Gear Recommendation for TJ Fest Moab 2021

New member here. I just saw the ad for TJ Jeepfest and joined. I am very interested and will try to make it. I have some recommendations based on my experience out there last year.

Buy quality!
I know that preparing for a trip like this can be overwhelming financially. Buy quality parts if at all possible. Before our trip I tried to be cheap and bought some no name suspension and steering components. The steering kit was poorly engineered and I had limited steering capability and the adjustable control arms gave me very little articulation. It got me into trouble on Golden Spike. I got off camber going over a small ledge and I tipped over into another rig. My hand was caught between the grab handle of my welded cage and his 40” tire. It immediately swelled up. Thankfully the only damage was a bruised hand and a bruised ego. My TJ is named Bruiser by the way...

Medical/safety
Every rig should have a first aid kit and fire extinguisher. Period! If possible, at least one rig have a more comprehensive med kit. If I had actually broken my hand, we had no way of dealing with any kind of trauma.

Water
Bring as much water as you think you’re going to need. Then double it. You will go through it quicker than you think. One day we didn’t get off the trail until about midnight and we had resorted to drinking cooler water and even that ran out.

Recovery
Have a complete set of recovery gear and quality winches. We had a guy get on his side on Escalator. It took 4 Jeeps with winches and 2 hours for recovery. One winch had failed during the recovery.

Inspect your rig!
On the way home, one Jeep in our group had the front track bar mounting bracket on the axle fail on the on ramp of I-80. It shook violently until he got it stopped. Thankfully it happened at about 40 mph and not 75. Could have been a lot worse. After we got home, everyone upgraded to 1/4” thick brackets.

We had an awesome time and I can’t wait to get back!
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Yeah the whole spare parts thing is going to be interesting for me. I'm planning on having the following with me:

  • Diesel Lift Pump for my fuel tank
  • Injection Pump Assembly
  • Injectors
  • Injector Hard Lines
  • Diesel Water Seperator
If anything outside of that breaks, I need an engine at that point . . .

-Grant
 
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The last time I drove west (to CO from VA) I had to replace the following on the road:
coil pack (although I am no sure mine was actually bad, but I kept getting a CEL with the code of a misfire on number 3), left front brake caliper (my fault for not following mrblaine’s instructions precisely when I put BMB on), lots of gasoline (9-10 mpg towing my M416 modified trailer with RTT).
Lots of ice, LJ ac is not great and a black soft top radiates heat coupled with a torn inner shifter boot made for a really hot ride (two bags of ice were used to cool my Akita down :cry:
 
The last time I drove west (to CO from VA) I had to replace the following on the road:
coil pack (although I am no sure mine was actually bad, but I kept getting a CEL with the code of a misfire on number 3), left front brake caliper (my fault for not following mrblaine’s instructions precisely when I put BMB on), lots of gasoline (9-10 mpg towing my M416 modified trailer with RTT).
Lots of ice, LJ ac is not great and a black soft top radiates heat coupled with a torn inner shifter boot made for a really hot ride (two bags of ice were used to cool my Akita down :cry:
Should get a Dometic and say bye bye to ice, unless you freeze your drinks with it.
 
How do they compare if you leave them back at camp?
Mine would be on the slider tray in my truck bed if I did so it’d work great but I like it on the trail too much to leave it.

Seriously a game changer and I wouldn’t go back to a ice chest.
 
I've been contemplating a small 12v fridge/freezer (15-20 liters). I've already transitioned primarily to foods that do not require refrigeration so my cooler needs are much less than in years past. I do just fine now with a small day cooler for cool drinks behind the console but within reach while driving. I use a 26 qt. rotomolded cooler in the back for long term cold storage so I imagine that a 15-20l fridge that doesn't need space for ice will hold just as much food as my cooler.

The system that worked best for last year's month-long overlanding trip in Mexico was to carry basic dry goods, rice, beans, etc. plus drinks, then purchase the "protein of the day" en route (meat, fresh fish, etc.). I carried a couple of cans of beef, chicken, tuna, etc. in case that didn't work out, but generally speaking we had no daily supply problems and all I needed to keep cool was today's protein and drinks that taste better cold. There was at least one week long period where I had no ice or cooling capability at all and didn't miss it.

This thread on another forum got me started in that direction:

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/no-refrigeration-needed.59235/
 
How do they compare if you leave them back at camp?
Depends on what you are using for a power supply. If there is no power supply they are pretty good at keeping things cold for some time. There is a lot that figures into that, direct sunlight, ambient temp what the fridge was set to prior to disconnecting from power (mine goes down to 8* F.) so if everything is frozen or close to it time without power may be extended. Also, if it is packed full things stay cooler longer.......
 
Depends on what you are using for a power supply. If there is no power supply they are pretty good at keeping things cold for some time. There is a lot that figures into that, direct sunlight, ambient temp what the fridge was set to prior to disconnecting from power (mine goes down to 8* F.) so if everything is frozen or close to it time without power may be extended. Also, if it is packed full things stay cooler longer.......
You sure it’s not -8F? Mine is -8F.

Since I went to the group 24 Northstar battery my Jeep hasn’t struggled to start even with the fridge hooked up. Going to look at new trucks today, when I order I’ll make sure to get the biggest alternator and dual battery setup for camping since I will run a RTT on it.
 
You sure it’s not -8F? Mine is -8F.

Since I went to the group 24 Northstar battery my Jeep hasn’t struggled to start even with the fridge hooked up. Going to look at new trucks today, when I order I’ll make sure to get the biggest alternator and dual battery setup for camping since I will run a RTT on it.
You are correct it is -8. My yellow top optima can not run the fridge more than 8 - 10 hours, depending on how I have the voltage minder on the fridge set........
 
You are correct it is -8. My yellow top optima can not run the fridge more than 8 - 10 hours, depending on how I have the voltage minder on the fridge set........
I was leaving mine hooked up on the Jeep overnight, I’m sure at some point it exceeded 10 hours.