I don't know where OP is driving off road but one very important rule of thumb pretty much anywhere offroad is to stay the hell off the shoulder on lease roads. The nicest most manicured lease road is still likely to have a shoulder that will not tolerate 80,000-100,000 pounds without causing you some kind of stress or worse. Always drive it slow until you know the road and it's hazards then adjust accordingly. As someone above said, momentum is key on soft, snowy, muddy or icy lease roads but that rule is out the window where the road stops going straight. Watch for wildlife, a lot of leases are on wildlife refuges, game wardens have absolutely no sense of humor when it comes to running over animals and larger animals will do expensive damage to your truck (I had a dozen cows run out of the woods across a lease road right in front of me once. Cows, in the woods, running). If your lease road turns into a dirt bike trail, get out and walk it before you find yourself in an untenable situation. Watch for tree branches hanging down low, they might clear your windshield or even your roof but they can still wipe out an exhaust stack or remove your overhead trailer lights. If you have to chain up, it's always best to do it BEFORE you are in the mud/snow and definitely best to do it before you're stuck. Slow down when crossing cattle guards, they are all pretty strong but they are also all pretty rough. Most of the other stuff has been covered.
Off road trucking best approach
Discussion in 'Oilfield Trucking Forum' started by gabton-tankers, Jan 17, 2015.
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At night I find that a good way to spot the bigger pot holes is by looking for shadowy darker areas in your headlight area, that usually indicates a deeper than usual pot hole. I think it's because the light passes over the lip of the hole but doesn't illuminate the bottom...if ya know what I mean?
Anyways that's how I spot them and dodge them.
It can be a challenge at times too, a bit of ice or mud combined with narrow roads and other truck traffic trying to get by each other and it can always lead to problems.Last edited by a moderator: Feb 1, 2015
Mattnatti Thanks this. -
Watch out for cattle guards. Hit one and you will be run off. Get stuck and you will be embarrassed(and probably run off).
West Texas lease roads are worse than south. Down here our lease roads are not even as bad as county roads in w Texas. -
Most of the sand guys use otr trucks. A lot o/o crude haulers use sleeper trucks, yet amazingly they can carry more crude than I can with my day cab. What's ten or fifteen bbls more? The o/o go slow on the lease roads and they get the worst roads to drive on. Side fairings the only thing I don't see much of.
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"Turn south three miles before where the old Miller barn used to be"(that burned down in 1932).
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Pretty much all of it has been said. I would definitely go with tall rubber, detroit lockers, and an 18 so you can split the low side. You'd be surprised at what a truck will go through if it has premium tires and you keep the momentum going. In the marcellus a lot of trucks are from down south and are geared for flatland driving and low hp engines. Not a good combo for some of the hills in PA and WV. I know schlumberger cuts back the engines and uses 8ll's in most of their equipment. Ok trans for highway but not offroad. I have yet to use lo or lo lo. To be honest id have a better chance of getting stuck going that slow. And going up a mountain at gross if you need to shift forget about it cause you'll just have to down shift again in about 10 seconds
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I have been doing this for 20 years my first oilfeild truck a 1990 w900 started its life at pride pulling a reefer around before I bought it I ran it in the oilfeilds of Wyoming and Colorado for about 800k miles
and heavy all the time moving rigs it's pretty much retired now days but looks and runs great still has
the original carpet I can't say this enough
No dirt road can or will hurt your truck the driver is the only thing that will hurt a truck it's really that simple slow down and greas often
anyone that says a rough dirt road destroys a truck needs to go back to swift or EnglandLast edited: Mar 5, 2015
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I do know one thing for sure Old Fowlerton Road in Fowlerton Tx is the worst and most Nastiest Service Road I've ever driven right up there with County RD 26 in Wheeler Tx. Both Made Me hit my Head on the top of the dam Truck and I felt like I had been Piled Driver-ed by Koko B ware! If your ever on those roads go very slow and stop and collect the catalytic converters you find on the roads.
I always wondered why I would see people in pickup trucks throwing them in the back of there trucks. Then I found out why!! $$$
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