Tri state places to go

[colousa]

I like to know where can I go to get my pilot in to mud, water, and dust and all the roughness of the out doors. Actually to let him know what he was build to.

Any ideas?....

[Evergreen]

How about the catskills? It's the closest I can think of.

Evergreen

[FSDO]

i think route 1 and 9 in jersey city often meets all your criteria espesially when it rains. har har !!

[colousa]

do you know any specific place or I go to look ?

[jfrano]

I you take Rt 80 West to the Lake Hoptcong exit, just follow the boat ramp down to the bottom, plenty of mud and water, I curse it overtimed I dive there. However make sure your Pilot is equipped with UVTM-4...of course the underwater version. Seriously, I'm not aware of any...of course someone that does lots of mountain biking would have ideas. Vermont,has some excellent off roading, the old logging/snowmobile roads, if you ever get up there for skiing/foliage take advantage of it. The snowmobile roads even have road numbers on them, which are noted on maps.

[banningjr]

I know there is a place you can go in the Poconos. It is something like $35 to take a trip but it is supposed to be pretty nice. I think you also go in teams so if someone get stuck, like a Jeep , you have others to help pull them out. If I find more info. I will let you know.

(Of course there are also hundreds of coal roads in that same area running down through Central PA but they would be as legit!)

[slimjim]

The pilot is not a true off road 4 wheel drive vehicle. It has low clearance, and most importantly no 4-low. Don't think of doing any semi-serious off-roading. They are really an excellent all weather vehicle only.

[banningjr]

Slim
Don't sell the Pilot short either. It's clearance of 8" is the same as the Exploder and many other SUV's. I'll agree on the low range, it could really use a true low range but most place you will conservatively go with any SUV is probably fine for the Pilot. I wouldn't take it quite every where I tried with my Tacoma but the Taco had a full foot of clearance and real off-road tires.

If you are going to run off-road take a minute to read some of the available articles on how-to run your vehicle off-road. Learn about placing your tires ON rocks instead of trying to clear everything down the center. Look under your vehicle and learn your low points. Many an off-roader has been hung on rocks and mud because they didn't take their low points or vehicle limits into consideration. DON'T try to run your vehicle around like you are driving the General Lee clearing that last little mud puddle or the next thing you might be doing is swimming to the other side to look for a tow.

One last note: Remeber when you are out there with your Pilot your are bringing in the untested toy. You'll find plenty of pick-ups and old Broncos and Blazers that were made and modified for these types of things. Be considerate, you may need these guys to help you out when you tried to fit in just a little too much. (Unless of course you have already added the swampers and 4" lift kit and some how gotten a more substantial low range setup in place.) The Pilot is capable but it is more at home in your garage than the Rubicon trail.

[slimjim]

I am knowledgable about four-wheeling. I too have a tacoma that I 4-wheel with all the time. I am an active member in Tacoma Territory Off Roaders Association, especially the new england chapter. You can visit it at www.ttora-ne.com. The pilot which I own and love will never be able to tackle nearly the terrain that even a stock tacoma with 31's wiil be able to do. Even in this months consumer reports it could not complete there rock hill course because of a lack of low range, while the other three suvs could. It is an excellent all weather vehicle which is exactly what I wanted for myself and my wife. I would take the pilot hands down over my tacoma in 10" of snow, because this is what the 4-wheel drive system on the pilot was made to handle, it is not made IMHO to handle any significant off-road 4-wheeling.

[jfrano]

I don' think anyone purchased their Pilot because of its severe off-roading abilities. I think most people are expecting a vehicle that is in the cream of the crop, when it comes to bad weather handling; snow, rain, fog etc. In that regard they will be VERY satisfied.
I also do some 'light...medium" off roading for which the Pilot is well suited, anything more than that is simply curiosity, to see what it can handle...be careful!

Joe

[colousa]

Thank guys for all your information, but actually I wasn't ready to go that far may I was a little passionate but I can’t go to do what the experience off road drivers do. I mean it on the city slicker way, I believe an SUV look nice two ways: first: clean, waxed, shiny and second: dirty is like our own kids on a holiday the best dress and on playing time with all the dirt on their faces they look adorable.

Also, I'm not a rich fellow; I have to protect my properties and have fun with then.

So trust me, I will be very careful where to go and I will post a picture of my pilot with all the mud and dirt, in a best way for a Pilot.

Thanks


Also I add the silver start bulbs.... great, now look very nice made a lot of improvement on the look of the Pilot