Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted

[Hans]

Situation :
Car : stock 2020 Wilys 2.0Ltr 4 door
Planned trip : Probably our one and only chance to do this during our 5 year stay in the US, with the Jeep I bought here and which I will take with me to Belgium in a few years.

In Moab we will be 4 full days Around Moab we will ( try to ) do the Shafer trail , Long Canyon Road , the Onion Creek and Thompson Canyon loop, Willow Springs Road and Tusher Tunnel.
In Ouray we will be 4 full days, the day of arrival in Ouray we planned to do the Last Dollar road
In the Ouray area it is planned to do Corkscrew Gulch, Hurrican Pass, Cinnamon Pass, Red Mountain Mining Area, Ophir Pass and maybe Engineer Pass ( starting from Animous Forks , not from the Mineral Creek departure. I'm a bit 'scared' of that part. It looks heavy in the beginning ).

These are all more or less 'easy ones' according to my 'guide books'.

Again, safety above all in these . I don't wanne have troubles with the car whatsoever. I checked out a lot of videos on youtube of jeeps doing these trails, and I believe I can do this too. I drove on roads like this with Military Vehicles in Kosovo , Lebanon, Bosnia and Afghanistan, but that is not with your own car , and with your family in it .

We are exited to go because it will probably our one and only time in our life that we can do it with our own car during our 5 year stay in the US.
So my questions to you as more experts than me are :
-do you guys have any other things that I should consider, need to know, or be aware off ? Apart from the heat, take water with you, take some tools ,....
-when I do this carefully , can my car do it ?

Little side note . I don't have a lift or other tires , because when I take the car to Belgium in a few years it is not allowed , period . I would never ever pass the inspection then for my Belgium license plates. That is why I want to be very careful , but still take the chance to do this 'adventure' .

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[MichaelAnthony]

When are you heading out?

 

[Hans]

Moab : arriving June 28 , departure July 03
Ouray : arriving July 05, departure July 10

 

[rcadden]

I would definitely make sure you have some basic supplies:
1. Jeep Tool Kit with various sockets/etc for doing on-the-trail repairs, spare tire swap, etc
2. First Aid Kit - you can buy these pre-packaged on Amazon for pretty cheap. Seems silly since you're going to be in your Jeep, but you never know and you definitely don't want to get stuck out there without the ability to take care of an injury
3. Fire Extinguisher - same thing, if something happens out in the middle of nowhere, you need to be prepared

Obviously fresh water, healthy/protein-rich snacks (trail mix, energy bars, etc) and that sort of thing.

 

[Hans]

Numbers 1 and 2 : check . Is something we have always with us, on every trip
Number 3 : Correct, the Jeep has no fire extinguisher. In Belgium it comes with the car , it' s the law.
I'll check on Amazon for one and a holder for the car .
Water and food are always part of our standard list of stuff .
In the US we already learned to put a warm sweater , a hat , sunglasses , and an umbrella in the car as standard materials

Thx

 

[tlknasel]

Be carefull, watch for Falling Jeeps!

Falling Off Black Bear Pass - YouTube

 

[Hans]

Be carefull, watch for Falling Jeeps!

Falling Off Black Bear Pass - YouTube

Saw this one in my search for trails on youtube .
This is the reason why Black Bear pass and Imogene Pass are not on the planned list.
And also why I'm not sure of the first few miles of the West side of Engineer Pass ( the part that is called Mineral Creek in my guide book ) . It's rated difficult in that guide .... and when I saw videos , I have my doubts on that part.

 

[SSWIM]

Really should do Imogene. It is not any more difficult than Corkscrew. Use your day at Last Dollar and incorporate it in. Take Dallas Divide to Last Dollar and then into Telluride. Then over Imogene back into Ouray.

Sam

 

[MichaelAnthony]

Moab : arriving June 28 , departure July 03
Ouray : arriving July 05, departure July 10

Yea that cuts me out going to Vermont for the Jeep Jamboree, going into NH before that. Early or later and I would have tagged along for safer wheeling.

 

[Hans]

Really should do Imogene. It is not any more difficult than Corkscrew. Use your day at Last Dollar and incorporate it in. Take Dallas Divide to Last Dollar and then into Telluride. Then over Imogene back into Ouray.

Sam

I'm gonna take my map for this one...... and watch a Imogene video again . I have two 'spare days' in Ouray in our planning .

 

[Hans]

What about the tire pressure ?
Do I need to change every time I change from trail to paved road?
I have a little compressor with me.
And what would be a good pressure on these trails ?
I drive now daily on 38 psi. While driving. Once in a while I check the gauge in the dashboard and sometimes it says 40, but when I check with cold tires it says 38.

Another thing , driving in 4H or 4L ? Driving in 4L would be very slowly and maybe I will get on someone's nerves because maybe they would go faster.
In the last winterstorm I drove in upstate New York in 4H , but kind of slowly due to the huge amout of snow.
And what do you do in the sharp turns , isn't the steering wheel 'knocking back' due to the driving in 4H or 4L . I think you know what i mean by knocking , I don't know the word in English to explain it otherwise.

 

[72Blazer]

Our BBP AND IP trail day. The staircase section on BBP was the only pucker factor for us but it didn’t help it was raining and I was still fidgeting with the descent control and lockers. Slow and low is your best option without rushing through. I vote to run these two trails, the views were phenomenal. I believe i ran about 20 psi on these trails and left it that way when we drove on the highway until we got back to our ABNB. Down in Moab, I ran 10 psi running fins n things and Hell’s Revenge.

 

[Hans]

Our BBP AND IP trail day. The staircase section on BBP was the only pucker factor for us but it didn’t help it was raining and I was still fidgeting with the descent control and lockers. Slow and low is your best option without rushing through. I vote to run these two trails, the views were phenomenal. I believe i ran about 20 psi on these trails and left it that way when we drove on the highway until we got back to our ABNB. Down in Moab, I ran 10 psi running fins n things and Hell’s Revenge.

That is a nice video ! But all those Jeeps have lifts and bigger tires . I don't . And I'm not sure my stock Willys with me on the wheel can do the same what you guys did. Maybe , I feel better or my confidence is higher after driving offroad with the Willys in Moab . I don't know, I never drove something like this in a private, own car.
The part at 01.45 till 02.30 or so , is the part where my confidence is not that high. And without a lift , I think I'm gonna touch the rocks . And when somebody is behind me there and pushes , I could make a mistake .....

 

[72Blazer]

That is a nice video ! But all those Jeeps have lifts and bigger tires . I don't . And I'm not sure my stock Willys with me on the wheel can do the same what you guys did. Maybe , I feel better or my confidence is higher after driving offroad with the Willys in Moab . I don't know, I never drove something like this in a private, own car.
The part at 01.45 till 02.30 or so , is the part where my confidence is not that high. And without a lift , I think I'm gonna touch the rocks . And when somebody is behind me there and pushes , I could make a mistake .....

The white Jeep in our group had never wheeled prior to this. This was his second trail preceded by Ophir Pass. I think stock we never would have dragged anywhere except Poughkeepsie Gulch. Also I take my family’s safety as priority so if someone is on my ass I kindly move over and if there’s not enough room I kindly get out to exchange words.

 

[mike_b_81]

What about the tire pressure ?
Do I need to change every time I change from trail to paved road?
I have a little compressor with me.
And what would be a good pressure on these trails ?
I drive now daily on 38 psi. While driving. Once in a while I check the gauge in the dashboard and sometimes it says 40, but when I check with cold tires it says 38.

Another thing , driving in 4H or 4L ? Driving in 4L would be very slowly and maybe I will get on someone's nerves because maybe they would go faster.
In the last winterstorm I drove in upstate New York in 4H , but kind of slowly due to the huge amout of snow.
And what do you do in the sharp turns , isn't the steering wheel 'knocking back' due to the driving in 4H or 4L . I think you know what i mean by knocking , I don't know the word in English to explain it otherwise.

If you are staying on gravel/dirt roads you shouldn’t need to air back up, just don’t go highway speeds. I aired down to 15-18psi and it rode fine, I have stock KO2’s on my Rubicon.
As far as 4Hi or 4Lo, if you’re up and down grades, being in 4Lo will make it to where your vehicle isn’t working as hard, and going down grade it’ll help with holding the Jeep back, so you’re not using your brakes as much and overheating them. I ran a few of those trails in Ouray, and I did them in 4Lo. I have a 6MT, so I can down shift, I believe you have similar options in the auto, I’m not familiar with that. You’ll be able to go fast enough in 4Lo on those trails.
On turns, you’ll just have to take it slow and easy, it’ll be harder to turn, but on dirt and rocks it won’t be bad on your vehicle.

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