Jeepin' the dream.

[DanW]

Good morning,

I've got my next leg of the trip planned out. I updated the OP with the dates and locations.

My girl and I will be flying out to Denver next Wednesday and then driving to Grand Junction, CO to get the JL out of storage. On the morning of the 27 we'll head out to Moab. The plan is to hit up as many trails as we can for 2 days, hit up the 4 corners monument, head to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and then end up in Vegas where I'll store the JL again.

I'll upload a ton of pics, of course. If any of you are going to be around Moab during July 28-29, hit me up. I'd love to wheel with some JL Forum members.

Thank you!

I look forward to seeing your scouting reports on the trails! We're trying to decide which trails we do when we go in October. I hope you have just an awesome trip!

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[chevymitchell]

Good afternoon everyone.

Well, another leg of my trip has been completed. We flew into Denver and took a rental car out to Grand Junction, CO where the JL was being stored. After about 40 days or so, the JL started right up; no issues at all.

We then headed towards Moab hitting up the Top of the World trail on the way there. This trail was very easy with its moments of easy-medium sections. The view from the top is worth the trip to Moab alone. We stopped at the top and had lunch. We only saw one other rig on the trail and it was a lifted Renegade out of all things. Afterwards, we headed to the hotel in Moab.

The next day we completed Hell's Revenge and Fins and Things. Both trails are amazing and perfect for touching up on the technical skills. My JL is still 100% stock and it didn't have an issue at all completeing these trails. I attempted every obstacle except the hot tubs. I was so excited to do Hell's Gate. Picking the right line is crucial here and I did my research.

My JL has about 5500 completely trouble free miles on it now. I am quickly tearing these KO2's up. There's a picture below showing the wear on them so far. There was quite a few 4wd burnouts required to climb some of the inclines and rushing through the sandy, rocky sections as fast I could go didn't help. I'm sure I'll need new tires by the time I reach Spokane, WA in October.

Please enjoy all of these pictures and ask questions if you have them. I love sharing my experience and adventures. Such a great thing to get others excited about; Jeepin' is. They are also in a random order.

Here are a few links to videos:
Hell's Gate entrance - https://www.dropbox.com/s/gk1ofm1o0wfn2l5/IMG_6224.MOV?dl=0
Hell's Gate Climb #1 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/3eo49j5dykay7ta/IMG_2126.MOV?dl=0
Hell's Gate Climb #2 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/sgfeenbe1qum2pm/IMG_6227.MOV?dl=0
Tip Over Challenge (Video isn't very good. I was climbing as she was climbing. Still a success though) - https://www.dropbox.com/s/lkq8gghphzq9a5t/IMG_6247.MOV?dl=0

 

[Snowjeep]

Love your travel log, it's been fun looking through at all of the great places you've been so far. I have a question regarding the video you linked. I'm a total noob when it comes to real offroading but did you do front and rear lockers on that ascent or did you just do rear? And are you just in 1st gear going up?

 

[chevymitchell]

Love your travel log, it's been fun looking through at all of the great places you've been so far. I have a question regarding the video you linked. I'm a total noob when it comes to real offroading but did you do front and rear lockers on that ascent or did you just do rear? And are you just in 1st gear going up?

Thanks @Snowjeep. I enjoy sharing stuff like this. Nothing wrong with being a noob. We all started somewhere. On the Hell's Gate climb I used both front and rear. My JL is a 6-speed, but even with an automatic, you'd want to manually shift into 1st. This allows the slowest crawling speed possible with the XFR Case locked in 4-Lo. Lots of control at this speed, as well as, having the ability to give a lot of throttle without a lot of speed. Works great for bumping your jeep over small ledges or off-camber angles.

On the descent, I had my rear locker only and my feet weren't touching any of the pedals. The XFR Case and engine do all the work for you, so you can literally just ride along. With the front locker unlocked, I was ensured to have as much steering control as possible. Of course, the front sway should be disconnected through all of this, as well.

Hopefully that answered your question.

 

[Snowjeep]

Thanks @Snowjeep. I enjoy sharing stuff like this. Nothing wrong with being a noob. We all started somewhere. On the Hell's Gate climb I used both front and rear. My JL is a 6-speed, but even with an automatic, you'd want to manually shift into 1st. This allows the slowest crawling speed possible with the XFR Case locked in 4-Lo. Lots of control at this speed, as well as, having the ability to give a lot of throttle without a lot of speed. Works great for bumping your jeep over small ledges or off-camber angles.

On the descent, I had my rear locker only and my feet weren't touching any of the pedals. The XFR Case and engine do all the work for you, so you can literally just ride along. With the front locker unlocked, I was ensured to have as much steering control as possible. Of course, the front sway should be disconnected through all of this, as well.

Hopefully that answered your question.

Thanks for the response. Great pictures by the way.

 

[chevymitchell]

Thanks for the response. Great pictures by the way.

Thanks man. Big fan of the XJ. I'm currently in the process of rebuilding a 4.0L for my buddy Angel. His had the head casting that was prone to warping and sure enough, blown head gasket, and cracked header. Easy fixes, but takes time.

I'll be heading to do several trails through California, including the Rubicon, at the end of the month. Should be a good time.

 

[Speedy3]

Thanks for the awesome pics..looks like a great trip!!

Matt

Good afternoon everyone.

Well, another leg of my trip has been completed. We flew into Denver and took a rental car out to Grand Junction, CO where the JL was being stored. After about 40 days or so, the JL started right up; no issues at all.

We then headed towards Moab hitting up the Top of the World trail on the way there. This trail was very easy with its moments of easy-medium sections. The view from the top is worth the trip to Moab alone. We stopped at the top and had lunch. We only saw one other rig on the trail and it was a lifted Renegade out of all things. Afterwards, we headed to the hotel in Moab.

The next day we completed Hell's Revenge and Fins and Things. Both trails are amazing and perfect for touching up on the technical skills. My JL is still 100% stock and it didn't have an issue at all completeing these trails. I attempted every obstacle except the hot tubs. I was so excited to do Hell's Gate. Picking the right line is crucial here and I did my research.

My JL has about 5500 completely trouble free miles on it now. I am quickly tearing these KO2's up. There's a picture below showing the wear on them so far. There was quite a few 4wd burnouts required to climb some of the inclines and rushing through the sandy, rocky sections as fast I could go didn't help. I'm sure I'll need new tires by the time I reach Spokane, WA in October.

Please enjoy all of these pictures and ask questions if you have them. I love sharing my experience and adventures. Such a great thing to get others excited about; Jeepin' is. They are also in a random order.

Here are a few links to videos:
Hell's Gate entrance - https://www.dropbox.com/s/gk1ofm1o0wfn2l5/IMG_6224.MOV?dl=0
Hell's Gate Climb #1 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/3eo49j5dykay7ta/IMG_2126.MOV?dl=0
Hell's Gate Climb #2 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/sgfeenbe1qum2pm/IMG_6227.MOV?dl=0
Tip Over Challenge (Video isn't very good. I was climbing as she was climbing. Still a success though) - https://www.dropbox.com/s/lkq8gghphzq9a5t/IMG_6247.MOV?dl=0

 

[Deezflops]

Thanks for posting. looks great!

Ironically, I live in NC and just drove to Spokane, WA of all places. Stopped in Seattle, Moab, and Ouray as well. We may as well have carpooled! I think I was in Moab about 2 days after you, too bad.

 

[chevymitchell]

Thanks for posting. looks great!

Ironically, I live in NC and just drove to Spokane, WA of all places. Stopped in Seattle, Moab, and Ouray as well. We may as well have carpooled! I think I was in Moab about 2 days after you, too bad.

Damn, man... that's a missed opportunity and yes, quite ironical. My Jeep is still in Vegas as of right now, but it'll be back home in October and then we can start planning MOAB 2019. Lol.

 

[DanW]

Wow, amazing photos! We're narrowing down the trails for our trip to Moab in October, and Hell's Revenge and Finns N Things are locked in. Top of the World may now be in play! How long did Top of the World take to complete?

Also, man, those KO2's have been through it! They may be rough, but it doesn't appear you've suffered a failure or bad cut, so they've got that going for them! I took KM2's to Moab a few years ago in my JK and they really surprised me with how well they held up. The KM2 has easily taken more abuse than any tire I've run to date. I finally wore them out and put my JL's 285 KO2's on it when I put 315 KO2's on the JL. I may move to KM3's when the KO2's wear out. Then again, I may not put the hard off-road miles on them as quickly as you.

Thanks for documenting your trip like this. We're loving it!

 

[chevymitchell]

Wow, amazing photos! We're narrowing down the trails for our trip to Moab in October, and Hell's Revenge and Finns N Things are locked in. Top of the World may now be in play! How long did Top of the World take to complete?

Also, man, those KO2's have been through it! They may be rough, but it doesn't appear you've suffered a failure or bad cut, so they've got that going for them! I took KM2's to Moab a few years ago in my JK and they really surprised me with how well they held up. The KM2 has easily taken more abuse than any tire I've run to date. I finally wore them out and put my JL's 285 KO2's on it when I put 315 KO2's on the JL. I may move to KM3's when the KO2's wear out. Then again, I may not put the hard off-road miles on them as quickly as you.

Thanks for documenting your trip like this. We're loving it!

Top of the World is a little boring and it takes about 5 hours to complete, but it's definitely worth doing. It's a very famous trail and it's cool to get a pic on the ledge with your Jeep.

No tire failures yet. There are several deep cuts and some lugs missing, but they're holding up well. I had ordered 35" KM3's from Discount Tire, but when I showed up at the store they had ordered the wrong tires. I was supposed to do MOAB on 35's, but it didn't work out for me. It didn't really matter though because the OEM 33's did very well and I didn't really run into any clearance issues.

 

[chevymitchell]

My Rubicon trip this month is being pushed to September. I've decided to wheel Southern California a little bit first before heading up the PCH.

The itinerary was updated on the OP on page 1.

 

[mgroeger]

Thanks for the pics!!! My wife and I are planning a trip from Apex, NC to Monterrey, CA and back next year. I see your pics and I can't freaking wait!!!!!

 

[chevymitchell]

That's so awesome! You guys are going to have a blast. There's so much to see in our own country. I've been traveling the world since 1999 and I've taken for granted what's right in my own backyard. This was the first reason for owning a Jeep. It's great to be able to just go on a road trip and experience a lot of this. When you do your trip, make a post like mine and document it. I'd love to see your trip laid out in pictures.

 

[mgroeger]

My wife just drove cross country with her daughter and she said the sites were AMAZING. She come home and we hatched our plan. If we didn't own the Jeep (it's hers, birthday gift ) I doubt I would be as stoked as I am.

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