99 QX4 offroading in socal desert, with some friends (25 pics)

[fueler]

This section of the desert used to be underwater (part of sea of cortez) a long time ago now all you have is great terrain Overall it was a great weekend of wheeling. Temps were in the mid-90's all day, hottest temp i recorded was 101.

checking out the map, duct tape covering my cold air intake

the crew i rolled with: An H3, 99 land rover (buddy bought it 3 days ago), and my 99 QX4

gorgeous terrain



hummer having fun





99 disco, factory lockers front and rear, buddy picked it up just a few days ago for $2900!!

It performed GREAT on tiny little street tires. The plastic bumpers bend and conform with the boulders, and bend right back into shape afterwards.

H3 - belongs to my buddies girlfriend - he borrowed it, because his heavily modded 2WD tundra is a baja rig and not a rock crawler

but this chick car did great on the trail too- only damage was to the side step, which got destroyed



and my QXslow

great trails i successfully completed "diablo dropoff" which is rated as a difficult trail. It is a steep drop with several boulders, gaping holes, soft sand, etc. I recommend a short wheelbase and nice ground clearance for this trail However i did drag the Qx4 across everything..... judging by the difficulty of the trail, i think its safe to say that this is the first Infiniti QX4 to ever do this trail (and probably first infiniti in general to do this trail)

my only damage was both side steps, bent the front fender a little bit and now i have trouble opening the drivers door

land rover with same exact damage camping spot THANKS FOR VIEWEING MY PICTURES I had a great time out in anza borrego... but i am learning that my car is terrible for offroading. i dont know whether to mod it or just give up.... please give me your opinions [img]

[fueler]

and the photos do not show the difficulty of the trail.... when youre crunching parts underneath the car, and teeter tottering on the side of a cliff, the last thing you wanna do is bust out your camera and say "hey take a picture of me"

my friend should have some video footage of the carnage and ill post that as soon as i get it

[Qxxx4]

major respect to you, you have to have major offroading skills to get through that. Thats awesome that a qx4 was rolling alongside a hummer and land rover, it shows that its pretty damn capable. Thanks very much for sharing those with us and we envy you for getting to drive through such amazing scenery!

[bmlawless]

... but i am learning that my car is terrible for offroading. i dont know whether to mod it or just give up.... please give me your opinions

I am surprised to hear you say that. I am more and more impressed with the off-road capabilities of my QX4 every time I take it out.

We all think these things lack power (including me) but the truth is, these rigs have the torque you need off road. Every time I am facing a steep climb and I am sure I am going to stall out and need 4LO, I walk right up it. The only time I seem to need the low gearing is when I am descending or climbing steep loose rock.

The ground clearance is surprisingly high. There have been so many times when I KNOW I am going to hit. As the front end drops over a lip or the front wheel rolls off a rock, I am just waiting for that familiar scrape and it never seems to come. The entry and exit angles are really good too although the "boobies" (thanks fueler!) get in the way.

I'd be curious to know what the actual tipover angle is for these vehicles because I can lean pretty far before I get nervous. I'm afraid I'm going to go over one day because I think I have a lot more to go but I don't.

The only thing I haven't experienced yet is the open differentials. I bought this last December and I haven't had a lot of opportunity to use it in muddy conditions. I have only used it on rocks and dirt.

Look at the bright side, fueler, you can remove those running boards and get a little more clearance, now!!!

[slickroger]

seems like you offroaders are only having problems with the step rail.

you remove those and your clear for whatever.

Nice Pics

[jimmyzzer]

you got to get some rock rails now.hello rocky-road........

[Adnan]

wow...what an amazing scenery...looks to me like you guys hadfun..sucks to see that damage i bet you guys didnt care muchat the time

[fueler]

seems like you offroaders are only having problems with the step rail.

sheeit, if i would not have had side rails, the damage would be all over the doors... no joke!

[InfinQX4]

I've been thinking about replacing the steps with bars. Seems the right ones should withstand some such conditions and spare the door damage. I know the rig can handle a lot of action, at the owners willingness to come home with dents, bends, and other "must have been fun" marks. I've been really close to doing the same damage in the AZ back country but have been fortunate to scrap by so far.Anyone replace these? I'm sure I've seen pictures or missed discussion on this already. I realize removing them entirely gives more “clearance” but I like the idea of protecting the door metal. A slight lift with bars to me would be ideal.Keep in mind you just covered the same terrain as a Hummer and Discovery, and the Disc came out with the same damage. Not bad proof of ability in my opinion.

[screwinitupagain]

**** Adam it looks like a blast! It's time for some rock sliders though.

Man when I finally graduate, I'm gonna have to make a trip out & you can take me all over Baja. My R50 will follow the QXslow just fine out there I figure.

[SixGuns]

Hey, fueler, is that Calico, or somewhere in the surrounding region? My brother and I go wheelin' out there and I've been camping there for a couple years now...Successfully burried the sh*t out of his Tahoe there, too...good times. Yeah, as far as the not good for off roading thing...I dunno, man. There's an area off of I-8 called Corral Canyon and they've got some pretty gnarly black diamonds out there...my bro tried one in his tahoe, almost tipped over and called it a day and then took delivery of a Jeep but the dealership wasn't playing nice..(long story short...) so before we took it back, we went out and wheeled the p*ss out of it. But ya know, even with the Dana up front and OK tires, that friggin jeep (4.0, auto) was struggling to get up some stuff that my Pathy just walked on. Jumping up on shale ledges and stuff...his trucks have hated it and the mine does quite well...I've only gotten hung up once in my truck and that was just goofing off on some dirt lot and I dropped the right front off into a gully and popped it up on 2 wheels....so, yeah...2HI ain't really cutting it there...but, limited slip in 4HI is a wonderful thing...pulled right out.....and then I changed my pants. But, yeah, all in all, I haven't come up with a single complaint yet, except for the frigging mud flaps. Molded into the body so it looks stupid as hell if you take them off....think I'm gonna bust out the recip. saw and a dremel and hack 'em off...that's the only thing I've gotten hung up. Too bad about the running boards...I lost those the day I got my truck....They're sitting in the garage...no need for 'em. Should just sell them. Are you in the So Cal area? Wanna buy some new ones? lol

[fueler]

^^ welcome to the board bro! Actually i am in SD like you, im in lake murray/mission trails area so probably just on the other side of the 8 freeway from you. Small world!

ALthough i dont know if the 04 pathfinder rails will bolt up. Yeah ive been to corrall canyon a few times but the los pinos loop was closed last time i went (maybe a year ago?) I think its been reopened since. I hate the border patrol checkpoint on the way back, anytime they see a filthy SUV with tinted windows they search the **** outta it!

[SnowSurfLax]

I hate the border patrol checkpoint on the way back, anytime they see a filthy SUV with tinted windows they search the **** outta it!

Gee, I wonder why...

(<--- as close to mexican as I could find...)

Hey, the three of us should get together some weekend soon and head over to corral canyon. I've got some fresh tires I wouldn't mine testing out.

[Ca_Silvia]

What size are your BFG's?

[Lars]

If you guys head out towards Calico, let me know. I'd like to tag along. My Pathy is pretty much stock, and 2wd, but I'd still like to run some trails. Also, Fueler, if you are interested, I have a set of brand new step rails off an 01 pathy... If you want them, I'll make you the sweetest deal you've even heard of!

[fueler]

forgot to mention, after a fairly shallow creek crossing (you can see the water level in the last 2 truck photos) the land rover's hazards came on and would not turn off

you gotta love british quality

[SixGuns]

Yeah, last time I was out there (about 3 weeks ago) everything was wide open...There's some cool stuff in Canyon...but it kinda all looks the same. My brother and I tried just finding roads and playing off road a couple weeks ago and everything is frigging gated...this place blows. But, yeah...I live out in La Mesa, off the 94. Calico is just kind of a pain to drive to...2 1/2 hours of driving just to drive off road (imagine that......) and then, once again, drive back....that's alot of driving....Big Bear is pretty sweet, especially in the snow. They're both about the same distance, though, but for the terrain, I'd almost rather Big Bear...I prefer playing in the woods, and now and then you find a nice mud puddle. Ocotillo Wells isn't bad either, but...I'd rather just take my dirt bike to the desert. But, yeah...one of these weekends, everybody in the SD area should pack up and do a day somewhere....f*ck the Jeep clubs...lol.

[pathfinder9035]

aww man i wanna come but i live in pa ugh... i love offraoding.

i used to own a 99 4runner that i just constantly was offraoding mudding everything to it. than i rolled it. it was on the highway.

but i am happier than ever though!! i own a 2001 pathy that i only bought for 7 grand last october in 07!!

awesome offroader for being stock and and this forum is banging. theres plenty of places around i live to go offroad. rausch creek(5 out 5 freaking awesome!!) paragon offroad park(another 5 out 5).

and many little ones around my area that i love to go mudding in like that place in my pic at the bottom.

there planning to build wegsman but never did so great place to go mudding. i thnk i am going back tommorow and i will get some kick *** pictures too post on here!!

[SixGuns]

awesome offroader for being stock

You know, if you ditch those highway tires (are those Grappler A/W's?) and get some all terrains, it performs SO much better off road...I didn't even go with the BFG's like I wanted to and just got some pretty cheap Sport King A/T's, but they haven't let me down yet..the only thing that has is my crappy stock suspension travel...gotten hung up on 2 wheels now and then and had to listen to my brother laughing at me (beauty of a CB)...Until I get 6 grand just laying around and I do the solid axle swap I've been wanting to do with the tubular subframe connection, 8 inch Jeep coilovers and 35" Super Swamper TSL's....that's gonna be a sweet day. And one that might never come...but, intil then, I've just tried to maximize ground clearance - removed the hitch reciever, relocated the spare tire to the roof, lost the running boards, and the next project is to cut off the stupid mud flaps without making it look completely retarded. Stupid molded pieces of sh*t.

[pathfinder9035]

lol yeah that would be nice but...... money is needed to do that. i am currently saving up for firestone at's i heard good reviews about them and how comfortable they are on the highway and also how good it does in the mud. '

i was thinking abiout gettting a lift but i am bout to change my mind cuz i heard bad things. i might just get the heavy duty coils and offraod shocks

[exvin]

H3 - belongs to my buddies girlfriend - he borrowed it, because his heavily modded 2WD tundra is a baja rig and not a rock crawler [img]

Soooooooooooooooooo she just let him borrow it to go rock climbing?!??? Thats cool...sorry I am just surprised

I cant remember if you mentioned but was there any damage to the H3? If there was, did she flip out or was she ok

The scenery is absolutely amazing