Free Republic

Expandable campers have really been pushing above and beyond simple pop-tops into more advanced forms, like transforming Cybertruck A-frames, stretchable off-road teardrops, and flip-open truck-top tents. Germany's ICC Offroad played a big role in the rotating Flip90 pickup camper, and it also has another expanding camper design in the pipeline. Its FlexCamp prototype is designed to start the journey as a basic trailer or pickup-top box, expanding up and out at camp to become a cozy micro-cabin for a family of four. ICC Offroad is developing the FlexCamp to meet the demand for a compact, four-season, off-road-ready camping solution. With...

The new 2015 Ram 1500 Rebel brings a one-of-a-kind off-road design to the full-size truck segment. “Offering an off-road-style package on the Ram 1500 has been on our to-do list for some time but the right combination didn’t present itself until now,” said Bob Hegbloom, President and CEO — Ram Truck Brand, FCA US LLC. “The Rebel drops right into a core segment of the truck market with unique design cues and can-do attitude backed by Ram Truck engineering.

This a very interesting video of a 4 Wheeler that flips backwards, crashing on it's roof while trying to climb a rock. Good thing no one was hurt.

In the mid 1990s, while living in southwest Montana, I did a lot of hunting and exploring around the mountains in the area. This included those ranges bordering the Beaverhead, Ruby, Red Rock, and Big Hole Rivers. I also got up on the Bitteroot and over the mountains onto the Selway which is where this web page and story has its origins. I learned of a road out of Darby, Montana that followed the Nez Perce indian trail over the monuntains into Idaho, which conected to a primitive road that continued across the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Chuirch - River...

  Sen. Kline tells off-roaders to buzz offPosted by David Postman at 11:41 AM .(snip).... sometimes Kline has no interest in restraint. In responding to an e-mail from someone asking Kline why he was backing a bill that would crack down on loud off-road vehicles, the senator sent this e-mail: Dear Mr. Helgeson, I signed on because I have been annoyed, endangered, and angered one too many times by people riding motorized dirt-bikes and other off-road vehicles that have no damn business anywhere. To me, this bill is narrow — it doesn't include those "personal watercraft," seemingly jet-powered little...

Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. Environmental groups allege that, before they won protection for the area in 2001, off-roaders destroyed the canyon by cutting trees, dumping boulders in the water and using winches to drag their Jeeps up the waterfalls.

Off-roaders, environmentalists vie for canyon near Death Valley By GILLIAN FLACCUS,12/18/06 00:52:32 Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels within its soaring, whitewashed walls: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. These treasures have attracted visitors going back decades - and now they're at the heart of a legal battle between two modern foes, off-road drivers and environmentalists. Five years ago environmentalists successfully sued to get the narrow canyon and its spring-fed waterfalls closed to vehicles. In response, more than 80 off-roaders...

Ohio dairy farmer Frank Sutliff was grinding cattle feed when he saw them again: all-terrain vehicles shredding his alfalfa fields. ADVERTISEMENT When he shouted to the riders over the engine whine that they were trespassing, they smashed him over the head, he said. "I went down, and they just started in on me … hit me, kicked me, broke my leg," said Sutliff, 46. "I crawled into the truck, drove back to the house and dialed 911." One man paid a $100 trespassing fine. Another spent five days in jail. All denied wrongdoing. Across rural America, angry skirmishes are increasingly...

Dave Breggin eats no red meat, barely waters a drought-resistant fescue lawn and has a highly energy-efficient Arapahoe County home. All that good karma suddenly evaporates when he gets behind the wheel of his cherished Hummer. Like most other Hummer drivers, Breggin is the target of clenched fists, single-fingered salvos and screamed epithets from the greener-than-thou crowd. With fuel prices near record levels -- up roughly 35 cents a gallon over last year's prices -- both owning and selling the gas-thirsty military clone may require more finesse. General Motors is projecting a 20 percent drop in national sales of its...

THE “Toyotarisation” of deserts has contributed to a ten-fold increase in dust storms around the globe and is damaging the environment and human health, a leading academic said yesterday.Off-road driving in the Middle East and the south western United States is being blamed for destroying the deserts’ fragile crust and allowing clouds of fine dust particles, smaller than a grain of sand, to be swept away. Scientists estimate that there are now 3,000 million tonnes of dust being whipped thousands of miles around the world, generating storms across Africa, China, the Middle East and the US. They say that Europe...

DENVER (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday proposed restricting many off-road vehicles to designated roads and trails in federal forests and grasslands as part of efforts to curb environmental damage and ease conflict between visitors. Under the proposal, each forest and grasslands district would work with the public to identify routes, trails and other areas suitable for off-road vehicles. An environmental analysis would also be required on each site to determine potential environmental effects, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables said. The result would be a "use map" to outline what activities are allowed in which areas. The...

LOS ANGELES – The Bureau of Land Management substantially increased the amount of public land open to off-road vehicles in Riverside and San Bernardino counties by approving 1,500 miles of roads in the Mojave Desert. The decision made Friday affects 1.3 million acres in the Mojave Desert and covers a large portion of critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. But officials said they made efforts to avoid sensitive areas. "We don't have to close every road in critical habitat, but we do determine how sensitive the area is and what the impacts are," said Jan Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for...

On May 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unleashed a new clean-air rule that further cuts diesel emissions from off-road vehicles, generators, locomotives and marine vessels. The new “Tier 4” mandate is EPA’s fourth step since introducing off-road standards in 1996, and it lowers such pollution by 90% (ENR 6/23/03 p. 13). The rule varies across engine sizes, but most producers will reduce nitrogen-oxide levels in new engines to 0.3 grams per brake-horsepower-hour and particulates to 0.01 g/bhp-hr by 2014. Under the new rule, EPA is not requiring pollution controls on existing machines in the field. Off-road fuel also is...

WASHINGTON: Stairs are about to become less of an obstacle for wheelchair users. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a wheelchair that can go up and down steps -- as well as shift into four-wheel drive for grassy hills and elevate occupants to standing height. Called the iBOT Mobility System, the wheelchair uses sensors and gyroscopes to navigate stairs while balancing on two wheels. Doctors say the system could be revolutionary, but it is so complex that the FDA decided the wheelchair would require a doctor's prescription and special training to drive. The iBOT, made by Johnson and...

<p>SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The state already limits public access to the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area from March through September to protect the habitat of a small brown-and-white bird.</p> <p>Now it must decide if it will close off even more of the beach that's designated for riding and camping.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO(AP) - An obscure state commission that controls millions of fuel tax dollars is driving a new debate over the use of off-road vehicles on public lands in California.</p> <p>Since a change in the panel's membership last year, commissioners have blocked grooming of heavily used snowmobile trails near Lake Tahoe; refused to provide money for a Southern California off-road site that draws 3 million people annually; and persuaded the U.S. Forest Service to withdraw a grant request for one of the nation's few "urban" national forests.</p>