Motobrewer Posted January 27, 2019 Report Share Posted January 27, 2019 Finally found some time to get away from my responsibilities today, and headed to Hollister with a friend of mine. Wanted to see what the (new-to-me) LR4 can do, dust off my off-road skills and enjoy some Daddy downtime before Beer Week gets rolling. Short video at one of the obstacles in the Adventure Track https://youtu.be/JB9SA6JGNuM Overall pretty impressed, considering its stock, all-season tires and first time I have been off-road with it. Found myself trusting the systems more. The HDC seems to really kick on - if I was headed down hill and just took my foot off the gas, it would kick on, imo pretty aggressively. Just need to remember to turn it off when i am going down gravel roads. Took some ribbing from some of the numerous Jeep guys out there - the 26" wheels comment made me laugh. Great day and looking forward to getting out again soon - maybe with some upgrades, but I need some more practice with throttle control. DuraTracks on the 19's? or start looking for a deal on 18" rims and BFG T/A KO2's, but that becomes a pretty expensive option. Hoping to make the March MORG, pending the location. Cheers Sorry for the edits - trying to figure out how to embed video's LagerLR4-1.mov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elherbinator Posted January 27, 2019 Report Share Posted January 27, 2019 Nice! Duratracs are known to have very weak sidewalls. I actually saw Will pop one at an annual at Hollister a couple years ago on a root. I would trust the BFG over the duratrac. But if you’re looking to get a tire that performs well off road, you may want to consider going to a mud tire. There are several that have pretty comparable on road characteristics Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foster Posted January 27, 2019 Report Share Posted January 27, 2019 Awesome, looks like fun! I'd recommend rock sliders as a easy/cheap upgrade...it's nice peace of mind since the breakover on the LR3/4 isn't great. I got mine for like, $400 and they're easy to install. Just noticed the low clearance in the video and thought I would mention We have a few LR4s in the club with all sorts of tire situations. Buckingham Bill has the same rims as you with some all-terrains that don't seem to be too compromised at this month's MORG, but I forget which tires they are. I'm not sure anyone has upsized to 20 inch rims on an LR4, but that gives you a few more options (but possibly less sidewall). A few guys with L322s run 20 inch ATs. There's always the compomotive 18" route, which is simplest but expensive. And lastly, you can run LR3 18" rims with spacers. Lots of options out there! Hopefully some others will chime in with their experiences, and show you what they can do first-hand at the March MORG. See you on the trail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 28, 2019 Report Share Posted January 28, 2019 The offerings in 19" aren't great so that becomes a matter of availability as much as what you want. Definitely more and better options in 18" plus you get that bit more sidewall. But as you noted, you'd need either new wheels or LR3 wheels and spacers and the price does begin to add up. I ran Duratracs on my LR3 for a while and didn't have any sidewall issues but I did chunk them up badly in the rocks. The LR3/4 traction control systems tend to allow some wheel spin since you can't manually control anything and don't have a front locker at all. Spinning tires + rocks is a hard life. I was pretty happy with them over-all in terms of performance both on street and trail, but the long term durability wasn't great when pushed hard. I've moved on to Cooper STT-Pros, but wouldn't pick that for a daily driver. Although I'm not a BFG fanboi, the KO2 is a pretty safe choice for an all-around tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jethro Posted January 29, 2019 Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 I'm on the 19" with the Cooper Zeon. They have been doing really good so far but I heard they have been discontinued If you plan to use it extensively off road if I would invest in the 18s. I primarily use mine for mild overlanding trips so I have been really happy with it stock plus added a roof rack. I do really want to add a tire swing like Johan has though!! Welcome to the club and looking forward to meeting you on the trail! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted January 29, 2019 Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 Welcome! Look forward to seeing you on the trails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motobrewer Posted January 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 Thanks for all of the tips. This is a daily driver with intentions of some family overland style trips. Going to keep an eye out for sales on the rock sliders. I admit, after watching the video, it was too close for comfort. Maybe I will host a get together at the brewery (Richmond, CA) in the coming weeks, then i can check out everyone's rigs and perhaps figure out the right option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 29, 2019 Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 The LR4 is pretty capable out of the box and makes a great platform for what you've described. I'd recommend staying fairly simple to start- Tires. While 18" wheels are certainly preferable it's not 100% required. I usually recommend a 265/65-18 as a safe size with little to no rubbing. You can fit bigger with minor mods but you'll never run anything past 33" without major work and it's definitely diminishing returns. Since this will be a street truck much of the time a moderate AT tire should be a good place to look. We can discuss specific brands later. Sliders. These trucks have pretty poor break over angles and if you get into anything rocky you'll be glad you have them. Tactical makes the most robust but any of them will help. Rear recovery point. This is a bit more complicated on the LR3/4/RRS since they don't have a normal receiver hitch. I'd usually suggest a basic shackle mount that fits in the receiver but since you need the goofy plow-like Rover assembly to even accept a normal mount it gets more expensive. Plus you definitely wouldn't want that thing installed when wheeling as it would catch on every mole-hill on the trail. I can't recall what people are using for a recovery point on the back of a stock LR3/4 right off as I've had a custom bumper on mine for so long I haven't paid attention. Air compressor. A simple portable one will do the trick or you can get more advanced and permanently mount one, but you'll want a way to air up at the end of the trail. Then there's the always handy GAP iid tool. With this you can do a lot of things but the most basic is changing the ride height. You can generally dial in about 2" more height with it and put it back to stock for your commute. All without getting dirty. Otherwise, basic recovery gear, first aid supplies, and tools and some trail time to learn how to drive the truck and use the gear when needed. There are lots of things you can do above and beyond this but that's a good starting/building point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRover Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 I'm on the 19" with the Cooper Zeon. They have been doing really good so far but I heard they have been discontinued If you plan to use it extensively off road if I would invest in the 18s. I primarily use mine for mild overlanding trips so I have been really happy with it stock plus added a roof rack. I do really want to add a tire swing like Johan has though!! Welcome to the club and looking forward to meeting you on the trail! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk That sucks. I love the design of the Cooper Zeon LTZ... I have the 20s for my Range Rover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 Hmmmm.... the Zeon is still on Cooper's website http://us.coopertire.com/tires/cooper-zeon-ltz.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jethro Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 Hmmmm.... the Zeon is still on Cooper's website http://us.coopertire.com/tires/cooper-zeon-ltz.aspxYeah, Chris's comment was they stopped production. So imagine I'll have one more chance to replace from existing inventory. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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