Bud
07-21-2008, 08:55 PM
Well, I guess I’ll be the first to post under the TM-4 Tomcar Forum.
My name is Bud Schafer, my wife and I took possession of a new TM47G Tomcar a week ago today. I’ll list our likes and dislikes, and how it compares to one of our other off-road vehicles, but first a bit of background on how and where we use such a vehicle.
We spend most of our summers (mid-May until mid-October) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at our cabin in Strawberry - the one near Twin Bridges on Hwy 50 not far from Lake Tahoe, not the Strawberry in Tuolumne County.
Over the past sixteen years we have taken our Dune Buggy (mid-sixties frame and body, 1973 1600cc duel-port Volkswagen engine - stock) on nearly every trail accessible from Nf-71 (aka 11N23), including the old Strawberry Trail. Nf-71 has now been completely paved by those companies logging this area of the Eldorado National Forest, none of the other trails are.
Five years ago we purchased a 1973 Steyr Puch Pinzgauer Model 710 from a Swiss Army surplus dealer and tricked it out a little, mostly cosmetically, although I did add a custom bumper and 10,000 lb winch. The Pinz is especially nice for taking 5 to 10 guests to a remote mountain top, the Dunie has always been great for just the two of us and our German Shepard, or us and one other couple. Both vehicles have had their canvas tops removed, we want as much open-air as we can get.
The majority of the trails in this part of the Eldorado National Forest are old logging roads, comprised mostly of decomposed granite with rocks “usually” no bigger than a softball, with the exception of the road to “Cody Overlook” (10N04/10N14B) and about a three mile stretch of the old Strawberry Trail (10N13) that ends at Caples Lake on Highway 88 near Kirkwood. One of our favorite late afternoon rides is to go to “The Coast”. We drive our Dunie 5 ½ miles up “71” to Packsaddle Pass (rising to an elevation of about 7,200’ as opposed to our cabin which is at about 5,800’) and then we turn off the engine and simply coast home. We rarely coast more than 5 mph; this is when we get to sneak up on cattle, deer, bear, and occasionally a few bear cubs.
The Tomcar is not in the same class of vehicle as the Pinzgauer, so I will restrict any comparisons to our trusty old Dune Buggy. The only modifications I ever made to the Dunie was to add an extension to the air cleaner to get it above the body, I added a false back to the back seat to make room for a come-along, a jack, lug wrench, ropes and chains, spare parts, and other necessary tools and safety gear, and I added a mount for a spare tire. (Each item was usually added after a mishap; fortunately we were always able to cripple the old lady home.)
On our first trip out with the Tomcar we went about a mile on “71” (which was paved) and then turned onto Strawberry Creek Trail (11N19), going about three miles to where Strawberry Creek cuts back under the trail, one of our favorite places to bring guests, there is a very small waterfall at this junction. This trail is mostly decomposed granite with a few rocky areas and some deep ruts here and there.
The first thing I noticed was the lack of response when stepping on it, at least compared to our Dunie. The second thing was the high RPM’s (and accompanying noise) necessary to get up to speed (approximately 20 mph) and lastly, the road noise and vibration coming from the tires when running on pavement. We left “71” and I was soon driving over the first rocky area of the trail at about 20 mph (a couple hundred yards of softball size rocks), this is where I really learned to appreciate the superior suspension, the ride was superb and we hardly noticed the bumps; we were used to getting “jolted to death” in our Dunie at any speed greater than 5 mph!
On the way back I talked my wife into driving, something she would never do with our Dunie as she could never get the clutch thing mastered. I sat in the back seat to see how the ride was from there, she took to it like a duck takes to water and I even had to ask her to slow down a few times!
First impression:
I like that it is an automatic transmission, it seemed to have no effect on its drivability and I am thrilled that my wife can drive it.
I “love” the suspension!
The “Swamp Witch” tires are not something I like or want. We need something that will do well off-road and also reasonably well on pavement as we need to drive on “71” from 2 to 6 miles to get to most of the logging trails.
I miss the quietness and instant response of my Dunie engine.
The top definitely has to come off, we like to see the tree tops.
Yesterday was MY day! I took it on some of the rougher trials including the trail to Cody Overlook (10N04/10N14B), with some rocks the size of basketballs. One trail in particular was a pretty steep climb (11N22A), in the area of 20 to 25 degrees, so I kept my speed up to around 20 mph. Most of the larger rocks I straddled without a problem, it performed damn well and rarely lost its grip on the softer part of the trail. I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I must, it performed every bit as good as my Pinz on these trails!
Today I tamed it down a bit, I took my wife to the turn-off to Cody Overlook but instead I went down the east side of the mountain on 10N26B and then took the left fork (10NY06), coming out two miles south of Packsaddle Pass on the opposite side of the mountain from where we started. This was perfect as it dumped us out on “71” just a hundred feet from the entrance to what we named many years ago the “Granite Rock Outcropping”, two rows of giant granite boulders located about 500 yards east of the highway, and our very most favorite place to bring guests for a picnic.
This time we chose not to drive in between the rows of boulders, but instead we attempted to drive around the back side of the second row, something we had done dozens of times in our Dunie. However, apparently the Forest Service had recently fallen a tree to block that path, so I had to back down a mild slope (less than 10 degrees) in order to turn around, that’s when we got stuck! Although the area was a bit soft, I had turned around at that exact same spot “many” times in my Dunie, I could not believe I was stuck! Nor could I engage the locking diff’s, one has to be “moving” to engage them! (Should I have dared to engage them while my back tires were spinning?)
Fortunately there were some boulders about five feet behind me and I was able to back onto them and get a running start, but this was a “big” disappointment! Had those boulders not been there, I had no way to get out! As soon as I made it back to the cabin, besides throwing my come-along in the back seat, I researched the “Swamp Witch” tires and discovered they are “mud tires” and about the worse tires for sand one could have (and loose gravel/decomposed granite?). The salesman had mentioned that they would soon be coming out with some “spacers” that would accommodate 14 inch tires, now I am off to see if Goodyear makes Wrangler MT/R’s in 14 inch, I put a set on my Pinz five years ago and have nothing but praise for them, both on and off road.
When I finally get new tires I am going to return to that exact same spot and turn around, I’ll report back here on the outcome. I have every expectation that things will go just fine, but I still have that little bit of apprehension and definitely need to resolve it, one way or the other.
Bud
PS. One minor point, this is a “heavy” vehicle and one only gets about two pumps on the brake peddle without the engine running before losing hydraulic fluid pressure and the ability to stop. I know, I can coast in neutral with the engine running, but “quietness” is a big plus for the Dunie.
My name is Bud Schafer, my wife and I took possession of a new TM47G Tomcar a week ago today. I’ll list our likes and dislikes, and how it compares to one of our other off-road vehicles, but first a bit of background on how and where we use such a vehicle.
We spend most of our summers (mid-May until mid-October) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at our cabin in Strawberry - the one near Twin Bridges on Hwy 50 not far from Lake Tahoe, not the Strawberry in Tuolumne County.
Over the past sixteen years we have taken our Dune Buggy (mid-sixties frame and body, 1973 1600cc duel-port Volkswagen engine - stock) on nearly every trail accessible from Nf-71 (aka 11N23), including the old Strawberry Trail. Nf-71 has now been completely paved by those companies logging this area of the Eldorado National Forest, none of the other trails are.
Five years ago we purchased a 1973 Steyr Puch Pinzgauer Model 710 from a Swiss Army surplus dealer and tricked it out a little, mostly cosmetically, although I did add a custom bumper and 10,000 lb winch. The Pinz is especially nice for taking 5 to 10 guests to a remote mountain top, the Dunie has always been great for just the two of us and our German Shepard, or us and one other couple. Both vehicles have had their canvas tops removed, we want as much open-air as we can get.
The majority of the trails in this part of the Eldorado National Forest are old logging roads, comprised mostly of decomposed granite with rocks “usually” no bigger than a softball, with the exception of the road to “Cody Overlook” (10N04/10N14B) and about a three mile stretch of the old Strawberry Trail (10N13) that ends at Caples Lake on Highway 88 near Kirkwood. One of our favorite late afternoon rides is to go to “The Coast”. We drive our Dunie 5 ½ miles up “71” to Packsaddle Pass (rising to an elevation of about 7,200’ as opposed to our cabin which is at about 5,800’) and then we turn off the engine and simply coast home. We rarely coast more than 5 mph; this is when we get to sneak up on cattle, deer, bear, and occasionally a few bear cubs.
The Tomcar is not in the same class of vehicle as the Pinzgauer, so I will restrict any comparisons to our trusty old Dune Buggy. The only modifications I ever made to the Dunie was to add an extension to the air cleaner to get it above the body, I added a false back to the back seat to make room for a come-along, a jack, lug wrench, ropes and chains, spare parts, and other necessary tools and safety gear, and I added a mount for a spare tire. (Each item was usually added after a mishap; fortunately we were always able to cripple the old lady home.)
On our first trip out with the Tomcar we went about a mile on “71” (which was paved) and then turned onto Strawberry Creek Trail (11N19), going about three miles to where Strawberry Creek cuts back under the trail, one of our favorite places to bring guests, there is a very small waterfall at this junction. This trail is mostly decomposed granite with a few rocky areas and some deep ruts here and there.
The first thing I noticed was the lack of response when stepping on it, at least compared to our Dunie. The second thing was the high RPM’s (and accompanying noise) necessary to get up to speed (approximately 20 mph) and lastly, the road noise and vibration coming from the tires when running on pavement. We left “71” and I was soon driving over the first rocky area of the trail at about 20 mph (a couple hundred yards of softball size rocks), this is where I really learned to appreciate the superior suspension, the ride was superb and we hardly noticed the bumps; we were used to getting “jolted to death” in our Dunie at any speed greater than 5 mph!
On the way back I talked my wife into driving, something she would never do with our Dunie as she could never get the clutch thing mastered. I sat in the back seat to see how the ride was from there, she took to it like a duck takes to water and I even had to ask her to slow down a few times!
First impression:
I like that it is an automatic transmission, it seemed to have no effect on its drivability and I am thrilled that my wife can drive it.
I “love” the suspension!
The “Swamp Witch” tires are not something I like or want. We need something that will do well off-road and also reasonably well on pavement as we need to drive on “71” from 2 to 6 miles to get to most of the logging trails.
I miss the quietness and instant response of my Dunie engine.
The top definitely has to come off, we like to see the tree tops.
Yesterday was MY day! I took it on some of the rougher trials including the trail to Cody Overlook (10N04/10N14B), with some rocks the size of basketballs. One trail in particular was a pretty steep climb (11N22A), in the area of 20 to 25 degrees, so I kept my speed up to around 20 mph. Most of the larger rocks I straddled without a problem, it performed damn well and rarely lost its grip on the softer part of the trail. I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I must, it performed every bit as good as my Pinz on these trails!
Today I tamed it down a bit, I took my wife to the turn-off to Cody Overlook but instead I went down the east side of the mountain on 10N26B and then took the left fork (10NY06), coming out two miles south of Packsaddle Pass on the opposite side of the mountain from where we started. This was perfect as it dumped us out on “71” just a hundred feet from the entrance to what we named many years ago the “Granite Rock Outcropping”, two rows of giant granite boulders located about 500 yards east of the highway, and our very most favorite place to bring guests for a picnic.
This time we chose not to drive in between the rows of boulders, but instead we attempted to drive around the back side of the second row, something we had done dozens of times in our Dunie. However, apparently the Forest Service had recently fallen a tree to block that path, so I had to back down a mild slope (less than 10 degrees) in order to turn around, that’s when we got stuck! Although the area was a bit soft, I had turned around at that exact same spot “many” times in my Dunie, I could not believe I was stuck! Nor could I engage the locking diff’s, one has to be “moving” to engage them! (Should I have dared to engage them while my back tires were spinning?)
Fortunately there were some boulders about five feet behind me and I was able to back onto them and get a running start, but this was a “big” disappointment! Had those boulders not been there, I had no way to get out! As soon as I made it back to the cabin, besides throwing my come-along in the back seat, I researched the “Swamp Witch” tires and discovered they are “mud tires” and about the worse tires for sand one could have (and loose gravel/decomposed granite?). The salesman had mentioned that they would soon be coming out with some “spacers” that would accommodate 14 inch tires, now I am off to see if Goodyear makes Wrangler MT/R’s in 14 inch, I put a set on my Pinz five years ago and have nothing but praise for them, both on and off road.
When I finally get new tires I am going to return to that exact same spot and turn around, I’ll report back here on the outcome. I have every expectation that things will go just fine, but I still have that little bit of apprehension and definitely need to resolve it, one way or the other.
Bud
PS. One minor point, this is a “heavy” vehicle and one only gets about two pumps on the brake peddle without the engine running before losing hydraulic fluid pressure and the ability to stop. I know, I can coast in neutral with the engine running, but “quietness” is a big plus for the Dunie.