Mount Antero off-road trip - Cybertruck's Achilles heel; weight and throttle tip-in.

[CallsignVega]

Yesterday we ventured to one of the highest off-road trails in North America; to the false summit of the 14'er Mount Antero. This trail is rated a 5/10, but the pucker factor in a HEAVY full-size truck is pretty wild.

The very last part of Mount Antero Pass at just under 14K feet (last four switch-backs) is where we started to run into trouble. Below in the horizon shot you can see how steep (around 25 degrees which is much steeper than most people realize), combined with like this crushed round gravel caused the 15PSI air downed off-road tires to start to slip even with both axles locked. The loose surface combined with the loaded Cybertrucks almost 8K lb weight on a very narrow trail was to say; quite scary. And of course a 2-door old JT Jeep caught up to us.. let's just say reversing on this trail and every time you brake the tires slip a little is not so fun with thousand foot drops...

But the biggest concern was on the way down the shelf road and switch-backs. The Cybertrucks weight made it difficult to not slide on the loose granite/gravel, even going very slowly. The 4-wheel steer was key in these area's but even the rear end was sliding out from under us during some of the switch-backs that were 20 degrees nose down, 15 degrees lean.

I've off-roaded a lot in various vehicles, Rubicon Wranglers/Gladiator, Power Wagon etc. The largest difference besides the weight is what I call the transition from brakes to throttle or throttle "tip in". In an ICE off-roader with a low range transfer case and torque converter, when you are doing something technical you can smoothly transition from being stopped say on an obstacle or loose surface without any "jerkiness". This is a problem in the Cybertruck. When the truck is stopped on steep surfaces and then you want to slowly inch forward, it will quickly release the brakes and "jerk" forward before the torque of the electric motors kicks in to regen/slow the vehicle down. This happens with manual throttle/brake control or using the Trail Assist function. This is VERY disconcerting when you are on the edge of cliffs and rocks are sliding underneath you. Let's just say our pucker factor was so high we didn't even get any video or photos on the way down.

I will be MUCH more weary of steep shelf roads with loose surfaces in the Cybertruck!

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[Jabman]

Impressive! Thanks for the write up!

 

[Zane Edwards]

wow what an adventure.....thanks!

 

[mongo]

The largest difference besides the weight is what I call the transition from brakes to throttle or throttle "tip in". In an ICE off-roader with a low range transfer case and torque converter, when you are doing something technical you can smoothly transition from being stopped say on an obstacle or loose surface without any "jerkiness". This is a problem in the Cybertruck. When the truck is stopped on steep surfaces and then you want to slowly inch forward, it will quickly release the brakes and "jerk" forward before the torque of the electric motors kicks in to regen/slow the vehicle down. This happens with manual throttle/brake control or using the Trail Assist function.

Did you try using both feet and pedals simultaneously? That tends to smooth the power delivery for me.
Can also disable hold mode when off road is enabled.

 

[REM]

so quiet!!

 

[CallsignVega]

Did you try using both feet and pedals simultaneously? That tends to smooth the power delivery for me.
Can also disable hold mode when off road is enabled.

Ya also rolling brake to throttle (I have wide feet). Disabling hold mode at these angles the truck gets carried away pretty fast! Have you done much steep angle/loose surface? Genuinely curious as I'm always open to other peoples experiences.

 

[MCraft99]

I think bigger tires and wider 13.5-15" is needed for 8klbs. I usually disable hold mode to prevent it from locking the brakes up on gravel roads. It takes a minute to get used to pressing harder on the brake when you're used to it automatically braking for you.

 

[CallsignVega]

I think bigger tires and wider 13.5-15" is needed for 8klbs. I usually disable hold mode to prevent it from locking the brakes up on gravel roads. It takes a minute to get used to pressing harder on the brake when you're used to it automatically braking for you.

Ya these 36" Toyo tires are 11.5" wide so they won't rub. I'd imagine 13.5" wide tires would have performed noticeable better but with them poking out I'd hate to see the efficiency drop.

 

[GmP]

I love the views in the pictures, but it also scared the hell out of me. So close to steep edges with such a heavy truck. I enjoy a little off road driving but prefer to do it on ”reasonably wide and flat” trails.

Just for my curiosity: were you just by yourself, one truck? And do you have Starlink? How do you deal if something goes sideways?

 

[CallsignVega]

I love the views in the pictures, but it also scared the hell out of me. So close to steep edges with such a heavy truck. I enjoy a little off road driving but prefer to do it on ”reasonably wide and flat” trails.

Just for my curiosity: were you just by yourself, one truck? And do you have Starlink? How do you deal if something goes sideways?

Ya it definitely gets the pucker factor up when your drop-side tires are only 1-2 feet from the edge. Especially when the hillside tire has to climb over a large rock.

Yes, just one truck. We don't have Starlink but both me and my wife's phones have satellite messaging. I carry a spare wheel/tire in the back plus off-road tire patch kit, off-road recovery gear, beefed up front and rear tie rods plus all the tools to replace with spares if needed. Under body armor plus four lower A-arm skid plates should keep anything from getting tore up.

Biggest worries would be a HV battery failure, drive motor failure etc. But an ICE vehicle can have a motor spin a bearing/blow up, bad fuel/system failure too, and from what I've seen driveline failures are pretty rare on this truck if I'm not mistaken. And an air suspension failure could happen on any vehicle equipped with it. I think I may be able to get out of a sticky situation with a failed air strut bag if I clamp off the line. The biggest thing if you are doing anything difficult is to go slow and not stress components too much. Don't "send it". You probably put more stress on all the driveline components just flooring it from 0-60 on pavement than you do even fairly difficult controlled off-roading.

 

[TickTock]

Ya it definitely gets the pucker factor up when your drop-side tires are only 1-2 feet from the edge. Especially when the hillside tire has to climb over a large rock.
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I wonder if dumb summon works in off-road mode...

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