F
Fionayeti
Guest
When I was a kid in high school, my first car was a beat up '76 CJ-5 . I loved to off-road and always had dreams of hitting the open trails out west! Unfortunately, college and a career got in the way and I had little time for anything living in the big city. So now at age 50, near retiring, and a 2011 JK Rubicon in my garage, it was time to go exploring!
But first things first. While a very capable Jeep, my Ruby wasn't ideal in stock form for the trails I wanted to do. Sure it could handle The San Juan trails (at least the ones I was going on), but I had the famous Rubicon trail in CA on my mind too, and a friend who lives in Tahoe ready to take me! So I spent a year getting ready, calling up manufacturers and off-road shops asking them what it would take to get my Jeep trail ready. I have to tell you, I had great conversations with some of the nicest people! No egos, no selling me on their products...just good folk sharing with me the things I'd need to know to make a good, honest decision in building my Jeep. I'm not sure I'm authorized to share the company names on this forum, but I'm going to, perhaps it might help fellow Jeepers. I'm not endorsing them, I'm just saying, these company's and shops did a great job with customer service and went out of there way to help me. I also learned a lot from many intelligent people on this forum helping me with the things that work and the things that don't. I appreciated all their information because I hate things that don't work and I'm proud to say there's nothing on my Jeep that doesn't do a perfect job living up to its manufacturer's promises. So here's the list: EVO Manufacturing, JKS, Poison Spider (There tech guy spent two hours on the phone with me!), Fox, G2 Axles, Northridge 4x4, Yukon Gear, Adam's Driveshafts, Synergy, Volant, Morris 4x4 Center, MBRP Exhaust, Dynatrac, Kolpin Gun Racks, Optima batteries, American Racing rims, Mastercraft Tires, and Mile Marker Winches (I actually did not get the winch installed in time for this trip, but luckily, my buddy had a winch on his).
So with 99% of the parts installed and functioning perfectly, my wife and I packed up and hit the road, leaving our farm in Indiana. We ran The San Juan Mountains in Colorado first, doing all the popular trails, Imogene, The Alpine Loop, Black Bear pass and a few of the connecting trails. While not too challenging, the trails provided amazing scenery that I only have viewed from an airplane (I'll admit as a newby, I took the easier lines when available, except "The Wall" on Poughkeepsie Gulch). I've read that Black Bear pass is dangerous with the narrow shelf road and switchbacks. But I suppose I'm not afraid of heights and with some slow, focused driving, it wasn't bad at all. We enjoyed Colorado immensely and met such wonderful people. The older, often retired couples, were the most fun and chatty. We met one such couple on Imogene driving an old restored Willys complete with trailer. Well, after a few bourbons at The Last Dollar Saloon in Telluride, they were even more chatty. I sat and listened and learned a lot about the area mines and the history of the mountains. Then there were some not so nice folk. My wife made a comment, "Why are the Jeeps with the bigger tires the ones that seem to be driven by the jerks?" True, we came across a guy with 40's, trying to manhandle the trail and passing the rest of us shooting up dust and crap all over. At the top of the trail, he got out of his JK and stood 5 feet tall. Yup. Napoleon complex. There were a lot of those guys it seemed. And it always seemed to be the one's sporting Dana 60's running' '40's. Not trying to be mean here, just a newby's observation. To each his own.
We headed off to Moab which I knew quite well from riding most of the trails on my mountain bike when I was younger. I'll tell you it's much more fun in a Jeep! Again, the people were great and very respectful. My buddy and I came across one Jeeper with a blown radiator hose so we stopped and helped him with his repair. Luckily, I had radiator fluid and a hose so in no time he was off and running. One Jeeper that tagged along with me and my buddy made fun of me for carrying 5 gallon spare gas cans, claiming that I'll never need all that gas out here. But five miles down the trail, we came upon an ATV, it had run out of gas. I looked at that guy as I started to fill the ATV guy's tank, "This is why I carry extra gas. It's not always for me". My Jeep handled the Moab trails very well, and I was learning better driving techniques from my buddy and many others. I still took the easier lines but every now and then, I'd try something harder. I have no ego. For me it's about fun, not competition.
Lastly, we ventured to Tahoe and ran the Rubicon trail. I have to say, it wasn't all that bad and my Jeep crawled through it without a scratch. I will say I had a very good driver, my buddy Ken, on the trail in front of me. He'd run a section, then get out and help me navigate the correct lines, spotting my every wheel position. His coaching made it much easier. Without him, I would have had a harder time with it, no doubt.
That trail conquered, it was a long run back to Indiana. Looking back, I'm proud of how my Jeep performed. It did everything I wanted it to do and more. It was expensive to build, but then again, going with the right parts for the job make it one less thing I had to worry about on the trail. I'm very thankful to all the manufacture's and Jeep Shops that gave a lot of time to me, answering my ill-informed questions and sharing their experiences. Jeepers are special people, true Americans that love the country and what it stands for. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!
But first things first. While a very capable Jeep, my Ruby wasn't ideal in stock form for the trails I wanted to do. Sure it could handle The San Juan trails (at least the ones I was going on), but I had the famous Rubicon trail in CA on my mind too, and a friend who lives in Tahoe ready to take me! So I spent a year getting ready, calling up manufacturers and off-road shops asking them what it would take to get my Jeep trail ready. I have to tell you, I had great conversations with some of the nicest people! No egos, no selling me on their products...just good folk sharing with me the things I'd need to know to make a good, honest decision in building my Jeep. I'm not sure I'm authorized to share the company names on this forum, but I'm going to, perhaps it might help fellow Jeepers. I'm not endorsing them, I'm just saying, these company's and shops did a great job with customer service and went out of there way to help me. I also learned a lot from many intelligent people on this forum helping me with the things that work and the things that don't. I appreciated all their information because I hate things that don't work and I'm proud to say there's nothing on my Jeep that doesn't do a perfect job living up to its manufacturer's promises. So here's the list: EVO Manufacturing, JKS, Poison Spider (There tech guy spent two hours on the phone with me!), Fox, G2 Axles, Northridge 4x4, Yukon Gear, Adam's Driveshafts, Synergy, Volant, Morris 4x4 Center, MBRP Exhaust, Dynatrac, Kolpin Gun Racks, Optima batteries, American Racing rims, Mastercraft Tires, and Mile Marker Winches (I actually did not get the winch installed in time for this trip, but luckily, my buddy had a winch on his).
So with 99% of the parts installed and functioning perfectly, my wife and I packed up and hit the road, leaving our farm in Indiana. We ran The San Juan Mountains in Colorado first, doing all the popular trails, Imogene, The Alpine Loop, Black Bear pass and a few of the connecting trails. While not too challenging, the trails provided amazing scenery that I only have viewed from an airplane (I'll admit as a newby, I took the easier lines when available, except "The Wall" on Poughkeepsie Gulch). I've read that Black Bear pass is dangerous with the narrow shelf road and switchbacks. But I suppose I'm not afraid of heights and with some slow, focused driving, it wasn't bad at all. We enjoyed Colorado immensely and met such wonderful people. The older, often retired couples, were the most fun and chatty. We met one such couple on Imogene driving an old restored Willys complete with trailer. Well, after a few bourbons at The Last Dollar Saloon in Telluride, they were even more chatty. I sat and listened and learned a lot about the area mines and the history of the mountains. Then there were some not so nice folk. My wife made a comment, "Why are the Jeeps with the bigger tires the ones that seem to be driven by the jerks?" True, we came across a guy with 40's, trying to manhandle the trail and passing the rest of us shooting up dust and crap all over. At the top of the trail, he got out of his JK and stood 5 feet tall. Yup. Napoleon complex. There were a lot of those guys it seemed. And it always seemed to be the one's sporting Dana 60's running' '40's. Not trying to be mean here, just a newby's observation. To each his own.
We headed off to Moab which I knew quite well from riding most of the trails on my mountain bike when I was younger. I'll tell you it's much more fun in a Jeep! Again, the people were great and very respectful. My buddy and I came across one Jeeper with a blown radiator hose so we stopped and helped him with his repair. Luckily, I had radiator fluid and a hose so in no time he was off and running. One Jeeper that tagged along with me and my buddy made fun of me for carrying 5 gallon spare gas cans, claiming that I'll never need all that gas out here. But five miles down the trail, we came upon an ATV, it had run out of gas. I looked at that guy as I started to fill the ATV guy's tank, "This is why I carry extra gas. It's not always for me". My Jeep handled the Moab trails very well, and I was learning better driving techniques from my buddy and many others. I still took the easier lines but every now and then, I'd try something harder. I have no ego. For me it's about fun, not competition.
Lastly, we ventured to Tahoe and ran the Rubicon trail. I have to say, it wasn't all that bad and my Jeep crawled through it without a scratch. I will say I had a very good driver, my buddy Ken, on the trail in front of me. He'd run a section, then get out and help me navigate the correct lines, spotting my every wheel position. His coaching made it much easier. Without him, I would have had a harder time with it, no doubt.
That trail conquered, it was a long run back to Indiana. Looking back, I'm proud of how my Jeep performed. It did everything I wanted it to do and more. It was expensive to build, but then again, going with the right parts for the job make it one less thing I had to worry about on the trail. I'm very thankful to all the manufacture's and Jeep Shops that gave a lot of time to me, answering my ill-informed questions and sharing their experiences. Jeepers are special people, true Americans that love the country and what it stands for. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!
