Colorado Trip with RTV

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DocGP

Member
I am looking to head to Colorado with my RTV and was looking for any pointers. I am not planning on any rock crawling or such. Just using the RTV as a pack mule to get me up to some of the slightly remote lakes to camp. I am wondering specifically about the tires. I have the 27" ITP 589's which I love down here in SE Texas gumbo mud, but I have never run them on rock. I figure they will be fine but was wondering if the 2" of ground clearance they give me would be better traded for a bit more grip of the OEM tires. I have a 4K warn winch, and hopefully by then a Seizmik front rack.</p>


Still in early plannig stages. Hopefully will be able to make it this fall. Planning is half the fun!! Going to build a box for the back to pack everything in. Something like this;</p>


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I know it is a truck box, but I am building one for the RTV. I will post pictures when I get done. Plans right now will hold 2 - 5 gal cans of water and 2 - 5 gal cans of diesel plus lots of stuff. </p>


Anyway, any thoughts on machine preparation for higher altitude and such would be greatly appreciated. </p>
 
Just my2 cents worth .... If not planning on rock climbing, and the 589's are on the machine, I would stay with them, BUT, would carry the other set just in case situations seemed to be different, You would be prepared .....</p>


Great idea on the " strong box " >>>> Just don't make it so big that other items can't be loaded into the bed ..... We use the Rubbermaid Action Packers in ours over here. Both Sizes ..... Storage is great, lightweight, waterproof ..... easy to remove when not needed ....</p>


......... two guns </p>
 
The Rubbermaid Action Packers come in several sizes... 8, 24, 35, 48 gallon .....</p>


SomeWal-marts carry them >>>></p>


.... two guns </p>
 
Smaller sizes....</p>


They are Tuff ..... you can stand, sit, throw, stack on these monsters, they can take the punishment ,,,, have two that we've had for going on about 19 years now ... still, just as strong as the day it was purchased .....</p>


....... two guns </p>
 
Get a small air compressor for the 12 volt plug, How far will you be from a town? if far get a spare 589 tire and rim. Do you have a cab?</p>


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Which part of Colo????????? The terrain though yes, mountain and desert, varies across the state.........Dennis</p>
 
We have been to Colorado many times and would love to thake a 4x4 machine up there. Two areas that we have been to with good camping and road access is first the Cripple Creak area. This old gold camp town is at 10,000 ft elevation and on the back side of Pikes Peak. There is a KOA near town plus other camp grounds. The area is full of public access dirt roads through the area. One we have been down in a PU is called Phantom Canyon road is a single lane most of the way and drops 5,000 feet over about 10 miles. The other called the Old Stage Coach road is also a single lane 4x4 only route which we would love to try but were to chicken to try in a PU.</p>


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Another area is around the Ouray area. Again there is a KOA near, lots of off road trails and will see lots of 4 wheelers and 4x4 jeeps. We took a jeep tour up one of the trails leading up the back way to Telluride. Good dirt road about half way, then narrow trails, single lane overhang. Real fun, many old ruins. </p>


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Take your camera</p>
 
i agree with twoguns about the boxs though i never owned one of that kind i do have a few other brands and the best thing about the boxs are you can take them out and use them as a canpfire seat or just to sit on and when not needed they are light and easy to remove.i have a water tight one right now in my rhino it has a rubber o-ring gasket and it seals up water tight it will even help keep the rear of the rhino up when the water gets deep.i'll get the name of it later today and post it . as for things to pack i woudln't go with out a spare/a compressor/2 bottles of slime and a small tool kit . i got my tool kit from sears and it's got standard and meteric sockets and a stubby ratchet it's very small but will do the repair kog if needed.</p>
 
I'll pile on and recommend you go with the Rubbermaid type tubs. For my RTV, I made a frame that lays in the floor of the bed with raised sides (probably 4-6") to keep the tubs from sliding. If you get the right size, there's room across the back of the box for 5-fallon fuel cans and such.</p>


DocGP - I don't recall where you live now, but the higher elevations of CO are going to change the performance of the RTV, for the worse. A search in the forum will give details but I recall there being about a 30% power loss in elevations over 5000. I don't know if the RTV can do much of anything over 10,000'. Search the forum for words like "elevation" to see what those up-high say. That said, here's my thoughts.
- Lighten the load as much as possible. As mentioned, the plastic tubs instead of something metal.
- Personally, I'd put the OEM tires back on. They're much lighter and smaller diameter. That'll lighten the strain on the powertrain.
- Get the hand throttle control. This will allow you to keep the RPM's higher and independent from the go-pedal.

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DocGP:</p>


Sounds like your trip is something most of us wouldlike to plan and take one day.</p>


Plan for the best and prepare for the worst.And as BC wrote, travel as light as you can. A lot of your packing will depend on your itenerary. And yes, planning for your adventure is a fun exercise too. Having said that... include a well equipped first aid kit, survival kit, extra water/food, shelter of some sort, up to date geo map, compass and GPS, and the list goes on. </p>


As several others have written, I kinda like the idea of the Tuff-made containers rather than a built-in for the bed of your RTV.I use Lowes work boxes in my business... they have tops/lids but are not dust or waterproof. Seems like some heavy duty bungee cords would hold boxes in the bed yet allow you to rearrange or resupply fairly easily. You dont want to add a lot of weight just as containers for stuff. Could also arrange the containers to get the best weight distribution along with your water/gas supply.</p>


When in CO... Tell others and leave a note back at your base camp where you plan on exploring on your RTV that day.</p>


Are you going to travel solo or with others?</p>


Keep us updated... this sounds like an interesting project.</p>


Keifer, a RTV wannabe </p>


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All real good advice from my perspective. And want to echo Kiefer's point about leaving a note about where to look for you if you don't show up by an expected time (which should also be clearly communicated). A friend in CO earlier this year went out for an overnight fishing trip and ended up spending 4 extra days in the bush because of a small accident which led to other issues and ultimately a full-fledged search and rescue effort--but searching where he had mentioned he was going to his secretary. But he had changed his mind about where he was going on the morning he left and never told anyone. It was a real wake-up call for my friend to take seriously the need to keep folks informed about his plans. After four days he managed to make it out on his own. But it could have been deadly.</p>
 
OK, anyone have any more input over the loss of power at alitude? I have been told that since this is an injected engine with a computer control, it would compensate for the altitude. Guess the lighter tough boxes would be the way to go then. I am sure, however that there will be some power loss in anything that you run at that kind of altitude. </p>


Taylor Park area is what I am thinking now, but not dead set on that. Doing lots of research now.</p>


Good stuff so far.</p>
 
I was keeping my thoughts on RTV considerations but since the topic has become more broad, I'll toss out a couple more points.</p>


Again, not sure where you live but if you're like a lot of us that are at low elevations and go to places like Colorado, you'll find the thin air is VERY, VERY dehydrating. Plan on each person drinking 1/2 case of bottled water per day for the first 2 or 3 days.</p>


You mentioned Fall but didn't say what month. The place you're headed has one of the most unpredictable climates in that season. It may be 70 one day and 3' of snow the next. Plan accordingly. I've driven through that area in the summer (mainly I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction and beyond) and it's beautiful. I've flown into that area in the winter (Denver & Aspen) and the weather made a real mess of flying. It's also an interesting flight into Aspen as the planes have to fly between the mountains. Kind of hairy when it's snowing hard and visibility is low.</p>
 
there was a guy on tractor by net who was havin altitude problems his trv was running hot and smoking alot trying to climb up slopes.i remeber that he did get the problem solved and was runnin good but to answer the question it's yes you could have problems with it depending on how high you went.</p>
 
I was born and raised in Colorado and ran the Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming my whole life. I never used anymore water than normal due to altitude. Your RTV will run fine butwill move slower than at lower altitudes.There are many great places to go but if you want a real experience go to a place called Grizzly Lake. Quite a trip with great camping and fishing. The high country of Colorado has many crystal clear stream and works fine for a cold drink of water. Extra clearance on a vehiclegood since it is not unusual to get a vehicle high centered and a winch comes in handy for those situations. Hauling extra fuel would beadded weight that you would not need carry in to the back country. There is always folks running the hills and everyone helps others in need of help.</p>
 
I have traveled most of CO by Jeep and have to say that you may be limited on the trails you can travel if the RTV is loaded with too much.</p>


First advice would be to plan out the day trip with the back country maps that can be purchased locally. They detail the terrain and trails. If you plan on 8 hour trip for the day, expect fuel burn of 1.5 gal per hour at most from your machine.In my opinion, the best area isSilverton and Durango.</p>


Secondly, have the local dealer tune it up with new Super UDT oil, filter, adjust cables, add hand throttle.</p>


Have fun and June is the best time to be there.</p>
 
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