AZBCO
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I took delivery of my VB 402A on Wednesday evening on the 15th in Phoenix, AZ. On Thursday morning we loaded up the rig and drove to Nizhoni Campground by Blanding, Utah where we spent several days with our Overlanding group. I logged about 120 miles of trail and off-roading while we were there and here are my initial impressions.
I hate the tires. The General Grabber ATx holds on to every little rock for an inordinate amount of time and continues to shed them well after you are back on pavement. I am coming from a 2018 4Runner TRD OR with BFG KO2 and have never had this issue. I am not about to change them, yet, but it will happen.
Trail Turn Assist is fun and VERY effective. We ran a trail that was VERY tight. Of the dozen vehicles there I had the longest wheelbase and LOA next to a PowerWagon (who was unconcerned with desert pinstriping). I ended up with a few light surface scratches on the side view mirrors and one on my passenger A-frame pillar but nothing that won't come out with a fresh coat of wax. The ability to essentially pivot on a back wheel kept the "Memory Marks" to a minimum.
In loose washboard gravel roads, the Mud/Rutted mode selection is useless. I switched to Slippery and it worked MUCH better. I ended up using every single Off-Road mode over our trip and am still working out the differences. Didn't like what Sand/Deep Snow did when in actual deep sand.
The front camera view with path indicator on technical trails is a giant Easy Button. Only used it a few times where I had to be super precise on tire placement (within a few inches) and it worked well. Once I get a better sense of the vehicle I probably won't use it but it is nice to know it is there if I do.
The stock suspension works great. We got into some serious off-camber rugged stuff and the articulation of the vehicle allowed constant traction on all of the terrain we encountered.
Blissful and quiet on high-speed trails. 70+ mph and it felt like highway driving.
Overall, I love this truck. I fully acknowledge it is not as capable as my 4R OR, but by the same token this (in the 402A package) is WAY more comfortable and after a 2 1/2 hour hike/scramble into a canyon to view 1200-year-old ruins and then back out those ventilated seats were pretty damn welcome. A not insignificant number of people in the Overlanding group were pretty impressed with the Tremor and these are all hard-core Jeep guys so I am taking that as a win. I will be adding a few minor items to the rig moving forward (GMRS radio, Softtopper, bedliner, maybe a swap on the skid plates, definite tire change) but overall it's pretty damn capable as it stands.
I hate the tires. The General Grabber ATx holds on to every little rock for an inordinate amount of time and continues to shed them well after you are back on pavement. I am coming from a 2018 4Runner TRD OR with BFG KO2 and have never had this issue. I am not about to change them, yet, but it will happen.
Trail Turn Assist is fun and VERY effective. We ran a trail that was VERY tight. Of the dozen vehicles there I had the longest wheelbase and LOA next to a PowerWagon (who was unconcerned with desert pinstriping). I ended up with a few light surface scratches on the side view mirrors and one on my passenger A-frame pillar but nothing that won't come out with a fresh coat of wax. The ability to essentially pivot on a back wheel kept the "Memory Marks" to a minimum.
In loose washboard gravel roads, the Mud/Rutted mode selection is useless. I switched to Slippery and it worked MUCH better. I ended up using every single Off-Road mode over our trip and am still working out the differences. Didn't like what Sand/Deep Snow did when in actual deep sand.
The front camera view with path indicator on technical trails is a giant Easy Button. Only used it a few times where I had to be super precise on tire placement (within a few inches) and it worked well. Once I get a better sense of the vehicle I probably won't use it but it is nice to know it is there if I do.
The stock suspension works great. We got into some serious off-camber rugged stuff and the articulation of the vehicle allowed constant traction on all of the terrain we encountered.
Blissful and quiet on high-speed trails. 70+ mph and it felt like highway driving.
Overall, I love this truck. I fully acknowledge it is not as capable as my 4R OR, but by the same token this (in the 402A package) is WAY more comfortable and after a 2 1/2 hour hike/scramble into a canyon to view 1200-year-old ruins and then back out those ventilated seats were pretty damn welcome. A not insignificant number of people in the Overlanding group were pretty impressed with the Tremor and these are all hard-core Jeep guys so I am taking that as a win. I will be adding a few minor items to the rig moving forward (GMRS radio, Softtopper, bedliner, maybe a swap on the skid plates, definite tire change) but overall it's pretty damn capable as it stands.
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