Best of Jeep Discussions (index of threads)

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Nacho

Member 2024
VA4WDA
Welcome to the Best of Jeep Discussions. Similar to the Best of Tech Talk thread, this thread will contain frequently asked questions, great tips, and useful information. We will do our best to update this once a thread has proven to be of overwhelming value and timeless. This will make a quick index to view for common issues and great tech threads.

To nominate a thread, just post in it that it needs to be in the 'Best of ...' and then click the 'Report Post' or pm a moderator. Then a mod will drop a link in this post.

General Advice

More great information/lessons learned

Some thoughts on modifications part dux



Recovery

Safety from a sad accident
 
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Not sure the best way to share a post from another thread, so I am copy and pasting, but full credit to @R3 for posting the below which is a great summary and belongs in the "best of..." thread:

There are a couple "schools of thought" in the wheeling community.

1) Damage is a badge of honor. These are the folks that have a trail toy built to beat on and at the end of the day haul it home in their comfy tow rig. Wheel, break, fix, repeat ......

2) The Remember stupid you have to drive this home crew. Which many of us fall into...Having to drive 3-4-5 hours and then drive it to work on monday give some pause when it comes to challenges and tend to lead to a more elequent solution to the task

3) New to Jeeping, bought a 40, 50, 60K rig and love the idea but hate the idea of scratching it. I get it! A large investment and you want to take care of it. It is cool to be part of the comunity as diverse as the Jeep world.

We have members that fall in one or more of these catagoies. One thing that is often overlooked is who is the lead. How a ride is run is important to the enjoyment of the ride. Knowledge is a corner stone for a ride lead and the ability to work a driver thru a challenge. Spotters are a key component to a technical or difficult section of trail or advanced trail ride. But they are only as an aid. At the end of the day YOU are the driver and the responsibilty is squarely in you lap to make the decision. The lead or spotter is their to assist and put eyes on things you can't see. Follow their direction chances are you will be fine. Don't follow and things get loud.

Big clubs and open forums tend to shy people away from asking question as they don't want to others to think their are stupid... chances are if you have a question there are 10 others that have that same question. Ask it. If you are asking question you are engaged.

Everyone likes the thougth of going on an advanced trail ride until they begin to understand what that entails. Then nerves and fear begin to take hold and before you know it you have talked yourself out of the run. That is ok. It is your decision.

Back to the idea of an advanced trail ride, what exactly is that? Is my Jeep capable? Can I do that? all good questions. Trail rides usually get rated in colors or on a scle of numbers. Let use the color as an example:

Green. Stock friendly. No skill level involved other than being able to drive. tail will be smooth dirt or gravel roads with some bumps on it. Think an old gravel drive way that has not been maintained for a number of years. The Trail likely is wide and those pesky branches will not grace you paint with their presence.

Blue: Stock friendly but with a bit more challenge This is where you begin to develop off roading skills You have departed the gravel road and arre now on a "trail" that usually is not maintained. You will likely encounter ruts, off camber and mud. Depending on where you run rocks begin to enter the equasion. Equipment begins to paly a role in you ride here. Tires with good traction and and maybe a winch start to look like good investments.

Black: You are now beyond stock/OEM. Things like moderate lifts, bigger tires and locking axle come into the picture. Spotters are now part of the plan and "Holy Crap what is it they are trying to tell me with those hand signals?!" This is where most learning takes place. Skid plates begin to talk to you along with rock sliders/rails. Metal on a rock under you rig sounds like a detrailed freight train and you swear you have just torn out the transmission when all you did was slide over a stone. Wheel placement and vehicle control are keys to a less noisy ride coupled to a spotter that is knowledgeable and expirenced. You need to work as a team with your spotter and understand each others and what each is "saying". The goal is to work the challenge with the available tools you have.

RED: If you have to ask... Beyond stock/OEM now , lockers, skids, winches and bigger tires with lifts are now advised. A red trail you might look at and see it as impossible as a novice, for those who embrace the challenge we see a line and our spotter is there to assist us. Winching jacking, and moving of stones is the norm and it only happens with team work. Yes we break stuff on Red trails. Drag link end failed as well as a new drag link leaving me without steering. This is why you don't go alone. Well prep'd group of talented folks got the big red Jeep off the trail and back home. Bigger the challenge the more the possibility of damage. I remember a quote on Rock Creek, "... I have never made some many decisions in 20 minutes in my life!" yes there is a lot to take in. Can you take you 2023 Rubicon JL on a Red trail ride? Yes. will it get thru? Yes. will there be damage? Maybe depends on how you drive and work with your spotter, it will be noisy.

Posting trail rides:
Let go to peters mill. ok a group shows up and you go for a drive. That was cool so lets sign up for a winter run in the mountains... You need to know what you are getting into. Yes it is a green trail but with ice and snow the level of difficulty increases. A good lead will spell out what to expect and what to prepare for.

A side note: there are more life threatening events happening on simple trails like peters mill and flag pole than on crazy red trails. Due to people not thinking the event thru.

Leads look for what can happen and prepare as best they can and relay this to the group. Ride inthe winter are very different from a fall leaf peaping run. In the fall you can bring any POS to the trail and likely have a good time. In the winter it becomes a long day of struggles and or recovery.

What is the point?

Your vehicles are more than capable of most NOVA J rides. You on the other hand have a decision to make. Step outside your comfort zone or not. Totally your choice and no one will bash you for that. If you chose to step outside you comfort zone it will be rewarding and terifying all in the same breath. Good leads and spotters have your best interest at heart and will work with you to get thru the challenges.
Just like Interstate 95, weather changes everything... what to expect is nto meant to scare you off but to prepare you. The final decision is yours.


Please note, nothing in this post has anything to do with age. With age come experience, experience come from decisons of the past; some good, some not so good, experience all the same.


See you on the Trail
Red Jeep
 
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