2012 Dodge 4WD 2500 w/ Hawk on the White Rim Trail?

[Durango1]

I posted this over on the Expo forum but I figure you can't have too much advice...

Thanks to everyone's advice here my wife and I just picked up a Dodge 2500 4WD short bed crew cab and stuck a moderately tricked out Hawk on it. The truck is stock with street tires, a 3:73 axle and a limited slip differential. I've got recovery gear on board, high capacity 12V compressor, shovels, etc. So far we did Ophir Pass near Durango without major drama. (OK, my wife got out and walked that one tight switchback on the west side!)

So my question is this Fall I'd like to do the White Rim trail. Do you think the way the truck is configured now it would be safe for us to solo the trail? Will the wheelbase of a full size crew cab (but with short bed) give us problems on switchbacks, etc?

I've done quite a bit of 4WD stuff over the years but have never done the White Rim. The videos I've looked at don't make it look that hard and my different guidebooks all vary on the difficulty. So you folks are my way of verifying what's what!

We both love the Canyonlands area and have rafted all the rivers. Now we'd like to see them from above! But on the other hand I don't want to put my mid-50's wife into a "precarious" and "not fun" situation. Comments please?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[dorocks]

Greetings

I would not be afraid of the trail. I only put my truck into 4WD once on the trail because it was a little gravelly on a couple of hills. I had not even aired down.

I did it with my Tundra and camper shell at the time but have done much tougher trails with my Dodge and Hawk, my current setup.

It's a great treat. Take a camera.

Got lots of pictures here.

http://keithbarnes.smugmug.com/Vacation/White-Rim-Trail-Day-One/10009194_Db8SNt#!i=684914419&k=Qit45

http://keithbarnes.smugmug.com/Vacation/White-Rim-Trail-Day-Two/10029977_FbtmtV#!i=694498039&k=DghLK

http://keithbarnes.smugmug.com/Vacation/White-Rim-Trail-Day-Three/10120900_sXPvcx#!i=695510433&k=DdS5o

 

[K7MDL]

Dually on Hogback
Murphy Hogback

The pics are of Murphy Hogback which has since been smoothed out last year due to a small slide. What you do not see is how tight it was from the mirror to the wall on the right side of the truck the the rock ledge. A littel help offered from outside the truck got the driver through after a few tries.

There are a few tight areas where some rock walls might want to crowd you to the edge of the road and some soft sandy areas to get through (like the wash near Hardscrabble hill near the park entrance sign. My biggest concern is slicing open a street tire (done that, not hard to do). Most of the surface is smoother rock, but you can nail a sidewall or find the odd sharp rock. Dually pickup trucks travel that road all the time as bicycle support trucks. Some tight spots but care is all that is needed. I have traveled it for the last 3 years on motorcycle. Can do the whole thing in 6 to 8.5 hours that way . Some skid plates won't hurt either.

 

[Durango1]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like it is a doable and reasonable thing. Unfortunately I just got the Michelin street tires with the truck instead of thinking to upgrade into off-road tires. I guess I can switch them and E-Bay/ Craig's List the almost new Michelins.

Steve

PS Now if we could just get a "cold snap" I'd run over and do the trail in August! But maybe we should wait till October. And all of the photos were very useful from both of you. I looked at all of them!

 

[Jamesiam]

PLEASE post a photo of your Hawk on the 2500 Dodge!

 

[generubin]

The White Rim Trail is a very, very easy trail. Barely even need 4wd. Here is a video with a couple of Dodge 2500's with ATC campers: http://youtu.be/t3obtfMVnX0