Before we start working on any new project vehicles, we like to take them out on the trail in their stock form to see how they do. This way we can gauge any improvements that the aftermarket parts may bring to the vehicle. Our JK was no exception, but since we are on a compressed time schedule to get the project screwed together before Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, we were short on time.
Because we are scheduled to go in later this week to have our lift kit installed on the JK, we decided to hit the desert yesterday, on a rainy President’s Day morning. Joining us for the ride was one of my best wheeling pals, Shane Casad from Bilstein shocks, along with another good friend of mine, Mark Mathews from JBA Racing. Shane brought his super stealth XJ and Mark brought along his TJ Rubicon.
What started out as a cold a dreary morning, quickly dried up when we got over the mountains and down to the desert floor. It actually ended up being a really nice day, though a bit windy. and cool. We tackled trails in and around the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and had an enormously fun time, with trails ranging from fast washes to technical rocks we put about 425 miles on our Jeep - close to 100 in the dirt. We even encountered a flooded trail, which was deeper and muddier than expected. After making it through the first round, we headed to our lunch stop near an old stagecoach stop. On the way back to the main trail we had to return through the rank mud, where we caused enough churning on our first pass to rearrange some rocks on the bottom, which our JK got caught up and high centered on. No worries, as a quick yank with Mark’s Ramsey winch freed our JK and we noted the increased sense of urgency to get our lift kit and 35s on the Unlimited, especially since we ripped off the useless (to us) front air *** We don’t plan on ripping off any other stock parts, but this day on trails gave us some good ideas for what we should change, and what we like stock.
Thoughts on the Unlimited:
- Needs rear cargo tie downs (seriously, who left that out?)
- ESP kills the fun of high speed wash runs and ruins any lines you are attempting through the sand
- Excellent wheel travel
- We need ability to turn ESP off (completely) in 4HI, as we learned on a sandy hill climb where traction control stopped our progress
- We need the ability to turn on the lockers is 4HI (or at least the rear)
- Great tires
- Pretty good ride, and not too loud on most roads
- Manual tranny need skid plate protection too
- Hard top panels like to creak in the dirt
- We need to turn off self-locking doors
- Too long at times for its height
- Fun
Overall Impression:
Really a pretty awesome wheeler out of the box, just get rid of those electronic nannies and get some ground clearance and bigger wheels and tires. The stock travel and flex is very good, although the heavy Unlimited tends to land on it bumps much more often than the 2-door (if you plan on leaving stock, upgrade your shocks). With all of that being said – with a little massaging, this is a vehicle that could be an animal on the trail.
So let’s see, we accomplished everything you need to get a new vehicle broken in for trail duty. Scratches? Check. Rip off useless parts? Check. Hate stock electronics? Check. Scrape Skid Plates? Double Check. Ruin new car smell with funky, funky desert mud stench. Check. Return home with no weird noises or breakage? Check.
Looks like this is going to be a great project vehicle build, both to wheel and generate cool editorial for you guys. BTW, for those who want to vote on the name there is still time in the blog below this one.
Thanks for reading and until we blog again,
--Sean
Tech Editor - Four Wheeler Magazine