Minivan travel limits?

[Beavers]

Sorry if this has been discussed before...I couldn't find anything on the subject.

This is a question for you who have done a lot of travel on forest service roads.  I'm thinking of mainly Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. How limiting would driving a minivan vs a full size van be?  With a minivan are you going to reduce the amount of areas you can access by 50% or...?
I'm not looking to do any serious off-roading, but having never explored forest service I'm not sure how rugged they are.

I can get a lot more minivan for the money along with increased gas mileage vs a full size, but don't really want to drastically limit the areas I'm able to travel to either.   

Thanks,
Beavers

 

[MrNoodly]

Forest Service roads can be anything from smoothly graded to wretched double tracks even 4x4s struggle with. I suspect you could be very happy sticking to only the roads on the milder end of the scale.

There are some people here that don't consider themselves far enough down the road and away from it all until they've ripped a few pieces from their rig, smashed into a few boulders and trees, dug themselves out a half dozen times and gotten royally stuck. Their opinions about whether a minivan has enough clearance and durability for Forest Service roads should be taken with that in mind.

 

[Beavers]

Thanks MrNoodly.  Even if I had a 4x4 truck I wouldn't be going too crazy with it.  Breaking expensive parts out in the middle of nowhere isn't my idea of fun.  

I hadn't considered the durability factor of just being able to hold up to lots of use on even the milder roads...something else I guess I need to think about.  

I've been looking at some of the Motor Vehicle Use Maps from the USFS trying to get an idea on how the roads are.  Do their ratings on road ruggedness usually match reality?

 

[highdesertranger]

well an experienced driver can get almost any vehicle almost anywhere.

there are a few key words in that sentence. mainly experienced and almost used twice.

there are basically two types of dirt roads maintain and unmaintained

maintained roads can be driven by any vehicle

for unmaintained roads see the first sentence. unmaintained roads can be great or can make a mountain goat turn around

some factors

how much damage are you willing to sustain, because you will do damage. this will range from minor to serious.

keep this in mind you can be down any dirt road maintained or not and if a sudden storm comes through you could be stuck. for days sometimes. so be prepared always have an emergency supply of food and water. wait until the road dries out. this goes for any vehicle even a 4x4.

P rated tires are not good off highway. the best thing you can do is drive slow. even if the road seems fine and you can drive fast don't do it. I can not emphasize this enough. SLOW DOWN.

I always recommend that inexperienced people that want to explore the back country do so with at least 2 vehicles. preferably with an experienced person.

highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

^^^ X2 - HDR gives great advice here.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

I have 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. I am currently a camp host up near Darrington, WA. I take care of three Forest Service campgrounds. Two are 5 miles and 12 miles down the worst, pothole-filled, gravel road I have ever seen.

That road broke my truck. (Rather, the company truck.) Even going what I thought was a moderate 20-25 MPH average proved to be too much for most of the spot-welds around the piece next to the tailgate where the hinges and latches are. The tailgate will no longer stay in place without the power of Gorilla Tape. I now have to crawl down that road at an average of 5-10 MPH, slowing down to less than 1 MPH for long stretches because even Gorilla Tape has its limits.

Those spot-welds did not break all at once. I'm sure they've been going a little at a time, all summer long. Maybe even before they gave me the truck. (That tailgate has always given me a hard time. I just thought it was crappy design.)

The moral of this story is that those impacts add up. All that twisting of your frame adds up.

Can you make it down terrible forest roads like this? Of course you can. But, if you want to avoid long-term damage, you got have the patience of Job, if Job had been taught patience by the dalai lama. You've got to crawl down into each pothole an inch at a time, then crawl back out again. You've got to be vigilant as a meerkat because those asinine absences of asphalt will sneak up on you and catch you by surprise.

Of course, the final question is: Can you make it back?

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

 

[WanderCO]

The biggest factor I've noticed is the soil type of the area. I'm in Fort Collins, CO. The forest
service roads west of here range from passable by the lowest clearance cars to not very
fun in my Ranger 4WD truck. Around Colorado Springs, many roads are fine for any vehicle.
The difference, to me, is that the well-drained sandy soil around C- Springs is much better.
For the same reasons, in northern Utah, the soils seem to get more pot-holed (more rain)
than in sandy and dryer southern Utah. Similarly, southern Wyoming gets little rain, and
the soils drain well, so I've had good luck on Forest Service roads. I would say the answer
to your question really lies in where, exactly, you want to spend your time and whether
you're willing to pass on places where you get in over your head. The passenger van
will go many places you can't take a motorhome, just because it's compact, but you
have to know when to say "No, this is not someplace I can go," and not be disappointed.
I would guess a passenger van is limited to more like 20-30% of backcountry roads, in
my experience.

 

[maki2]

I you are going to do it in a minivan look for the ones with AWD and the highest ground clearance.

 

[Beavers]

Thank you all for the feedback.

MrNoodly got me thinking about the durability factor.  After thinking about it over the weekend I think I'm leaning towards a full-size based on durability in general.

I'd like to get 250k miles out of whatever van I get.  The late model minivans are nice...power doors, touch screens and all kinds of other fancy things.  15 years and 200k miles from now how many of these fancy complicated systems are going to break?  I've found that most of the times simpler is better.

There's a pretty good selection of low mileage Ford E-350's in my area.  I like the idea of a heavy duty no frills vehicle.  A heavy duty one ton frame and suspension has to hold up a million times better than a minivan.  I also like the idea of being able to add a locking differential and even a lift kit down the road if I feel the need.

 

[highdesertranger]

"I've found that most of the times simpler is better."

I couldn't agree more with this statement.

"and even a lift kit down the road if I feel the need."

I couldn't disagree more with this.

highdesertranger

 

[Beavers]

Haha...I've read of your dislike of lift kits on independent front suspensions in other threads. In reality I'll probably always be able to find a better way to the spend the $3-4k a lift kit costs. They sure do look cool though!

 

[bullfrog]

Anyone can go faster and tear up a vehicle. Taking your time to learn what your vehicle can and can't do requires a lot of situational awareness and thinking ahead. Most people are into far much of a hurry and unwilling to take the time to get out, walk, look and make sure only good results will occur before just pushing harder on the accelerator petal.

 

[jacqueg]

Don't forget to visit the local ranger station or office. They know.

 

[skyl4rk]

Front wheel drive minivans have good traction. With a fresh set of all weather tires, they are excellent in snow conditions, so they should be able to handle some muddy conditions as well. I recently had to put new struts on a Dodge Grand Caravan with 160,000 miles and it drives very nice again, so the front ends can be repaired. I think minivans can be a good, low cost boondocking vehicle.

 

[ChileGirl]

I just got home from a two-week solo camping trip in my 2002 Sienna. I put 3700 miles on it. I drove a LOT of dirt roads--in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. There was only one road I decided against--after I was several hundred yards up it and discovered it had deep, deep trenches in it. I had to back down it, which wasn't much fun. Otherwise, even washboard roads with lots of big holes were fine--as long as I took it really slow. I went camping with friends in Penticton, BC. They have a 4WD pickup, and I followed them for about 30 miles down a dirt road to their favorite camping spot. It started out as a really well-maintained road then got rougher and rougher as we got farther and farther away from the other campers (which was a good thing). I had to go slower than he did, but I managed the road just as well. He suggested that I might want to put truck tires on the van for such roads. I'm going to give that some thought, but I'm not sure it's the best thing to do.

Anyway, I managed to get into lots of dispersed, remote spots on FS roads. My '02 isn't as low as some of the newer Siennas, though.

 

[highdesertranger]

you put 3700 miles on it in 2 weeks? you go girl. x2 on the truck tires. that's very good advice. highdesertranger