Maverick use in off road conditions

[JasonDroninAround]

I sort of accidentally bought a '25 Tremor and I love the way it worked out. I'm over 19,000 miles since February (I know that's too much hehe) and I do not regret it one bit. It is very capable in sand, gravel, and mud. You just have to think of it as a highly off road capable compact SUV disguised as a pickup. Because of the bed, the departure angle is worse than a typical compact SUV but I find it unstoppable as long as you do not get into the rock crawling. The great horsepower to weight ratio gives you plenty of go when you need it but with that awesome rear differential and the great tires it comes with stock, I rarely find myself ever having to go through anything faster than a crawl. I have had mine on many (up to 6/10) trails throughout the Sequoias, all corners of the Oceano Dunes SVRA, river bottoms around my home, and explored many desert areas from the highs in the Mojave to lows in Death Valley. You may not be able to go where some of the big Jeeps go but you also won't see many of those guys daily driving them either

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[Tbone289]

with an open diff the power is transferred to the wheel that is slipping so the idea of the brakes is to inhibit the spinning wheel so the engine power will be transferred to the other wheel. For the brake thing to work it would have to put enough presure on the spinning wheel to stop the spin forcing the power to try and transfer to the other wheel which hopefully will start turning and the vehicle will move.. The brake thing is a poor mans limited slip...smile... My jeep rene trailhawk had a similiar system and it worked very well that little car would climb anything i asked it to climb till it was killed.

So, you know what to expect from the standard Maverick AWD.

 

[Bguy]

No I have an xl with standard awd

I cant find out what Advanced awd means.....smile.....maybe nothing.
thanks for the answer. i think the advanced maybe the one with the limited slip dif i saw mentioned

 

[dalola]

I'm trying to make up my mind if the Maverick will work for me. I love the size and features but i also need to be able to negotiate off road tracks in the back country. Does anyone have any experience using their Maverick off road?

Can you describe these "off road tracks"?

We need to understand your "job" before we can help you select a "tool".

 

[Bguy]

I sort of accidentally bought a '25 Tremor and I love the way it worked out. I'm over 19,000 miles since February (I know that's too much hehe) and I do not regret it one bit. It is very capable in sand, gravel, and mud. You just have to think of it as a highly off road capable compact SUV disguised as a pickup. Because of the bed, the departure angle is worse than a typical compact SUV but I find it unstoppable as long as you do not get into the rock crawling. The great horsepower to weight ratio gives you plenty of go when you need it but with that awesome rear differential and the great tires it comes with stock, I rarely find myself ever having to go through anything faster than a crawl. I have had mine on many (up to 6/10) trails throughout the Sequoias, all corners of the Oceano Dunes SVRA, river bottoms around my home, and explored many desert areas from the highs in the Mojave to lows in Death Valley. You may not be able to go where some of the big Jeeps go but you also won't see many of those guys daily driving them either

Now why you gotta go and do that huh...post that pix.....got me all worked up cause i would often disappear into the desert or mountains for a day or two or more just to get away alone and enjoy the peace.
You sleep in the back? Looks kinda small. Guess iwill have to order a Tremor with all options cept for the hole i n the roof. Don't like them cause if you forget there open and park sone place you leave easy access to the contents for critters to have a field day and i've done that more than once.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Bguy]

Can you describe these "off road tracks"?

We need to understand your "job" before we can help you select a "tool".

I was trying to use words to differentiate from a go any place mountain climbing off road vehicle and one capable off paved roads but in places in which other wheeled vehicles have gone.

 

[dalola]

I was trying to use words to differentiate from a go any place mountain climbing off road vehicle and one capable off paved roads but in places in which other wheeled vehicles have gone.

I think you'll be fine....

 

[Surly Old Bill]

off road, or off pavement? There's a difference. Many people call gravel and dirt roads "offroad" for some reason.
It's more a matter of skill and experience. I've come across Prius' at trailheads that I walked to because I felt it was a little too brutal for my Tacoma 4x4 with rocks and boulders making it uneven and narrow (didn't want to dent my rocker panels or the side of the pickup)

 

[JasonDroninAround]

Now why you gotta go and do that huh...post that pix.....got me all worked up cause i would often disappear into the desert or mountains for a day or two or more just to get away alone and enjoy the peace.
You sleep in the back? Looks kinda small. Guess iwill have to order a Tremor with all options cept for the hole i n the roof. Don't like them cause if you forget there open and park sone place you leave easy access to the contents for critters to have a field day and i've done that more than once.
Thanks for the input.

It is a Tepui Ayer 2 person rooftop tent that I bought from Facebook Marketplace for only $300. I got such a great deal because it had a leaking soft cover. It's (barely) small enough to fit under the tonneau cover and I didn't need the tent's cover. Keep an eye out for used rooftop tents that have problems with the cover or the ladder because you really do not need either when you install it like this

 

[Bguy]

off road, or off pavement? There's a difference. Many people call gravel and dirt roads "offroad" for some reason.
It's more a matter of skill and experience. I've come across Prius' at trailheads that I walked to because I felt it was a little too brutal for my Tacoma 4x4 with rocks and boulders making it uneven and narrow (didn't want to dent my rocker panels or the side of the pickup)

I'm with you when in doubt walk. ..a prius....boy thats a low blow....

 

[Bguy]

It is a Tepui Ayer 2 person rooftop tent that I bought from Facebook Marketplace for only $300. I got such a great deal because it had a leaking soft cover. It's (barely) small enough to fit under the tonneau cover and I didn't need the tent's cover. Keep an eye out for used rooftop tents that have problems with the cover or the ladder because you really do not need either when you install it like this

Hey! You have my truck....that is my favorite color. Lookin good
Do you have the advanced AWD? I saw that as an option but have not seen any that i know of with that option

 

[JasonDroninAround]

Hey! You have my truck....that is my favorite color. Lookin good
Do you have the advanced AWD? I saw that as an option but have not seen any that i know of with that option

I believe all Mavericks, 2WD or AWD have the same open differential brake based traction control front axle. The Maverick Tremor, along with the Bronco Sport Badlands, Maverick Lobo, and I think a certain Focus Rally models, have the special three clutch "locking" rear differential. These models are all unibodies with not a lot of articulation and they go on three wheels pretty easily. It is always one of the rear wheels that come up first. With the way the rear differential locks, I rarely feel traction loss or brake chugging when a wheel goes in the air, unless I'm on a steep up hill gravel section.

When you say advanced, I think you are talking about the special rear axle. This rear axle is not brake based traction control, like the front axle. I think how it works is there are three clutch packs. One at the rear of the transmission to engage the rear drive line. From there, It does not have a differential like the front axle. The rear differential is permanently locked (or nonexistent depending on how you look at it). The second and third clutch packs are on each side of the rear drive unit and control the right and left wheels separately. The brains can engage both wheels simultaneously to "lock" the rear differential. When you are turning sharp, it will send less power to the wheel on the inside of the turn to act like vector steering or tractor steering. It is like a light duty locking differential with some computer control tricks up its sleeve. Some say they can't or won't lock completely but this is to save on tires and hopefully prevent CV axle damage if you get a little crazy.

When I am putting around off road, I only use the tow/haul mode. It is just one more over from actual off road mode. In all the other modes, the rear axle still engages reactively like most other AWD vehicles. In my mind, I am thinking I'm saving on clutch pack wear by letting them react to traction loss instead of always locked. If I come up to something that I think may be challenging, it is just two taps of a button on the steering wheel to go into off road mode. That engages all the clutches proactively, turns off the wheel spin prevention, and turns on the front camera all at once

 

[Escapologist]

off road, or off pavement? There's a difference. Many people call gravel and dirt roads "offroad" for some reason.
It's more a matter of skill and experience. I've come across Prius' at trailheads that I walked to because I felt it was a little too brutal for my Tacoma 4x4 with rocks and boulders making it uneven and narrow (didn't want to dent my rocker panels or the side of the pickup)

True true, I try to remember to use "soft road" for situations that are an actual intended road albeit with a suboptimal to horrible surface.

Don't tell the Tremor and FX4 dudes, but what half of them post as pics and vids for trails they drove, I think "I drove a Tempo/Escort/Voyager on worse than that." ... despite caring least about the Tempo it was the worst at off road, did a one tire fire too easy on anything with slightly unequal traction. Escort was limited by ground clearance, but you could drive it like a rally Subaru otherwise, Voyager actually did pretty decent when the alignment was good, but didn't have very low gearing so even on asphalt was kinda struggling on a steep grade. Escort had a low gear I've no clue what for, but it would scream up anything I came across, though I dunno if I met anything more than 35%. But yeah these were all old enough that I wouldn't worry about a branch scratch, though I wouldn't be happy about actual dents. Worst I did was many years back when I managed to squish an exhaust closed at the bottom of the downpipe, so I learned not to try to ram rocks

 

[Bguy]

True true, I try to remember to use "soft road" for situations that are an actual intended road albeit with a suboptimal to horrible surface.

Don't tell the Tremor and FX4 dudes, but what half of them post as pics and vids for trails they drove, I think "I drove a Tempo/Escort/Voyager on worse than that." ... despite caring least about the Tempo it was the worst at off road, did a one tire fire too easy on anything with slightly unequal traction. Escort was limited by ground clearance, but you could drive it like a rally Subaru otherwise, Voyager actually did pretty decent when the alignment was good, but didn't have very low gearing so even on asphalt was kinda struggling on a steep grade. Escort had a low gear I've no clue what for, but it would scream up anything I came across, though I dunno if I met anything more than 35%. But yeah these were all old enough that I wouldn't worry about a branch scratch, though I wouldn't be happy about actual dents. Worst I did was many years back when I managed to squish an exhaust closed at the bottom of the downpipe, so I learned not to try to ram rocks

Escort....your showing your age.....chuckle..I loved the auto seat belts in the Tempo. My first Escort was a diesel i bought for my wife cause she was always complaining about gas prices i think they were $0,60 a gallon at that time and the diesel didn't use gas! I fixed her didn't I? That escort would never get worse than 45mpg, great little car. Paid a fortune for it as well, $7,000.00. new

 

[JasonDroninAround]

True true, I try to remember to use "soft road" for situations that are an actual intended road albeit with a suboptimal to horrible surface.

Don't tell the Tremor and FX4 dudes, but what half of them post as pics and vids for trails they drove, I think "I drove a Tempo/Escort/Voyager on worse than that." ... despite caring least about the Tempo it was the worst at off road, did a one tire fire too easy on anything with slightly unequal traction. Escort was limited by ground clearance, but you could drive it like a rally Subaru otherwise, Voyager actually did pretty decent when the alignment was good, but didn't have very low gearing so even on asphalt was kinda struggling on a steep grade. Escort had a low gear I've no clue what for, but it would scream up anything I came across, though I dunno if I met anything more than 35%. But yeah these were all old enough that I wouldn't worry about a branch scratch, though I wouldn't be happy about actual dents. Worst I did was many years back when I managed to squish an exhaust closed at the bottom of the downpipe, so I learned not to try to ram rocks

My daily driver and camping vehicle before I bought the Tremor was a full size seven passenger 2003 Ram Van 1500 that I partially converted for camping. It was just rear wheel drive with open diff and no traction control whatsoever. The only way you could get over difficult obstacles with that thing was to pray and send it!

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