that one. A few hundred yards up the canyon river bed there was another drop off. This one there was no way I could make it well, may be with ramps as I said. I had to turn around and back track close to 15 miles to go the "easy" way.
Now I am sure the rock crawling crowd would probably make fun of carry ramps but my purpose is keep going forward on my expedition. With ramps I could have even taken my trailer through this "4x4 beware" trail. In my opinion to make it down this obstacle would have required a buggy with over 40" tires and a lot longer wheel base than my 2 door JK. In my opinion carry a set of ramps would be a force multiplier for expedition use with a minimum of excess weight. The other choice would be to cut logs and make ramps although in some terrain that is not possible, as in deserts. I can think of a situation in every terrain where they might be useful from the desert to the jungle. Admittedly my 4x4 needs maybe excessive when compared to most expo people and my rig mild when compared to rock crawlers. Am I wrong or do all of you secretly carry ramps?
Let me know if I'm a progressive or just way behind the times. :26_16_2: