My trip to Moab

[Medsker]

Well I thought I would give a detailed description of my trip to Moab and what I thought of my new JK Unlimited. First off for those that don’t know, I have a 2007 JK Unlimited Rubicon with a 4” Superlift and 37x12.50R17 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires. I have tubed out the front fenders. I left for Moab Saturday the 4th and drove home Saturday the 11th. It took me 5 hours to drive down and another 5 to drive back. First off the trail break down went like this (times in parentheses):

Saturday: Fins and Things (2:15)
Sunday: Hidden Canyon (3:40), Tusher Tunnel(0:20), Dubinky Well Road (0:30), Spring Canyon Point
(1:00), Rainbow Terrace (1:00) and Dullenbaugh Tunnel Road (1:00).
Monday: Hell’s Revenge (2:00) and Moab Rim (3:00)
Tuesday: Behind the Rocks (6:00) and Kane’s Creek (4:00)
Wednesday: Steel Bender (2:00), Metal Masher (2:30), Gemini Bridges(0:10, from end of Metal Masher)
and Bull Canyon (1:00)
Thursday: Elephant Hill (2:15, 6:35 with travel to and from Moab)
Friday: Pritchett Canyon (2:45, Trail itself)
Saturday: Drove Home

First about the Jeep then about the trails. I was really impressed with the wheel base. I was afraid I would hate it but it only rubbed on the belly a couple times bad and I think those places any Jeep would rub. Most of the time having the longer wheel base really helped. It made the Jeep more stable on the hills and descents. Almost immediately we found that the right rear tire was rubbing on the front of the wheel well. It was nothing that removal of the tire and a BFH couldn’t take care of. It was still rubbing on both of the rear fender flares on full stuff but since it was just plastic I didn’t really care. I was almost immediately surprised at how much my automatic was holding me back. Eventually I figured out that the torque converter must actually be locking up to slow me down on descents. I don’t know if this happens on everybody’s but it is great. That is the biggest reason I don’t like an auto for off road but it held me back just like a manual does. It even killed on me twice when I came to an abrupt stop. It only locked up in 4-low, not in 4-high. The other thing about the Jeep that surprised me was the terrible gas mileage I got when wheeling. In my TJ my gas mileage was about the same…sometimes even better since I was just idling along. With this Jeep I got between 7 and 9 when I was out wheeling. Also by Wednesday my right knee was starting to hurt because it bangs against the dashboard. It hits on the side by the radio. I can scoot the seat back so it misses but then my arms are more extended then I like them. I think I’ll put some padding there.

On Saturday after driving down we ran Fins and Things just to try out the Jeep and get used to it on the slick rock.

On Sunday we took it easy and just drove up to Dubinky well road and all of the roads around there. We ended up pulling a motorcycle up the Dullenbaugh Tunnel Road…that was an interesting experience I’ve never done before.

Monday was pretty basic, I always like doing Hell’s Revenge. The Hot Tubs were full of water so I didn’t make it out of the smaller one but made it out of the two big ones on top. Moab Rim always has a high pucker factor but was extra exciting because I talked my wife into driving the return trip. She did a great job for her first time behind the wheel.

It rained like crazy on Sunday night which made for a couple of interesting experiences on Tuesday. We were driving along on Behind the Rocks and right after you touch Pritchett Arch trail and then start up and cross a Cattle guard…we went across the cattle guard and my wife and I were just chatting when all of the sudden the front left of the Jeep comes up in the air as the right rear drops like crazy and the Jeep just stops. We get out and the road had collapsed underneath the right rear tire. It was hanging over 6 feet of air. You could see the tracks where my front had driven across the same place without collapsing it, which is a good thing, if the front had collapsed it I’m sure I would have rolled down the hill. We found a tree about 130 feet up and ran the winch up to it and got out but it was pretty un-nerving. We ended up bypassing High Dive, couldn’t find a line that both my wife and I liked so decided not to risk it. Upchuck was fun though. White knuckle hill is a little un-nerving but we made it down. The other thing the rain did was trash Kane Creek Road. My wife made up her mind at the beginning that she was going to drive the entire trail by herself and she did, but about half way though I think she wished she hadn’t decided that. We drove it backwards after coming out of Behind the Rocks. Coming down the first big hill she says to me “It’s getting really hard to steer”. So we stop and jump out of the Jeep. She had somehow managed to get the sway bar on just the right side underneath the drag link so the sway bar link was wrapped around it. I have no idea how she did it. I took the “U” shaped sway bar link off and got the sway bar back up above the drag link but the electronic disconnect doesn’t seem to be working correctly now. After going through all the river stuff in the bottom we hit all of these places where the road was washed out. She slid off one and hit a rock and tore off the left rear fender flare and inner fender. I thought it was great because it now gives me an excuse to start my rear tube fenders. By the time we got through she was very tired and understood more why I was always worn out after a full day of driving.

Wednesday was fun hitting Steel Bender and Metal Masher. They are both fun trails without being too difficult. I wasn’t able to do Rock Chucker but with my long wheelbase Widow Maker was surprisingly easy. I also had never seen Gemini Bridges before. When heading up Bull canyon we went up the left fork for a ways before we realized our mistake which made that run a little longer than it should have been.

Thursday we did Elephant Hill which ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The book says they maintain it for stock vehicles (you could see asphalt on the trail in some places filling in holes) so I thought it would be boring but I wouldn’t want to take a stock vehicle on the trail and where the Colorado and Green rivers converge is beautiful.

[FONT=&quot]Friday we decided to do Pritchett so we could cross off the nine bottom “difficult” runs in the Wells book. I’ve never done Pritchett Canyon before and it was as hard as I thought it was. I ended up winching up Rocker Knocker after trying it for fifteen minutes and bypassing the rock pile. Once I got up on the rock pile I hit it a couple of times but really needed to hit it harder to make it. I didn’t want to hit it much harder with me being out there alone. I’d like to do that trail again with a group to see how people do those obstacles.

Overall I was very impressed with my Jeep. I of course had a lot of fun. Here are some pics and a couple of videos from the run. Sorry this is such a long post





This is where the road collapsed.



These are the parts my wife broke off.



This is my wife standing in front of the Widowmaker on Metal Masher



Some fun with my camera, wife and photoshop




[/FONT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CANhMF9er3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-msjZnjW8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SsckOkJr5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoHkB

 

[Herzog]

Great report! So after the initial Moab run, what are your future plans for the jeep?

 

[Medsker]

The main things I would like to do is:
- re-gear to 5:13's...this hampered me more on the drive down then in Moab itself.
- Skid plate over gas tank
- Heavy duty covers on axles (started peeling up rear cover)
- Some way of sucking down front axle, either small winch or even just a strap on it so it doesn't unload on steep climbs.
- Get rid of electronic sway bar and put on regular one. This was nothing but trouble down there. I prefer to keep mine hooked up unless I need it. When I would hit the button to reconnect it would take hours to reconnect. Finally the whole thing just quit working.
- Possibly beadlocks so I'm not as nervous airing down my tires.
- Something with my rear fender flares so my tires don't rub on them. Doesn't really hurt the tires but got obnoxious after a while.

Other than that I think it did really well. I also think I'll update my GPS. Mine is getting really old (Old Sportstrak) and I really like the new PN-20 that Garmin just came out with.

Medsker

 

[yellowbronco]

The JK looks pretty awesome on 37's!!!

 

[timpanogos]

I'm impressed with the trails you did and the willingness you obviously have to take a new rubicon and use it for what it is made and capable of.

It’s a different site to see all four doors …. OFF … neat!

Congrats on your accomplishments this trip. Only wish I was with you.

 

[krazz1e]

cool pics and report. That is risky biz doing all those trails alone, even with a newer rig... but hey you did it so cool.

did you winch up axle hill on pritchett?

 

[Medsker]

There is obviously always risk involved with wheeling alone. I've been doing it for years with just my wife. We always plan on spending the night even on short runs. So far we have had pretty good luck. We've rolled once and it took about an hour to round enough people up to get it back over. We've broke down many times but I carry a slew of extra parts and tools and have thus far been lucky enough to have what I needed to fix the problem. I always let someone know where I am going and when I will be back and at what point to send someone out looking for me. It's like my wife says, if we die at least it will be doing something we love .

I'm not sure what axle hill is on Pritchett. The only one I winched up was called Rocker Knocker in the Wells book I was looking at. I hit it for 15 minutes, my wheel base was just the wrong length...I was hitting both steps at the same time. I would get 3 inches from the top with all four wheels spinning but couldn't get over. I finally gave up and winched. After I got to the top I went the wrong way and dropped off the bypass which I didn't know about (would have been much easier than winching) and had to turn around and go back up the bypass. On the rock pile at top I didn't want to risk rolling over backwards when I was alone so I just drove up it and hit a couple of times easy and then did the bypass...which wasn't that easy either

Medsker

 

[cannoncrawler]

great report...........making me really antsy to go next month.......

 

[notajeep]

axle hill is the one between RK and the rock pile.

 

[Medsker]

I didn't have to winch up that one but it was ugly. I slid over to right side and couldn't back down because of a big rock. It took a while but I finally got back over to the left enough I could back down and hit it again. I made it that time up to the middle section and then was able to get over the top. I have a video of it but it is to big for youtube to host.

Medsker

 

[notajeep]

It can be a pain.... First time I walked right up. second time, While meat was watching...., I had to winch it. :\

 

[BlackSheep]

That should be called tie rod buster. I broke my tie rod on it one day. Thankfully, a group of Toyotas (mostly FJs) had an onboard welder and a small piece of angle iron. fixed me right up. I still have that tie rod and use it as a spare. Hickey probably remembers that one. He is the guy who steered my tire as I drove up further to clear the trail for those behind me.

 

[BlackSheep]

Some fun with my camera, wife and photoshop

That's not a reflection of her multiple personalities is it??? Maybe she has a cloning machine.....

 

[yellowbronco]

That's not a reflection of her multiple personalities is it??? Maybe she has a cloning machine.....

..........

 

[Medsker]

That's not a reflection of her multiple personalities is it??? Maybe she has a cloning machine.....

I'd have to have a few more in the picture . Cloning now, that would be great, a couple to go to work, one to cook, one to clean, a harem to....

 

[timpanogos]

It can be a pain.... First time I walked right up. second time, While meat was watching...., I had to winch it. :\

had some ice/snow on it then

 

[Medsker]

had some ice/snow on it then

That's got to make a difference

 

[Houndoc]

Great to hear how well the Unlimited did. Would love to get one.

 

[Cody]

That Axle hill is the most difficult part of the trail for the group of ZJ's and WJ's I bring through there every year.

I got a group of 12 ZJ's up rocker knocker in 15 minutes.

You have to start 5 feet further to the right than you would think, and then let the rig slide over until your passenger front climbs up on the very top making you feel off camber...keep it locked full driver until you slide into the hole with that tire and you'll claw right up it. No big deal.

thats a lot of wheelin to do alone--glad everything went ok and worked well.

 

[timpanogos]

That Axle hill is the most difficult part of the trail for the group of ZJ's and WJ's I bring through there every year. I got a group of 12 ZJ's up rocker knocker in 15 minutes.

You have to start 5 feet further to the right than you would think, and then let the rig slide over until your passenger front climbs up on the very top making you feel off camber...keep it locked full driver until you slide into the hole with that tire and you'll claw right up it. No big deal.

thats a lot of wheelin to do alone--glad everything went ok and worked well.

do you mean rocker knocker? the father right you get on axle hill, the scarier it is.