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Moab trip this summer

homebrew

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Going to be taking a trip out to Moab in July, looking for suggested mods to the Jeep. Things to do/not do. I have an 18 Rubicon running a 2.5 lift on 35s, has a winch. Just ordered sliders and diff covers. Gonna end up being like a 3000 mile trip over the course of the month. Goal is to do some decent wheeling and not end up on the back of a flat bed.
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Brian0128

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Going to be taking a trip out to Moab in July, looking for suggested mods to the Jeep. Things to do/not do. I have an 18 Rubicon running a 2.5 lift on 35s, has a winch. Just ordered sliders and diff covers. Gonna end up being like a 3000 mile trip over the course of the month. Goal is to do some decent wheeling and not end up on the back of a flat bed.
Don't forget to get lower control arm skids and if you have an automatic then make sure your transmission lines are protected (skid plate).

Keep it slow and steady, the sandstone offers amazing traction which means that using too much horsepower is more likely to snap axles and blow differentials. Start your tires at 12-14psi. It takes a lot of torque to break traction there so slow is the best first approach. If slow and steady doesn't work, you will need to know the technique called the "Moab Bump" which will be used to get up and over some of the short and steep obstacles after the slow crawl has failed. Crawl your front tires up the obstacle and when your back tires are about 2 or 3 feet away, blip your throttle to give some momentum which will carry your back tires over. If you wait to hit the throttle until your back tires are touching you will just spin. If you start to bounce, STOP and try again.

Stay on the trails, there is no excuse to wander off the established routes.
 

guarnibl

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Moab's only a few more days away!

I'm running my JLU up there completely stock (I've got a built JK to run the harder stuff). We'll see how it does. Sticking to the trails with 33+ tires (i.e., 6 and below). I'd prefer to run the vehicle stock and see how it does and then whatever the limitations are go from there. Plan is Hell's Revenge, Fin's n Things, and Poison Spider Mesa.
 

kkuntz01

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Going to be taking a trip out to Moab in July, looking for suggested mods to the Jeep. Things to do/not do. I have an 18 Rubicon running a 2.5 lift on 35s, has a winch. Just ordered sliders and diff covers. Gonna end up being like a 3000 mile trip over the course of the month. Goal is to do some decent wheeling and not end up on the back of a flat bed.
You should be fine as is, however you might want to consider better skid plates or a portable inflator/compressor to air up in case you run any trails that are a good hike from town, otherwise there are a number of places in town to air up for free if needed. Other than that, I’d suggest running your tires at 13-15psi. I’ve run that on my junk and never had an issue with traction. If you’re hesitant to run your tires that low, try a little higher, however if you find yourself needing more throttle input, drop your psi a couple per tire and watch what happens. I mention that as my buddy has tried running 18psi and has had traction issue where I haven’t running a lower psi.

For a little background, I’ve been to Moab three times so far, once in a mostly bone stock JK Rubicon (aftermarket sliders and gas tank skid), once in pretty built up JK Rubicon on 35’s and once in a mildly built JL Rubicon on 37’s.

One thing about Moab though is that it make even an amateur seem like a rock star on the trail. Be smart and don’t get cocky or take unnecessary risk.
 

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homebrew

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yeah we are planning on early morning runs and river/pool in the afternoons.
 

metallicpea

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yeah we are planning on early morning runs and river/pool in the afternoons.
How did this go?

I will be there soon. I am running my stock 2 door JL Rubicon. No modifications yet.

I am sure I want to do the Poison Spider, but otherwise I am looking for recommendations. Maybe some less extreme, more fun and beautiful runs to keep my wife from stressing too much (the whole time at least).

Which trails should I not miss?
 

kkuntz01

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How did this go?

I will be there soon. I am running my stock 2 door JL Rubicon. No modifications yet.

I am sure I want to do the Poison Spider, but otherwise I am looking for recommendations. Maybe some less extreme, more fun and beautiful runs to keep my wife from stressing too much (the whole time at least).

Which trails should I not miss?
Hell's Revenge and Fins N Things are great trails to cut your teeth on. Both are minutes from town and pretty fun trails to run.

Top of the world is another fun one, though it's probably a 45 minute drive from town (beautiful drive along 128 through the canyon to the trail head). The trail is challenging at times, however it's not to hardcore. Just make sure you have a full tank of gas before leaving town. We ran the trail last year and started it with a half tank. Started to get worried when on the way up gas gauge was showing near 1/4 tank, then on the way down, it dropped more and the low fuel light kicked on (it didn't help that we were wheeling alone and the sun had dropped). When we got the trail head to air up, the fuel gauge rebounded to 1/4 tank and the stress level decreased, but still not fun.
 

metallicpea

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Hell's Revenge and Fins N Things are great trails to cut your teeth on. Both are minutes from town and pretty fun trails to run.

Top of the world is another fun one, though it's probably a 45 minute drive from town (beautiful drive along 128 through the canyon to the trail head). The trail is challenging at times, however it's not to hardcore. Just make sure you have a full tank of gas before leaving town. We ran the trail last year and started it with a half tank. Started to get worried when on the way up gas gauge was showing near 1/4 tank, then on the way down, it dropped more and the low fuel light kicked on (it didn't help that we were wheeling alone and the sun had dropped). When we got the trail head to air up, the fuel gauge rebounded to 1/4 tank and the stress level decreased, but still not fun.
Perfect. Thanks a ton. I will add those to my short list.

From the list below, does one of these stand out to you as your first choice:?

7 Mile Rim
Behind the Rocks
Metal Masher
Steel Bender

I could certainly add in a good challenge, but don't love extremely high, narrow trails. I suppose Cliff Hanger would be a bad choice for me. Porcupine Rim was a walk in the park, but I didn't get out of my comfortable Land Rover. :)
 

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kkuntz01

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Perfect. Thanks a ton. I will add those to my short list.

From the list below, does one of these stand out to you as your first choice:?

7 Mile Rim
Behind the Rocks
Metal Masher
Steel Bender

I could certainly add in a good challenge, but don't love extremely high, narrow trails. I suppose Cliff Hanger would be a bad choice for me. Porcupine Rim was a walk in the park, but I didn't get out of my comfortable Land Rover. :)

I haven't run any of those trails so I couldn't tell you how easy/hard they are. Cliff Hanger was a fun one, though definitely a trail you need to run with others and definitely someone who's good at spotting.

The pic below is probably the worst of it short of the ledges you have to drop down to get into the trail.

7PGY7J5QxC47K7LmidxEF2Mzb-Kdiq0PMGioBU3_-gT3iKWmfjGLLc6IbY1qMFL5oksH__eZg&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.jpg
 

metallicpea

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Fantastic picture. I am so excited to get back there and see some of these places in my Jeep. The only other time I was there I had my Land Rover which wasn't terribly reliable underneath, so had to play it ultra safe to make sure I could get it back home.
 

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Perfect. Thanks a ton. I will add those to my short list.

From the list below, does one of these stand out to you as your first choice:?

7 Mile Rim
Behind the Rocks
Metal Masher
Steel Bender

I could certainly add in a good challenge, but don't love extremely high, narrow trails. I suppose Cliff Hanger would be a bad choice for me. Porcupine Rim was a walk in the park, but I didn't get out of my comfortable Land Rover. :)
BTR is kinda of a clusterfuck of obstacles strung together that otherwise parallels a dirt road. Some of them can be quite sketchy though and I wouldn't make it your first Moab experience, at least not the first day
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