Next time you drive anywhere—to work, school, your local ski area—check the tires on the vehicles around you and more than likely you’ll see a set of BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrains (ATs) rolling by. Long loved for their performance and looks, the KO2 is the most ubiquitous all-terrain tire on the market, and for good reason.

Made to perform well in all conditions the KO2 has helped thousands of drivers plow through snow, mud, and sand on the way to their next adventures. Here at şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř we’ve hammered home many times that a quality tire is the most important upgrade you can make for off-road performance, and we’ve always rated the KO2 as a good investment.

After 10 years of KO2 popularity, BFG , which moves the tire forward in several ways. I’ve been testing the tires for months on my 2024 Tundra in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and also had the chance to drive them during an off-road adventure in Alaska. I’ve been impressed with the performance over thousands of miles of pavement and every off-road condition imaginable. Whether tearing up muddy roads, crawling up high-clearance 4×4 routes, trying to park my car in deep snow banks, or cruising freeways at 75 mph, the KO3 has always felt like a good choice.

To learn how the BFG engineers took an already top-performing tire like the KO2 and made it even better, I sat down with two people who were instrumental in the design and launch of the BFGoodrich KO3—Brandon Sturgis, BFG’s global product manager, and Jon Jewell, one of the company’s product design and industrialization engineers. Sturgis and Jewell started the conversation by listing all the spots where they wanted to see improvement: wear, road noise, and performance on gravel, snow, mud, and wet spots.

Improved Durability

Better wear was a key focus for two reasons. First, the BFGoodrich KO3s are expensive so buyers want their investment to last. Second, KO3 buyers use the tires hard and don’t want them to fail because of uneven or fast wear. BFG made the KO3 15 percent more durable than the KO2 by using a new rubber compound and packing the lugs closer together to create a denser contact patch where they meet the road. The rubber compound is formulated for supposed to be better at absorbing the contact from the road, which creates less wear, and the denser contact patch reduces the stress on the individual lugs.

The KO3 comes with the same 50,000-mile warranty as the KO2, but thanks to the more durable build, the KO3 is rated for today’s increasingly powerful trucks and SUVs that put extra wear on tires—like my Tundra.

With the explosion of overlanding in the U.S. and across the world, BFG saw that the KO2s were spending increased time on rough dirt roads. For the KO3s they wanted to cut down on what’s called “chip and tear,” where parts of the lugs get sliced by the gravel and eventually tear away, reducing the tire’s effectiveness and longevity. BFG’s new KO3 rubber compound allows for increased elastic deformation in the lugs so that they can conform to gravel in the road instead of getting shredded. The lug pattern is also designed so that no one individual lug takes a particular beating—all the grouped lugs on each section of the tire work together to absorb the impact.

Sidewall durability is important on an all-terrain tire because sidewall punctures are pretty much impossible to repair. To ensure drivers don’t get stranded with the KO3, BFG built an extra-burly sidewall into the tire that uses technology from their Baja T/A KR line of tires that are used on high-powered, off-road race vehicles.

More Versatile Performance

Those of us who love to ski, or just enjoy exploring in winter, will be happy to hear that the KO3 improves snow traction thanks to a new sipe design. Sipes are the slits in the lugs that open as the tire makes contact with the ground, allowing the lug to bite into the snow. The sipes on the KO3 go the full depth of the lug, creating a large bite. Inside the sipe there’s an egg carton-like structure that keeps the two sides of the lug from deforming when it hits the road, enabling a better bite and more even wear that allows the lugs to last longer.

“We wanted to make sure we created a tire that performed just as well in the Texas summer as it does in the Canadian winter,” Jewell said.

BFG makes a tire called the KM3 that’s designed specifically to excel in mud, but the multiple-use KO3 does amazingly well—something I saw as we powered through puddles in Alaska. That’s thanks to a more aggressive lug pattern on the side of the tire and mud-phobic bars between the lugs that help release the suction that builds up when mud gets pushed in between the lugs so that it can fall out and the lugs can go back to biting into new mud down the road.

To ensure the KO3s stay planted on wet pavement, the lug pattern was designed to push water out of the way when the rubber meets the road. The new rubber compound, along with the sipes, also help create grip so that you can cruise down the freeway safely, rain or shine.

Reduced Road Noise

Since most drivers spend the majority of their time on pavement and don’t want to listen to a constant hum, BFG engineers created a pattern where not all the lugs hit at the same time, designed lugs that give off variable pitches, which creates a less ferocious noise, and tuned some lugs to cancel each other’s noise out. In my testing, I found the tires are louder than a regular street tire, but not by much.

All of this engineering takes time, of course, and Sturgis said BFG first started developing the KO3 back in 2015. The KO03 also builds on the 10-year run of the KO2, and the 15 year run of the original KO before that.

BFG tested the KO3 for years before launching. The ultimate test comes when they sling their tires on buggies and trucks running the Score Baja 500 and the Baja 1000—two of the world’s most famous off-road races. They’ve had a lot of success: Over the years BFG-equipped vehicles have won 35 Baja 500s and 343 Baja 1000s. The KO3s were used on the Baja Challenge 1000-winning buggies that won the 2022 San Felipe 250 and the 2023 Baja 1000. 2021, 2022, and 2023 Baja 1000 races.

I didn’t get to ask Jewell and Sturgis about when BFG plans to launch the KO4, or whatever iteration of the all-terrain tire they have up their sleeves next. They both, however, hinted that, as product people, they’re always watching how the current product is performing, then weighing that with the development of vehicles and how people want to adventure.

“I can tell you that ideation never stops, and at BFG we think there is no reason to not apply what we’ve learned as soon as we can,” Jewell said.

The post The Most Popular All-Terrain Tire Just Got Better appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Despite being the of vehicles in the U.S., crossovers like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV get , especially in the off road and overland communities. They’re regarded as a poor compromise between a sedan and an SUV that tend to do nothing particularly well, and are often ridiculed for without actually possessing that capability.

Here’s the thing, though: crossovers are popular for good reason. They meet the needs of most people incredibly well, are fuel efficient and comfortable, and with modern all-wheel-drive systems and traction control, I’d argue they’re able to get most of us pretty much anywhere we actually want to go.

My wife and I own a 2021 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, which happens to be the in the U.S. and is one of the best-selling vehicles in the country year after year. It has been a phenomenal car for us, but we wanted to make it perform a bit better off-road, so we made some modifications.

How “Off-Road” Are You Really Getting?

Before I dive into what we did to our RAV4, let’s take a second to talk about what “off-road” and “off-road capability” really mean. For some folks, off-road capability might mean their vehicle needs to come equipped with large tires, front and rear locking differentials, a winch, and the ability to safely navigate a .

If that’s what you need out of a vehicle, then yeah, a crossover isn’t for you.

The thing about those types of trails is that you have to seek them out—there are not many of them, and most folks are not running trails in Moab very often. To most people, “off-road” really just means driving off pavement, usually to get to a trailhead or campsite—and for that, a crossover is more than enough, especially with a few simple modifications.

What Not to Do

There’s been a trend of people similarly to how one might modify a four-wheel-drive truck or SUV like a 4Runner: adding big, knobby tires, lift kits, rock sliders, heavy duty front bumpers, winches, and more.

Bolting all that stuff to your car might make it look cool, but it also affects the ride and your fuel economy. Here’s what I did to modify my crossover to make it more capable without ruining the way it drives.

Tires

The number one thing I recommend to anyone looking to give their crossover more capability is upgrading the tires. The first thing we did to our RAV4 when we bought it was swap the stock tires with a set of  They’re an all-terrain tire specifically designed for lighter duty vehicles like crossovers. So, unlike fitting a traditional all-terrain tire designed for a truck or heavier SUV, these won’t ruin a crossover’s fuel economy or create an unnecessarily harsh ride.

What they will do is give your rig a lot more traction on dirt roads and slippery surfaces, like mud and snow, than the highway tires that are stock on crossovers, thanks to a more aggressive tread pattern. They’re also severe-snow rated, and while not as good as a true winter tire, we’ve found them to work very well in the snow. We just put another set on the RAV4 after over 50,000 trouble-free miles on the first set. We’ve taken the RAV4 on many adventures along dirt roads and haven’t had a flat yet.

If you want to use your crossover to get to a remote trailhead or gain some confidence in slippery terrain, I highly recommend investing in aftermarket all-terrain tires specifically designed for crossovers.

Recovery Points and Gear

Next, we added a receiver hitch. We don’t plan to do any towing with the RAV4, but we do want to be able to use a hitch-mounted bike rack and, more importantly, add a proper recovery point in case we get stuck.

You might think that requires a trip to the dealership, but if you’re even mildly handy, you can easily add an aftermarket hitch yourself with a socket set. I went with a because it’s one of the lowest profile hitches on the market for crossovers, but still uses a 2-inch receiver (it also costs hundreds less than the ).

Most trucks and SUVs use a 2-inch receiver, so in our case, the bike rack and cargo rack we use on our Tundra fits the RAV4 without issue or adapters. Torklift is also a brand I’ve used in the past for things like truck camper tie-downs, hitches for travel trailers, and more, and I’ve always been impressed with the quality of their products.

The Ecohitch doesn’t require drilling, and, it took me about an hour to mount it. As for the actual recovery point, we carry a ($47) and a ($75) in our car. The shackle receiver slots into the RAV4’s hitch and provides a secure attachment point for the recovery rope.

We also got another, dedicated set of ($180) for the RAV4. Rather than mounting a set of the larger MaxTrax to the roof of the car like we do on the truck, we opted for the Minis and a carry bag. They’re a better size for the RAV4, and the carry bag lets us toss them in the back if we know we might be in a situation where we’ll need them, like a camping trip or heading up to the ski area for the day.

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One of our only complaints about the RAV4 has been the ride on rougher dirt roads. Ours is a Hybrid XLE model, so presumably Toyota meant for this thing to spend the majority of its time on pavement, and they specced the shocks accordingly. It rides nicely on the highway, but it’s uncomfortably stiff on dirt roads, and any sort of pothole or larger dip feels like you’re riding a pogo stick. Some online research revealed this as a common complaint, and I noticed Toyota specs different shocks on its Woodlands and TRD Off Road RAV4 models.

When I looked for a suitable upgrade, everything I came across was part of a and specifically designed to give the vehicle more clearance. I wasn’t interested in lifting the RAV4 since there are a lot of vehicle with independent suspension and limited suspension travel. We’ve also found the RAV4 to have ample clearance for what we do.

That’s when I found . I came across the brand while researching suspension options for our new camper van (more on that in an upcoming article), and realized they make . Koni is based in Holland, and while they’re somewhat of a new name in the U.S. overland market, they made a name for themselves in the heavy truck off-road racing world long ago.

Their line of Special Active shocks features what Koni calls “FSD” or Frequency Selective Damping. In a nutshell, the shocks use low damping forces when the vehicle is traveling in a high frequency environment, like on long stretches of smooth road, but use high damping forces when traveling in a low frequency area like a road with a lot of bumps or sharp corners. It’s a simple design that doesn’t require any adjustment on the part of the driver, but works wonders to smooth out the ride on rougher roads.

These shocks have made a massive difference in how the car handles on rougher dirt roads. Washboard is significantly more comfortable, as are larger bumps and potholes on pavement. On-road driving feels about the same, with perhaps less body roll than before—our RAV4 hasn’t turned into a desert racing machine, but getting to the trailhead is now a lot more pleasant.

Less Is More 

The list of modifications we made isn’t long, and it might not seem like much of an adventure rig “build,” but that’s the point. As the old saying goes—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. A crossover like our RAV4 is already great at doing a lot of things, like daily driving duties, light dirt road touring, road trips, and more.

The only other modification I’m considering is adding a front skid plate from for more protection from rocks and other obstacles you’re likely to encounter off-road. I think adding skid plates is a much better idea than adding a lift for more clearance, and LP şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř is a great source for things like skid plates, bumper guards, wheels, and tires for crossovers.

The improved ride, along with better tires and a dedicated recovery point in the form of a hitch, have significantly improved the capability of our little RAV4. It’s not—and never will be—a Jeep Wrangler or a Toyota Tacoma, but for 90 percent of the driving we do, it works just fine.

The post 3 Easy Fixes to Make Your Crossover Vehicle More Off-Road Capable appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

If you want to experience the real wild side of Sin City, venture into the Mojave Desert. Its mix of rugged peaks and desolate valleys invite endless exploration. And , the world’s largest motorcycle rental and tour company, can take you there. This master in everything motorcycle travel is teaming up with Yamaha to outfit an exclusive guided tour designed to showcase the best parts of Las Vegas—that is, the natural splendor of the stunning deserts that lie beyond the always-on city.

Happening October 27–29, this will provide both first-time and experienced riders with an unparalleled taste of freedom, along with the comforts of relaxing hotel nights on the edge of Death Valley National Park.

“We’ve crafted this EAGLERIDER EXCLUSIVE to deliver an adrenaline-pumping tour experience that reveals the untamed beauty surrounding Las Vegas,” says EAGLERIDER CEO Sebastian Schoepe.

Along the way, participants will encounter the Mojave’s wildlife, feel the openness of desert riding, bond with fellow adventurers, and learn new techniques from expert guides. A blend of excitement and beginner accessibility, this multiday experience invites riders on a unique opportunity to detour the Strip on Yamaha’s cutting-edge adventure (ADV) bikes and utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). If you’ve never ridden a Yamaha before, you’re in for a treat; its fleet of 2024 bikes and side-by-sides is designed for comfort, safety, and performance to offer unparalleled full-throttle fun.

“Riders will experience the perfect mix of on-road touring and off-road thrills,” Schoepe says, “while exploring the Mojave on Yamaha’s latest rally raid–style adventure bike, the . On day three, they’ll have the chance to cross the desert in state-of-the-art Yamaha UTVs, an unforgettable ride to check off the bucket list.”

This carefully curated itinerary is the ultimate complement to a Vegas getaway (or an excuse to start planning one). During the tour, riders will cover up to 500 miles of diverse terrain, including approximately 100 miles of exhilarating dirt trails. Here’s a teaser of what you can expect each day:

Day 1

• Venture into the heart of the Mojave Desert.
• Visit , a geothermal cave system, and the Area 51 Alien Center.
• Unwind at the Ranch at Death Valley.

Day 2

• Ride through the colorful hills of .
• Take in the extraordinary overlook of Badwater Basin from .
• End the day in the charming town of Pahrump, Nevada.

Day 3

• Cap off your Mojave expedition with an adrenaline-fueled UTV tour.
• Check out the historic .
• Visit to the renowned Seven Magic Mountains art installation.
• Take a keepsake photo at the iconic Las Vegas welcome sign.

If you want to join this grand on- and off-road tour, reserve your spot now. Space is limited to 15 participants, and it’s priced to fill. This exclusive guided tour starts from $1,676 and will leave you with memories and skills that last a lifetime. (Price is per person, with motorcycle rental and hotel stay included.)

There are other opportunities to experience the outdoorsy side of Vegas with EAGLERIDER. You can book an exciting off-road side-by-side experience into the wilds of the Mojave Desert year-round. This is the perfect way to fill your adventure void if you can’t make the three-day Yamaha tour or if you don’t have a motorcycle license yet.

is the world’s largest motorsport experience company, offering a diverse range of motorcycle and off-road adventure rentals and tours from over 200 locations across six continents. Since its founding in 1992, EAGLERIDER has provided exceptional, high-quality adventure experiences for enthusiasts worldwide.

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Check out the above photo of a rental car stuck in sand. I did that. I did that during a trip to Baja, Mexico. Normally I would have driven my fully-equipped truck—but we had guests and needed rear seats. We had planned a casual outing to a new restaurant that was accessed by a dirt road, and I beached the rental. And, because I was totally unprepared, I ended up relying on the old frayed and knotted orange cargo strap in the bottom of the photo, which I tied to a fragile suspension arm, in order to get out. My equipment was inadequate and unsafe, and the situation could have gone from bad to worse, very quickly.

I’ve learned to expect the unexpected when navigating unpaved roads. That’s why I have painstakingly assembled a kit of survival tools for anyone who like to drive when the pavement ends.

One of those people is my brother-in-law, Ian. He drives to the cabin our family shares in northern Montana, and travels around the Mountain West in his stock Ford Ranger pickup truck. The biggest challenge he regularly tackles is the drive to Bridger Bowl to go snowboarding. And while he doesn’t deliberately bite off as much risk as my wife and I do, that doesn’t mean he should be unprepared. So, I loaded his truck up with the exact supplies I’ve listed below, and showed him how to use them. No matter where you live, or how you drive, you can benefit from the same stuff. Let me show you how:

Traction Boards

Unlike improvised solutions—kitty litter, floor mats, etc—traction boards are designed to work both quickly and reliably. Just shove them under your driven wheels, and they’ll dig into even the slipperiest of surfaces while locking into the lugs on your tires to facilitate perfect traction between the two. Then you can just drive out of any obstacle.

The teeth on ARB’s Tred Pro boards have been specifically designed to prevent wheelspin that can quickly melt and deform even quality nylon traction boards. Wheelspin will cost you money, and if you’re on a long trip, it will also break your tools, thus eliminating the ones you may need to use the next time you get stuck. Since preventing it makes them beginner-proof, they’re the right choice for most normal drivers.

I last used mine down in Mexico, to dig my truck out of a sand pit on a remote beach when dropping tire pressures and excavating with a shovel proved inadequate. Ian hasn’t used his yet, but with winter approaching, carrying a set will give him peace of mind while navigating icy access roads to the ski hill, or even driving through unplowed side streets after a heavy snow. Heck, I used them to extract a college kid and his Subaru from the street in front of my house last winter.

Recovery Strap or Rope and Shackles (With Appropriate Recovery Points)

If Ian ever slides off the road into a snow-filled ditch, or if he comes across another driver who who has and needs help, those traction boards might not be enough. In this case, he will need another vehicle to pull himself out.

This requires a device to connect two cars together in a way that’s safe and won’t cause damage (two heavy vehicles pulling on each other creates extreme tension. The solution is an elastic recovery strap or rope, paired with two shackles. The stretch reduces momentary load spikes that may damage vehicles, and, once you begin towing, will also help pull the stuck car free as the strap contracts back to its original length.

There’s a big caveat here: you can only connect the shackles to recovery points on a vehicle designed to support these forces. You can’t use the little screw-in tow eyelets provided on economy cars; they can shatter or pull free, producing potentially lethal shrapnel. Any quality 4×4 will include at least front recovery points. On Ian’s Ranger, and most other stock vehicles, you’re left using the two-inch tow receiver. Inserting a shackle mount into that will prevent the pin from bending under high forces.

ARB’s Weekender Kit includes that strap and two quality Crosby 3/4-inch shackles, all appropriately rated for the weight of most common vehicles, and houses all that in a convenient sheath. One of these is easy to throw in the back of any vehicle.

A Quality Air Compressor and Tire Repair Kit

Driving up to the family cabin involves a couple hundred miles of lonely two-lane roads through the rolling prairie. Should Ian get a flat, he could simply swap on his full-sized spare. But what if a board full of nails or an unexpected pothole, causes two flats at once? Roadside assistance can take hours to arrive. And that’d be time wasted, because repairing your own punctures takes mere minutes if you’re armed with the right tools—specifically an air compressor.

is a good compromise between inflation speed and price. One of these should last you a lifetime, and can easily be moved between different vehicles as you buy a new car, or go camping with friends.

I like the Boulder Tools Tire Repair Kit over the ARB one it mimics. Not only is it a bit more affordable, but it includes stuff like a pair of needle-nose pliers, extra valve cores, and a valve tool, so you have everything you need to fix a flat tire inside one box.

Additionally, an air compressor can help you reduce your tire pressure, which is key to tackling both deep snow and tricky off-road obstacles. Driving on these surfaces requires roughly half the pressure of what’s required to safely drive on pavement. The problem there is easy to spot: you’ll have to reinflate your tires back to the correct pressure when you return to asphalt. Compared to cheap emergency air compressors, a good one will reduce the time it takes to perform that chore, and won’t burn out under the stress.

A Quality Flashlight or Headlamp

Doing any of the above after dark can get both tricky and dangerous. Wearing a headlamp won’t just give you the ability to see what you’re doing, but can also indicate your presence to any passing drivers.

I’ve been using nothing but the Biolite Headlamp 330 for years now. It’s affordable, light, comfortable, and provides all the light anyone could ever need for tasks both near and far, along with several nights of life on a fully-charged battery.

Paper Maps

I know this can seem redundant in the age of smartphones, but a nationwide road atlas costs less than $30 and can save a lot of time and hassle. Stick one under your seat, and forget it’s there until you find yourself in an area without cell reception, or a power outage or natural disaster knocks out cell networks.

A few summers ago, we warned one of Ian’s friends (an engineer who worked on Google Maps) that they wouldn’t have cell signal for a large portion of the drive up to the cabin. They brushed us off in disbelief, but felt pretty bashful when they finally showed up to the cabin several hours behind schedule. A simple paper map could have prevented that entirely.

A Fire Extinguisher

Fires happen unexpectedly, and quickly grow out of control. Keeping an affordable marine fire extinguisher in your vehicle will give you the ability to fight both flammable liquid and electrical fires at once, so you’ll be ready if a fire occurs in a vehicle, home, or anywhere else.

Spare Clothing and Footwear

I like to keep a full set of spare outdoor clothing in my vehicles at all times. That includes everything from a warm hat and rain shell to long underwear, merino socks, and a pair of comfortable hiking boots. While I’m unlikely to need a full outfit change unexpectedly, keeping every item of a complete layering system in my trunk means I’ll have whatever it is I need, whether it be a clean pair of undies or a warm puffy jacket. And that prepares me for small emergencies like an upset stomach, on up to spending the night in the back seat during a blizzard.

I don’t think Ian is going to listen to me on this one, but luckily we’re close enough to the same size that he can borrow my stuff when we’re traveling together.

The post I Never Leave Home Without These Survival Tools in My Car. Neither Should You. appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Outdoor adventures haven’t come easy for James Lawless, a career firefighter who discovers that being a Ford Bronco owner provides free access to the action-packed Bronco Off-Roadeo experiences located across the country. So a trip to provides a timely escape. Lawless tackles the rugged terrain outside of Las Vegas, then teams up with Bronco Ambassador , who leads him up his first rock climbing route. Watch the rest of şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř’s three-part series with Ford, profiling unique, overworked individuals who find outdoor adventures as the antidote for their unhealthy work lives.

is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. 

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Starved for an outdoor adventure, Giovanni McEastland takes a much-needed escape to . There, the stressed-out office coordinator gains new perspective on his overall work-life balance—first off-roading through the rocky hill country west of Austin, then teaming up with professional athlete and Bronco Ambassador, , who guides McEastland through his first standup paddleboarding experience. Watch all of şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř’s three-part series with Ford, profiling unique, overworked individuals who find outdoor adventures as the antidote for their unhealthy work lives.

is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. 

The post The Off-Road Antidote: Bronco Off-Roadeo Texas appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

The story of Jamie Holmes begins şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř’s three-part series with Ford, profiling unique, overworked individuals who report an unhealthy work-life balance. Starved for an unmatched outdoor experience, they’re prescribed with a trip to a Bronco Off-Roadeo. Holmes, a social worker and part-time server in need of outdoor recreation therapy, visits , where she gets her fill by tackling the rough terrain of Gunstock Mountain—first driving a Bronco and then riding a mountain bike with guidance from Bronco Ambassador .

is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. 

The post The Off-Road Antidote: Bronco Off-Roadeo New Hampshire appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

The culture of American work life has serious problems when it comes to well-being. Spoiler alert: there’s not much wellness. High burnout rates are the norm, and the impacts of job-related stress on work and personal relationships are real. Fortunately, there’s a simple, free, and obvious remedy to counter that stress: going outside.

For years, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř has documented the benefits of time spent outdoors starting with mood and self-esteem boosts after even short bouts of outdoor activity. And beyond the instant mental health upsides, we’ve covered the science that backs up the lasting physiological benefits—from reduced hypertension and asthma to boosted immune systems—explaining why an increasing number of doctors are prescribing time outdoors.

Unfortunately, we’re not taking our medicine. According to the , the average American spends 90% of their time indoors. And even with the means and time to break free from the work grind, nearly half of U.S. workers with paid time off don’t take all of it anyway.

Sometimes an intervention is needed for a real outdoor escape. This spring, we screened hundreds of people, online and in , to find the most severe cases of indoor-bound, overworked employees. Sadly, respondents who claimed to have an unhealthy work-life balance were all too easy to find. But out of the uniquely stressed, we picked the three workers most in need of an unmatched outdoor experience.

The prescription is a . These unique adventure camps—spread across the U.S. in , , , , and —pair backcountry driving challenges and instruction with a curated basecamp experience. Beyond the immersive off-roading behind the wheel of a Bronco SUV, Bronco Off-Roadeos boast incredible opportunities for adventure around every corner. Broncos are provided for everyone who enrolls, and the experience is complimentary for all Bronco owners. Five locations means there’s an Off-Roadeo within 500 miles of the vast majority of Bronco owners—and non-Bronco owners can join the action too, thanks to the Ěý´Ç±čłŮľ±´Ç˛Ô.

With that accessibility in mind, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř collaborated with Ford to send three of the hardest cases of overworked employees to experience a Bronco Off-Roadeo for themselves. To level up the rejuvenating impact, we set up each Off-Roadeo participant with a Ford Bronco ambassador. The goal: provide personalized guidance on stepping up the adventure fun, and to bring balance back into these individuals’ lives. See their stories below.

If you’re feeling burned out too, fill your own prescription for outdoor adventure and near you.

Episode 1: Jamie Holmes
Bronco Off-Roadeo New Hampshire

Supervising an emergency shelter for teenagers in West Virginia, Jamie Holmes struggles to disconnect from her full-time social work, even off the clock. “My husband says that when I’m not talking about work, he can tell I’m thinking about it,” says Holmes, who also works a second job serving at a country club on the weekends. “The closest I get to being outdoors some weeks is serving the outdoor section.”

With Holmes in serious need of outdoor recreation therapy, her Bronco Off-Roadeo trip puts her behind the driver’s seat of an off-road vehicle for the very first time. Challenging? Yes, but that’s the point, as friendly trail guides help Holmes through rocky, forested . After tackling the course’s hair- and wheel-raising obstacles, Holmes teams up with professional mountain biker and Bronco Ambassador to continue her outdoor adventure on two wheels. Collecting her breath after having not ridden a mountain bike for ten years, Holmes confides in Strait how the day will help her restore better work-life balance. “I definitely felt empowered through the experience,” she says.

Episode 2: Giovanni McEastland
Bronco Off-Roadeo Texas 

Giovanni McEastland works long hours—all indoors—as a Los Angeles-based office coordinator for a major animation studio. Being on call at all hours, McEastland admits “it’s not really a work-life balance.” And when he’s not working, McEastland is a single father to a 6-year-old daughter, leaving no time to enjoy the outdoors he remembers as a child, playing outside from dawn to dusk. As “adulting responsibilities” came into play, McEastland says it’s been years since he had time to get outside.

Fortunately, an invitation to provides a much-needed escape. Watch as McEastland tackles steep rock crawls, learns to master technical obstacles, and then lets it rip on the speed course through the hill country west of Austin. The day’s adrenaline isn’t finished when McEastland teams up with professional athlete and Bronco Ambassador, . Known best for his slackline and watersport stunts, Rojas guides the drive to take McEastland standup paddleboarding for the first time. After finding his balance on the board, McEastland discovers a new perspective on achieving greater overall balance in his life.

“If I’m being honest, this is the best day outside ever,” McEastland says. “I needed some time to get away and reconnect.”

Episode 3: James Lawless
Bronco Off-Roadeo Nevada

When James Lawless recently bought a Ford Bronco, he hoped the SUV would help get him off road and into nature more frequently. Turns out that easy escapes haven’t been the case for the career firefighter from Cambridge, Massachusetts. He didn’t realize just how much the demands of 24-hour firehouse shifts would keep him in the city. “Sometimes you get caught up in just working,” says Lawless, “and not taking care of yourself and getting outside.”

Lawless also didn’t realize that owning a Bronco provides free access to the adventure-packed located across the country. So with a trip to , he can scratch a neglected itch to get out and explore. Lawless immediately revels in the outdoor immersion, powering up and over the rugged terrain on the western outskirts of Las Vegas, a mere 20 minutes from the Strip.

“I didn’t know you could have fun going 1 mile per hour,” Lawless laughs, adding that he’d recommend the Off-Roadeo experience to fellow Bronco owners. “You end up getting more comfortable and have more confidence with [the vehicle] and want to do more in it. I had no idea some of those things were possible or how to do them—it’s going to change the way I use my Bronco.”

Back at the basecamp, Lawless connects with Bronco Ambassador , who leads him up his first outdoor rock climbing route. Through the vertical challenge, he gains some hard-won perspective, plus another new realization about time spent away from the worries of work, “when your mind’s really off.” There’s a freeing effect to acting in the present moment, focused solely on rolling over a new obstacle, or climbing up the next section of rock. And it’s one that’s sure to rejuvenate.

“It was a wake-up call of how good it feels to get outside and take advantage of going on these adventures,” Lawless says as the sun rises on a new day. “With that energy you can go back to whatever you have to do with a better mindset—like you got more life going.”

is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. 

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If you want to experience the real wild side of Sin City, venture into the Mojave Desert. Its mix of rugged peaks and desolate valleys invite endless exploration. And , the world’s largest motorcycle rental and tour company, can take you there. This master in everything motorcycle travel is teaming up with Yamaha to outfit an exclusive guided tour designed to showcase the best parts of Las Vegas—that is, the natural splendor of the stunning deserts that lie beyond the always-on city.

Happening October 27–29, this will provide both first-time and experienced riders with an unparalleled taste of freedom, along with the comforts of relaxing hotel nights on the edge of Death Valley National Park.

“We’ve crafted this EAGLERIDER EXCLUSIVE to deliver an adrenaline-pumping tour experience that reveals the untamed beauty surrounding Las Vegas,” says EAGLERIDER CEO Sebastian Schoepe.

Along the way, participants will encounter the Mojave’s wildlife, feel the openness of desert riding, bond with fellow adventurers, and learn new techniques from expert guides. A blend of excitement and beginner accessibility, this multiday experience invites riders on a unique opportunity to detour the Strip on Yamaha’s cutting-edge adventure (ADV) bikes and utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). If you’ve never ridden a Yamaha before, you’re in for a treat; its fleet of 2024 bikes and side-by-sides is designed for comfort, safety, and performance to offer unparalleled full-throttle fun.

“Riders will experience the perfect mix of on-road touring and off-road thrills,” Schoepe says, “while exploring the Mojave on Yamaha’s latest rally raid–style adventure bike, the . On day three, they’ll have the chance to cross the desert in state-of-the-art Yamaha UTVs, an unforgettable ride to check off the bucket list.”

This carefully curated itinerary is the ultimate complement to a Vegas getaway (or an excuse to start planning one). During the tour, riders will cover up to 500 miles of diverse terrain, including approximately 100 miles of exhilarating dirt trails. Here’s a teaser of what you can expect each day:

Day 1

• Venture into the heart of the Mojave Desert.
• Visit , a geothermal cave system, and the Area 51 Alien Center.
• Unwind at the Ranch at Death Valley.

Day 2

• Ride through the colorful hills of .
• Take in the extraordinary overlook of Badwater Basin from .
• End the day in the charming town of Pahrump, Nevada.

Day 3

• Cap off your Mojave expedition with an adrenaline-fueled UTV tour.
• Check out the historic .
• Visit to the renowned Seven Magic Mountains art installation.
• Take a keepsake photo at the iconic Las Vegas welcome sign.

If you want to join this grand on- and off-road tour, reserve your spot now. Space is limited to 15 participants, and it’s priced to fill. This exclusive guided tour starts from $1,676 and will leave you with memories and skills that last a lifetime. (Price is per person, with motorcycle rental and hotel stay included.)

There are other opportunities to experience the outdoorsy side of Vegas with EAGLERIDER. You can book an exciting off-road side-by-side experience into the wilds of the Mojave Desert year-round. This is the perfect way to fill your adventure void if you can’t make the three-day Yamaha tour or if you don’t have a motorcycle license yet.

is the world’s largest motorsport experience company, offering a diverse range of motorcycle and off-road adventure rentals and tours from over 200 locations across six continents. Since its founding in 1992, EAGLERIDER has provided exceptional, high-quality adventure experiences for enthusiasts worldwide.

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Three months and seven thousand miles. Mountains, deserts, and beaches. Plenty of nights in camp, paired with hotels and rental houses in far-flung destinations. This is the kind of overlanding trip that justifies building a custom 4×4—one that my wife and I spent years planning.

What went right? What went wrong? What would we do differently? I’ve had a few months to reflect and try to condense everything I learned into something that should be useful for most people planning any adventurous road trip.

I Encountered Most Hazards On-Road

The thing about off-road obstacles and mishaps is that they’re relatively easy to plan for. You’re driving slower, you’re unlikely to see traffic, and all your equipment is purpose-built to handle stuff like big rocks or deep sand. Plus, you tend to be paying attention when things get interesting.

Compare that to driving on a mundane highway here in the United States. At 70 or 80 miles per hour, you’re traveling well beyond your vehicle’s ability to save your life in any sort of crash (survival at highway speeds relies on before you hit anything).

And potential hazards can appear without notice, their risk amplified if you’re not at attention. That danger increases again with any overlanding-oriented modifications like big tires, lifted suspension, or just loading down your vehicle with lots of weight—all of which make it more difficult to slow down your vehicle.

In all those thousands of miles, I didn’t once find anything off-road that worried me. But driving at night in heavy rain and high winds? That was scary. At one point, we encountered an off-camber blind corner on a mountain road that had recently had its guard rail wiped out by an 18-wheeler plowing through it, adding to the pile of wrecks hundreds of feet below the edge. A few years ago, driving back north through Ensenada, a couch flew out of a pickup bed just in front of me, necessitating an emergency avoidance maneuver worthy of a Michael Bay movie.

These incidents provide a good reminder that, while it’s easy to chase overlanding capability by adding modifications and extra gear to your rig, you must prioritize safe handling and short braking distances. Keeping your truck’s center of gravity low, staying within in its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR, found on a sticker in every vehicle’s driver side door jamb), and ensuring stuff you carry can’t shift isn’t just the way to minimize danger, but it’ll also keep fuel ranges reasonable and make driving more enjoyable.

Tire Technology Is Always Improving

I commonly encounter friends and colleagues who found a tire they liked a decade or more ago, and continue to use only that tire out of habit—or superstition. Problem is, they’re likely costing themselves money at the fuel pump, performance off-road, and even safety on-road.

Given the overlanding-leaning nature of this trip, I set out in advance to replace my usual all-terrain tires with something a little more capable on sand and rocks. The easy way to think about tire performance is as a simple ratio. All-terrains represent a 60:40 compromised between pavement and dirt.

The next upgrade towards overlanding performance from there has always been a mud-terrain, which typically stand around 20:80 or 30:70 road-to-off-road. You can hear that difference from the MT’s big lugs catching air and generating tons of noise, and feel it as they easily lose grip in any sort of precipitation.

Enter the rugged-terrain tire, a new category that’s attempting to bridge that gap between AT and MT with performance that’s closer to 40:60 on-road to off-road. Something that’s still safe in inclement weather, but which should feel significantly more sure-footed on loose surfaces. For this trip, I ran a set of the new , in the same size and weight capacity as my old ATs. They proved to be stable during the two atmospheric rivers we drove though on the way down, and I can detect no noticeable difference in noise levels or fuel economy from the all-terrain tire.

Importantly, they provided vastly more flotation on deep sand, and grip on loose rocks. They were good enough across everything we encountered during the trip that I feel comfortable recommending them to most adventurous drivers. Rugged-terrain tires are an all-round option for any condition other than winter.

Even if those aren’t right for you, it’s worth taking the time to research the latest models from the major tire brands any time you’re shopping for a new set. Tires are a competitive market, and innovations like rubber compounds and manufacturing techniques are always boosting traction, and reducing weight. You’ll benefit from both factors every time you drive. The newest tires are almost always the best tires.

My Tips for Overland Gear Organization

Between spare parts and tools for the truck, food and medical supplies for our three dogs, human food, camping gear and fishing equipment, plus clothes for conditions ranging from Montana in February to fancy restaurants in Mexico, and the Starlink satellite Internet and the electrical system needed to power it, we took along an unbelievable amount of crap. And it all had to fit in a Ford Ranger, along with two humans and 300 pounds of dog.

But the hard part wasn’t jamming all that into the truck, it was fitting it all in such a manner that it remained accessible without unpacking absolutely everything. My solution involves a , which doubles secure storage space in the bed and gives me a place to attach accessories like a 270 awning and solar panels, a Goose Gear seat delete system that adds both room for the dogs in what used to be the rear seat area plus storage for small essentials, Decked’s new mega-drawer system in the truck bed, and a swingout rear tire carrier that also adds a place for bulky items like my five-pound propane tank and 15-pound compressed CO2 canister.

That’s a lot of effort and cost right there, but the end result is an easy, intuitive ability to access all our stuff.

One afternoon, I pulled out onto a beach to take one of Virginia’s three moms snorkeling, and encountered much deeper, softer sand than I was anticipating. She’d never really been overlanding before, and despite my reassurances immediately feared the worst—getting totally stranded in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. Thankfully, I was able to access my air down tool and Maxtrax without even opening the truck up, and use them to get us back onto firm ground in just a minute or two. That, plus a Pacifico, had her feeling better about her daughter’s decisions soon after.

How to Maintain Your Rig

When we left for the trip, my truck only had 19,000 miles on it. Still, I took the time to fit those new tires (and get the alignment checked when they went on), do an oil change, fit a new air filter, check and top up all the other fluids, replace all four headlamp bulbs, fit new wiper blades, and grease anything with a nipple.

Necessary? Probably not. Worth it? The only things that went wrong on the trip (truck wise) were a broken sway bar end link and one of my aftermarket fog lights loosened on its mount, pivoting out of alignment. I fixed both, easily.

Compare that to the cost of having a more significant mechanical issue in some far-flung location. A tow—if you can find one—costs hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands if you’re far off-road. A mechanic or auto parts store in a small town may not have the parts or expertise you need to make your repair. And a mechanical fault in anything related to steering or braking can be seriously dangerous. All that is easily avoided with a little time and money up front.

Why Your Tire Pressure Matters

Modern 4x4s have buttons that optimize systems like locking differentials and electronic traction control to optimize traction in different terrain. Some common modes might include highway, sand, mud, rocks or, if you drive a Ford Raptor, even Baja itself. The thing is, none of those modes will really set your vehicle up for those conditions unless you also set your tires to the right air pressure.

On the road, your tires should be inflated to a relatively high pressure. This allows them to support heavy loads at high speeds without overheating. But take those high pressures onto a loose surface, and they’ll struggle to find grip. In those conditions, you need to prioritize the size of your tire’s contact patch with the ground, while amplifying its ability to conform to obstacles. The flexibility this adds to the tire also drastically improves ride quality, and increases puncture resistance. Different pressures will work best in different conditions, and when you return to the road, you need to be able to take your tires back up to those high pressures.

You’ll find recommended road pressures for your original equipment tires on a sticker in any vehicle’s driver’s door jamb. When overlanding, a good rule of thumb is go down to 25 PSI if you’re using economy tires. Running an all-terrain or greater means you can go much lower.

But, you probably see the problem here: Adjusting tire pressures can be time consuming, especially if you’re running oversize rubber. And this is why I’ve put a lot of time and effort into optimizing my setup for speed. That big CO2 tank isn’t just the fastest inflation method out there, but I’ve mounted it outside my truck where nothing gets in the way of using it.

But, that is so fast that my tires aren’t actually able to take full advantage of its pressurized gas. That’s because the valve cores can only flow so much air at once. I get around that restriction by employing that flows the air into two tires at once. As a bonus, that also automatically balances pressures across axles, which can deliver significant benefits to handling when running those big tires, and it doubles as an air-down tool, again reducing the time that chore takes since it dumps air from two tires at once.

All that speed transforms what would otherwise be a time consuming hassle into a task that doesn’t take all that much longer than pushing one of those buttons. Which means not only that I’m able to take advantage of correct tire pressures more often, but in so doing, am also achieving much more effective “modes,” than any button will ever give you by itself.

Overlanding Capability Creates Better Campsites

On our way back north, we were looking at people in Sprinters and similar camping in terrible, exposed locations, and shaking our heads in disbelief at everything they were missing. Vans, crossovers, and other vehicles designed with only pavement in mind just weren’t able to get far enough off the highway to really take advantage of Mexico’s hard-to-reach places. And, in failing to get very far, those campers were also visibly scared of crime, buttoning themselves up inside their metal cocoons as dusk fell in order to give themselves an illusion of safety.

Us? We never once camped even in view of another vehicle, and were able to visit places far beyond the ability of anyone not as well-equipped to reach us. That didn’t just create safety, it also gave us the kind of experiences that are worth driving thousands of miles to find.

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