Ideas, suggestions, do/dont's for an overlanding TJ

[greatplns]

Hi to everyone, first post here, finally signed up after reading the forums for some time.

What I would appreciate as a new to overlanding is some tips and advice for do/dont's for a reliable, efficient ride. I'll list what I have already done, what I'm thinking of doing, and it would be great to get some input from some experienced folks on this site.

First the goals:
Overland the continental divide trail, the TAT, and just general exploring, primarily in the West.
Need reliability, efficiency and relative comfort if I want the wife to come along (and I do).

What I have:
2005 Jeep TJ Rubicon 6 speed manual trans with the following mods:
AEV Brute conversion
6" Rubicon Express long arm lift with Fox 2.0 shocks
Sway bar disconnect
35/12.5/17LT Cooper Discoverer on 17" JK wheels
Warn Power Plant winch (9.5) up front (Air compressor built in)
Badlands 12k winch in the back
Custom made rear bumper w/spare tire carrier
Custom made rock sliders

After going to several ORV parks in the area, the current weakness I see now are:
When crawling along the power steering is very inadequate. Any advice here would be appreciated. considering:
-Upgraded power steering pump?
-ideally I'd like hydraulic assist, but don't know anything about it. Reliable enough for road driving and overlanding? I'm not a rock crawler guy, unless the rocks are part of the trails.

Brakes seem to be very inadequate as well. Considering:
-Big brake kit including master (should be able to go up to 17" with my current setup)

My wheel/tire setup is less than ideal. It had the 17" JK wheels on it when I bought it. I like the way it looks, but don't like that I have to run spacers to convert the 5 X 4.5 to 5 X 5.
It had 1.25" spacers/adapters when I bought it, but when I put the 35's on, it rubs the lang arm kit at full turns, so I put 2" spacers/adapters on to cure that (Which it almost did, but not quite) My options as I see them are:
-17" wheels in the TJ pattern with enough offset to allow full turns
-17" JK wheels with more offset to eliminate the larger spacer/adapter
-Leave them alone and live with it.
Some considerations are:
-The custom rear bumper/spare tire carrier is set up to haul a JK wheel, not a TJ, so I'd have to do some modifications there.
-I'm looking into getting an Off Road trailer, so I'd like the bolt patterns to match.

Engine, Runs good but not enough power for the TJ, let alone pulling a trailer. Does fine every where except at highway speeds. 6th gear is pretty much un useable.
Options here:
-Regear. Apparently rubicon axles can go to 5.13. I'm currently running stock 4.10s
-My personal least favorite option. At these ORV parks I'm already running around in 4Lo in 4th,5th, sometimes 6th gear. Don't really want to go lower.
-Supercharger, probably Sprintex as it has it's own oil reservoir making installation much simpler
-Probably 2nd least favorite. Looking for reliability.
-V8 Conversion. Probably a 5.3 swap. Don't need LS power, so try to keep it as simple as is effective.
-Unable to keep 6 speed. Would be forced to a 5 speed (probably 4500) or automatic (probably 4L60E)

My travels are a year or two away, so I have time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'll try to figure out how to post up some pictures soon.

 

[87Warrior]

What are your goals for the Jeep? Based on your current and desired modification list, 'overland travel' does not come to mind but running trails certainly does. The closer to stock you can keep the Jeep, the more reliable and efficient it will be. Remember, keep it simple. My wife and I have spent weeks on end traveling around Colorado in my TJ, camping along the way without a trailer. I have put 130k miles on the TJ and feel like it know it pretty well. This is the extent of my overland use with my TJ.

My first thoughts when I started reading this thread were, don't lift it high and avoid 35's You may want to consider lowering it if you plan to spend a lot of time on the highway (which I assume you will, based on your location). A smaller TJ is just easier and more relaxing to drive for 12+ hours on the highway. 3" lift springs and a 1" body lift will clear 35's without a problem if you plan to stay with the big tires.

- I have found the biggest weakness in my TJ has been the rear axle brackets, primarily the passenger side upper control arm and the driver side upper control arm/track bar bracket. The first one broke when running 33's and the second one broke running 35's. Let me say, it is real exciting when limping a TJ to the closest town to find a welder without the rear trackbar doing anything.

- 5.13's and 35" tires are not a good combination for highway driving. I have lived with that combo for the last 55k miles. My highway fuel economy tanked but on the flip side, city and trail fuel economy improved. Your 6 speed manual is also already geared lower than my 5 speed.

- Try to keep the weight in check. It is amazing how much the weight of bumpers, armor, a cage, wheels, and gear add to a little Jeep. They handle and drive so much better without the extra weight.

I have had my Rubi since 2003 and have built it from a 100% stock Jeep to the rig it is now with 35's. I must admit, I liked it best mostly stock followed closely by the time frame it had 33's. The more you modify it, the harder it will be to get away from the snowball effect of repairs and maintenance.

 

[greatplns]

Yeah, I had the same thoughts. Maybe lowering it and 33's is an option. I will say that while it was still a TJ, the 6" lift and 35's was a handful. Converting it to a Brute and extending the wheelbase helped ALOT. In my opinion, it rides and drives better now than it ever did as a stock TJ. My wife and I took it down the Kansas Rocks ORV park in SE Kansas this past weekend. We drove it down there (225 miles) drove it all around the park and drove it home. Was actually quite comfortable, except for the lack of performance on the highway, it did well.

The weight issue is the reason for the trailer. Unhook the weight and explore a little, instead of putting all the weight on the Jeep.

Thanks for the input.

 

[piratenation90]

Hi to everyone, first post here, finally signed up after reading the forums for some time.

What I would appreciate as a new to overlanding is some tips and advice for do/dont's for a reliable, efficient ride. I'll list what I have already done, what I'm thinking of doing, and it would be great to get some input from some experienced folks on this site.

First the goals:
Overland the continental divide trail, the TAT, and just general exploring, primarily in the West.
Need reliability, efficiency and relative comfort if I want the wife to come along (and I do).

What I have:
2005 Jeep TJ Rubicon 6 speed manual trans with the following mods:
AEV Brute conversion
6" Rubicon Express long arm lift with Fox 2.0 shocks
Sway bar disconnect
35/12.5/17LT Cooper Discoverer on 17" JK wheels
Warn Power Plant winch (9.5) up front (Air compressor built in)
Badlands 12k winch in the back
Custom made rear bumper w/spare tire carrier
Custom made rock sliders

After going to several ORV parks in the area, the current weakness I see now are:
When crawling along the power steering is very inadequate. Any advice here would be appreciated. considering:
-Upgraded power steering pump?
-ideally I'd like hydraulic assist, but don't know anything about it. Reliable enough for road driving and overlanding? I'm not a rock crawler guy, unless the rocks are part of the trails.

Brakes seem to be very inadequate as well. Considering:
-Big brake kit including master (should be able to go up to 17" with my current setup)

My wheel/tire setup is less than ideal. It had the 17" JK wheels on it when I bought it. I like the way it looks, but don't like that I have to run spacers to convert the 5 X 4.5 to 5 X 5.
It had 1.25" spacers/adapters when I bought it, but when I put the 35's on, it rubs the lang arm kit at full turns, so I put 2" spacers/adapters on to cure that (Which it almost did, but not quite) My options as I see them are:
-17" wheels in the TJ pattern with enough offset to allow full turns
-17" JK wheels with more offset to eliminate the larger spacer/adapter
-Leave them alone and live with it.
Some considerations are:
-The custom rear bumper/spare tire carrier is set up to haul a JK wheel, not a TJ, so I'd have to do some modifications there.
-I'm looking into getting an Off Road trailer, so I'd like the bolt patterns to match.

Engine, Runs good but not enough power for the TJ, let alone pulling a trailer. Does fine every where except at highway speeds. 6th gear is pretty much un useable.
Options here:
-Regear. Apparently rubicon axles can go to 5.13. I'm currently running stock 4.10s
-My personal least favorite option. At these ORV parks I'm already running around in 4Lo in 4th,5th, sometimes 6th gear. Don't really want to go lower.
-Supercharger, probably Sprintex as it has it's own oil reservoir making installation much simpler
-Probably 2nd least favorite. Looking for reliability.
-V8 Conversion. Probably a 5.3 swap. Don't need LS power, so try to keep it as simple as is effective.
-Unable to keep 6 speed. Would be forced to a 5 speed (probably 4500) or automatic (probably 4L60E)

My travels are a year or two away, so I have time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'll try to figure out how to post up some pictures soon.

Here are a couple of thoughts from me:
1) Gearing: I am currently running 5.13 gears, tallest I can go with a front Dana 30, in my 2006 LJ. I also tow a 800lb off-road trailer w/a roof top tent. For me the jeep does fine at highway speeds with a 4 speed auto tranny. Since you have front and rear Dana 44's you could go with 5.38's and be fine even with the added weight of the extra frame and bed.

2) Trailer: Unless you want to get a tear drop style trailer to pull you don't need a trailer. Get a roof top and have a custom bed cage made for the Brute, it has been done before. Your bed is 67" end to end, a 55" wide rtt would fit on it perfectly. 55" wide is a good size the closed dimension would be 55" by 48" you could have it open to either side or towards the back of the bed like the tailgate and have a covered area. When open the sleeping area of the rtt would be 55" by 96". I have a 55" tent on my trailer and its a good size for me dog and I but when my wife comes along it gets cramped. I would suggest going up a size, most companies jump from 55" wide to 72" wide which might hit your tire carrier. There is one company that makes a 65" wide tent that would fit perfectly over the bed. https://www.geoadventuregear.com/st...6FBC-6D42-46E2-84FD-927642872D48?category=all. What coils are you currently running in the rear?

 

[greatplns]

Trying to post photos from photobucket and I get an error that I'm not allowed to post links???? Is this right or am I doing something wrong? Sorry.

 

[SilicaRich]

Being that you are on 35" tires, have you upgraded your steering and brakes? I think fuel range is going to be a big factor for you too. Besides an engine swap, you might consider some can mounts to fit 2 or 3 5L Nato cans.

If you plan to stick a NV4500 in let me know how you get it to pair up to your Rubi T-case. I have future plans to swap in an NV4500

 

[Zeep]

Brake upgrades from Vanco, or Black Magic Brakes can supply what your looking for. Your master already has enough pressure, according to BMB. Proper gearing will help with lost power issue. Late model Tj's suffer from Mercedes sourced steering box, but I believe their is a hydro assist available. Check other forums for steering upgrades.
Light weight armor is always a good idea.

 

[SilicaRich]

Check other forums for steering upgrades.

Currie HD Steering Kit

 

[PhulesAU]

There's little 35" will get you that can't be done on 33s, that can't be overcome with skill. DUMP all of the extra weight especially the rear winch. gears are the solution to your power issue and your steering problem is probably being compounded by over heating of steering fluid.

 

[BulldoginaJeepwithaColt]

Engine Power - I chose to drop an ATK stroker into my 98 TJ. It's being installed as we speak, I'm hoping for a dramatic boost in performance over my stocker. I'll know more first hand next week.

Steering - search for info on the Durango steering box mod, it's relatively inexpensive to do and should fix all your problems.

Also, the Currie Correctlyinc HD steering is worth every penny and I haven't had death wobble since installation 6 years ago.

Fuel range - increase your range with a Titan spare tire tank, currently on sale at their website or go cheaper with some decent jerry cans.

I'm travelling down this same road with my Wrangler.

Also, when it comes time to replace your fuel pump, get a Bosch and do it right. I replaced mine 3 times before I learned about the Bosch for my 4th!

Upgrade your fuel tank skid with something beefier than stock.

Decent bumpers, rock rails and swing away spare tire carrier/rear bumper set-up certain of wouldn't hurt. I have the ARB set-up a d although salty, I am completely satisifed.










Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Kabob1865]

I'd start with a re-gear and vanco brakes. Don't go crazy with the gear ratio if you need to eat up a lot of highway to get out of Kansas. I have an LJ on 285/75r16 KO2s with a 6 speed in Oklahoma. I re-geared to 4.56 with Detroit tru-tracs. 70 mph at 3000 rpm is about all I do. I think it's geared too low for highway travel, but it doesn't seem to care when I have the trailer hooked up to it. Still pulls hard at 70 and I can drop down to 5th and pass people on the interstate. I have thought about going up to 35s to get my RPMs down a little on the highway. If I were you, I would consider 4.56 or 4.88 since you have the 6-speed.

I drove through a Prius last week because I couldn't stop in time so I just ordered the Vanco 16" kit. My Jeep wasn't damaged thanks to all the steel, but I would have stopped if it weren't so heavy. I had the black magic pads and centric rotors, but it wasn't enough. Since AEV quit making Brute parts you would be screwed if you couldn't stop in time.

 

[bfr]

You are overbuilt for overlanding already. (Not that there is anything wrong with that)
I did 8500+ miles in one month last summer in my TJ towing my trailer (1800lbs fully loaded) and was very pleased with how everything worked.
My TJ has...
Stock engine (4.0) and transmission (nv3550)
OME LJ heavy springs
Savvy Under Armor
33" tires
4.88:1 gear ratio
108" (15" more than a TJ & 9" less than a brute) wheelbase


1. Regear, it is worth it.

2. If you stay on 35"s (I would drop to a 2.5-3" spring& 33"s) I would definitely go vanco/ black magic.

3. Seriously, regear. With that transmission I would say 4.88 for 35"/4.56 for 33"

4. Visit
https://sites.google.com/site/gpskevin/adventurerides/great-continental-divide-ride
I used this guy's maps/tracks for the western divide and they are very good.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/
I bought/ carried a full set of their maps as well

5. Eat breakfast in Polebridge, MT.

6. Regear.

If my jeep were a brute (need for a rear seat is the only reason it isn't) I wouldn't even consider a trailer. A bedslide with multiple water/dust proof containers under a RTT mounted so that its top is inline with the top of the cab when stowed would be ideal.

 

[bfr]

Also, If you were building for the sole purpose of running the continental divide the only reason to choose a tire larger than 31" would be cosmetic. With the weather I had in late June /early July I could have driven my taco on all season tires without issue., ....BUT... there were some places (mainly in New Mexico) where it was clear a little rain would require good tires & self recovery gear.

 

[LJRockstar]

Back in '07 I ran a 20,000 mile trip in an '06 LJ Rubicon. It was on 35" Mud grapplers with 4.88's and an Nth Degree 6" long arm suspension. I had thought about 5.38's but i think drive shaft RPM's would be real close to being dangerous at 70 MPH. I was pulling an M416 on matching wheels and tires with RTT and a whole lot of spare parts and gear. It was a HEAVY combo but it certainly faired well gobbling up the highway miles to get to the good stuff. After the first week I started wearing earplugs to kill the tire noise, but thats what you get for running big *** mud tires at highway speeds. During the trip I ended up swapping out the currie steering arrangement for an ORO U-turn and swapped the coils for ORO's full AiRock system. That made ALL the difference! I was able to run the highway at around 2-3" of lift and when arriving at a trail head I would bump it back up to the 5-6" range. The system has an active anti roll system that kicks in over 25 MPH. It allows you to take on ramps like you would in a stocker. Really confidence inspiring ride characteristics. I had minimal breakage along the way. The biggest failure was I grenaded the rear rubi locker on the last leg of the white rim road in Canyonlands NP. Had to do the last 30 miles or so in "front wheel drive" to get back to Moab proper. A local shop, M40-speed I think was the name, had a Detroit on the shelf, so in it went... I ran that till I sold the rig in 2011. IMO the only potential down side to running a Long Arm setup is it might be difficult to get parts if something goes really wrong in a far away place. But a good system is built like a tank so the odds of something like that happening are pretty low. Otherwise, the on road ride is far superior to short arms and more than 2-3" of lift.

It sounds like you have a pretty sweet rig, I'd love to see some pics! Good luck with the build!

 

[bfr]

wearing earplugs to kill the tire noise!

This