gonzo
New member
at least that seems to be the public perception.
this past weekend i took the family off-roading in the george washington national forest near crabtree falls in southwest virginia.
the trails we were on can be somewhat technical and, depending where you go, body damage is a distinct possibility.
while we were out there we saw quite a few others on the trail, several jeeps & toy pickups, a handful of american pickups, and the odd isuzu. one thing that caught me off gaurd is that everyone i spoke to expressed surprise at seeing us out there with a 4runner. i am not sure if they thought that the 4runner was "too pretty" to be out there, if it was a capability issue, or if they didn't expect a 4runner owner to actually take the vehicle off-road. whatever the case, i was a little taken back.
the 4runner had no problems handling any of the trails, we were even lucky enough to see quite a bit of wildlife. unfortunately i did not see the part of the trail that forcibly removed one of my rear mud guards or the rock that managed to destroy one of my running boards (suddenly I am in the market for sliders).
my answer to people who questioned why i had taken a 4runner on this particular trail was quite simple, it is fully capable of handling the trail, my wife, kids, and i are all comfortable, and i can fit all of our camping equipment too! as an added bonus, the runner is a blast when flying through the mountain roads that lead up to the trail.
which kind of makes me question, why are there no other 4runners out here?
this past weekend i took the family off-roading in the george washington national forest near crabtree falls in southwest virginia.
the trails we were on can be somewhat technical and, depending where you go, body damage is a distinct possibility.
while we were out there we saw quite a few others on the trail, several jeeps & toy pickups, a handful of american pickups, and the odd isuzu. one thing that caught me off gaurd is that everyone i spoke to expressed surprise at seeing us out there with a 4runner. i am not sure if they thought that the 4runner was "too pretty" to be out there, if it was a capability issue, or if they didn't expect a 4runner owner to actually take the vehicle off-road. whatever the case, i was a little taken back.
the 4runner had no problems handling any of the trails, we were even lucky enough to see quite a bit of wildlife. unfortunately i did not see the part of the trail that forcibly removed one of my rear mud guards or the rock that managed to destroy one of my running boards (suddenly I am in the market for sliders).
my answer to people who questioned why i had taken a 4runner on this particular trail was quite simple, it is fully capable of handling the trail, my wife, kids, and i are all comfortable, and i can fit all of our camping equipment too! as an added bonus, the runner is a blast when flying through the mountain roads that lead up to the trail.
which kind of makes me question, why are there no other 4runners out here?
My bumpers have been to the bodyshop way more times than i could count. My new wife thinks that i am plain nuts...and we're only married for 3 weeks!
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