Popular off-road vehicle modifications are penetrating the front loading market
In the post epidemic era,
Bus travel is particularly tiring!
At this point, outdoor self driving and camping become a reality
The best choice for citizens to travel freely.
More and more families are buying off-road vehicles.
When you truly own a hard SUV,
Many people find themselves having a new hobby——
That's right, that's modification!
Go straight to the topic! Today, Kuaibao will talk to you about the hot projects of off-road vehicle modification and the latest development trends of off-road modification.
01
Tire modification
For off-road vehicles, upgrading tires is undoubtedly the most important retrofit upgrade, as it can most intuitively improve the off-road performance and trafficability of the vehicle, and the cost is relatively low.
General off-road vehicles are only shipped with ordinary road tires. As the name suggests, this type of tire is used in urban shuttles because of its shallow tread pattern, which cannot provide strong traction when off-road.
The most common tire upgrade scheme is AT all-terrain tires, which have a strong application range and applicability, and perform relatively balanced on sand, mud, snow, and roads. Moreover, the control of tire noise and fuel economy is quite good, and there are not too many shortcomings.
Of course, some enthusiasts choose MT mud tires, which have large grain patterns and excellent grip performance, making them more suitable for rock climbing and mud. At the same time, the larger grain patterns also determine that it is not suitable for desert raids. Because a slightly larger throttle can create a large sand pit, making it easier to get stuck in the car.
02
Cushioning upgrade
Due to the overall adjustment of the suspension of the original off-road vehicle, which is still biased towards urban and comfort, the real off-road strength of the vehicle is constrained. Therefore, the modification factory focuses on improving the off-road performance of the vehicle and develops many off-road kits, including customized processing components, improved shock absorbers, bushings, and heavy-duty springs.
Retrofitting and upgrading shock absorbers are common in off-road vehicles. Firstly, when it is behind the raised vehicle, it will increase the ground clearance and reduce the occurrence of floor support. At the same time, the longer suspension travel also reduces the probability of vehicles crossing axles.
Another advantage of upgraded shock absorbers is that they can provide better support for the vehicle body. Especially when encountering continuous potholes or desert driving, the modified suspension is far stronger than the original suspension in terms of suppressing vehicle body bounce, as well as improving stability and durability.
03
Install differential lock
Friends familiar with off-road driving know that differential locks are very important "hard goods". However, due to positioning and cost reasons, many models are only equipped with electronic slip limiting functions in the original factory. Although it can brake the skidding wheels to help the vehicle get out of trouble when encountering cross axles. However, after all, this is a passive sliding restriction, and when climbing large ramps such as the old palm groove, and the system has been heavily involved for a long time, the reliability of the electronic sliding restriction function has drawn a question mark.
Therefore, the installation of front and rear axle differential locks allows for a hard connection between the wheels. Currently, the more common forms are electronically controlled differential locks and air differential locks. The former controls the locking mechanism through the electronic system, with the advantage of fast response, but electronic system failures may occur after wading.
In the later self modification, the use of air differential locks is more common. Its principle is to use an air pump to lift the air to trigger the locking mechanism, thereby enabling hard connection of the axles. There is also a problem with this lock, which is that it is prone to air leakage over time. And when encountering extreme low temperatures, there is a risk of not being able to breathe.
04
Install chassis guard
Upgrading the chassis guard is often a place that people tend to overlook, because upgrading the chassis guard does not beautify the appearance of the vehicle, so many people will ignore it.
However, chassis guards are the foundation for galloping on unpaved roads. The significance of installing chassis guards lies in protecting key components such as the oil pan and differential. If these parts are damaged by impact during off-road driving, the vehicle has largely been caught in a dilemma.
05
Install anti slip ring hub
The anti slip ring wheel hub is a favorite retrofit accessory for off-road enthusiasts. It not only improves safety, but also has an aggressive style. The anti bead hub is mainly used for driving in the desert or sand, and the tire will not bead off when the pressure is low to avoid dangerous situations. At the same time, after raising the vehicle body, replacing the anti slip ring hub and large size tires will also make the entire vehicle look more harmonious.
In addition to the popular projects mentioned above, off-road modifications also involve winches, electric pedals, on-board air compressors, tailgate hinges, and other off-road modifications and accessories.
In recent years, the industry scale of automobile modification market is in a rapid growth stage. In 2021, the scale of China's automobile modification industry was 70.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%. With the introduction of off-road retrofit models by some automobile manufacturers, retrofit accessories that originally belonged to the aftermarket are gradually infiltrating into the forward market, and the demand is growing rapidly.
In an interview, Zhang Song, Chairman of Tianming Technology, which was listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange last month as the "first stock of off-road vehicle modification", said that the off-road modification segment of the track, led by car manufacturers such as Great Wall Motors, has formed a trend of frontloading in the aftermarket. "Compared to foreign countries, although the domestic off-road retrofit market has shown a rapid growth trend, it is still in the blue ocean stage and has great potential for future development."
It is often said in the field of retrofitting that it is better to lose ten pounds than add ten horses. Zhang Song said that in the next step, the company will develop more new products that conform to future development trends such as "intelligence, lightweight, customization, and high-end".
When it comes to lightweight retrofitting of off-road vehicles, the key is to "replace" them. Replace the original vehicle with lightweight components, and replace bulky original components with lightweight high-performance retrofits of various materials, such as carbon fiber, titanium alloy, and so on.
In short, the development of the domestic off-road retrofit market goes far beyond the upgrading of the product itself, but also extends to a wider range of fields, such as high-performance material applications, intelligent system matching, personalized consumption research, and so on. Let's jointly hope that this blue ocean will bring new surprises to the automotive industry.