It’s been a while, life gets busy but anyways here are some thoughts, opinions and pics of our trip this year.
Day 1- Fins and Things + Hells Revenge
Day 2- Poison Spider
Day 3- Gemeni Bridges + Long Canyon (non technical but a must in my opinion.
Day 4- Steel Bender Loop/Flat
I’ll try and make this short.
Day 1 I rented a 4 door JK Rubicon with 37s. I was very impressed with it on the highway but I don’t know if they messed with the gearing. There were 3 other Jeeps with me. JR in our Black TJ with 31s, 3” lift and open diffs, and 2 other 4 door JKs with open diffs. 1 with 33s and the other with 35s. Now here’s some details about the trails- my rental went anywhere I pointed it with ease no matter which line I chose on HR and F and T. I did not use the lockers until half way through HR on some tougher lines and I did it just because. Well... JR follows me in the TJ anywhere I went. The other JKs also did fine but I will say that they honestly spun more tires than the TJ. JR is a pretty fearless and aggressive driver and was proving that the 31s are very capable and also the short wheel base was not an issue at all. Now... the end of HR gets pretty hairy in some spots and JR tried to follow dad on a pretty good vertical with a pretty tall shelf on 1 side and a hole in the other and this was the only time the TJ had to back up and take a different line than the big JK and I’m going to guess that if he did have lockers in the rear he probably would have rolled so I’d like to thank the radiator crack for eating my locker funds up for that.
Poison Spider is a must and we did it pretty easily with no issues.
Gemeni and Long Canyon are amazing to drive and we took the GMC and the TJ. Not technical but also a must see/do imo.
We also hiked Corona Arch because there was a dog in our group and they are not allowed in Arches but we did do the Delicate Arch and went to the Sand Dune Arch. Also a must see and do imo.
Steel Bender- this was fun but we started too late (lesson learned)
and it is quite technical with open diffs and 31s. The TJ did very well. The JKs and drivers were a bit less experienced in picking lines and both had nervous wives that probably didn’t help (got dark on us) . One JK had a control arm issue which isn’t too serious and the other was overheating at first. Now it is named Steel Bender for a reason. On the way out we hit the rear about 5-6 times and the JKs a time or 3 also. The loop and flat took us about 5 hours but I do recommend this trail if you start earlier than we did. It has Creek Crossings and a great view of the city. So I really observed the 4 door JKs vs the 2 door TJ and my conclusion is that I really don’t like the 4 doors for a trail rig but it does work well and look good with 37s and above imo. However I love the power of the 2012 and newer JK. For the wheeling that I plan to do abs that we have done, the wheel base wasn’t an issue. I will never own a 4 door Jeep us what I’m saying. I may have a 2 door JK Rubicon one day because the wife wants one and I would definitely build it up. The TJ is a dog on the Hwy but a beast on the dirt and rocks. The 3spd auto and NP231 is a good combo. Now here are some pics and I have them stashed all over the place but this is a start.
BIG JK little TJ
Gemeni Bridges
Long Canyon
(fallen rock)
Hells Revenge
Sand Dune Arch
Corona Arch
Steel Bender
Lil Trooper!
The JKs [emoji849][emoji2]
The Skiled Ones
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Day 1- Fins and Things + Hells Revenge
Day 2- Poison Spider
Day 3- Gemeni Bridges + Long Canyon (non technical but a must in my opinion.
Day 4- Steel Bender Loop/Flat
I’ll try and make this short.
Day 1 I rented a 4 door JK Rubicon with 37s. I was very impressed with it on the highway but I don’t know if they messed with the gearing. There were 3 other Jeeps with me. JR in our Black TJ with 31s, 3” lift and open diffs, and 2 other 4 door JKs with open diffs. 1 with 33s and the other with 35s. Now here’s some details about the trails- my rental went anywhere I pointed it with ease no matter which line I chose on HR and F and T. I did not use the lockers until half way through HR on some tougher lines and I did it just because. Well... JR follows me in the TJ anywhere I went. The other JKs also did fine but I will say that they honestly spun more tires than the TJ. JR is a pretty fearless and aggressive driver and was proving that the 31s are very capable and also the short wheel base was not an issue at all. Now... the end of HR gets pretty hairy in some spots and JR tried to follow dad on a pretty good vertical with a pretty tall shelf on 1 side and a hole in the other and this was the only time the TJ had to back up and take a different line than the big JK and I’m going to guess that if he did have lockers in the rear he probably would have rolled so I’d like to thank the radiator crack for eating my locker funds up for that.
Poison Spider is a must and we did it pretty easily with no issues.
Gemeni and Long Canyon are amazing to drive and we took the GMC and the TJ. Not technical but also a must see/do imo.
We also hiked Corona Arch because there was a dog in our group and they are not allowed in Arches but we did do the Delicate Arch and went to the Sand Dune Arch. Also a must see and do imo.
Steel Bender- this was fun but we started too late (lesson learned)
and it is quite technical with open diffs and 31s. The TJ did very well. The JKs and drivers were a bit less experienced in picking lines and both had nervous wives that probably didn’t help (got dark on us) . One JK had a control arm issue which isn’t too serious and the other was overheating at first. Now it is named Steel Bender for a reason. On the way out we hit the rear about 5-6 times and the JKs a time or 3 also. The loop and flat took us about 5 hours but I do recommend this trail if you start earlier than we did. It has Creek Crossings and a great view of the city. So I really observed the 4 door JKs vs the 2 door TJ and my conclusion is that I really don’t like the 4 doors for a trail rig but it does work well and look good with 37s and above imo. However I love the power of the 2012 and newer JK. For the wheeling that I plan to do abs that we have done, the wheel base wasn’t an issue. I will never own a 4 door Jeep us what I’m saying. I may have a 2 door JK Rubicon one day because the wife wants one and I would definitely build it up. The TJ is a dog on the Hwy but a beast on the dirt and rocks. The 3spd auto and NP231 is a good combo. Now here are some pics and I have them stashed all over the place but this is a start.
The Skiled Ones
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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