what is too steep for my disco?

[wolf]

I was on a small trail the other day and reached the bottom of a steep hill, is there a way to know if an angle is too steep and i might roll it backward?
my manual doesnt give me any kind of an angle range, and how would i even measure that out in the bush?, also going down, how steep is too steep
is there some kind of field test i can do?

sorry i know its a rookie question, but hey, i am one

[RageRover]

Well I drive a RRC which is bigger and a little more heavier than a Disco. I have driven up from what I think is a 40-45 degree slope and down the same slope to get to a trail. Although the incline is made of dirt and not hard rock, dunno if that aided me in climbing or decending down it at all.

Hope this helps a little, others on here do more wheelin' than I do so they should jump in.

[p76rangie]

It would be very rare to roll a disco over backwards. The only chance would be attempting to climb up a rock or something similar. But basically you would not have enough traction to be able to climb a hill that is likely to flip it over backwards.

Ian

[Greg S]

Up hill; too steep is when your tires don't pull anymore or your engine quits because it can't get fuel.

Downhill? When your grill and bumper stop you.

I've seen what I would loosly call "vertical" faces climbed up and down by 4 X 4's. I have a carb so can't go as steep, I think, compared to Fuel injected. Down hill you are restricted by speed. How fast do you want to go and how long of a run-out do you have? Too long and steep of a down hill and you might develope oil pressure problems. A 45 degree slope (100% grade)should be fine for either direction. Steeper than that going down might cause an oil issue but not if momentary. If you hear it start to knock. Shut it down.

GS

[p76rangie]

This is starting to get on the steep side.

Ian

[Disco Mike]

Wolf,
If people gather around and start taking pictures then it was TOOOO steep.
One thing to be said for Discos, they don't get their feeling hurt. Well pull him up, leveled him out and the owner, a woman, drove it back to the camp site.
This made for a great ending of a late night run.
Mike

[Bdog]

Anything as steep as this is too steep.

http://dl2.davesdaily.com/videoclips...suv-action.wmv

[Funrover]

Originally Posted by Disco Mike

Wolf,
If people gather around and start taking pictures then it was TOOOO steep.
One thing to be said for Discos, they don't get their feeling hurt. Well pull him up, leveled him out and the owner, a woman, drove it back to the camp site.
This made for a great ending of a late night run.
Mike

That is crazy.......................... Bet that was a fun ride!!

[Funrover]

Originally Posted by Bdog

Anything as steep as this is too steep.

http://dl2.davesdaily.com/videoclips...suv-action.wmv

Awsome vid!!!!!

[-MOSES-]

Originally Posted by wolf

I was on a small trail the other day and reached the bottom of a steep hill, is there a way to know if an angle is too steep and i might roll it backward?
my manual doesnt give me any kind of an angle range, and how would i even measure that out in the bush?, also going down, how steep is too steep
is there some kind of field test i can do?

sorry i know its a rookie question, but hey, i am one

When you touch cloth , its too steep ! LOL

[Badger1]

When the change starts falling out of your pockets onto the back seat backrests and rolls into the rear cargo area, your starting to get there!

[me.guevara]

The textbook answer is that a static rollover will happen when your center of gravity is no longer supported (i.e. when there isn't a wheel undeneath it). A dynamic rollover is easier to "accomplish", for it has to do with momentum (mass times velocity) and thus harder to calculate.

Any four wheeled vehicle will need to locate it's center of gravity inside the wheelbase, but I would guess, given the monstrous gas-guzzling engines we own, that the CG is slightly forward of the wheelbase's midline, slightly left of the wheelbase centerline, and, heightwise, somewhere between the chassis and the engine's midline (give or take a few inches). Of course, the CG moves as you empty the gas tank, load the roof rack, attach a winch or recovery point, etc.

In my Disco, I estimate that the CG is in the center console, between the the two front seats. Let's call it right underneath where my window switches are. Statically, if this magical point is outside the wheelbase, I'm rolling over.

Looking at a profile picture of the Disco, I'm guesstimating a rear/forward static rollover at angles geater than 60 degrees, and a sideways static rollover at angles greater than about 45 degrees: both well over 10 on the pucker factor scale (at 10, a piece of carbon comes out a diamond ), and clearly 5 points on the scale greater than anything I've ever done. And, as mentioned by a few already, well into unknown systems-performance parameters (e.g. fuel, oil starvation).

In the pictures Mike posted, the Disco is at about 80 degrees (hard to tell exactly as slopes are impossible to really see from small frames) and has not rolled. Mind you, the pivot point is no longer the wheel, but the bumper, but you get the idea.

I would not recommend testing those parameters out.

NB: dynamic rollover is a totally different story (i.e. it takes much less of an angle to roll), as not only is there an energy factor (as previously mentioned), but also suspension, tires, driver skill-level, etc. come into play.

Those of you who do that kind of extreme stuff, how far have you gotten?

[p76rangie]

Love the video. I think it is a classic how it gets back on the wheels. Very quick thinking by the driver as if he did not drive off, it would have most likely kept on rolling.

Ian

[Capt. Ron]

WTF! THAT IS AWESOME!

[TN-LR3]

is that a bronco or a samuri