Delicat,
for off roading and making our trucks more eco-friendly is not a simple set of mods, it is more a
mindset.
of course, making sure all seals are in good condition is the most obvious. venting the diffs up to the frame with a sudden down turn will help prevent water from entering the diffs, t/case and if it is stopping water from entering then it also helps prevent oil from getting back out due to volumm concerns.
resist from stopping in the water, as you drive the metals heat up and expand slightly once you hit cold or cool water then the same materials shrink microscopicly and this can allow fluids to move past the seals plus the higher pressure of water from the outside can actually force contaminates inside. this leads to the need of changing out the diff and t/case fluids more often, not good for the enviroment and wasting our oil reserves.
next, build your truck or van to be able to transverse the terrain that you plan on tackling.
if you are heading back an old logging road then a set of mild mud tires and a winch will be all you probably need. if you encounter a soft spot then steady speed should be able to get you through, if not then don't be too proud to run the winch and give yourself a steady tug. minimal damage to the road and minimal mud being sloshed into the water table. plus if you dig a deep rut then the guy behind you will have to work that much harder to get through as well compounding the issue.
if you like exploring the outback on long forgotten sysmic roads and trails then lockers front and rear, aggressive mud tires, proper gearing and proper torque will be needed. as well as a proper winch, snatch block, extra cable is a must and SECURE tow points front a rear. when you encounter a creek or a skag field or mud trap then get out and survey the obstacle on foot first and pick a good route through OR AROUND the obstacle. with the properly set up rig then you can idle through without spinning a tire, with a poorly setup rig you will need to have momentum and you will be spinning your tires ripping up the earth. "no traction = no action" . in other words if you have no traction then you will be stuck.
what is the down side of having a heavy foot in the outdoors?
you are emitting excessive exhaust emissions through racing the engine
you are doing excessive, unneeded trail damage to the enviroment
you are doing damage to the vehicle when you go from no/limited traction to sudden traction (=equals replacement parts and more waste)
if you break something in the bush then there is a strong chance you will have fluids leaking out of your vehicle contaminating the trail. that is not the final part since there is a good chance that the vehicles behind you will drive through your mess and spread it further down the trail.
most important eco concern for me is not the contamination of the soil and waterways but the contamination of the wildlife.
on remote trails and the off shoot mud bogs, skag fields, meadows etc wildlife have their homes there. they feed, raise their young, enjoy the peace and security that comes with the outback, the very reason some of us head out their to enjoy ourselves. if you come blasting along the trail then you have a good chance of displacing these creatures that have as much if not MORE right to be there than us. if you head into a bog, a meadow, a stream then you are invading the home of those that live there. (how do you like it when they invade our home? you don't. so
treat their homes with the same respect).
to me all living things have the right to exist (okay, sidders, black flies, horse flies and them nasty little no-see'ums have no rights) just as we do. accidents happen, a coon runs out on the road and you don't have decent time to do a SAFE avoidance manouver then ooops but you don't have to drive to the otherside of the road to
TRY AND HIT him. get the idea?
we need to co-exist with nature. we enjoy it and to me there is nothing cooler than driving down some secluded trail in the middle of no where and seeing some deer, moose, wild horses, hawk, owl, snapper turtle etc in their own world.
in a nutshell,
maintain your vehicle properly
build it to
properly do what you want to do
know the vehicle's
limitations and don't be too proud to take a tug or pull out the winch
traverse the land with
respect
respect the residents of the land you are crossing
helpful?
waste of cyberspace?
delicat wrote:That was a very interesting discussion, thanks guys! I'm sure readers will have picked/learned something out of it no matter which side they want to follow... I know I won't stop exploring our great outdoor with my truck but I'll also be conscientious about my impact. I can thank Fexlboi for that!
I started this post just for entertainment and it'd be great to conclude it with something beneficial...
Crushers, got some technical pointers on things we should do to our vehicles to make them more eco-friendly? Fixing a leak is obvious but anything we often overlook or could improve?
Cheers!
Good Ship 