My own personal view is that the forum would be most productive - whilst retaining some welcoming familiarity - if arranged like this:

First - the container would ideally be called "4 (Or More) Wheels" - It's not that unusual to find 6 or more wheels on a base vehicle, some people also use specific overlanding trailers; the "4 (Or More) Wheels" title explicitly lets such people know the container is open to them.

1. Trip Reports (Trip reports for ALL 4 wheeled vehicles) - Self explanatory

2. Travelling / On the Road (Driving techniques, recovery, recreation on the road, non-vehicle related gadgets, general hints and tips etc) - An additional 'link' or similar to suitably re-worded forums in the Planning / Trip container on the site would also be useful somewhere here; as outlined by Grant, to cover things relevant to all travellers like shipping / visas / mapping etc

3. Small / Light Overlanding Vehicle Tech (Technical issues, equipment matters, prepping, technical hints and tips etc for 2WD / AWD vehicles where either cooking, eating, recreation or sleeping is (or would be) - with 2 or more occupants - inconvenient or uncomfortable inside of the vehicle) *1

4. Large / Heavy Overlanding Vehicle Tech (Technical issues, equipment matters, prepping, technical hints and tips etc for 2 / AWD vehicles where cooking, eating, recreation and sleeping can (or could) - with 2 or more occupants - all be comfortably and easily accommodated inside of the vehicle) *2

5. 4 Wheels For Sale / Wanted - Self explanatory

*1&2 - As before, I feel there's a very natural divide between vehicle types outlined above and the equipment and systems they run.

I personally don't think any more tech based sub-forums are required. It should be pretty obvious to 99% of travellers from all over the globe which is the appropriate (of the proposed) sub-forum for them.

Any more sub-forums makes it more likely to have unnecessary duplication of relevant-to-everyone information and create too many areas for the impatient reader to search.

I think any division based on simple weight could be problematic as - for example - many Euro based off the peg <3,500kg motorcaravans run much the same basic equipment (heaters / cookers / fridges etc) as 18,000kg goliath trucks. Also, different weight limits have different significance in different countries.

Thread titles themselves will generally make it obvious if a topic is relevant or interesting or a reader.

I don't think it's relevant to split 2 / AWD.

At the end of the day we're all just getting from a to b in vehicles with 4 or more wheels.

I don't see the point/need for an Overland Campers section in its own right. If you doing a camper conversion of a 70 series landcruiser it can go in the light vehicle forum and if your converting a Ural it can go in the heavy section

I do think a 4 Wheel Project forum/sectio would be good where people can document the build of their own vehicle. This is common of most motoring forums.

So you'd document your own build in the Projects section, but ask question/advive in the small/large vehicles sections

Like this?

Expedition campers (How or where to construct the living part)

GRTZ,

Jeroen

I agree with the above that a section dedicated to individuals' projects would be nice. Though not a 'forum' - somewhere to showcase builds / conversions would be a bonus.

Any queries about the showcased projects would, I again agree, best be posed/discussed in the relevant tech forum.

This might take a bit of work though as each user would need exclusive access to a bit of server space and a ton of IT issues might stand in the way.

Steve

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

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).

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.

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.

I guess we can all take that as a given; the trick is to come up with the format that brings in the postings from the 4 wheelers (yeah, OK, 4 or more).
For instance, the cycling bit has been in place for a while and it doesn't get a lot of attention but I have noticed that there is a lot of competition out there for the cycling fraternity.

Try posting more maybe, it might make the 4wheel section more active?

Although the site tag line is "inspiring, informing and connecting traveelers sine 1997" it is very much a bikers site.

I know it was set up by bikers and without them the site wouldn't exist but some of the biker users are overly arrogant and at times downright obnoxious to us 4x4 drivers. I forget which thread it was but recently I had to remind some of the vocal users that people here don't just use bikes and some posters found this amazing :rolleyes:

WRT revising and improving the structure has anyone looked at the set up on the expeditionportal? they have section for 4x4s, bikes and expedition campers. But general travel advice and equipment forums are not specific to any, yet our equipment sections are mostly bike orientated.

I'm a bike rider and I agree
 

See post number 31 in the link; we may be talking about the same phenomena.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ea-why-79558-3

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of folks viewing the 4 wheels section right now as I type, but there hasn't been a posting about LRs for about 2 weeks and there hasn't been a post about LCs since Sept: as you intimate, where has everyone gone?

yep, I've had to wear mittens and lock up my keyboard with that whole thread................

getting back on topic

"Equipment Reviews (93 Viewing)

Post YOUR REVIEWS of ANY Motorcycle, Camping or Travel Equipment and accessories. Tell us what worked and didn't work for you!"

Maybe the descriptions on some general forums sections could be made a little more welcoming to everyone. The example quoted is clearly a very useful thread for everyone to feed back their reviews on kit, but why state "ANY Motorcycle" in the description? It comes across as bike only.

Similarly the Ride Tails at the top then further down we have 4 wheels travel reports - why not just have trip reports to cover everyone???

I've only end'ed up here because of a link. So don't flame me out. I've not got a 4x4, or ever owned one. My question is do you own a motor bike or every owned one? You should see the way I treat my car's. Buy something about a grand, then run it in to the deck over the next three four year's. Bin it then do it again. Four wheel transport is a tool that mean's nothing to me as long as it work's. But a bike, a world apart.


So where am I going? Do you have a bike. It's a hobby form of travel. When saying that, not one hat fit's all head's. So there are going to be some that fall out of that statement. With a bike you are looking to travel. Eith with-in the UK, or out side it. So this place is a God send for people like me who is looking for information. May be that's why there is more in the way of bike orientated question. I don't think there is a solution to your question. As it's to do with number's. The 4x4 section reflects the amount of people who use that mode of transport, over two wheel traveller's.
John933

VVV

I would think thats quite a difficult statistic to accept ? what do you base your statement on ? :confused1: