Picking a truck for endgame offroad

Shortlist of vehicles that are well suited for endgame, updated as of Season 11.

I. Foreword

Refer to Leandro’s Complete truck guide for an overview of all vehicles. This opinion piece was meant to answer a simple question: which trucks you should be looking out for to get the best performance on difficult trails (as of Season 11).

Base game maps can be completed with pretty much any vehicle. Moreover, if you’re having fun driving a certain truck – great, doesn’t matter if it’s effective, fun is what we’re here for.

However, I bumped into Amur very early and hit a brick wall: most trucks performed very poorly.

Here are a few hard-learned lessons:

1. Compact cranes are very useful. Self-explaining for hardmode, yet even on normal it (a) allows to recover from a mistake instead of sending a potentially very time-consuming rescue operation and (b) allows you to use the same truck in different types of missions without going back to the garage, simplifying logistics.

As a workaround, Loadstar can be winched to your trailer as a “compact” crane.

2. Tire size matters A LOT. All things equal, every extra inch makes the truck progressively better in hard terrain. There’s a world of difference between pushing your bumper through snow and gracefully carrying it over, especially with sticks and stones littering said snow, not to mention the extra grip/stability/approach and departure angles from larger tires.

3. Always-on diff lock saves time and, surprisingly, fuel. While everything struggles on hard terrain, trucks with perma-locks traverse light to moderate off-road faster, which also helps preserve fuel by cutting time and engine strain.

Fine-tune transmissions are highly recommended for trucks with switchable diff locks, as you can emulate “always on” mode at least occasionally with low ++ gear.

That said, the list below aims to highlight trucks that remain useful in harsh environments.

As a note, it ignores support vehicles, as you’ll generally drive them on “highways” before parking on some crossing, so pretty much any truck with terrain-fitting tires and a combination of fuel/service modules and trailers depending on map needs will do. Crocodile and Ford F750 can also be used for it, as they’re smaller, faster and easier to drive on-road.

In the list below “fuel endurance” refers to the distance the truck can be expected to cover without refueling. For instance, Kolobs have scary consumption figures per minute, yet they are rarely slowed down by terrain, so the distance you can expect to cover is still respectable. Roof racks are also taken into account where applicable.

II. Sideboard + sideboard + crane trucks

Feel free to use flatbeds if you’re confident and/or need a bit more power.

5. Voron D-53233
Starter truck
Tires: 6x50`
Difflock: always on
Stability: moderate
Fuel endurance: poor
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from day 1
Upgrades: Taymyr

Vorons are good non-heavies in general; this version has slightly less power and an unchangeable off-road transmission, yet can comfortably mount the much desired ssc combo.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + crane, low saddle + crane, high saddle + crane.


4. Tayga 6455B
Best 6-wheeler out there
Tires: 6x50`, balloon mudtires
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: moderate
Acquisition: Season 6 DLC, acquired for free in Maine after quite a few contracts
Upgrades: Taymyr, Maine

Longer wheelbase than the standard Tayga, allowing for ssc loadout and even better stability, although in rare situations it can get bottomed out, and wheels got smaller. The only real downside is acquisition difficulty: you will have access to better heavies by the time you unlock this one. Nevertheless, it’s still useful in endgame for more speed on relatively simple trails.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + crane, low saddle + crane, high saddle + crane.


3. Derry Special 15C-177
Generalist, firefighter
Tires: 8x55`
Difflock: switchable
Stability: moderate
Fuel endurance: good
Acquisition: Season 9 DLC, early contract reward in Ontario
Upgrades: Ontario

Big tires, big rear-mounted engine with crazy torque, and a moderate roof rack. Comfortable with rocky terrain and steep hills.

To be fair, choice between top 3 in this section will probably come down to personal taste. For me Derry gets the lowest rating despite great tires, as it has neither the speed and frame options of Azov, nor the sheer durability and utility of Tatra; besides, it drinks too much fuel and is a bit too easy to roll over if not careful.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + crane, high saddle + crane, unique water tank.


2. Azov 73210
Fast workhorse, heavy crane
Tires: 10x50`, countersteer
Difflock: always on
Stability: superb
Fuel endurance: good
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from level 20
Upgrades: Taymyr, Amur for suspension (must have)

It’s reasonably fuel-efficient and fast for a heavy, with always on lock, good grip from the sheer number of tires and great turning radius further increasing your effective speed. Has a lot of frame options, including 3-slot beds (won’t fit with crane, though). Also pretty great as a heavy crane thanks to its stability. My default truck for non-masochistic routes.

HOWEVER! The truck has a low-hanging nose, making vertical off-roading problematic. Active suspension (raised on the screenshot) helps a lot, but does not alleviate the issue, and the upgrade is a pain to get.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + crane, low saddle + crane, long log + log crane, 3-slot-sideboard+sideboard, heavy maintenance, heavy crane.


1. Tatra FORCE T815-7
Sturdy workhorse
Tires: 8x50`, individual suspension
Difflock: switchable
Stability: superb
Fuel endurance: superb
Acquisition: Season 5 DLC, acquired for free in Rostov
Upgrades: Taymyr, Rostov

Has roof rack, low fuel consumption not affected by AWD, great suspension, rarely takes any damage – and comes with a unique powerful compact crane. It ain’t fast, though, despite having enough power; fine-tune gearbox is highly recommended. Frame options are also somewhat limited.

Watch out for crane anchors sticking out when driving through trees.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + stronger crane, high saddle + stronger crane.

Why no Bandit? Well, while perfect on paper, Bandit has stupidly vulnerable suspension that blows up every time you sneeze while driving. Also it can barely turn with sideboard + sideboard + crane loadout, is surprisingly unstable and has almost no grip until you load a concrete slab onto it.

III. 3-slot-sideboard + sideboard + crane trucks

2. Paystar 5600TS
Heavy 3-slot, long logger
Tires: 10x50`
Difflock: switchable
Stability: moderate
Fuel endurance: poor
Acquisition: Season 3 DLC, acquired for free in Wisconsin
Upgrades: Michigan, Wisconsin

There are more pleasant heavies to drive, this thing is long and could use a bit more power and a lot more fuel. However, it can mount a 3-slot frame along with a crane, and doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. Also great as a logger.

Notable loadouts: 3-slot-sideboard + sideboard + crane, low saddle + crane (not recommended), long log + log crane, short log + medium log + log crane, service module + low saddle.


1. Kenworth 963
Ultimate long frame, heavy maintenance
Tires: 6x69`, mudtires only (original 6x71` allterrain are inferior)
Difflock: always on
Stability: moderate
Fuel endurance: superb
Acquisition: Season 10 DLC, acquired for free in Duncan Bay
Upgrades: Duncan Bay

If you wanted a US truck, look no further. Decent roof rack, great tires, and tons of frame options: unique heavy crane, 3-slots, all the logging combos including dual medium with a log crane (only other truck capable of mounting that is Aramatsu, which is horribly underpowered).

As a 6-wheeler with long wheelbase it bottoms out more often, and grip ain't the best on large rocks, but sheer power and tire size generally gets you through.

Notable loadouts: 3-slot-sideboard + sideboard + crane, high saddle + crane (not recommended), long log + log crane, short log + medium log + log crane, medium log + medium log + log crane, heavy maintenance, superheavy crane.

IV. Other notable crane trucks

Tayga 6436
Free starter truck
Tires: 6x51`, balloon mudtires
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: moderate
Acquisition: acquired in Taymyr for free
Upgrades: Taymyr

Great starter truck. Doesn’t excel at anything, yet is pretty good in every aspect – and can be acquired very easily. Still useful late game to speed up easier contracts.

Notable loadouts: low saddle + crane, high saddle + crane.


Azov 5319
Sprinter
Tires: 8x50`
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: poor
Acquisition: purchaseable in Russia from level 14
Upgrades: Taymyr

Compared to the heavy Azov, this thing is slightly inferior in most respects, but faster thanks to being in the off-road class, and has no nose problems. Useful to speed up simpler contracts, just watch the fuel.

Notable loadouts: low saddle + crane, high saddle + crane.

V. Big tire trucks

Overkill for most maps, as they come with downsides utility-wise, yet in harder regions quite a few routes are not feasible without them.

5. Pacific P12
Heavy maintenance, heavy crane
Tires: 6x57`
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: good
Acquisition: purchasable in USA from day 1
Upgrades: Alaska

Cargo-wise can only mount high saddle, plus both power and grip are not the best. However, it is pretty stable, and long enough to mount heavy support modules, making it a great choice as a rescue or crane vehicle.

Do note that Kenworth is a direct upgrade, though.

Notable loadouts: heavy crane, heavy maintenance, large fuel.


4. BOAR 45318
Swap-in ice tug
Tires: 6x58`, no mudtires
Difflock: switchable
Stability: moderate
Fuel endurance: moderate
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from day 1
Upgrades: Taymyr

Really fast. Not that good off-road, and is limited to high saddle or long log, but still useful as a swap-in tractor to drag a heavy trailer over an icy overpass in hard maps before switching back to a truck with mudtires.

Notable loadouts: high saddle.


3. Azov 42-20 Antarctic
Ice breaker
Tires: 6x71`, mudtires only, articulated truck
Difflock: switchable
Stability: moderate once you’ve learnt counter-articulation, otherwise poor, especially with heavy/tall cargo
Fuel endurance: moderate
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from level 26
Upgrades: Taymyr

High centre of mass and lacking frame options make it a very situational vehicle. Can be rather useful for pulling cargo through ice (usually you can and should go around, though) or across very deep mud/snow.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard.


2. Kolob brothers
Heavy trailer tugs
Tires: 8x59`, mudtires only
Difflock: switchable (worse one) or always on (better one)
Stability: superb
Fuel endurance: good
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from day 1 (worse one) or level 22 (better one)
Upgrades: Taymyr, Yukon for active suspension

The ultimate trucks for heavy trailers, especially with suspension upgrade. Very good grip thanks to weight and tire size, fairly comfortable with rocky terrains.

Notable loadouts: high saddle only.


1. ZiKZ 650R
Ultimate truck, heavy scout
Tires: 8x61`, mudtires only
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: superb
Acquisition: Season 4 DLC, acquired for free in Amur
Upgrades: Taymyr

Tatra on steroids. Lacks crane and frame options, yet has an always-on lock and huge tires. Pretty much the best option for getting through the hardest terrain with cargo. By the time you get to it you’ll realize how much you need it.
Be mindful of trailer clipping on the truck’s cargo bed during vertical off-roading.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard.


Why no Twinsteer? Well, tires are great, but it’s tippy as hell, not to mention constant issues with fitting into turns and bottoming out. If you can complete the route on a Twinsteer, you can do it with a superheavy trailer snatched to a Kolob, and that’s double the cargo capacity.

VI. Pay to win

ZiKZ 612H
Tires: 8x61`
Difflock: always on
Stability: good
Fuel endurance: superb
Acquisition: vehicle DLC
Upgrades: seemingly available by default

Honestly, this is cheating, at least if you don't have to worry about fuel costs.

It's a longer wheel base version of the ZiKZ. Frontal attack angle is worse, the truck is somewhat heavier, and can no longer turn on a dime, but it did get a handful of upsides:
- seemingly no unlocks required;
- even more spare parts, fuel and wheels on board;
- very handy rear-mounted compact crane;
- a lot of frame options;
- better gearbox;
- can use all tire types.

Notable loadouts: sideboard + sideboard + rear crane, 3-slot-sideboard + sideboard, low saddle + crane, high saddle + crane, heavy crane, heavy water tank.

VII. Scouts

In harder maps you may want to scout with a big tire truck and/or tug a scout along to the narrow trail that it has to climb, as even the best scout vehicles tend to suck in deep ice/snow/mud.
Fuel and stability are less important for these, as they all have roof racks and autonomous winches.

International Loadstar 1700
Starter scout, ice scout
Tires: 4x41`, no mudtires
Difflock: always on
Acquisition: purchasable from day 1 in US
Upgrades: Michigan, suspension in Alaska

You may want to rush to the suspension upgrade.
Easy to drive small vehicle with lots of power. Can mount a compact crane, doing pickup missions with a scout trailer or getting winched to a Kolob+trailer combo as a compensator for its lack of crane options.


Rezvani Hercules 6x6
Long-haul maintenance
Tires: 6x39`
Difflock: always on
Acquisition: vehicle DLC
Upgrades: Kola Peninsula

Upgraded Apache. Cannot use trailers, and wheels could've been larger, but at least it has proper mudtires and ample power.
Very pleasant to drive around, lots of spare parts and fuel (almost as much as F750 has), very low fuel consumption - and it can perform stunt jumps without damage to suspension.


YAR 87
Ultimate scout
Tires: 6x49`, semi-balloon mudtires
Difflock: always on
Acquisition: purchasable in Russia from level 10
Upgrades: Taymyr

Decent roof rack, second largest scout tires in the game, can use scout trailers. Somewhat large and tippy, if you need a smaller vehicle – unpack the Loadstar and winch it to the destination.


TUZ 420 Tatarin
Mud dweller
Tires: 8x47`, mudtires only
Difflock: always on
Acquisition: acquired for free in Taymyr
Upgrades: Taymyr

Uses cheat-tires with stupidly high mud grip, allowing it to swim in mud and snow with no issues.
Nevertheless, it’s a situational exploration-only vehicle: small roof rack and no trailer options, large turning radius, no snorkel (although the default intake is fairly high), no chain tires.

It can, however, tow much larger trucks through mud and snow if needed.


Burlak 6x6
Get-things-done scout
Tires: 6x69`, unique offroad only (work as chaintires)
Difflock: switchable
Acquisition: Season 11 DLC, found for free in Mountain Ridge
Upgrades: none to worry about

It may look like a better Yar, but it ain't. Burlak is bigger, slower, less stable, has less responsive steering, limited gearbox with switchable lock, as well as engine and winch somewhat weak for its bulk. It does, however, offer monstrous tires and clearance, as well as a lot of utility:
- can choose (!) between scout and normal trailer hitches;
- carries more supplies than any scout (and can tow a full-size maintenance trailer);
- can mount a rear compact crane;
- can equip 1-slot sideboard + sideboard + crane.


But we love driving the F750! True, long wheelbase makes it easy to control, and the amount of utility is nice. However, 4*45` with no mudtires won’t get you far on harder maps, not to mention constant bottoming out, and if you have to winch it anyway – better grab the smaller and relatively more powerful Loadstar.

VIII. Afterword

Now go get them tires spinning!

[Sterling ARCHER]

it's like low + but with an extra +

[Timicro]

why would you not just use the offroad gearbox and not have that ungodly time it takes to get into low+? also, what is low ++?

[10brc2014]

I hate the dlcs because you have to pay like $30 to $40.

[Yorm]

Fine-tune gives a broader range on low gear (compare transmissions on first two screens, with off-road on Voron vs fine-tune on Tayga). If you slam it into the highest low gear possible, your max speed still suffers, but not as much, AND you can switch on the diff lock.

If you're on a moderately muddy road, a truck with always-on lock in normal gear and a truck with fine-tune put into low as described will, other things equal, be going at roughly comparable speed.

A truck with a normal transmission will be slower BOTH if in normal gear (as switched off diff lock will cause slippage), and if in low gear with lock on (as normal low gear is, well, lower, so it limits your speed more).


Fine-tune's other advantage for any truck is access to the lowest low gear possible. Sometimes, in really deep mud, it matters - but then you probably should've chosen another path to begin with.

[Tipple]

Fine-tune transmissions are highly recommended for trucks with switchable diff locks, as you can emulate “always on” mode at least occasionally with low ++ gear.
Can you go into more detail on this low++ gear?

[Xador]

Did a fresh start after transition from epic yesterday and going right to the Loadstar 1700 for allmost all scouting. I think that one will fit me most until I've unlocked the most upgrades. Still need to find the Suspension on Alaska and maybe get a bigger engine

[Green Potatoe]

BTR is OP. I dragged a truck hooked up to the construction rig through Don. It's definitely more than just a scout for me.

[Yumemirareru]

Fair evaluation. For towing I was thinking more of vehicle recovery missions, or just if say, I made the mistake of taking the Azov 73 through mud too deep for it. I don't think it's quite so limited as a scout - yes, narrow passages are there in places, but other "super scouts" can't go through them either and there's plenty of watchtowers and upgrades to be had besides, and the fuel carrier gives plenty of endurance. But besides handling any depth of mud/snow/ice I've thrown at it, since the front can tilt/articulate separately from the back, it resists getting highsided better than even the Zikz.

As far as real world connotations go, I'm only considering in game utility. I like capable vehicles and always on diff lock/awd along with good endurance and low centers of gravity... means I spend the vast majority of my time in RU vehicles.

Anyways, irregardless, thanks again for the guide. I do like seeing other perspectives and having reasons to look at more trucks.

[Yorm]

I'm torn on CAT 745C. While definitely capable, it can't really do anything by itself and burns truckloads of fuel (pun intended).

Towing? Sure, as long as the cargo is loaded onto some other truck (and there's no water/ice). I'd rather take a cargo truck that can pull itself.

Scouting? Only initial rough survey (which a lot of people will use maprunner website for anyway), whenever you reach a narrow passage or ice/water it's no longer useful.

Logging? As a self-driven 2nd trailer winched to your logger - maybe, but that's not fuel-efficient, and the resulting truck-train is hard to manoeuvre through advanced trails.

It's definitely fun and a very helpful starter vehicle on normal, but late-game the only edge it seems to have over, say, ZiKZ, is not being tied to real-world events in a negative way.

[Yumemirareru]

Thanks for the guide. I feel like the CAT 745C is worth a mention as a "super scout"/tow/fuel vehicle. Its huge wheels make it about the only truck that competes with the Zikz/Kolob for grip, beating out even the Tayga 6455B handily. Its module options are of course very limited, but I've still gotten plenty of mileage out of it on Amur and similar difficulty maps.

Also lastly to the comment below: F750 is a terrible scout. It just gets stuck on everything. It's useful on roads and light off road as a mobile repair station but for actual scouting on difficult terrain... just no. It sucks.