Off Road Adventure with Jeeps

[SKATA]

Been looking at used Jeep Wranglers for my next pursuit. But would like "alot" of input from those in this group that off-road.

* What Jeep(s) do you use for off-roading?
* What customizing have you done?
* Do you belong to a local group? (thinking safety in numbers when on the trail)
* Which Oklahoma trails do you travel?

It does not seem to be a cheap entry to this sport. Looking forward to your input !

 

[p238shooter]

Guess I am going to sound like a kinda chincy old fart here on this subject. I would say take a real good look at what you want and need the end result to do on a regular basis for you. Full time off road you are going to have to trailer to the sites, part time most every weekend drive during the week after you spend an hour or so cleaning it up, drying the carpet and electrical connections, or once a month maby to take out and scratch and ding up and fill with creek water when you have time? Yep, long term things to think about.

A few years ago I was looking for a different daily driver. Through a member on this site I wound up with a 98 TJ.totally stock low milage except for maby the wiper blades. Knew nothing about jeeps. Just saw the picture, very low miles, and to me the price was right. Little did I know I had a gem. Inline 6, 5 speed manual, half doors, very little surface frame rust, totally stock in every way. I had been to watch several jeep rallies, hill climbs, etc. Take a look on the web at what happens at Langely OK up by Grand lake each year for example.

I looked it over and bought it thinking hey, jack this up put some hellacious size tires, bumpers, winch, light bars, snorkle, and $3-4K of other nifty do dads on it and I will be hot snot. I can go out and beat the hell out of it like I used to do with my old dirt bikes, Right?. Humm, but do I really want to ding it up as much? Humm Then I got to looking at the prices for all that added stuff, the time involved in installing all of it, how it was going to affect my daily driving without other changes of re-gearing, etc. For gaining what. Raise my axles and pumpkins 3-4 inches to clear a few rocks I might never encounter? Right now, my "low riding" stocker is amazing to me handling a tight corner at speed. A little after I got it I " chased some Moto Guzi" guys through some curvy road areas on some back roads just to get a feel. I amazed myself. Raise all that up 6-8 inches and whats gona happen? Take a look at the Jeep forums and you will not have a hard time finding articles of hundreds of jeep owners who are now limited to 50-55 mph street use without "death wobble". I had my 98 stocker at a steady 84-85 mph on the turnpike today. Yep noisy as hell, but stable driving. Lots to think about depending what you are going to use it for.

I did a lot of thought to, Well, Iffen I built it up and get tired of it, I can always sell it, right? Would I maby get half of what I bought in accessorie $ back? Maby, maby not, especially iffen I had bashed the crap out of hitting things that is going to happen Humm.

So Iffen you want to go out and play in a jeep in the mud without spending one hell of a lot of money and a lot of hours, I would take the time to look for something for sale that is already built close to what you envision your final project will be and fine tune it for you. If it is for sale, you can bet someone is going to have to take a loss on it to get rid of it. You most likely will save a lot of $ and time over doing it your self. Unless $ is not a factor and you have a ton of free time I would consider doing that. Just as a Second option, I see you are a MC rider. How much dirt bike time do you have out in the mud, over rocky trails, rolling down hills with your bike you and others could not climb? How beat up was your dirt bike when you both tipped over and you picked it up to ride off and do it agein? How beat up is your Jeep going to be after rolling down those same hills. Ha.

Yep, just a few things to think about overall. Let us know how all this works out.

 

[tynyphil]

Bought this 1994 mainly to tow behind the RV. It had some very aggressive off road tires on it. Beat you to death driving on pavement. First time a dealer actually gave me some tire exchange credit when buying new tires for road use.

 

[SlugSlinger]

My first was a 1984 CJ7 and I swore ide never buy another one. I’m on number 7 now.

Buy a Jeep if you like turning wrenches or can afford to pay someone else to turn the wrenches because that seems to happen a lot after the mods start happening.

Here’s some work I’ve done on the current daily driver.


https://www.okshooters.com/threads/new-project.289491/

 

[tynyphil]

Good looking YJ!

He rides shotgun most of the time except when being towed. That’s when he gets to drive.

 

[dlbleak]

Depends on what you want to do with it. The nice thing about a stock jeep is you can drive comfortably to where you want to play. I’ve been over Imogene, California gulch and black bear passes in stock 08 and 14 wranglers

 

[Okie4570]

Who do you jeep with or want to jeep with and what are their current setups capable of and where do you want to go? There's two routes to this pursuit imo based on your budget and mechanical abilities.

I've been doing this with 66-77 Ford Broncos for the last 20y but the same concept applies.

First is this going to be a daily driver also? Occasionally street driven? Or off-road only?

Second, how mechanically inclined are you?

 

[tynyphil]

Showed this to the wife! She says we need one! Wonder where a guy can find one?

got mine at Halloween time at Home Depot

 

[HKP7M13]

JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket. Trail riding is fun but don’t be afraid to turn around when you come to some of the “hold my beer and watch this” hills. I have watched several rollovers or ripped out drive shafts from All I need is a bigger run at it guy.

 

[Chaparral]

Some thoughts on older jeeps, my in laws had one.

They are easy to work on. Simple motor and parts are not that expensive. Found things easy to get. I was able to find loads of repair videos.

Fuel economy is horrible. I was scared of going too fast around corners. Off road tires are REALLY loud and uncomfortable on highway (if a driver then get two sets of tires). The big tires keep you from driving as fast. Basic tires and you can easily keep up with traffic.

Off road there are few equals. Jeeps are very capable. Get yourself some jerrycans.