How much weight is TOO much weight?

[unkamonkey]

I suppose I should hit the scales with my 1961 CJ3B. Steel full cab and a PTO winch, V6, I expect to be at least 1,000 Lbs less than your Jeeps.
It was 2200 lbs when it left the factory

 

[FastGlass]

Yeah, click on the "sold" link in the signature. Tons of pics there.
FYI, you may have clearance issues with the synergy sector shaft brace and the metalcloak track bar. Maybe not too. But the synergy bar is bent specifically for more clearance at the frame end. Just FYI.

Looks like a fun build. Yes it seems everyone is just beefing up suspension and drivetrain (brakes are a good consideration too) and dealing with it. The frame seems plenty stiff and strong.

Bummer you sold it! Looks AWSOME!
I had heard about that sector shaft brace and other, non Synergy trackbar issues. They actually say on their website it's for use with their track bars only. Apparently, the bend is almost identical in the MC one also. Have confirmation it won't be an issue, but thanks for looking out for me there...

 

[proper4wd]

Keep in mind added unsprung weight (heavier axles) does not really affect the load carrying capacity of the vehicle. It's sprung weight - the chassis, body, drivetrain, and everything you pack inside that is the biggest concern in our use case

(Performance cars are a different story - unsprung weight is a major problem)

 

[Longtallsally]

You all carry too much junk. In my obnoxious opinion, a fridge is stupid, and I don't know what else besides the kitchen sink you bring that jacks up the weight that much.

Curb weight for a '12 JKUR is just over 4500 lbs and an 892 lb cargo capacity. That's basically about 5400 lbs total to be in spec. I know bumpers will add 50 lbs or so, winch is 80 or so lbs. Call me, my wife, boy, 2 100 lb Ridgebacks 500 lbs. I'll get crazy and say I'm carrying 50 lbs in recovery gear. That still leaves well over 100 lbs of stuff we could put in. Um, if I'm camping, what on earth could weigh that much?!?!?!?! We pull the camper loaded like this and I'm pretty positive we're still in spec and we DO have everything including the kitchen sink (in the camper). I just don't get the need to bring such an exorbitant amount of stuff. I guess for me, the purpose of camping is to get away from it all- not bring it all with me, which means a few sacrifices.

 

[brianjwilson]

You all carry too much junk. In my obnoxious opinion, a fridge is stupid, and I don't know what else besides the kitchen sink you bring that jacks up the weight that much.

Curb weight for a '12 JKUR is just over 4500 lbs and an 892 lb cargo capacity. That's basically about 5400 lbs total to be in spec. I know bumpers will add 50 lbs or so, winch is 80 or so lbs. Call me, my wife, boy, 2 100 lb Ridgebacks 500 lbs. I'll get crazy and say I'm carrying 50 lbs in recovery gear. That still leaves well over 100 lbs of stuff we could put in. Um, if I'm camping, what on earth could weigh that much?!?!?!?! We pull the camper loaded like this and I'm pretty positive we're still in spec and we DO have everything including the kitchen sink (in the camper). I just don't get the need to bring such an exorbitant amount of stuff. I guess for me, the purpose of camping is to get away from it all- not bring it all with me, which means a few sacrifices.

Seriously? You're dragging a camper and a dirt bike! You so carry everything with you!

Here is mine, weighed as stated previously. No kitchen sink. My overall weight was way less than your contraption.

Add in a custom fiberglass pop-top, 5x 35" tires and wheels, heavy duty aftermarket axles, knuckles, steering, control arms etc, steel bumper, winch, arb compressor, heavy duty driveshafts, rod ends, it all adds up. Hi lift, snatch block, straps, tools, a few spares. Camping trips included a cooler, stove, 8 gallons of water, 2 gallons of gas, sleeping bags, cooking gear and food, photo gear.

 

[Omar Brannstrom]

My camping vehicle, a 2013 unlimited Rubicon. I want to go light and I dont want to mod it because it cost to much money for me and I dont need it:ylsmoke:
Where a normally go I dont need a lift, winch, aftermarket bumpers, bigger wheels. A stock Rubicon is enough for me, and probably for some of You also:sombrero:
I use modern ultra light camping stuff like Helinox chairs (under 1kg, 1.9lb ) and a REI table in alu, maybe 2kg.

It goes about 3 Helinox chairs on one small camping chair

To the left, new light modern and small camping stuff, to the right bulky and heavy old ones.

My kitchen setup, small light alu stove less than 1kg and a table at the tailgate.

I just buy stuff that I really need and dont buy stuff for looks.

Travel light is my motto

 

[kojackJKU]

Yep, I have a minimal lift, 33's, and keeping mods light as well. I have been mulling around bumpers but in all honesty, I don't need them. I convinced myself not to buy them. Instead, I am going with the VDP endcaps, and mod my rear bumper. Adding useful items like a roof rack and whatnot is a good idea. As I said in another post, I had me, my wife, my 16 year old son and his friend (both over 6ft tall and solid hockey players), their 2 sets fo gear and clothing for us for the weekend, and my Jeep handled it fine. I think some people are overly sensitive to how much weight that can go in the Jeep. I probably had 1/2 inch of drop in the back, that's it. I don't know how people have issues with a bit of camping gear in the back.

 

[Omar Brannstrom]

Hi

Kojackjku, maybe your lift handle the load better than a stock setup.

I have not yet had any problem with my stock suspension on my Rubicon unlimited.

I did not notice any problem with the suspension with my stock former 2012 Sahara on a campingtrip with 4 big adults and with a hitch carrier.

From that trip, but it was more gravelroads/forest roads than real offroad

 

[kojackJKU]

I only have the teraflex leveling kit. Stock 18/59 springs. I dunno why my rig takes weight good.

 

[Cascade Wanderer]

This is a good subject. Wranglers are great, bone stock. Very agile, nimble vehicles. Many of us tend to forget that when we start adding heavy chunks of steel to those once-agile vehicles. I'm guilty of that to an extent. Don't know what it weighs now, but my little two-door feels substantially heavier than it was.

I'm kind of a "less is more" sort of guy, so it bothers me a bit that I've added heavy bumpers and much heavier tires to the little rig. Fuel economy has suffered. It is more capable off-pavement now than stock, but... It's got to be considerably heavier too.

Weight is something I think too few Jeep owners consider when they start checking off the "I need this, and this" list...

Merry Christmas All!

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: Added weight is strictly controlled by your suspension/engine/gearing-

I have added over 700 lbs, plus towing a 1000 lb trailer---and

there is no depreciation in my JKUR power/performance and maneuverability-(well a little, towing)

It's all in the eng/tranny/gearing-

Ain't jeepin fun ?

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[Longtallsally]

Seriously? You're dragging a camper and a dirt bike! You so carry everything with you!

Here is mine, weighed as stated previously. No kitchen sink. My overall weight was way less than your contraption.

Add in a custom fiberglass pop-top, 5x 35" tires and wheels, heavy duty aftermarket axles, knuckles, steering, control arms etc, steel bumper, winch, arb compressor, heavy duty driveshafts, rod ends, it all adds up. Hi lift, snatch block, straps, tools, a few spares. Camping trips included a cooler, stove, 8 gallons of water, 2 gallons of gas, sleeping bags, cooking gear and food, photo gear.

OK, let me put it another way: I'll save the extra $20k+, sleep more comfortably, take the entire family (with dogs), have fun with my dirt bike, and be fully svelte for things like the Rubicon (doors pulled and only recovery gear/tools brought along from base camp), get the same fuel economy, and have a "normal" vehicle to drive around town when I need to.

I've also dragged this contraption to a bunch of pretty cool places (more often boondock than not).

Personally, I think I've distributed my investment much more wisely and am actually more trail capable (since I don't have all the extra weight, I don't need all the $$$$$$$$ upgrades), but different strokes for different folks.

To be fair, I debated long and hard on a similar setup to what you had as a means of consolidating, but decided since taking the hard top off would become a PITA (I use the soft top all summer) and I didn't want to feel like I was driving an RV around all the time otherwise, I like what we've got.

 

[FastGlass]

OK, let me put it another way: I'll save the extra $20k+, sleep more comfortably, take the entire family (with dogs), have fun with my dirt bike, and be fully svelte for things like the Rubicon (doors pulled and only recovery gear/tools brought along from base camp), get the same fuel economy, and have a "normal" vehicle to drive around town when I need to.

I've also dragged this contraption to a bunch of pretty cool places (more often boondock than not).

Personally, I think I've distributed my investment much more wisely and am actually more trail capable (since I don't have all the extra weight, I don't need all the $$$$$$$$ upgrades), but different strokes for different folks.

To be fair, I debated long and hard on a similar setup to what you had as a means of consolidating, but decided since taking the hard top off would become a PITA (I use the soft top all summer) and I didn't want to feel like I was driving an RV around all the time otherwise, I like what we've got.

I like the trailer idea for all the reasons you're mentioning, but I'd rather be self contained with only a single vehichle to think about. We have a dedicated Touareg TDI/Camper setup we use when whe want to be really comfortable while away:

That's my "trailer"
Money's not so much a concern for this one, which is why I am going a bit over the top with the axles in particular for what is and will be used mostly as, an overlanding rig. Two to three times in the fall it will be used as an all out crawler. I definitely like Brian's setup...even looked at the J30 Ursa Minor too, but for me, and my use, having the Gobi on there allows to carry extra stuff, obviously, but just as important for this build, it protects the corners and the roof all around from taking minor/medium hits. The woods and trails around here have trees right on top of thin trails you can just squeeze a jk through sometimes. Going over anything off camber flings one side of the jeeps top in the opposite direction. The hardtop is never coming off. Maybe the two panels on nice days sure, but I have a bunch of sports cars and two of them are convertibles so if that's what I'm looking for one day, I'll drive one of those. If I was intending to be mostly roads or in the mid west etc, playing in a less confined environment, I might have gone that route....either trailer or J30. Fuel economy loss of around 3mpg or so is acceptable as well. My biggest concern with the weight issue wasn't so much which setup is better or more convenient or anything. It's more about ultimately using this jeep as a JEEP and what issues I might expect to find or look out for with one weighing this much so I can address those areas now. Based on some responses here, and others I've talked with, I think I'm not so worried about incurring any major trail damage or having any unrecoverable handling issues. There are always things that will go wrong, just trying to minimize those events.

 

[Longtallsally]

You said it yourself: you have a lot of money. If I did too, I'd go that route. But I live in the Bay Area and buying a house alone is painful- not to mention, space is at a premium. Add in house renovations, and since my last name isn't Jobs, I have to live a more meager lifestyle. In addition, I can barely keep up with the maintenance on the existing fleet of vehicles...

 

[FastGlass]

You said it yourself: you have a lot of money. If I did too, I'd go that route. But I live in the Bay Area and buying a house alone is painful- not to mention, space is at a premium. Add in house renovations, and since my last name isn't Jobs, I have to live a more meager lifestyle. In addition, I can barely keep up with the maintenance on the existing fleet of vehicles...

Definitely didn't mean to sound like "that". I saved for almost 4 years for this particular build. We're doing ok and stuff, but we have to prioritize too. I just have REALLY F-d up priorities as for the rest, I like the trailer idea...I've seen it done right and wrong, but most setups get a full kitchen and sleeping arraingment off the Jeep itself, and that's all right with me. Just not going to work for me.
Good luck with the house stuff. A nice Home for you and your family is way more important than any vehicle, any day.