Off Roading for Dummies

[NMPirate]

What everyone above has said!! This vehicle will surprise you on how much it can do out of the box with no modifications!! ?

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[entropy]

Keep in mind it will take a little bit of throttle to get the LSD and BLD to engage. Don't be afraid to gas it a little but be careful not to launch the thing once it grabs! Others have said this before but I'm going to beat on disconnecting the sway bar. This is by far one of the best bits of off road prep to do and makes the day on the trail so much easier!

A Quick disconnect system is worth it!

LSD will engage without throttle and without any perceivable lag. BLD does take some throttle, slow and steady. Situations where the traction is lower than the LSD can handle will make it appear as if the LSD needs throttle to engage because it wont do anything until BLD kicks in. In this situation the LSD simply enhances the BLD capability.

A wrangler with LSD will provide constant rear traction for most off-road situations and feel almost like a locker since it works almost instantly and it is very smooth. Until one tire loses too much traction, then BLD kicks in and LSD work as a multiplier making BLD about 3 times better. Delivers about 3 times the available torque provided by the BLD system.

 

[Shibadog]

As stated above, your box stock JL is FAR more capable than most give it credit for. If you are on anything other than the stock “street only” all season tires you will be surprised and amazed at what a Jeep will do. KO2’s or similar stock size tires will take you a lot of places. Go slow, pay attention, and have fun.

 

[MerPinXEss]

Can anyone recommend a good compressor w/gauge to air up ?

Napa maxair is $100 and airs 33 from 20-36 in 50 sec

 

[wchevron]

Can anyone recommend a good compressor w/gauge to air up ?

I bought this one on Amazon. Goes from 20 psi to 24 psi in about 2 min per tire.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08637KCWQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Sazabi19]

I bought this one on Amazon. Goes from 20 psi to 24 psi in about 2 min per tire.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08637KCWQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

4 whole PSI or is that a mistype?

 

[Megawatt]

Your gonna really fall in love with your ride when you start to go off road. They are capable machines.

Don’t be the rookie that says left or right. It is driver or passenger for spotting and line up guidance.

Make life easy for you if you want to air down. Instead of squatting down for minutes at each tire get some tire deflators from Amazon. Run about $20 for a set of four. Use them once at home (and have a air source to refill tires) to verify factory setting of the pressure where they automatically stop deflating (adjust if necessary before going on trail).

If you use a air compressor to air up START YOUR JEEP!!!! Don’t air up on just battery with engine off. It’s much faster with engine running and no chance of draining your battery and then you can’t start Jeep when you want to leave.

 

[Megawatt]

4 whole PSI or is that a mistype?

Could be possible if your talking about filling a 40” tire.

 

[wchevron]

4 whole PSI or is that a mistype?

Meant to say 34.

 

[blnewt]

Good stuff in this thread already, so I'll add mine:

1. Don't go overboard on "stuff". At a minimum, you should have:
   1. Tire pressure gauge with a release valve, so you can air down
   2. Portable air compressor so you can air back up (I have VIAIR 440p)
   3. Set of 18mm wrenches/sockets to disconnect your sway bar links (one should ratchet, if possible).
   4. Recovery kit (I have this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GK3F4GX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
   5. GMRS radio (Baofeng is a good one, or your classic Midlands)
   6. Zip ties (to hold your sway bar links up)

If you're in a group, you could probably get away without all but #1, 3, and 5, as someone else will likely have them, but you don't want to be always begging off others. Being your first time out will probably buy you a little grace, but you should have this basic kit by your 2nd time out. Total this should run you less than $500 - maybe closer to $300 if you shop it a bit.

Everything else will just make things easier, but won't really add anything to your abilities.



Rules of the Trail:

1. Never wheel alone (unless you're experienced/equipped/planned for it)
2. Always watch the guy behind you. If everyone in the group does this, then no one gets left behind or too far ahead.
3. Never feel lame or bad for asking for a spotter. If you ask for a spotter LISTEN TO THE SPOTTER. If you wind up with more than 1 "spotter", stop and ask for only a single spotter.
4. Only wheel what you're comfortable with. If you want to take the bypass, take the damn bypass. You might take some ribbing over it, but at the end of the day, it's your vehicle/expense, not theirs.
5. Stay off the radio. A little chatter here and there is fine - you're on an adventure together, after all. But make quips quick and short. Don't clog the line.
6. Like the Beastie Boys said, "slow and low, that is the tempo". Wheeling isn't a speed sport, so don't be afraid to take things slow, especially over obstacles.
7. If you don't understand, ask why. Every time you hit the trails you'll learn/experience something new, even if you've been wheeling for decades. I like to say that the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask.
8. HAVE FUN. Your Jeep, bone stock, is more capable than you probably realize. It ain't no Subaru, so let it stretch its legs a little.

Finally, my personal advice is to treat every outing as though you're planning to tackle the hardest trails you've ever done (even if you're not). Air down, disconnect your sway bar links, check your recovery kit, tune your radios to the same channel, etc. If you're ready for it, then you can handle it.

Manually disconnecting sway bar links suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. But I'd rather do it in the parking lot before I get to the trail than be in the middle of a trail or obstacle and realize I should've disconnected.

Great post! Although IME manually disconnecting sways isn't bad at all, and if you're on uneven terrain a pry bar makes it simple to line up the links. I've wheeled w/ a few that had a harder time getting their quick discos to cooperate than I had going old-school.

Also uphill traveling vehicles have the right of way unless it's safer for them to pull off.

I have the Viair 88P, it's small but works great for one vehicle. If you're wheeling w/ a friend and you need to air up 2 Jeeps w/ 35s you'll have to wait a bit for the duty cycle. Tirerack has them for $80, they have a gauge and are higher quality.
https://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?gclid=CjwKCAjwkYGVBhArEiwA4sZLuL-

For airing down you can use these, they are quick, just need to pay attention so you don't air down too much
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QMPVYK9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[XtremeRetard]

All the above, plus deffo go slow over tricky stuff.

The basic summary over obstacles is to put your tires on the tall stuff if you can't go around it. Look for the flattest line both horizontally and vertically.

Plus think about where all 4 tires are. Took me a bit to start thinking of the rear tires. They need more time to pass stuff before you swing the steering wheel about.

Go slow over obstacles until you work out your break-over angle. Rock sliders might be high on the list of required mods if you get hooked. I have smacked mine many times. Plus bust both front and rear factory bumpers.. both now steel

But you will be going up and down 30 degree stuff in no time without breaking a sweat..

 

[Espinosa21]

Besides just reading your manual or watching YT videos, I believe OffroadConsulting.com has a 101 course at AoAA or Rausch Creek. I have no affiliation to them. They will teach you about your Jeep and take it on trails that your Jeep can handle.

We took the 101 and 201 courses. It’s definitely worth the money if you plan on off-roading again. Each day was about 6 hours on the trails.

 

[Sean L]

LSD will engage without throttle and without any perceivable lag. BLD does take some throttle, slow and steady. Situations where the traction is lower than the LSD can handle will make it appear as if the LSD needs throttle to engage because it wont do anything until BLD kicks in. In this situation the LSD simply enhances the BLD capability.

A wrangler with LSD will provide constant rear traction for most off-road situations and feel almost like a locker since it works almost instantly and it is very smooth. Until one tire loses too much traction, then BLD kicks in and LSD work as a multiplier making BLD about 3 times better. Delivers about 3 times the available torque provided by the BLD system.

I do agree the LSD comes in to play much quicker than the BLD up front.

Also I've yet to be in any position where the BLD had to come in to play in the rear. The only time I've had a wheel up in the air in the rear I was going downhill so it was all brake work.

 

[Chad1433]

Stares at my buddy's clapped out XJ on a 6" lift that hasn't seen a swaybar since 2007, but has seen an additional 75k mi

I've had my links disco'd for years, too.

 

[Remorseless]

I've had my links disco'd for years, too.

Yeah, if you're not taking corners like you're in an F1 race, generally it's no biggie. Different strokes for different folks and all that though.

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