What depressing is I just bought a fairly clean LJ, 140k miles, all of which look like miles going back and fourth to work! This thread should inspire most to get out there!
Just because the LJ has over 200k on the clock doesn't mean it's close to retirement...
Earlier in the thread I posted this map, I was considering exploring the headwaters of the Colorado River this summer. The trip is on and I'm outfitting the LJ for it now.
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Highlights of the trip include some trails - Pole Hill near Estes Park, Old Fall River Road west out of Estes, Flat Tops Trail (82 miles) and perhaps Hay Flat, North Supply Creek and Deadhorse Loop. Also checking out some of the historic railroad sites on the old Denver & Salt Lake Railroad (last year we did Rollins Pass, which was the highest point on that railroad). And, trying out the hot springs at Hot Sulphur Springs and Steamboat Springs, and a stay at the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge. Maybe I'll call this the Hot Springs expedition .
Even though most of the planned trails for this trip are fairly easy, it's much better to carry my recovery gear and not need it than to need it and have it at home in the garage, so the first thing I did was install the winch mount. My winch mount and winch live in the garage most of the time so when I'm leaving on an expedition I bolt the mount in place and throw the winch in the receiver.
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I use this mount on both my LJ and my '06 Wrangler pickup and I have a similar mount for my JKU, so the same winch serves on all three Jeeps. Testing the winch in the driveway, I've want to make sure the remote batteries are good and everything works as expected:
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The winch slides into the receiver so it can be used in the front or the back of all 3 Jeeps; for the interstate run from upstate NY to Colorado I usually carry the winch in the back. It's out of the way there and can be moved up front in a minute when needed.
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Also part of the recovery gear are 4 aluminum sand ladders/recovery tracks. There won't be any sand on the trails I plan for this trip, but there may be mud, so I put these up top.
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The sand ladders also serve as anchor points for the winch, in the event there aren't any convenient trees or rocks to winch from.
Also to be carried on the rack is a second spare. It's not in the photo above because the Jeep won't fit in the garage with it on top so I'll put it up there the night before we leave. The trip is planned on a fairly tight schedule which would be disrupted by trying to get a tire fixed or replaced, so I like to carry a second spare as a precaution.
Inside the cabin, the overhead/swing-down MOLLE panel has a few more recovery items. A small shovel and a small tree saw are mounted on the panel. The long cable is the extension for when the winch needs to be used in the rear receiver. It's also a jumper cable extension; the battery clamps are also mounted to the panel. Both of these plug into the winch cable that lives in the engine compartment; that cable reaches the winch when it's in the front receiver but the same cable also serves as a jumper cable with the clamps. The panel swings up against the inside of the hardtop so it's out of sight and the gear on it doesn't take up any real storage space.
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We're not camping on this trip so I don't have the full Trail Kitchen installed but we are bringing the fridge for snacks and lunch. It's on a homemade slide for easy access. Other gear in the cabin:
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- Battery and power panel for the fridge. This battery gets charged by the Jeep's alternator and can be used as a second battery to start the Jeep in case the main battery fails.
- Compressor and related supplies (hose, tire repair supplies).
- Ammo can containing the TrailVision camera system. The trails I'll be doing on this trip won't require the extra views the Trailvision system can provide, but it's in the Jeep in case I decide it will be helpful; it can be set up in a few minutes and offers a 3-camera view of the details of the trail ahead.
- First Aid kit; hanging on the rear slope of the roll bar. Out of the way but quickly accessible.
- (On the floor well behind the passenger seat) Hydraulic jack. Much quicker and easier than the factory jack.
- Winch/recovery bag. Includes winch line damper, ground anchor (bolts to the sand ladders), tree saver strap, snatch block, winch remote and other related gear.
- Tool bag.
- Cool Bag hanging on the seat back. Can be used to keep drinks and snacks cool on the road and easily accessible from the driver's seat and also can be used to carry lunch on hikes to picnic spots away from the Jeep. Also strapped to it is a picnic blanket to spread on the ground when we stop for lunch.
- 35,000-lb recovery strap in a roll bar bag on the vertical part of the main roll bar hoop. Out of the way but easily accessible.
- (Above the roll bars) Overhead/Swing-down Molle panel. And on the roof rack, the sand ladders and an extra spare.
- CB. This is only in the Jeep for expeditions, it's on a clip-on mount that hangs on the back of the center console.
- A pair of shackles hanging on pouches on an Overland Outfitters Zip & Go mount on the seat back.
- Small hatchet hanging in a pouch on the roll bar.
Most of the gear listed above doesn't live in the Jeep all the time, I put it in whatever Jeep I'm using before the trip.
Before leaving on the trip, I add the GPS coordinate of the trails we plan to do to the GPS.
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I have three of the same GPS, one for each Jeep. They're older models (Garmin 2555), and easily found on eBay for $50 or less so it's not a big investment to have 3, and they work just fine even though they're older. Usually I'll load the trails on two of them and bring the second one as a spare just in case the first one fails. If the trail is from a trail book, I'll also scan those pages and bring a printout on the trip, a piece of paper is much easier to deal with on the trail than a book that you need to hold open to a page.
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Just about ready for the expedition .
What resources do you use to find obscure trails?
Very impressive list of trails. All of them in a mostly bone stock TJ with a 2" lift. Fantastic.
Any mods to the axles, such as lockers?
Also, what do you do to level it out when fully loaded?
amazing journal!!! Can I ask what the LJ suspension setup is? Tire size? Jeep Safely!!!