P500 tipping point

[FlyingPot8oh]

Rolled my FJ-40, landed back on its tires. It had a real roll bar. P500 reminds me of a little FJ.

If I ever rolled my FJ-55 in it's current form, it'd probably crumple into a pile of iron oxide and shattered side glass. I think I actually sit a little lower in the FJ-55 than I do in the P-500. I haven't measured it. Maybe it just feels that way because the seat's worn out.

The old Land Cruisers and the P-500 do have at least one thing in common: If you're driving one, you better not be in a hurry.

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

Son and I tried to push it over, couldn’t even get the wheels off the ground.

Really? I can take the wheels of the ground in my driveway, just push up on the ROPS a bit (on 25" takeoffs from a Yamaha a previous owner had mounted).
Indeed, the first time I took it out, I ended up going down a steep hill with a two to three foot deep washout down one side of the trail. I had to winch downhill to get out of the rut. I used that technique to keep it falling one way, pushing on the rops with my shoulder, then I had to hang way out the side, standing, after the front wheels cleared the edge and the weight shifted. Had to steer, run the winch remote, ride the brake to keep it from running away, all while leaning out and hanging on for dear life. At certain points, either of the rear wheels were easily two feet from the ground as they hovered over the washout.
Not an experience I wish to repeat, but at least I didn't roll it down the hill or crash into the trees!

 

[Splorin]

And a 13 gallon tank x 13mpg equals a lot of leg stretching on a cross country trip in the FJ-40....

 

[JCart]

Really? I can take the wheels of the ground in my driveway, just push up on the ROPS a bit (on 25" takeoffs from a Yamaha a previous owner had mounted).

Guess we’re weaklings...😂🤣, machine just slide downhill, when we tried to tip it up on two wheels at the time I had parked it on a pucker side hill too.

One of my concerns is backing up on sidehill to turn around, driver side lower and on the high side rear wheel running it up on a rock hidden in tall grass...
Been fortunate in not flopping yet.

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

And a 13 gallon tank x 13mpg equals a lot of leg stretching on a cross country trip in the FJ-40....

13mpg? Are you running a 2f? That seems... not so great.
But... we're kinda getting a bit of topic, aren't we? I'd love to talk old Toyotas... maybe I should get back onto IH8Mud.com, there was a big TLC communitiy there once upon a time. I haven't looked for a while.

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

One of my concerns is backing up on sidehill to turn around, driver side lower and on the high side rear wheel running it up on a rock hidden in tall grass...
Been fortunate in not flopping yet.

Backing and turning up a side-hill is never fun, even with larger vehicles. I suppose I was spared that anxiety when I first started with early three-wheelers, which didn't have reverse... well, mine didn't, neither did my dad's. It wasn't such a big deal, they were light enough to man-handle.

 

[PJ1]

Words of experience here. If you're gonna lay on your side do not do what I did.
I'm a two wheel guy so when I started laying over I stuck my foot out on instinct.
Well it shot right thru the passenger door and my ankle was pinned between with the weight of the machine on it. My phone flew out of reach. I spent about 5 hours there until my wife came home and started looking for me. Lol that was my first day with the p500.

 

[rickoshea]

Words of experience here. If you're gonna lay on your side do not do what I did.
I'm a two wheel guy so when I started laying over I stuck my foot out on instinct.
Well it shot right thru the passenger door and my ankle was pinned between with the weight of the machine on it. My phone flew out of reach. I spent about 5 hours there until my wife came home and started looking for me. Lol that was my first day with the p500.

that right there is why i still have my nets on.when i flopped over,luckily,it was on the passenger side,but i had a hell of a time undoing my belt because of my bucket seats.i was locked firmly into the seat.

 

[Smitty335]

that right there is why i still have my nets on.when i flopped over,luckily,it was on the passenger side,but i had a hell of a time undoing my belt because of my bucket seats.i was locked firmly into the seat.

I flopped my badly on the passenger side at a very low speed, no injury from the flop, but when I released the seat belt and slammed into the passenger door was another story! @Ragnar406 and @GlockMeister and several others got me up righted, it was a mess!

 

[rickoshea]

I flopped my badly on the passenger side at a very low speed, no injury from the flop, but when I released the seat belt and slammed into the passenger door was another story! @Ragnar406 and @GlockMeister and several others got me up righted, it was a mess!

pretty much how i dismounted.slamming into the passenger door, all shoulder and hip.. 😅

 

[bigshoe]

I really don't see the point of a meter. if u feel the need to look at the meter its probably to late. but I guess it would make for a good story " next thing I know the bubble is way off the scale" lol

 

[PJ1]

I flopped my badly on the passenger side at a very low speed, no injury from the flop, but when I released the seat belt and slammed into the passenger door was another story! @Ragnar406 and @GlockMeister and several others got me up righted, it was a mess!

I was shamefully not belted or helmeted but was in first gear crawling when hidden boulder under new growth bit me. Should have been no problem if I kept my parts inside. If I had my belt on I wouldn't have got my ankle between the frame and passenger door.

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

that right there is why i still have my nets on.when i flopped over,luckily,it was on the passenger side,but i had a hell of a time undoing my belt because of my bucket seats.i was locked firmly into the seat.

Keeping the nets, IMO, is a very good idea. Even if you don't intend to stick a limb out, the violence of a roll-over may not give you a choice.
I wouldn't fit in my P-500 if I installed bucket seats. I'm even considering building a different seat back to give me a couple inches more leg-room.

I often ride with an elderly passenger. I had to admonish him, more than once, to NEVER grab onto the ROPS. That's what the grab-handle is for. I've seen what can happen when fingers grabbing onto the top window frame a full-sized 4x4 during a rollover, and it's not something I care to see again, or try to deal with as a medical emergency with a potentially broken machine, away from help or communication.
[post-script: The guy was able to keep all his fingers, amazingly. Another vehicle was available to get him out relatively quickly. He also smashed up against a tree that had some give, if it were a rock...]

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

I really don't see the point of a meter. if u feel the need to look at the meter its probably to late. but I guess it would make for a good story " next thing I know the bubble is way off the scale" lol

In this case, an instrument isn't something you constantly keep your eyes on. It's a learning tool. For me, I think I'm over-estimating how unstable my SxS feels. I constantly feel like I'm about to tip over but I know that's not the case. Knowing what my tip angle is, and what my current angle is, will help me, I hope, to eventually re-learn my seat-of-the-pants feeling.
This may backfire, of course, when I get back into the old FJ-55, and immediately roll onto the roof.
Far and away, most of my off-road experience (in terms of raw distance, rather than time, that would be on snow) has been with something you ride ON, not IN. That meant stability had a great deal to do with my own body movements. This is largely not possible with a SxS, and even if it's marginally possible, it shouldn't be relied on.

 

[Smitty335]

pretty much how i dismounted.slamming into the passenger door, all shoulder and hip.. 😅

Yep, big buuses

 

[TSJ]

While we are on the topic of tipping. Maybe this has been covered extensively elsewhere, but what should be done before attempting to restart a P500 after flopping on it's side or a rollover? I assume since the power train is pretty much straight from a 4 wheeler it should keep most of the fluids and lubricants where they belong? Any vent lines that need to be purged? Do you need to pull the spark plug and crank over several times before attempting to start? Does it make any difference if the sxs is righted in under 2-3 min or hanging out in a precarious position for 20-30 min or hours before able to be back on all four?

 

[rickoshea]

When I flopped over the first thing I did was to shut it off.then let it sit for a few minutes after setting it back on all 4's.no issue restarting

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

While we are on the topping of flopping. Maybe this has been covered extensively elsewhere, but what should be done before attempting to restart a P500 after flopping on it's side or a rollover? I assume since the power train is pretty much straight from a 4 wheeler it should keep most of the fluids and lubricants where they belong? Any vent lines that need to be purged? Do you need to pull the spark plug and crank over several times before attempting to start? Does it make any difference if the sxs is righted in under 2-3 min or hanging out in a precarious position for 20-30 min before able to be back on all four?

Those are excellent questions.
My ATVs have never spent more than a minute sideways or upside-down (my old Tri-moto 125 was a 2-stroke, just needed to be sure the oil injection tank pickup was right side down). My big motorcycle (BMW R1100GS) has a wet sump, so whenever I had it on its side for more than a couple moments, I let it sit on it's kick-stand or center-stand for a little while. The R-1100 engine sump has a sight glass, so you can actually watch the oil fill back up if it had, say, filled up the left side cylinder. The R-1100 is air/oil cooled, so I didn't have to worry about coolant.

The Pioneer 500 is a bit of an odd duck. It has a "semi-wet sump." This is confusing. It's also water cooled. So long as the coolant tank didn't drain dry while it was upside down, and there was no damage to the cooling system, I don't think tipping or rollover would be much of a problem. Even if the tank was empty it's unlikely you'd run dry and overheat if you turned around and headed home.

Personally, if I were to roll my P-500 today, likely with my a fore mentioned septuagenarian passenger aboard, the very first issue would be to ascertain possible injury. Then right the machine if I could. Then, assess damage. Then, take a breather, and thank my lucky stars. Maybe by then fluids would have had a chance to return to normal, and I'd check them. Obviously before I tried to start the machine.
I know so many would be eager to tip the thing back on its wheels and roar away. I was never of this school of thought. Do it right once. Half-assed and too, er, fassed (alliteration matters!) and you'll find yourself with more time and treasure lost.

Erm... "... the topping of flopping." Was that on purpose, or a happy accident?

 

[FlyingPot8oh]

When I flopped over the first thing I did was to shut it off.then let it sit for a few minutes after setting it back on all 4's.no issue restarting

I took several paragraphs. You did it in two sentences. Good on ya.
Well... Sorta. but this isn't English Composition class.

 

[TSJ]

Erm... "... the topping of flopping." Was that on purpose, or a happy accident?

haha A happy accident. I actually edited it, but not before you got the quote in.