First serious off-roading with my ORP

I bought a new 2019 ORP in March of 2020. Since I live in an urban area, I hadn't really taken it off road. I did take it out during snow storms and did do some dirt roads, but that was not pushing the vehicle in any way.

Earlier this year, I signed up for a course with Northeast Offroad Adventures. I was surprised to see that I was the only student with a stock* vehicle in the class and this was a beginner class on a green trail. *Another student had a stock diesel Rubicon, but it had proper AT tires and the factory height is taller.

That said, the 4runner performed really well. While I had some idea about how KDSS worked, I did not truly realize how added articulation off road would help with certain obstacles, especially one designed to get a wheel into the air. The instructors wanted us to learn to drive without computerized aids, so we did things the old-fashioned way for half of the course. Then, I started using the cheat codes and aids like crawl control and the locking rear diff made things that much easier.

Apart from skill / experience difficulties on my part, but only real complaint was the stock running boards. They made every obstacle that much more tricky and they're coming off. I did manage to crunch a board once. A buddy took the course with me and took some pics which I'll post once I get them from him. I'm looking forward to hitting the trails again before too long.

 

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Sounds like fun! Looking forward to pics.

 

Very cool! Sounds like it's time to trade the running boards in for some sliders.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

Subd for pics