Zibi

I live in BC, it's all hills and mountains. Last winter I was living up in the Kootenays (just east of the Rocky mountains) where we got a lot of snow, I ran good snow tires with added weight over the rears and it was still very skiddish in RWD. Few hills in town that I wouldn't have made it up without 4wd. Put it in 4wd though and I had to try to make it loose traction.

I think 2WD is fine if you just want a daily driver city truck. I think it's a waste of time and money if you want to offroad it. Pezzy is right that a RWD pathy would suck in the snow, I'm glad I have 4WD for that. Then again if you don't get that much snow it doesn't matter.

Aren't skids kind of redundant if you're just wheeling around sand and mud? I agree, Aluminum, aside from being much too expensive, isn't as versatile as stell for skid plates. Sure its lighter but can't take a good beating. I think the biggest problem identified with the black panther ones is just the rock washers, it'd be nice to have a more elegant solution. I'm also not terribly keen on the mounting points, Trainman had a good idea when I met him about attaching the front skid to the bullbar mounts. It also occurs to me that since you have to half take off the rear one to get at the oil pan anyway you might as well just have one solid skid plate, that eliminates the weakpoint of having two overlap in the middle.

I have no idea, but I imagine if it is possible it'd be a tight squeeze. If you do do it make sure to post some pictures, I want to see the results

Thats ok, we don't want anyone from Saskatchewan here anyhow, they smell bad.

I voted lift. Like XPLOR said, locker doesn't matter if you're high centered. Type of terrain around here at least tends to involve a lot more rock crawling than anything, and I would kill to have a few more inches under the front right now.

Pull up yer panties and givr. Need to have some adventure in your life But no, with my stock air intake I wouldn't go through very deep water just with how low and forward the intake is. Thats high on my list of things to hopefully-not-break-while-trying-to-make-it-better.

eh, someone has to support the worst team in the league, cause god knows they need it.

Wouldn't putting a giant coil spacer severely dampen your compression distance (or whatever you want to call it)?

I do think you're misguided in thinking that by replacing your boots with aftermarket ones now you'll get 100,000km out of them when you have a lift, especially if you intend on actually wheeling your rig. If you're going to spend the $200 I can't understand why you don't just buy manual hubs. You're a lot more likely to reach your 100000km mark damage free that way for less money.

x3 I don't have a problem with having a beer or two, but no more than I would if I were going to drive on the road. Like crazyhayseed said, it's about responsibility. and yeah, drinking while driving is dumb, might spill your beer Having said that, there are a few 4x4 groups around here that definitely have a drinking problem. If you're at any of the big mud bogs on a long weekend, you're probably going to see a rollover. To me that is silly, not only because you put your own life at risk but when you're driving like an idiot on a FSR you put other people's lives at risk as well. But then again that sort of thing does also happen out of pure stupidity or chance as well.

Isn't half the point of IFS to have more ground clearance under the diff without needing larger tires?

I've heard of people running an air intake through where there glove box was, but not on a pathy. I woudln't want to do it though, would be way too loud. Idea is to make your truck loud on the outside to show off but quiet for you on the inside

Keep in mind that thicker paint will result in thicker coat on your truck. Theres a guy up here who painted his Trekker build in a similar product (bedliner type stuff) and I recall he had a few issues with clearances for the tailights, handles, hatch etc. but good luck with it, your truck will look killer with it

Diff drop is wasted money for a 2" lift IMO CV boots rip more easily with the lift because the lift increases the angle of the CV shaft and causes it to rub against the boot more. As the CV axle spins with the tire increased rubbing = increased friction and therefor greater chance of failure. It's really not something I'd worry about though. If you're going to replace the CV boot anyway, why not just wait until it does tear. As was previously mentioned if you intend on wheeling you're more likely to see a snag tear it. Pezzy ran hers for a year without a tear on a lifted rig, both of mine ripped this year and I have stock suspension. In terms of scope the CV boot is small @!*% compared to doing a suspension lift. My advice is if you are really worried, just run manual hubs and leave them locked throughout the winter if you want to be lazy. Otherwise just leave it as is; if they rip, they rip. Replacing boots in good condition doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially if you're paying someone else to do it. It takes 30 seconds to check them otherwise.

Aye, I'd suggest that you do buy some manual hubs if you're worried about your CV boots tearing. As Pezzy said you could just leave them locked all winter and it would be no different than stock.

That was just my polite way of saying no

So heres another question, do the different models of the R50 have different gearing? I imagine that would have a sizable affect on speed, especially with increased tire size.

Probably cost more than the truck is worth to get it back to Vancouver But thanks for the offer!

I'm from Coquitlam though I'm up in the Kootenays during the winter/spring.

I've always found my 3.3 to have plenty of power, only time it felt lacking was the last mountain pass on my way to Creston (Salmo-Creston for anyone from BC) where you're headed straight up hill for about 25 minutes...foot to the floor but once it started to get quite steep near the summit the needle dropped down below 120km/h. In fact I've rarely felt any lack of power, it just chugs gas like there is no tommorow. I think I did the entire drive from Calgary to Vancouver at over 3000rpm, worst was going up the Coquihalla at 150km/h at 5000rpm because I just wanted to get home. Can't say I've ever had any trouble getting the rear tires to slip, not that it's a smart idea should you want to stay ticket free. Anyhow, I agree with you Michigan...I didn't buy my R50 with the intention of beating on it, it was a means to an end; I needed a 4wd truck with space that would get me safely across the province throughout the winter. I have truly fallen in love with her and how capable she is though, and while I dream of doing stupid things her thats more because of the glory of being the first to do it You hit the nail on the head, my ultimate goal is a 2.5" lift on 32"s that will keep me in the game but still be a viable DD. I suppose when I'm filthy rich I'll be able to build a proper trail rig

So I've got a questions...eventually (when the money makes its way into my truck and I've lifted it) I'd like to upgrade to 32" tires...while I've never experienced brake fade with my stock tires how well would the stock brakes work with the increased tire size? I seem to recall reading that XPLOR had to replace his rotors with a beefier set. Will my ABS still function properly with the increased tire size?

How strong is the subframe on an R50? I've put mine at some pretty weird angles without ever having body flex problems (always been able to open and shut my doors as though it was level) but I'd be worried about bending it if I did a subframe drop or an SAS. An SAS seems like it'd add a lot of stress to the body that it wasn't designed for and with a subframe drop I'd be worried about bending the frame when I high-centre. One of my heep buddies keeps bugging me to do an SAS but I think I'd rather trade in my R50 for a wd21 if I wanted to do that.

Aye, I'd say vengeful has the nicest snorkel on an R50 though that one is quite nice for a DIY

If you want to buy that one offer $1000 and don't go higher than 3ish, it's not worth more than that especially for an 18 year old truck. Even if it looks good there is probably something wrong with it you haven't found yet. 7k is a good joke.