Infiniti QX80 Off-Road Experience
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Wow. 2014 post and no interest at all in 4 wheeling your trucks? Lets bring it back. I would hope by now there are a lot of QX80's hitting the dirt, mud and rocks. This is what they are designed for! Not for shopping centers parking lots!
Back in 2016 I took my new QX80 on the trails of CO, UT and WY. Below is the pic from LaSalle Mountains in UT (its steep there but you cannot tell from the picture). 7 years ago. It performed great but there are obvious limitations. In CO below tree line it was its size, in UT lose rocks tires and lack of rear locker on steep parts. Overall it is a great truck for its size and 20 inch wheels and street tires (I cannot imagine 22"s there). It has good ground clearance so made through many, many trails. There is one big issue if you ever want to take it to serious off roading. Completely exposed oil pan. In fact it is complete negligence on Nissan part in my opinion. Once you hit a big rock with your front shield (which is decent for what it is), it will roll passed the front cross member and will be ideally placed to take your oil pan with it. And this is not only serious off roading that is a concern. Just last week I was too lazy to clear the driveway entrance from big "boulders" made of frozen ice by a snowplow and decided to ram it with my brand new QX80. QX80 won this time but will it win every time? I am really curious if Nissan Patrol has oil pan that exposed or if they have an extended shield to not only cover radiator/front of the engine but also the oil pan.... If anyone here knows about an aftermarket underbody shield to cover the oil pan let us know please...
![Tire Sky Cloud Car Vehicle]()
Back in 2016 I took my new QX80 on the trails of CO, UT and WY. Below is the pic from LaSalle Mountains in UT (its steep there but you cannot tell from the picture). 7 years ago. It performed great but there are obvious limitations. In CO below tree line it was its size, in UT lose rocks tires and lack of rear locker on steep parts. Overall it is a great truck for its size and 20 inch wheels and street tires (I cannot imagine 22"s there). It has good ground clearance so made through many, many trails. There is one big issue if you ever want to take it to serious off roading. Completely exposed oil pan. In fact it is complete negligence on Nissan part in my opinion. Once you hit a big rock with your front shield (which is decent for what it is), it will roll passed the front cross member and will be ideally placed to take your oil pan with it. And this is not only serious off roading that is a concern. Just last week I was too lazy to clear the driveway entrance from big "boulders" made of frozen ice by a snowplow and decided to ram it with my brand new QX80. QX80 won this time but will it win every time? I am really curious if Nissan Patrol has oil pan that exposed or if they have an extended shield to not only cover radiator/front of the engine but also the oil pan.... If anyone here knows about an aftermarket underbody shield to cover the oil pan let us know please...
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