SAR TJ Build

I do SAR (occasionally) and I'd never go without a winch. Sure you're out with two vehicles...and you can get both stuck at the same time, or get separated or one breaks and you get stuck getting out.

That and it's nice to occasionally pull folk's vehicles out. Not supposed to...but...

I'm running 33s now and am moving towards 35s. 4.88s and super e-lockers front and rear.

I need new springs...Black Magic shocks...4ish inch lift.

Lights are great. Inside and out spare tire. Good places for antennas, radios and phone or tablet mount for GPS.

A Husky with a 28" bar will fit perfectly behind both seats.


-Mac

4” Currie lift, 33’s, f/r lockers and axle upgrades. Some sort of tummy tuck. This one is hard to understate it’s usefulness. Body lifts allow a big tummy tuck, but you can still get a smoother skid under there without. I’d run a winch, synthetic line doesn’t weigh that much so the weight penalty is not as great as it used to be.

As low of gears as you can get with the 42RLE. Outboard your rear shocks and pay attention to uptravel. That will make those terrible washboard roads much more comfortable.

Mike_H said:

Outboard your rear shocks

Click to expand...

Listen to this guy- for those rough roads, this is a significant move.

macleanflood said:

I do SAR (occasionally) and I'd never go without a winch. Sure you're out with two vehicles...and you can get both stuck at the same time, or get separated or one breaks and you get stuck getting out.

That and it's nice to occasionally pull folk's vehicles out. Not supposed to...but...

I'm running 33s now and am moving towards 35s. 4.88s and super e-lockers front and rear.

I need new springs...Black Magic shocks...4ish inch lift.

Lights are great. Inside and out spare tire. Good places for antennas, radios and phone or tablet mount for GPS.

A Husky with a 28" bar will fit perfectly behind both seats.

-Mac

Click to expand...

Always enjoy watching your videos, what’s your camera setup?

Havasu said:

I hear you on the winch and while most other guys have them, I‘ve never personally needed one, but having said that I’ve probably just jinxed myself. Thanks for the heads up on the husky w/28” bar…

Click to expand...

Get your own winch, you can't count on always being with someone who has a winch. And they might be stuck in a situation where they couldn't winch themselves out and you'd need your winch then. I'd stay away from cheap winches like from Smittybilt or Badlands from Harbor Freight Tools. It sounds like you would commonly be in situations where it'd actually be required to work 100% of the time and not just there as bumper decoration.

Jerry Bransford said:

Get your own winch, you can't count on always being with someone who has a winch. And they might be stuck in a situation where they couldn't winch themselves out and you'd need your winch then. I'd stay away from cheap winches like from Smittybilt or Badlands from Harbor Freight Tools. It sounds like you would commonly be in situations where it'd actually be required to work 100% of the time and not just there as bumper decoration.

Click to expand...

Winches make self recovery possible.

Apparition said:

Winches make self recovery possible.

Click to expand...

Guaranteed not always.

Jerry Bransford said:

Guaranteed not always.

Click to expand...

Didn’t mean to imply it was.

Winches bring self recovery possibilities. Just about every piece of gear gives you something else to try...and even if you don't know what you're doing eventually you can figure it out...preferably before hurting someone or breaking something too expensive...but then again that's how I've learned most of my life lessons.

My Nope video...wife and I were driving...the snow wheeling before the snow wheeling if you will...14 miles from where we thought we might get into the deep stuff...took a turn at a fork, came down a hill and simultaneously turtled both her JK and my TJ. Took two hours of winching, digging and puzzling it out to get both of us out... didn't help that I worked until 3 am the night before and was up at 7.

I love Warn winches. My M8000 has been nothing but a cantankerous POS since I bought it...doesn't like to free spool...going to drive it up to Warn in the next couple of weeks. My father in law calls Warns smoke machines from his experiences in the 70s and 80s. We put a Badlands 9k winch on my wife's JK and I honestly like it better than my Warn. It just works all the time, it free spools like a dream and the line speed is fantastic. Even Warn admitted everything is made in China now. My local HF is 30 minutes away and Warn is 2.5 hrs.

Camera wise I'm using a DJI Osmo... basically a gimbled camera pretty much ripped off one of their drones. I have an old GoPro 7...I think all the newer GoPros went JK/JL and added so many bells and whistles they break all the time. And then I used my smart phone...and my wife's...both are OnePlus 10 pros and a little cell phone tripod. Nothing expensive. All really portable. I have two battery banks and it all fits in a cheap Walmart school backpack.

Just remember the first rule of search and rescue is don't become part of the problem. You need to be able to get you and your vehicle out of EVERY situation. If you can't do that most of the time (shit happens to the best of us) then consider some upgrades.

I think most people do a decent job of recovery gear...I think most people don't have adequate first aid supplies.

And training... practice, practice practice...drill, drill drill...

-Mac

Like the guys said on the winch. Im also SAR volunteer as well. We went on a run a few weeks ago to explore only. My jeep, a 2000 taco with winches and a 4x4 Burb without. Burb buried itself in a snow bank, reverse went away trying to get out. 3 hours later and our 2 winches got it out and turned around. It may not be you who needs that winch, but the other less equipped. Its life and death sometimes, we gotta cover the bases. Hats off to the folks who volunteer as well

Mike_H said:

4” Currie lift, 33’s, f/r lockers and axle upgrades. Some sort of tummy tuck. This one is hard to understate it’s usefulness. Body lifts allow a big tummy tuck, but you can still get a smoother skid under there without. I’d run a winch, synthetic line doesn’t weigh that much so the weight penalty is not as great as it used to be.

As low of gears as you can get with the 42RLE. Outboard your rear shocks and pay attention to uptravel. That will make those terrible washboard roads much more comfortable.

Click to expand...

Here's what that looks like.

4" Currie, with steering upgrade as well
ARB's F/R
RCV CV's in the Dana 30
5.13 gears
I went with a Skid row skid which helps with the factory shovel
33x10.5

csaxj3 said:

Here's what that looks like.
4" Currie, 33x10.5

Click to expand...

Do you know how much actual lift you're getting?
Which springs did you pick?

LONGJP2 said:

Do you know how much actual lift you're getting?
Which springs did you pick?

Click to expand...

4" Currie/Savvy springs and told them I had an LJ when I called to order.

Never really bothered to measure, but it's a solid 4" to the eye.

I would add fox(or other tunable brand) shocks tuned for your jeep. It will make the 30 miles of washboard much easier on you compared to any normal lift kit shock.

What are you doing for com gear?

Some day i want to get a setup in my jeep programmed with the same channel and repeater loadout as my fire trucks.

csaxj3 said:

4" Currie/Savvy springs and told them I had an LJ when I called to order.

Never really bothered to measure, but it's a solid 4" to the eye.

Click to expand...

I think the 4" LJ spring might be too much (for my 33s).
I have light bumpers, aluminum skids, no back seat, 1" BL, and normally no winch or hardtop.

Havasu said:

our radios are preprogrammed and issued…

Click to expand...

They give you guys handheld icoms or another brand and tell you tac and command channels?