A small correction - the flipped 4Runner on the very first post had KDSS. It's visible on the pics when they were recovering it.My guess - none of the flops have KDSS. KDSS would help a lot to stabilize the body motion here.
A small correction - the flipped 4Runner on the very first post had KDSS. It's visible on the pics when they were recovering it.My guess - none of the flops have KDSS. KDSS would help a lot to stabilize the body motion here.
A small correction - the flipped 4Runner on the very first post had KDSS. It's visible on the pics when they were recovering it.
Thanks - I hadn't looked closely. I'd think KDSS would help in that situation. But it may still be too much angle for it. Once you exceed the travel range, they all get pretty tippy.
You can see on mine where it gets pretty off balance, but this case there wasn't the side hill issue also to deal with.
<iframe width="1009" height="642" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AMFVfR9ibhw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Nice!! Was this when you first ran it with 33s? Also, are you running a 34 spare??
I've done Black Bear several times, most recently last week. The pictures below show the section where I believe a lot of the rollovers have happened. (Again the pictures don't really give a good visual of how it looks in person)
Last year I took the far right line, where is this year (with the RTT ect.), I felt better about the far left line.
I think a lot of people try to go left (but not far left), and get their driver front tire in the hole at the bottom, while their passenger rear tire was already in the air or coming up.......that along with stabbing the brakes/panic, and not letting it roll through, ended up in the rollovers here.
![]()
![]()
Hey, I was there a week before you!
I wanted to go straight along the far right/pax side but when I looked at it from the driver seat, I no longer liked it.
I went center, then sharp driver to be straight to the drop as much as possible then sharp pax. Never had a tire in the air but the rear pax came close. The drop is not so big as of the next spot but the next spot offers enough room to just drop down the biggest hump in the direction of the drop: no worries there.
Can you describe your line? The pictures don't make it clear. EDIT: I mean the far right/pax line from last year. The far driver side line is clear. There is someone who posted a video of that, he lifted the rear pax wheel a little (fully stock).
Btw, as usual the pictures flatten the spot.
The place I lifted a wheel the most in the 4R was the one tippy spot on the north loop of Fins and Things but since the front pax wheel is in the whole pointing in direction of the drop, it never felt bad.
Haha, Just missed you then!
The far right/passenger side line I took last year (without the RTT), is similar to the video linked below......starting at the 2 minute mark.
Since I had the RTT on this year, and considering the lift I have, I felt this line would have leaned more than what I would have been comfortable with....hence going far left/driver this year.
VXs on Black Bear Pass 8/9/2018 - YouTube
That Isuzu driver drove it well.
Is this the line you took this year? I like the line, but not so much the execution on this video:
Stock 4Runner on Black Bear Pass - YouTube
Yes sir, that is exactly what I did last week!
I don't think my rear tire lifted in this spot, like that 4Runner did in the video, due to all of the weight I have back there.... But yeah that was the same line I took last week.
Edit: I believe I have it on video as well...I can try to get it uploaded.
When I had an Outback, I used to carry two bundles of firewood to build spots to clear the bumpers. Rolling over was never an issue. Seems like not a terrible idea for a 4R on specific trails either, even if for a different reason. Far easier and faster than using rocks.
If there were less traffic on Imogene, I would have driven it in my Outback. But the heavy traffic makes building spots on the rocky Ouray side ridiculous, gotta be considerate....
When I had an Outback, I used to carry two bundles of firewood to build spots to clear the bumpers. Rolling over was never an issue. Seems like not a terrible idea for a 4R on specific trails either, even if for a different reason. Far easier and faster than using rocks.
If there were less traffic on Imogene, I would have driven it in my Outback. But the heavy traffic makes building spots on the rocky Ouray side ridiculous, gotta be considerate....
Firewood...now thats a good idea. Dual purpose!
The problem with firewood is transporting it out the area where you collected it and the risks of bringing invasive critters into areas they have not yet been introduced. To be ethical about it, you would have to do all your building with local or heat-treated firewood.
Transporting firewood is illegal in most areas of the mountain west but mostly not enforced.
Last time I was there was about 3 years ago. But there was a couple Subaru Foresters going from the Telluride side. They didn't seem to have any issues. I think the forester has a bit less overhang on the bumpers, so that really helps I'd guess.
I like the firewood idea. I've thought in the past that some sort of stackable interlocking plastic ramps could work really well for some situations. like these RV leveling blocks. For a low clearance vehicle they'd probably work really well.
![]()
Last time I was there was about 3 years ago. But there was a couple Subaru Foresters going from the Telluride side. They didn't seem to have any issues. I think the forester has a bit less overhang on the bumpers, so that really helps I'd guess.
I like the firewood idea. I've thought in the past that some sort of stackable interlocking plastic ramps could work really well for some situations. like these RV leveling blocks. For a low clearance vehicle they'd probably work really well.