Overlanding?

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soulsea

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I believe what you said originally was that the 4wd system in these vehicles isn't designed for serious offroading? What makes you say that? Is it the transfer case? suspension geometry? Is it the aluminum front axle housing that really doesn't like lockers?



These SUVs are built with a lot of capabilities. They are comfortable people and stuff movers and they are great at towing. Their very basic 4WD systems are designed with these primary concerns in mind, and they are designed to provide better traction on road under adverse weather conditions and for mild off roading. They are not built with off roading as a primary concern. Have you ever heard of GM even mentioning or promoting anything related to off roading in regard to these vehicles other than slapping a Z71 appearance package badge on them?

I am certainly not an authority on the subject, I just happen to have collected information from off roading for many years, having researched and owned custom builds, and know how many Tahoes I run across on the trail, which is to say almost none, and after extensive research on overland builds I know that practically no overland vehicles are ever built on this platform, both for some of the reasons you mentioned and others.

The whole suspension system, drivetrain, tranny, gearing, hubs, control arms, are not oriented for off roading, they just will not provide the necessary traction, much less articulation, to get out of any serious situation. Not only that but the tolerances of all the components that make up all of those systems are such that they will not take the abuse over the long run, not because they are flawed but just because they aren’t designed for this purpose. A good lift and grippier tires will help a little but have their limits. So you basically have to change everything under the truck to make it seriously capable, essentially having to do all the things that are in that Sportsmobile conversion link I posted earlier. Even Raptors, which are built with off roading as a primary mission require a lot of upgrading of stock components if one is to truly off road them aggressively.

At some point, unless one plans their entire itinerary to avoid places to account for the limitations of their vehicle, one has to have at least a rear locker or an adaptive air suspension such as the ones LR and Jeep use to distribute traction where needed. There are plenty of vehicles in the same price point of a GMT900 or lower with those basics built into them without having to change anything, why start with anything else? For a true overland build, just grab a bone stock used taco/4Runner, FJ, Colorado zr2, or Jeep and go to town without having to rebuild half the vehicle just to get to a decent starting point.

As always everything can be done with enough money. The question here is whether the GMT900 platform is a good one upon which to build an overland rig, and the answer of no is very well established. It’s actually exhausting having to keep arguing something that’s a given by those informed. But with a few mods and some camping gear they will get you out there on the trails and into the wild. The burb HD is actually really good for such things. Truth is about 80% of what’s out there can be handled by a Honda Pilot with a small lift and a/t tires, for most people that’s actually good enough ... very few people actually follow through on a true overland build once they figure out what it truly entails and whether or not they will realistically ever do the overlanding expeditions themselves and need that level of capability out of their vehicle.
 

DesertRat

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Really disappointing to see how this thread turned out. OP asked a couple simple questions and this turned into a semantics discussion. Lame. As someone who is building a Tahoe for off road and overland use I look forward to it getting back on track. Thanks for posting vids of this platform in action BTW.

Edited for clarification
 
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The Raven

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"As always everything can be done with enough money. The question here is whether the GMT900 platform is a good one upon which to build an overland rig, and the answer of no is very well established."

You’re wrong too. We're not talking about off-roading we're talking about overlanding. It's a concept that has a different name because it's not the same thing. You continue to conflate the two and then project your own misconceptions onto others who actually know what they're talking about.

You don't need lockers, solid axles, and lifts for overlanding. My brother does it in a bone-stock Mercedes Benz conversion van with skid plates and A/T tires. The Tahoe is arguably a BETTER platform than a Wrangler because (as has already been mentioned by the guys who actually DO IT) of GVWR.

OP - listen to the guys who have done it for years, not the guys who like to hear themselves talk.
 

soulsea

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Alright, cleaned up the above post ... now here’s how this is going to go.

If you don’t like my or anyone else’s opinion, refute it. If you don’t like their tone, you can be snarky right back.

This forum however has a no name calling policy towards all other members. I couldn’t care less if someone who runs out of argument yells louder and starts insulting me personally, however this forum isn’t the place to do it.

Make your point on the topic without resorting to personal insults or staff will take action.
 

Mickey_7106

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I guess depending on how technical you want to get will depend on what platform to start with. I for one am not interested in climbing any king of rock bigger than a golf ball, so for me an Escalade will be a great starting point
 

soulsea

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To get back on topic because there is actually some useful info scattered in this thread from all sides of the discussion.


You’re wrong too. We're not talking about off-roading we're talking about overlanding. It's a concept that has a different name because it's not the same thing. You continue to conflate the two and then project your own misconceptions onto others who actually know what they're talking about.

You don't need lockers, solid axles, and lifts for overlanding. My brother does it in a bone-stock Mercedes Benz conversion van with skid plates and A/T tires. The Tahoe is arguably a BETTER platform than a Wrangler because (as has already been mentioned by the guys who actually DO IT) of GVWR.

OP - listen to the guys who have done it for years, not the guys who like to hear themselves talk.

I am not conflating the two erroneously.

Think of it this way, you can have a Swiss army knife with three tools or you can have one with ten tools, which one prepares you better for more eventualities? Do you have to have lockers and a very capable 4x4 as a build starting point? No, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

Yes a person can slap a tent, some tools, and supplies on anything, hit a few dirt roads, and camp out by the creek. In this age where people are free to identify as anything they please, one can call those overland vehicles if it makes them happy. :) And yes there have been epic overlanding journeys achieved by pretty basic vehicles. That's not the point though. Part of ovelanding is not knowing what road conditions are around the next corner, or even if there is a river around the corner instead of a road. It stands to reason that the more tools one has in their toolbox the better their chances of getting through it with their vehicle and themselves unscathed.

No one is saying that a GMT900 suv can't be turned into an overland vehicle, all I'm saying is that it's not a good starting platform relative to other available ones out there as one is limiting their options from the get go, or has to pay a lot of money to put in those options when off the shelf solutions are readily available.

It's all fun and games typing about it on a forum, but not having the right equipment, especially when equipment was available that would have made a difference in a bad spot, can cost one their vehicle or even their life. That's probably why I'm a little more aggressive on this topic than others.

Anyway, mercifully for all I think I've exhausted all I have to say on the subject.
 

The Raven

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Think of it this way, you can have a Swiss army knife with three tools or you can have one with ten tools, which one prepares you better for more eventualities? Do you have to have lockers and a very capable 4x4 as a build starting point? No, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

Conversely, as you continue to improve the off-road capability of a given vehicle, you tend to worsen other important things - like livability (space and comfort) and payload capacity. You are right that you never know what kind of challenge you are going to have to navigate on the next leg of the journey, but there are ways around those challenges...you don't always have to go right through or over them. Conversely, you NEED to have sufficient supplies and gear along for the trip, and you need a place to live while on the trip. For those reasons, things like space, range, and payload capacity rank above off-road capability when it comes to overlanding. Tahoes actually outshine Wranglers and Rovers in those areas.

So again, we're in agreement when it comes to offroading. If you want to do real offroading and actually be good at it, Tahoe is probably not a good idea. But for overlanding, I think the Tahoe is a great choice.
 

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