Desert Sage GX in the Desert--where else?
10-23-12, 05:55 PM
#1
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
Desert Sage GX in the Desert--where else?
When we bought our GX last May, some posters asked for more photos. I finally found a great place to take some--the Shafer Trail outside of Moab, UT--yesterday.
The trail is easy for most of the way, but once you enter Canyonlands NP, the trail gets MUCH worse. Apparently the Park Service no longer maintains the trail. A sign warning of a really rough road must be much cheaper than running a D8 Cat over the trail.
Anyway, I was impressed at how well our bone stock GX did. We only scraped a couple of times--nothing serious--just not enough clearance. I had to get out and scout the trail several times before proceeding to pick the best line.
The trail is easy for most of the way, but once you enter Canyonlands NP, the trail gets MUCH worse. Apparently the Park Service no longer maintains the trail. A sign warning of a really rough road must be much cheaper than running a D8 Cat over the trail.
Anyway, I was impressed at how well our bone stock GX did. We only scraped a couple of times--nothing serious--just not enough clearance. I had to get out and scout the trail several times before proceeding to pick the best line.
10-24-12, 07:30 AM
#3
Lexus Test Driver
I'm soooo happy to start seeing a whole new group of people buying the GX to use it as an offroad/onroad vehicle. There have been WAAAAY to many people only interested in going back and forth to the mall.
It's time to shift the way people think about the GX
It's time to shift the way people think about the GX
10-24-12, 07:32 PM
#6
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
Some additional details......
The length of the Shafer Trail is about 18 miles. Only about two miles (from entering Canyonlands until the "T" intersection with the White Rim Trail) were really nasty--MUCH worse than when we drove Shafer 10 years ago. The remainder of the trail was easy and VERY fun. We even saw some bighorn sheep.
I actually had to use low range several times on the bad stretch, and was so focused on avoiding the biggest rocks that I totally forgot that I could have raised the suspension. The suspension was really exercised!
Perhaps due to the GX's Aussie heritage/design, I was surprised to see that NO dust accumulated on the rear window--NONE! There was a bit on the rear bumper and around the door seal, but most of that blew off on the freeway drive home. Hey, there was plenty of red dust on the trails that day & the day before.
We had no squeeks or rattles before Shafer Trail, and now have one rattle, but if you turn up the stereo it's gone.
I experienced no loss of traction with the Michelin LTX-M/S2 tires. They worked amazingly well in the dry conditions.
The length of the Shafer Trail is about 18 miles. Only about two miles (from entering Canyonlands until the "T" intersection with the White Rim Trail) were really nasty--MUCH worse than when we drove Shafer 10 years ago. The remainder of the trail was easy and VERY fun. We even saw some bighorn sheep.
I actually had to use low range several times on the bad stretch, and was so focused on avoiding the biggest rocks that I totally forgot that I could have raised the suspension. The suspension was really exercised!
Perhaps due to the GX's Aussie heritage/design, I was surprised to see that NO dust accumulated on the rear window--NONE! There was a bit on the rear bumper and around the door seal, but most of that blew off on the freeway drive home. Hey, there was plenty of red dust on the trails that day & the day before.
We had no squeeks or rattles before Shafer Trail, and now have one rattle, but if you turn up the stereo it's gone.
I experienced no loss of traction with the Michelin LTX-M/S2 tires. They worked amazingly well in the dry conditions.
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