If you found an SUV with auto ride-height in the rear, that’d be ideal. I believe, that’s an option, as opposed to being automatically included on a particular model. I have an auto ride-height, airbag system on my pickup and fully recommend having it. Whether I have a load of mulch or pull a trailer, the truck always sits level and has full suspension travel, so it drives and rides right.
I have a JoeHauler single rail dirtbike carrier. It, too, is a beast of the 65# range. I know it's rated for at least 400 lbs but I'm thinking it might be 600. No issues strappin' a 426 or a Trials bike behind either the JK with fat tires or the WJ with leather...driving leaves something to be desired. Behind the dually, I'm not sure it's there...
We had a cap on the truck which was our sleeping and storage area. I wouldn't say it was struggling, but the added support in the back helped the ride height. I think that regardless of air bags the front was going to be light with 500+ lbs of steel hanging off the bumper (frame mounted hitch, I know; but whatever) of the truck. Since it wasn't my truck, and I know the owner pretty well, we used the airbags just because they were already installed and ready to use.
That’s why I like my cheap on one on the Jeep. It’s much lighter and with extra straps I am not worried about it going anywhere.
But there wasn't any ice in the puddles so it could have been worse. And it has rained in GA for 3 months more or less every day so I expected worse conditions. So we tried to stay out of the valleys/low trails and rode 28, 11, 12 a&b, 15 a&b, 27, 8, 40, 41, and a bunch more and they weren't too bad, but the lower perimeter road sucked.
Some peeps like to carry water in a backpack or on the back of the chest protector. I didn't like the weight on my back and it felt wrong. So I bought this smaller Camelbak, then cut the straps off. Next I added grommets to each side where the straps where. The right side is loosely zip tied to the rad shroud and the left side has a zip tie on the shroud so a carabiner on the bag can attach it but you can swing the bag away to get to the gas cap. I never feel it when riding and it doesn't seem to limit moving forward. The drink hose is on the bark buster so you can get to it quickly. Not the hot set up for racing but for bouncing off trees at HP it works great.
Anyone have an opinion about tubliss systems? Good? Bad? Ugly? I mostly ride on slow technical muddy rocky type trails, but also log hopping, fire roads, etc. Pavement would be extremely rare. Fairly new to dirty bikes so any advice appreciated.
They are awesome. I have it on one of my dirtbikes and am going to put it on the new one soon. You can run super low psi so it works great in the tight, slippery stuff.
Agreed. I run it (Tubliss) on the rear. For the slow stuff, it's the dog's danglers. Some guys run them on the front as well but I go with a standard heavy duty tube up front or a mousse. You don't want the tubliss if you're going to see high speed for any duration at all. The ability to run low PSI is awesome here in WV where it's so freaking wet now. Good luck! I think you'll like it. I can't think of any actual down side to that system for singletrack guys.
Heavy duty tubes or mousse are the best choice. But mousse are a pain to fit but what the hell they're bulletproof. The downside of mousse is they don't like high speeds and they do shrink and crumble when you use them too long.
+1, bought a set for my latest ride, will install when I also replace the tires. Include a handpump and plugs in your backpack and you'll be good to go if you ever get a puncture out there. However, iirc, you can run flat/limp mode back to the pits/truck if you don't ride with a pack.
You guys watching any youtube vids of the American Hard Enduro series???? Good GAWD. Two of my riding buddies rode the Groundhog and the Rev Limiter. I'm loving watching this stuff. It's very similar to our terrain we ride all the time here. I've not entered a hard enduro yet, simply bc I don't want to drive 6,7,8 hours to ride. But man it looks fun. Web is an animal. You guys should hit youtube and I bet you'll really like the videos.
Ok, I'm on board with the tubliss. One more question though. They're basically a high pressure inner tube inside a sort of shell thing, right? The red bit in pictures. So does that part (the red shell thing) fold up, or is it more like a solid plastic thing? I can't find anyone who carries them here in Finland and am wondering about shipping.
The red plastic part does not fold up. It remains, even in shipping, in its round form. You can probably order from my local KTM shop here in the US. AOMC. They ship world wide I think. ktm-parts.com I hope I'm not breaking a rule by posting their site here. I'm not a stakeholder in the shop. I'm just a customer I get no financial reward for sending folks there or anything.
It doesn't fold up, huh? Yeah I was afraid of that. The shipping prices from the US are as much as the tubliss themselves. Now I know why. I can get a set from ze germans for around 245 (euro) with shipping.
It's a flexible but relatively stiff U-channel ring. It also has the metal tire guide and tape in the only bit of packaging/instructions at one edge of the ring.
This is true. Even more so, I have ridden many many miles on a flat front/rear (like 20-40) and it was totally ridable (or I wouldn't have done it). Therefore I opt to not carry plugs or any air filling device, never had an issue. Hope this helps.