I've got a pretty open schedule, Just let me know whenever.
Yes, I don't think its given the credit it deserves in factory form. I'm still going to put a Rubicon takeoff suspension on it and probably upgrade the tires once the current ones are worn down, but nothing crazy.
Theres hundreds of miles of trails there. I'm pretty sure I could find something where you would Need lockers but I just haven't found it yet. There are 3 Badge trails there and Trail 26 is rated as a 5 on their scale of difficulty. Trail 16 is rated at 7-8 so that might have given me more trouble than 26 and 41.
You'd be shocked at what it can do. I used to tool around there in a YJ with a 4 cylinder. The only mod was 29.5" BFG KM tires and manual swaybar disconnects. I rubbed the skid plates a lot but it had open diffs all the way. That YJ didn't have the clearance of the JL and even with the sway bar disconnected, it didn't have the suspension travel or flex of a JL. Not even close. We would do a trail and then gasp with astonishment that it did what it did! I will say this, though. When stuck, that YJ was MUCH easier to get unstuck. It only weighed around 3000lbs, Lol!
I know what you mean. I had a YJ in the 90's and I would take it up on mountain trails (so nothing too difficult). There were no Rubicons and no Internet and I was young and stupid so I just tooled around to see what I could do. No winch, no lift, no special tires, nothing. If you listen to people on these forums you need a modded Rubicon to drive on a gravel road.
Lol, right on. My brother won a $100 bet with his bone stock 91 YJ 4cylinder. He climbed to the top of a very steep muddy, dead leaf covered hill at Haspin Acres off road park in Laurel, Indiana. Guys with big custom tube frame CJs with spooled axles, big V8s, and huge mud tires were getting only half way up. He bet them he could make it. After lots of laughing, they realized he was serious. I thought he was stupid or joking, too. He jumped in that thing and in low range, 3rd gear, ran it at 5000 rpms. The little Jeep bounced, slid all over, slung mud everywhere, and with him staying on the power and vigorously working the wheel in a desperate search for traction, it clawed its way to the top! All on stock 215/75/15 Goodyear Wranglers! No doubt it would have been ugly and dangerous if he hadn't made it! He did it on 100% balls and 0% brains, Lol!
Yeah, I guess I worry too much because of some of the things I read on here. I haven't had a chance to ride any trails yet. Weather has sucked pretty much every weekend since I got my JL. I'm not big on mud. Used to race ATV motocross and had enough mud to last me the rest of my life. I'm tired of modding. Want to ride!
I’ve wheeled a long time without lockers, and to be honest there isn’t much I couldn’t do. You learn more about line choice and really get to know where your wheels are
