So I went 4 wheelin out at McCain Valley this morning. I went past the OHV staging area, past the campgrounds, and set out down a little trail through BLM land. (The place is riddled with 'em, many of them open to offroad activity, some of them dead-ending into the Manzanita Res.) I took the trail back into Lark Canyon OHV Park and went as far as I possibly could, through some hairy little high angle rocky turns, until I finally had to turn back. What finally beat me was this:
There was an unclimbable rock to my right that forced me to the left of the trail. To the left of the trail was an upward sloping rock and then a berm sloping up at a 35-40 degree angle (the sort of berm you might bank off of on a dirt bike). I tried putting my left front tire up on the rock, but as soon as I did my rear right tire came two and a half feet off the ground and the view out my passenger window became sand and rock. I tried squeezing in below the rock and then heading up the berm with my left front tire (had to avoid that rock to my right) but the same thing happened. I got real nervous looking at sand out my passenger window, and I didn't like the fact that my locked rear diff had that left rear tire spinning in the air at the same rate as a tire that was pressed into deep sand by three thousand pounds of truck. Seems like a great way to snap an axle. So I backed off and turned around. But it's killing me- because I'm sure a good enough driver could have gotten through that spot.
So all "get a solid front axle" comments aside, what do you do when you just can't articulate well enough to keep all four on the floor?

 

When you cant keep them on the ground, change a tire! lol... But seriously, SAS or get some BJ spacers and some flexy springs.

 

Or man up and just drive through it.

The stock Toyota rear axle is good to over 35's with dual cases, you ain't gonna snap one in the circumstances you describe. Unless the tire is wedged, you're not able to generate enough traction to break a rear axle.

 

Yeah, the only way your rear axle was snapping in that instance is if it had some sort of defect in it. Which is unlikely.

And 3k lbs? Were you carrying a bed full of cement?

Don't worry about it. Those axles will hold just fine.

 

Pinch the seat with your cheeks and keep driving.

 

Sig material!

 

X2.

learning is part of the fun. Keep it up, don't hestitate to get out and plan your line by foot. What do you have done to your suspension?

 

I agree 100%

when in doubt, scout it out.

 

sounds like you were alone. yeah? no? if so i would have turned around also just for safety's sake. if you had company, use a spotter and enjoy the adrenaline rush. thats just my opinion.