Is the Pilot just a rebodied mini-van? Nope.

[Cheese]

So I have taken a little guff from my jeep driving friends about the Pilots lack of off-road pedigree. I knew when I bought the vehicle that it was never going to be a rock crawler, and to be honest I didn't have any expectations of off roading it at all. I figured, she will be reliable in the snow, and that will mean it is less likely my wife will get herself stuck in a ditch or on a slick incline ect ect ect.

Soooo... Last evening I had my Wife, Daughter, and Mother and Father In-Law in the Pilot and we were headed south to my Parents place in Woodland Park. I25 south was jammed almost the whole way down, and finally in a moment of frustration I asked the GPS (which we call "Karen") for an alternate route. Karen found us one, so I exited the highway and started following directions. She took us into Pikes National Forest- she took us up a mountain, and then just as we were nearing what was supposed to be the end of our journey she recommended a left turn onto a "road" that would be better described as a goat path. It was too late to turn back. We were just 4 miles from our destination. Even though it looked forboding I decided to go for it.
There were deep parallel ruts in the path that I had to strattle. and occasionally these ruts would cut accross our path and we would need to test the suspension travel as we crossed over them. The path was narrow, and it was winding. It descended pretty sharply in places, and in other places it ascended sharply enough to threaten our approach angle. The Pilot handled it all with aplomb. Seriously, I was impressed. A reasonably well loaded (capacity wise) SUV on all season tires. An "overgrown stationwagon" or "rebodied mini-van" took to the trail in surefooted fashion.

We got where we were going, and we have a funny story about how you just can't trust Karen the Douche-bag to give the directions. We got there in one piece, and I have maybe a little more confidence in Galinda's abilities.

Just thought I would share.

P

[humanoid]

Nice!

[Cheese]

Honestly, I really do love this vehicle. Even with the snags we encountered when I bought her the Pilot has been a great people mover. We have logged some real miles this summer- running down to Royal Gorge for a rafting trip, and up over Cottonwood pass on a camping trip. We crossed the great divide twice this summer. The Pilot has been great taking on lots of rough gravel roads, and now the infamous goat trail handily.

Glad to say Galinda will be a member of our little tribe for a long time to come.

P

[cwa107]

Fun story, thanks for sharing. I also think the Pilot is underestimated by the "4x4" traditionalists out there. I'm on my my second one now and have always found it to be confident on the few occasions its left the pavement, and particularly in the snow and ice. Now, I wouldn't take it rock crawling, but driving it to most campgrounds and occasionally off the beaten path is really not an issue.

[rocky]

Great story

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by rocky

Great story

Yeah... Unfortunately I was too busy trying to make sure I didn't get us into a situation we couldn't be extracted from to stop and take pics. I didn't think of it until the trail had evened out a bit.

If we ever end up in that kind of a situation again I'll try to get some shots of the more extreme conditions to share.

In the meantime I am thinking about some auxiliary lighting. The standard headlights were pretty dim out there and it would have been nice to have some front mounted KCs to light our way if it hads gotten much darker. Also, next tire purchase is going to have more sidewall for a little more ground clearance. Does this mean I plan on more spontaneous misadventures? No. But as mentioned above by cwa107 we do get out to some remote camping sites, and some lesser known roads on occasion.

Funny moment? I realized mid-misadventure that we were probably the first vehicle to traverse this stretch of trail with "Finding Nemo" playing on the overhead monitor. My Daughter (2yrs old) loves that flick...

P

[rocky]

245/75-16 will work, I recall someone using that size without clearance problems. BFG makes the AT and MT in that size. Those tires have great sidewall strength.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by rocky

245/75-16 will work, I recall someone using that size without clearance problems. BFG makes the AT and MT in that size. Those tires have great sidewall strength.

Good advice. Any recommendations for a front mount light bar to hold 2 KCs? I'd like to put them front and center without adding a ridiculous, and useless "brush bar"

P

[jcantanixon]

You can mount them to the bumper, in the lower center section. Depending on the weight of the lights, you can add a flat bar behind the bumper as reinforcement. I mounted a couple of Hella driving lights there on my 05 and they were very stable with no visible shaking.

I'm sure there's a DIY somewhere on here.

[jcantanixon]

Installing aftermarket fog lights

That's the thread I was thinking about. Some good pics in there. Also, forgot to say thanks for the story! Nice work making sure it was an "adventure" and not a "disaster" ending

[jonaz]

4th of July weekend, we followed my neighbor with his F250 4x4 diesel, and his father in law in a older Jeep CJ 4x4 up a steep narrow fire trail here in the San Bernardino Mountains. I was warned by the CJ driver, that our Honda probably wouldn't make it, but we were welcome to try anyway. I can tell you that with large rocks, and deep cracks in the road, a CRV or Rav4 would not have made it. Although my neighbor blasted through the trail, his enormous amount of torque actually was a hinderence, and so was the width of his truck when going around corners. Some of the corners were so tight, that he had to make it a 3 point turn. Our Pilot already has scratches, so I was not to worried about adding more (well, the wife was). Yes, we have Bridgestone Duelers 245/75-16 tires, and once we had to use the VTM lock on a really steep section of the trail. There were other 4x4s awaiting at the top, and somebody remarked that this was the first time they had seen any Honda up here. Anyway, our Pilot did a great job, and it really impressed all those who watched it climb the last section of trail.

[armpilot]

Originally Posted by jonaz

4th of July weekend, we followed my neighbor with his F250 4x4 diesel, and his father in law in a older Jeep CJ 4x4 up a steep narrow fire trail here in the San Bernardino Mountains. I was warned by the CJ driver, that our Honda probably wouldn't make it, but we were welcome to try anyway. I can tell you that with large rocks, and deep cracks in the road, a CRV or Rav4 would not have made it. Although my neighbor blasted through the trail, his enormous amount of torque actually was a hinderence, and so was the width of his truck when going around corners. Some of the corners were so tight, that he had to make it a 3 point turn. Our Pilot already has scratches, so I was not to worried about adding more (well, the wife was). Yes, we have Bridgestone Duelers 245/75-16 tires, and once we had to use the VTM lock on a really steep section of the trail. There were other 4x4s awaiting at the top, and somebody remarked that this was the first time they had seen any Honda up here. Anyway, our Pilot did a great job, and it really impressed all those who watched it climb the last section of trail.

Hip-hip- horay!

[soilmapper]

At work, I have a lifted Jeep Liberty and had (until last year) a 1989 Dodge 4x4 Pickup. I have used both extensively off road for work and play.

But I have been impressed with the Honda, when driven carefully. Being able to lock the rear wheels is really helpful in spots with 2 wheels off the ground and partially makes up for the lack of rear axle articulation. I'll be making a rock guard/skid plate for the front if we do more, since there is so little protection.

Plus, it is comfortable, reliable, seats 8, and is reasonably efficient. Not bad.

[Cheese]

I ended up going with Hankook DynaPRO ATM in 235/70/R16. It's an AT tire, and looks pretty burly on the Pilot. I very satisfied with the purchase.

Here is a very terrible pic of the truck in the garage...

[1YESfan]

Always travel with someone when going off-road or secluded areas, inclement weather, as you never know when you might have to eat them to survive. ;-)