Solo Rubicon Adventure

HornedToad

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
577
Location
Sacramento
To start off--I can't recommend going solo on the Rubicon trail for a variety of reasons and it is something I never intended doing until just two weeks before going. My brother and I have wanted to do it for years but we have never been able to solidify plans to make it happen (usually because of work or other friends pulling out at the last minute when trying to set up a group trip). We were both tired of always having a reason to not go and he called me one day and said, "I took some work off and I am bringing my family to California for a week. Let's do the Rubicon." We agreed that the worst that could happen (aside from medical emergencies) is we would break something that was beyond our ability to repair on the trail and we would have to leave the jeep and then pay a recovery company a giant pile of money to recover it (which we would split the cost if that did happen). We brought an arsenal of spare parts, fluids, and tools and we are both quite experienced with working on vehicles so if something did break hopefully we could come up with a solution but we knew that wasn't guaranteed.

A brief overview of my jeep since I don't have a build thread:
2004 automatic tj x
HP front ARB with chromoly axles 5.13
Super 35 ARB rear 5.13
Savvy control arms
Savvy gts, UA, engine skid, sliders
Savvy front and rear bumpers
Warn m8000 winch
Outboarded rear fox factory remote resi shocks tuned by Alltech
33x10.50 BFG ko2's

We gave ourselves 3 days but ended up doing it in a day and a half. It had rained a lot right before we started so there was a lot of water we had to drive through but it didn't seem to affect traction much. We left the axles open most of the time but there were a few spots that we engaged the lockers (tires were aired down to 11). The toughest spots were gatekeeper, big sluice, and sawtooth. We skipped little sluice and took the Indian trail around it. We also didn't take any chances in the play areas like soup bowl. Cadillac hill was not as bad as I was expecting but we did get lucky because we climbed it in its entirety without encountering any other vehicles coming down (that would have been stressful and scary depending on the spot). We never had to winch and we never spent more than a minute or two trying to get over anything. I also think that going solo allowed us to travel more quickly because we didn't have to wait on anyone. We also started on a Thursday afternoon so for the most part we avoided big crowds of vehicles. It would have been nice to take our time and enjoy the lakes more but our wives made it very clear that they didn't want us gone for the whole vacation week (lol) so we tried to be quick and make good use of our time on the trail (we did enjoy some ribeye steaks and soaked in the river near Rubicon springs for an hour on the second day).

This trip was an absolute blast. I have wanted to do this trail for years and it was all I could have ever hoped for. The scenery is amazing and for me the difficulty level is just right. It also occurred to me that our tj's may be the best vehicle out there for this trail. The short wheelbase and narrow track made it easy to navigate the endless boulders. If I were in anything bigger I don't think I would do it without 35's.

Rubicon 1.JPG


Rubicon 2.JPG


Rubicon 3.PNG
 
Awesome.
I'm planning on doing it next year.
Looks like my 33s shouldn't be a problem.

Nice. You will have a blast. My diffs and gas tank made frequent contact with the rocks but just little nicks and scrapes. If you don’t already have front lower control arm mini skids welded on I highly recommend them.
 
NeVeR gO wHeElInG AlOnE!!! 🤤 LOL

Looks like a great time! And sometime you just have to take life by the horns!!!

I mostly agree with common adage of never wheeling alone. In our case we knew well what the worst consequences could be and we were committed to not being a burden to other groups so that they might enjoy their own trips.
With that said there is no doubt a lot more security that comes in being in a group. If anyone does choose to wheel alone they ought to have a lot of confidence and full expectations of what they are getting into.
 
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