my wife and I are looking for a 4wd club near the denver highlands and we like your site... however, my new (to me) Jeep is an 06 LJ, and so far I only have a 2.5" lift and 31" BFG ATs, so I'm not too sure I can hang with you guys from what I've seen- do you have any recommendations?

Thanks!

Hi Paul –There are trails our club runs that your rig would do just fine on like; Bill Moore Lake, Red Elephant Hill, Red Cone and Twin Cone to name a few nearby. We don’t have any of those runs scheduled yet for this spring, as it pretty much depends on when they become passable.

Depending on your level of experience, we’ve gotten rigs like yours through Spring Creek and Old Chinaman’s Gulch, and had a lot of fun doing it. There is a good chance on these trails that you’ll be doing some bumping and grinding, and your rig may sustain some ‘rash’, but there are options or bypasses to the most difficult obstacles. From your post, I assume that you don’t have lockers, but likely a limited slip rear end??? Any armor (rocker guards)?

As you are probably aware, we are looking to increase our numbers, and one of the aspects of this would be to have more, less modified rigs in our ranks, so that there would be enough interest to run some of the less difficult trails when some members want to. That’s how most of us got started. We don’t always run trails as an entire club, and encourage anyone wanting to put a run together to post up trail suggestions and see what kind of interest it garners from members and guests alike.

If you’d like to meet us, join us at next Sunday’s club meeting.

Thanks for your interest, and it’s nice to hear that you like the site. It’s a work in progress, and we intend on building upon what we have started.

Hi Roy: Sounds great, but I'm tied up with work on Sunday- when /where is the next one? I'm not super experienced, hope to change that... the hardest trail I've done in Colorado is Coney Flats (it wasn't hard). I just sold my YJ, it was the most built rig I've ever had, but pretty tame compared to most. It had 3.5" spring under, shackle reveral, 33s, Howell TBI, a T-18a, Scout 44 rear w/ Detroit, 4:10s, open stock front axle. You can probably judge where I'm at from that.
My new jeep came to me with 31s and the stock 3:73 gears with the trac-loc rear... I think "trac-loc" may be another word for "open". In the short run I plan on 33s, a front true-trac an a rear locker, either a powertrax no-slip or a detroit. I like he Detroit for sure, but the powertrax seems worth looking into(ie. would save me a lot of $$$ if it's worth buying) since I hope not to do a gear swap just yet, but maybe a 4-1 t-case kit if it's too high offroad. In my garage, waiting for some time to go in, Ihave rocker guards, a steering box skid and a radiator skid. I'm planning on an engine plate too, just haven't had time to look around.

Hey Paul - Too bad you can't make the meeting. The next one is scheduled for/on the Chinaman's run on 3/13.

Sound's like you’re on your way with your rig. I can relate (and empathize) with ya. Since you’re contemplating lockers, perhaps you may find some of this helpful…

I started out with a stock ‘02 TJ Sport. I was clueless! I used to swap out 33x9.5 BFG AT’s (which I still stand behind to this day), with the stock 30”s when I went wheelin, and soon figured out the 33-AT’s were the way to go full-time.

For years I wheeled on the stock suspension with those tires and a Lock-Rite in the front (wanted a No-Slip, but there was an ‘installation miscommunication’). It was a bit clunky, but very capable. I later wasted money on an Elec-Trak in the rear, and didn’t lift it until like year four-and-a-half. The set-up was impressively capable and I was usually able to, at least, keep up with the ‘bigger dogs’.

Many versions and 150,000+ clicks later, I’m on 35’s, 4.88’s, ARB’s w/Kilby Air and a 4” Rock Krawler Long Arm… Ya know - A wanna be… A funny thing is that I can’t help but to miss that boot set-up at times. It worked well.

One of the things I learned along the way is that a rear auto-locker has some pretty undesirable handling characteristics on the road. You’ve heard this before, but it really is true, and maybe you know from your YJ experience.

From where it seems like you’re coming from, or heading to, I highly recommend a No-Slip in the front, get your 33’s, and worry about the other things you’re contemplating until you can afford to replace your Trac-Loc with a selectable locker.

I’m just sayin’…

your jeep is right where I'd like mine to end up, but I just spent a bundle on the jeep (I bought it on ebay, so I had to pay it off all at once) and I'll let you tell my wife I need to drop a few grand on air lockers and such now. :o) The no-slip is the only lunch box locker I've found online that works in the trac-loc case, and from what I've read it is much more forgiving than a detroit. I never had any major issues with the detroit, but I have a trick; you can make it behave a lot better with perfect tire pressure. I used two female air fittings on one air hose, hooked it up to both rear tires and let them balance out for a minute. It really does make a difference. If you jack up the axle so the tires are off the ground you can get them to match pressure so they ahve the same rolling diameter, which cuts out a lot of the Detroit's issues.

How was your front locker on the road in 4-hi? I am thinking Detroit True-trac upfront so I can still take the highway to go skiing in the winter, but I'd rather be locked. The other advantage to the true-trac is the case break is 3:73, so when I do r&p gears down the road I can re-use it.

Can you recommend a good welder? I have Garvin rock sliders waiting to go in, and I'd rather have them welded than bolted.

I didn't have much trouble with the front locker in 4-hi, but I didn't drive it in 4-hi unless it was particularily required. The worst part about it was clicking/clunking during turns in 2wd. Sounds like you've done your homework.

I no longer have a good welder contact. But will see what I can find out from others.

Paul, I'm a forum member (Not yet a Club member) and do small side welding jobs. I searched the Garvin/Wilderness site and found that the sliders mount to the frame but could not find a PDF file as to exact installation instructions, so my best guess is that we are talking $75.00 - $100.00 to prep, weld, clean up and paint(the raw steel) when done.
I'm in Aurora, so if your interested E-mail me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Randy


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Paul - I got to thinking...
The locker I had up front was much easier to deal with than when I had one in the rear. That might have something to do with my triangulated four link long arm though. The only reason I did have one in the rear is that it was the only option to get back from Moab one trip.

Thank you, Randy- I'm going to keep your email if that's cool, but I think it might be high time I learned to weld myself. I've picked up an inexpensive wire-feed set up and some scrap to learn on, so I'll probably contact you in a few weeks; right after I get released from the emergency room and the fire department gets my garage under control.

Roy- this spins in my mind all day... the true-trac is forgiving compared to an auto locker, but as soon as I lift a tire it is dead (apparently it transfers 3x the torque of the slipping tire to the other one, bu 3 x 0 = 0). The ultimate solution, ofcourse is selectable lockers, but that's more $$ than I can commit to now. I am worried that the powertrax in the rear will break the trac-loc case, blah blah blah. It looks like it will be powertrax no-slips front and rear, but ask me tommorow...
I bet your flexy rear did get kicked around a bunch. My spring under YJ was very stable, no lane changes or kick-outs, it just sounded like a little guy with a sledgehammer was occasionally beating on my axle. It also rode like a cement truck with 4 flats, so pick your poison.