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Below you will find definitions of 4WD and Off Road activities for those people that are new to the community. The more that drivers understand the inherent risks involved in this sport, the safer and more fun it becomes!

 

Because there is no such thing as a stupid question.

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• Rock Crawlin'

• Mud Boggin'

• Sand Draggin'

• Geocache (4WD Style)

• Rabbit

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Information for Rack Crawlin', Mud Boggin' and Geocache provided by Wikipedia. Thanx, you guys R0x0rs

 

Rock Crawlin'

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Rock crawling is an extreme form of off road driving using vehicles anywhere from stock to highly modified to overcome obstacles.

 

The vehicles

 

In order to successfully rock crawl, a capable vehicle is required. Most commonly a brand name truck or four wheeled vehicle will be outfitted with custom parts. Power is usually not an issue since low gears are common. These custom parts can include:

• locking differentials

• taller off road tires

• upgraded suspension

• four wheel steering

• roll cage for driver protection

• engine modifications for increased performance, mostly torque

• lowered gearing in either or all of the transmission, transfercase, or axle differentials

• winches

• body armor (rocker panels, fenders, etc.)

• bead locks (locks tires to the rims for low tire pressures)

• long travel shock absorbers, drop shackles, spring over conversions (to increase wheel travel)

Oversized, low-pressure, knobby mud-terrain tires are frequently used for this reason also. Likewise, most vehicles have a low-geared transfer case to make the most torque in the low speeds used for rock crawling. Suspension-wise, rock crawling vehicles sometimes have after-market lift-kits installed, raising the chassis and increasing suspension flex, though the rockcrawlers running the tougher trails often have fabricated suspension systems, or cobbled together leaf packs to cheaply achieve the goals, making it easier to drive over larger obstacles with less risk of damage to the vehicle. Most suspensions are made to be highly flexible, allowing for the maximum amount of tire area to contact the ground in any adverse situation found, while keeping the vehicle as low as possible for center of gravity considerations. Due to the conflicting nature of the dynamics and needs of rock-crawling and highway-driving vehicles, it is not unusual to modify a vehicle solely for offroad recreational usage.

Once a vehicle is deemed "offroad only" ie. not driven on the street and trailered to trails or OHV parks (Off-Highway Vehicle), then the limits are sky high.

On the extreme side, those with more financial resources can build their own rock crawler to suit their needs. There are many benefits to this method. The biggest is that the owner has complete control over what their vehicle is capable of. Each part of the vehicle can be custom designed to specifically suit their needs. In this way a vehicle can be optimized to only have the parts that are required. Also, they do not have to be limited by the vehicles exterior and can design anything they want with no restrictions. The downside is that doing this is a much larger investment of both finances and time. Acquiring sponsors can help to cover some of these costs.

 

The terrain

 

The terrain used for rock crawling can vary just as much as the vehicles. Most commonly, rock crawling will occur where there are plenty of rocks, but any other steep or abnormal surface will do. Other obstacles may include mud, sand, water, and large hills. Preferably one should have enough good terrain to make a path with plenty of variation among the obstacles. The more difficult the path the better, but one must also take into account safety and the likelihood that they might not be able to make it. While a challenge is good, it is not good to blindly take on any challenge even if it means impending damage. Also going in a convoy of vehicles is advised as recovery when stuck is near impossible with a lone vehicle.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_crawling

 

 

Mud Boggin'

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Mud bogging, also known as mud racing, mud running and mud drags, is a form of off-road motorsport popular in the United States in which the goal is to drive a vehicle through a pit of mud of a set length. Winners are determined by the distance traveled through the pit or, if several vehicles are able to travel the entire length, the time taken to traverse the pit. Typically, vehicles competing in mud bogs are four-wheel drives.

 

Vehicles

A modern top level Class V or VI mud racer is a dragster-style "rail" design, with a supercharged engine and/or nitrous oxide injection. Engines may be in the front or the rear. Vehicles are required to have four wheel drive. The sole difference between Classes V and VI is the tire type. Class V racers have D.O.T. street legal tires which are modified by cutting off chunks of rubber to achieve an optimum shape for traction. Class VI vehicles have paddle tires, similar to sand rails.

Early mud boggers used and armature drivers still use pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles modified with lifted suspensions and larger tires, and classes still exist for such vehicles today. Engine upgrades were also common. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, large tractor tires became popular, and the drivelines required to run such tires led to some of the first purpose-built mud bogging machines. By the late 1980s, many sanctioning bodies began giving precedence to vehicles with modified, and lower, dragster-type "rail designs", as they had increased in popularity. At the same time, superchargers first became widely used, leading to the modern top-level racer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_bogging

 

 

Sand Draggin'

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Geocache (4WD Style)

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Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little monetary value. Today, well over 350,000 geocaches are currently placed in 222 countries around the world, which are registered on various websites devoted to the sport.

 

Some 4WD enthusiast in eastern Washington has adapted this sport to the 4WD and Off Road community. Information on eastern Washington "caches" can be found in the Foxxxtracker 4WD forums "Geocache (4WD Style)".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocache

 

 

Rabbit

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Rabbit is a game of hide and seek that uses CB Radio's to locate the hiding participant (known as the "Rabbit") based on signal strength and clues given by the "Rabbit".

 

Participants normally set specific boundaries as to where they are allowed to hide. Once boundaries are set participants chose a Rabbit. The Rabbit hides and then gives the group of hunters a clue as to where they are hidden. While the "Rabbit" gives his clue the hunters watch the signal strength of the Rabbit to help them determine how far away the Rabbit is.

 

Periodically hunters will call out "Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit", this is a sign to the Rabbit to give another clue. Again hunters will watch signal strength to help them determine how close they are. This can go on for a long time depending on how large the boundaries are and how well the Rabbit has hidden itself. Once the Rabbit has been found the hunt is called off. The hunter that finds the Rabbit will then take its turn as Rabbit and the game starts over again.