The HU 4wd Forum and what does it need to make better?

[Grant Johnson]

Hi,

I received an email from a user (Ronny) with some good ideas especially for the 4wd forums section: (his comments indented, my comments noted)

I drive a Defender and therefor most of all like to read about things about 4x4-things. In other forums I read there is parts for questions about cars, about maps, about workshops for cars, about motors, about tours and trips and on and on. Could this be something for you? As I can see now everything goes into each other and there is a lot to read before I find what i'm looking for. Maybe treads like this: 4x4 cars - field repairs - workshops in different areas - where to get parts or help - known problems to cars

Grant: SOME of that is in the 4wd forums, but it could absolutely be better.

Motorbikes - field repairs - workshops in different areas - where to get parts or help - known problems to bikes

Grant: All covered in the main sections of the site.

Maps, routes, GPS - What maps to use, and what is available? - GPS, programs, where to find software, web-maps...

Grant: See the GPS forum

- Routes, passable for 4x4 or bikes? Alternatives? - Politic issues that are vise to know about. Rebels, areas not very vise to go to.

Grant: See the Trip Planning forums or the regional forums

- Where to find petrol, diesel, oil and stuff.

Grant: We don't have much of this for 4wd, perhaps it needs to be added. See wikis comments below.

Company and friends - Any other going certain routes? - Find travel companions? - Meeting places?

Grant: See the Travellers seeking Travellers Forum!

Equipment - New items that are nice to know about - Items that are good or better to avoid - Where to buy stuff?

Grant: Most of that is covered in the various technical forums for bikes, not sure how good it is for cars. Unfortunately I have no time to spend in that area, so leave it up to the people who use it to let me know what is needed.

Just something like this. Not sure if this is what your after, but I think it would make a good forum even better.

Anyone else have any thoughts / comments? What are we missing in the 4wd section?

Note that I really do not want to create a whole new set of sections like Planning or GPS etc, as it's all much the same and dilutes the content badly. However that doesn't mean we don't need to shake things up a bit!

Let me know what you think while we are working on the whole site upgrade so we have something to work with when the time comes.

thanks!

[twobob]

Hi Grant How about sticky posts for the different sections electrical, mechanical etc? All posters burn out after awhile repeating answers to generic questions. Much of 4x4 touring is just following the basics. The sticky posts would evolve over time. Many new people don't know how to search a site and so embarrass themselves with simple questions

Cheers Rob

[rclafton]

More active moderation would help sometimes, although the LC / LR thing does seem to have died down a bit which is really good as its not good for the forums and very very boring

How about an 'Above 3.5 tonnes' section for drivers of heavier vehicles as their requirements / laws / licensing etc can be quite different (for instance if you passage thru austria and use the motorways you need a little black box to record your progress and pay your taxes over 3.5 tonnes)

Repair shops section would be good.

The forum title, actually says 4 wheels , not 4x4 so maybe a 2wd section heading

Origional poster said something about equipment - so a section discussing equipment specific to 4 wheeled vehicles would be a good addition. This is everything from fridges, jacks compressors, mechanical mods would be better in specific vehicle forums imho.

[twenty4seven]

Not having a separate Landrover and Landcruiser section, there is enough type specific forums out there for people to get all tribal on and this place is about travel and overlanding IMO.

Vehicle build up / show us your vehicle type section, I love seeing other peoples ideas.

I also like the idea of an equipment section as well.

Somehow encourage more 4 wheel travel reports, I know of people who have been to some fantastic places but just keep quiet on here about it, I for one would love to learn more from the experienced guys out there.

[TheWarden]

I'm fairly new to the site, 4x4's and overlanding and signed up here because thats whats covered.

I'm not so much interested in 4x4 only sites and there are plenty on offer it thats your thing.

When it comes to browsing the hubb I only really look in the sahara forum and 4x4. Looking at the current set up everything seems to be covered, obvioulsly the bike tech is bigger than the 4x4 due to the diversity of bikes in use.

My suggestions would be to

Merge the LR, LC and other 4x4 tech forums into a 4x4 tech forum (there are plenty of marque specific BB's out there and wrt overlanding the tech seems to cross these boundaries.

Maybe a >3.5 tonnes section as rclafton suggested as these vehicles have different issues.

Really like the idea of a Readers Rides/show off your vehicle section (maybe divided into Bikes, 4 Wheels >3.5 tonnes)

Maybe look at the titles of the general sections and the details of each to make these appear slightly less bike orientated, for example Retitle the first section removing Ride Tales and make that Trip Reports in general.

I think sometimes when I do browse other sections I generally feel they are for bikes. Just a feeling really but sometime I find myself thinking "would this be the place for a 4wd post"

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

I'm fairly new to the site, 4x4's and overlanding and signed up here because thats whats covered.

I'm not so much interested in 4x4 only sites and there are plenty on offer it thats your thing.

When it comes to browsing the hubb I only really look in the sahara forum and 4x4. Looking at the current set up everything seems to be covered, obviously the bike tech is bigger than the 4x4 due to the diversity of bikes in use.

My suggestions would be to

Merge the LR, LC and other 4x4 tech forums into a 4x4 tech forum (there are plenty of marque specific BB's out there and wrt overlanding the tech seems to cross these boundaries.

Maybe a >3.5 tonnes section as rclafton suggested as these vehicles have different issues.

Really like the idea of a Readers Rides/show off your vehicle section (maybe divided into Bikes, 4 Wheels >3.5 tonnes)

Maybe look at the titles of the general sections and the details of each to make these appear slightly less bike orientated, for example Retitle the first section removing Ride Tales and make that Trip Reports in general.

I think sometimes when I do browse other sections I generally feel they are for bikes. Just a feeling really but sometime I find myself thinking "would this be the place for a 4wd post"

I am broadly in agreement with The Warden, but it goes deeper -
the HUBB has grown pretty much piecemeal for years and it's current appearance shows that, starkly.
As per the last post, a few examples:-
1. The website for motorcycle travellers
2. An annual calendar of motorbike travel
3. Ride Tales
4. Organised tours (by bike naturally)
5. Shipping bikes
6.Motorcycle events around the world
7. The "want ads" section does not include for 4 wheels - that has ads for want/sale that are entirely separate
8. Repair shops recommended around the world - with bikes in mind

There are probably other examples, these were just pulled out from a very quick review of the HUBB alone - I know that if someone enters via the homepage then they would be hard pressed to know the breadth of subject matter within here. Indeed, they may well write it off as being too specialist - for motorbikes alone - and move on in their web searching.

I do think that the site needs to have an appearance that is more logical but that will need to be very carefully balanced with the origins of the site (it was I who suggested the inclusion of a bicycle section a few years ago, and that has had limited readership and input - yes, there are lots of competing websites for that also).

Contrary, to some views, I think that the 4 wheel section (should there be a 6x6 section??) needs to be broken down into specific vehicle interests - obviously, that includes areas for LR and LC). At the very least, to do this would replicate the layout for the bikes section.
Recently, I added a thread about the Nissan X trail, but there are a few Nissan models and I think there is scope for a section to cover that marque of vehicle - Yes, bikes are diverse, but so are 4 wheeled vehicles, probably more so because of the different body configurations and the weights involved + as mentioned above the licencing requirements (including driving licences in the case of the UK) are more complex.

I don't envy you making these decisions, Grant!!

[Lonerider]

I am a motorcyclist my self but have been reading this with interest as I eventually my get too old or my body might not take any more.

What about an over 7500kg section as I can only go up to 7500kg on my car licence being from the UK and some people travel in some big vehicles. I would be good to know if I ever decide to go to 4 wheels

Just a thought

Wayne

[Jervig]

An issue is Car or Truck, nobody in Europe will use the word Truck for any vehicle under 3500kg We would use Car, Van or Pick-up. To avoid misunderstanding this could be solution:



4 Wheels Trip Reports (Trip Reports for ALL 4 wheeled vehicles)
4 Wheels Travel (Non Technical questions, Driving Techniques, safety, comfort etc)

Tech for vehicles <3500kg (Any Make 2&4WD, includes tires and wheels)
Tech for vehicles >3500kg (Any Make 2&4WD, includes tires and wheels)

Equipping the Vehicle (What's the best gear?)

Expedition campers (How or where to construct one)

For Sale/Wanted


I added expedition campers because that is a world on itself. On other forums topics about constructing these kind of campers stay "fresh" for a long period of time, lots of documentation, pictures, tech stuf etc.

GRTZ,

Jeroen

[TheWarden]

Its probably worth remembering that for some vehicles there are plenty of well established dedicated forums for technical advice, there certainly are plenty of Land Rover/Land Cruiser forums

If I need to find out about servicing, repairs or modifications for my Land Cruiser I use one of the specific land cruiser forums. I use the Hubb for travel information, visas, route planning etc. So in the 4 wheels section my main interest is the overland travel side of adapting the vehicles not the routine servicing and repairs type info

I know that LR and Toyota 4x4s have a good forum base elsewhere but other 4 wheeled vehicles maybe not, so a generic light/heavy type approach could fill a bit of a gap for those makes without that info elsewhere on the web

[Walkabout]

I can't see what is a problem herein: currently there are only 7 main topics within the 4 wheel bit (and two of them are LC/LR specific), while there are techical sections for nearly every manufacturer of motorbikes.

What is really so difficult about deciding where to post within "4 wheels"??

Nor can I see any reason to "throw away" the LC/LR specific information by amalgamating them; IMO that would kill off both of them for those who own such brands (I am still very surprised that those particular fans haven't posted in here, but I do recall a very highly regarded LC enthusiast saying a few years ago that he had stopped posting in LC specific fora elsewhere because of the BS that they contain).

[pdriver]

The Land Rover and Land Cruiser boards work fine and as others have commented there are dedicated forums elsewhere which serve these marks very well in terms of specific advice. I am sure this is repeated for all manufacturers, regardless of how many wheels.

What isn't catered for very well on the hubb are vans and trucks. I am pretty sure that with such naming, people would quickly figure out what what is meant and what they are interested in.

Size isn't everything and it is difficult to draw a line about weight or whether a heavy goods licence is required or whether a vehicle is ex-military. Indeed I had an interesting conversation about this at the Overland Adventure show, with a truck owner who thought the distinction ought be about whether a vehicle had air breaks or not!

Vans: Campervans, and panel van conversions, including small military such as Pinzgauer
Trucks: Larger cargo vehicles, typically with a separate body mounted upon an external chassis.

[James Rothwell]

I would just be happy if the 4 four wheeled forums where a bit more active, I know this site is favored by the bikers but it has such a wealth of information it surely should be home to people who are interested in exploring in vehicles.