Overland Ready

[robert j. yates]

I first showed up here many months ago right when I was begining a build that would transform my Jeep from rockcrawler trailer queen to overland adventure rig. Rockcrawling was getting boring and the yaa-hoo contingent that is the norm on the dry lake bed a Johnson Valley was simply getting to much for me. My wife and I prefer solitude so we decided to procure a trailer and begin a build that would allow us to explore the desert southwest either solo or with a like minded group of folks. My Jeep was already well modified from a strength point of view being that it had to survive the hammers. It has over 20 trips out there along with 2 over the Rubicon, 1 over the Dusy Ershim, and several more in the Table Mesa area of Arizona. What I needed to do was clean up a few up a loose ends, strengthen a few things, change some shock valving and add more power if I was going to be pulling a trailer. Then I had to decide on a trailer.

Anyways....this is kind of my reintroduction to you folks and I hope to now see some of you out on the trails. We are currently in the planning stage for 2 trips....the Mojave Rd from Laughlin to Afton Canyon and a trip into Tuweap from St. George Utah. Anyways...on to the specs.....

1998 Jeep TJ Wrangler and 2007 Horizon E Trailer

Trailer
1400lb GVW
20gal water capacity
3 gallon propane
10 gallon fuel
EZ-Awn 1800 Tent
Engle 45qt fridge freezer on slide
Fiamma Awning
Cook Partner slide out stove
Loc N Roc articulating hitch
Dual Deka Marine batteries with manager and smart charger
4 12v receptacles mounted on trailer
Electric trailer brakes
Aloca 15x8 forged Classic 1 rims w/ Champion C3 beadlock conversion
35x12.50 MTR tires

Jeep
Built 4.0 including Hesco aluiminum head, cam, roller rocker kit, late model manifold swap, Thorley Header....122whp stock and 159whp modified
32RH automatic transmission with separate dual cooler circuit, deep pan, relocated vent
NP231 with Teralo 4:1 conversion, AA HD SYE kit
JE Reel driveshafts
TXT Alumiflex suspension
Edelbrock IAS Extreme Remote shocks
Currie rock ribz
Warrior Corners
ACF gas tank skid
fabricated aluminum belly skid
OR Fab floor mount front sport cage with Rockhard rear crossbar
Warn 9.5XP with Materpull 3/8th line
HP30 front axle with Warn hub conversion chromo axles 4:56 with ARB locker
Stock D44 with Alloy USA chromo axles 4:56 with ARB locker
rear disk conversion from a Grand Cherokee
Vanco Raptor front brake upgrade
Prodigy Trailer Brake controller
hydroboost
Tommy Lee Steering pump and high output box, remote resevoir and cooler
Dual Odyssey PC1200 batteries with Kodiac Industries tray and manager
RH Specialties onboard heat exchanger for portable hot water shower
15x8 Alcoa forged Classic 1 rims with Champion C3 beadlock conversion
35x12.50 MTR's
2 5gal CO2 tanks and 1 ARB on-board compressor
H4 headlight conversion with IPF optics
CB
CD stereo
Mopar sailcloth top
Bestop soft doors, safari bikini and cab tonneau and windbreaker

 

[Jeff H]

Welcome back, Robert!

It was one of your posts on JU that led me to this site. So, thanks!

 

[DakarTJ]

Nice to see you over here Robert. I have also gotten away from the big rock stuff. I never did it as much as you, but I do find this kind of wheeling more to my wife’s and my liking. Its fun to be out in the middle of nowhere by your self, or with a group that is not all about pounding the h@ll out of my Jeep.

 

[BigAl]

Welcome back, Robert!

It was one of your posts on JU that led me to this site. So, thanks!

I thought I recognized that screen name but couldn't remember from where. I used to post on JU a lot. Glad to have you here. I like the trailer.

 

[robert j. yates]

Thanx guys...and yea, I'm done with the big chest thumping world of rock crawling. I never really bought the Jeep for that in the first place...just kinda got caught up in the adrenaline rush of things. Thats all kind of old now and with a new wife, we are more interested in being together out in the wilderness and away for the idiots.

We already did one trip this summer in one of Marios' rentals as mine wasn't built yet. We travelled up the 395 and over the Tioga pass and spent a few days in Yosemite. We then went backout the same way and spent a few more days in the Devils Postpile area outside of Mammoth. The fishing kinda sucked but the hiking was great. So I guess we already have a bit of leg up on the curve for using the trailer.

No. 1...I am glad I got the bigger tent
No. 2...I am glad I built the onboard shower. If momma isn't happy..ain't nobody happy LOL.
No. 3...I am glad I built the motor...the Horizon is heavy and my 3 speed auto isn't the most efficient.

Now I need to ddecide if I want to swap a AW4 into the Jeep and run 4:88's or even 5:13's with a Rubicon front D44 or else leave it be. I average around 10mpg with the trailer so I might just look into a larger tank from Genrite and cal lit good.

 

[ox4mag]

Welcome back and congrats on such a cool setup!!! :clapsmile

 

[svaras]

I first showed up here many months ago right when I was begining a build that would transform my Jeep from rockcrawler trailer queen to overland adventure rig. Rockcrawling was getting boring and the yaa-hoo contingent that is the norm on the dry lake bed a Johnson Valley was simply getting to much for me. My wife and I prefer solitude so we decided to procure a trailer and begin a build that would allow us to explore the desert southwest either solo or with a like minded group of folks. My Jeep was already well modified from a strength point of view being that it had to survive the hammers. It has over 20 trips out there along with 2 over the Rubicon, 1 over the Dusy Ershim, and several more in the Table Mesa area of Arizona. What I needed to do was clean up a few up a loose ends, strengthen a few things, change some shock valving and add more power if I was going to be pulling a trailer. Then I had to decide on a trailer.

Anyways....this is kind of my reintroduction to you folks and I hope to now see some of you out on the trails. We are currently in the planning stage for 2 trips....the Mojave Rd from Laughlin to Afton Canyon and a trip into Tuweap from St. George Utah. Anyways...on to the specs.....

Wow.....this sounds exactly as my history....TJ builted for rockcrawling, got tired about rocks, and now trailer in the back for expeditions.
You can check my rig / trailer in the "Completed Expedition" forum @ CHILEAN north coast.
Congratulation nice rig & trailer.

 

[datrupr]

Welcome to ExPo!!! Very nice TJ and trailer set up you have.

 

[Alex]

It's good to hear from you again, Robert!

How is the conversion from trailer queen to trailer tug... any regrets?

 

[robert j. yates]

It's good to hear from you again, Robert!

How is the conversion from trailer queen to trailer tug... any regrets?

Thanx guys.

Alex....no real regrets just dealing with Jeeps being Jeeps is all.

My Horizon came out a bit heavy which has caused a bit of a cantilever effect on my suspension so I need to deal with that. I am looking at moving my spare to the Horizon with a Hitchgate as well as relocating the battery bank into the main box next to the Engle.

The 3 speed with 4:56 gears in the axles and 35's is also a bit of an issue as gas milage pretty much sucks. I'll probably leave that alone though as the Horizon does allow me to carry 10gallons of fuel.

The other issue is power and frankly, after the engine build, other than putting a supercharger on it or scrapping the motor completely and dropping in a V8 I can't do much more.

I can tell you that I am basically at the point where I don't want to spend anymore money LOL.

 

[Alex]

I can tell you that I am basically at the point where I don't want to spend anymore money LOL.

I understand completely... a rig built for the rocks isn't quite as appropriate for driving the long, bumpy dirt roads between you and solitude, where your biggest obstacles are going to be mud, deep water or a broken down rig.

I can't afford anything to replace my Cherokee now but I am keeping my eyes open for the inevitable day comes when it is no longer trustworthy for solo trips to BFE.

What kind of truck were you towing your TJ with? Have you ever considered hooking the Horizon trailer to that? Pretty much any 4x4 truck would probably do just fine for 95% of the places you want to go now.

 

[DaJudge]

The 3 speed with 4:56 gears in the axles and 35's

I am running 4:56 with 33s and an auto. I couldn't imagine it with 35s. What kind of mileage are you getting?

Nice setup by the way!

 

[robert j. yates]

I understand completely... a rig built for the rocks isn't quite as appropriate for driving the long, bumpy dirt roads between you and solitude, where your biggest obstacles are going to be mud, deep water or a broken down rig.

I can't afford anything to replace my Cherokee now but I am keeping my eyes open for the inevitable day comes when it is no longer trustworthy for solo trips to BFE.

What kind of truck were you towing your TJ with? Have you ever considered hooking the Horizon trailer to that? Pretty much any 4x4 truck would probably do just fine for 95% of the places you want to go now.

Well to be fair Alex...the rig actually runs OK on the road...I have the suspension pretty well dialed in and its quite stable with the Horizon attached to it wigth a nice forgiving ride. I do have a bit of a road feel issue but thats not a big deal given that I am using some seriously modifed steering componants from Tommy Lee. Allthe parts are stength improvements and frankly, most of the mechanicals have less than 20-30K on them due to my many rounds of upgrades. My tow rig for the Jeep *was* an 86 3/4 ton Suburban 4x4....great truck but waaaay way to much if you get my drift.

Judge....4:56 and 35" tires bring me back to stock so its not a major issue. The Jeep never really did better than 15mpg when new on the 30" tires and right now I average 12-14 with the 35's. The real issue is when towing the Horizon wherein it drops to 8-11mpg. That doesn't provide for much range with a 19gallon tank. I'd like an overdrive automatic transmission but again, thats more money to swap it in. I might just swap in a Genrite Enduro for the 24 gallon capacity and call it good.

 

[svaras]

My 2001 TJ with stock 32RH (3 speed), Rubicon D44´s (4,10) & 35", made an average of 10,5 MPG towing the trailer.

 

[Lawrence]

Robert,

I don’t think that dropping a V8 would be the answer as far as mpg. I did the Mojave trail from Laughlin to Barstow last November, and a guy in the group had a Hemi in his TJ. He was running scary low on fuel, and had to use his cans to refuel. Although every square inch was packed, he wasn’t pulling a trailer. On the other hand, a V8 would be really nice power-wise, especially if you hit the mountains frequently.

Based on my 4-speed auto, I think an AW4 is pretty much the same thing. It will definitely help your mpg on the freeway to get to the trail head, but once on the trail, I don’t see a real big advantage. Keeping your current tranny will suck for paved roads mpg, but there are gas stations pretty much on everywhere. Where gas consumption really matters is when you are in the middle of nowhere, and you will most likely never be in OD, making the cost factor of a swap not justifiable IMO.

There are a few things I have to live with when pulling my trailer. Even with my 4-speed auto and running 2WD all the way through, I had to use a gas can to refuel through the Mojave Trail, and my trailer is lighter than yours. Going up the mountains is not the best in a Jeep on 35s, much less with the trailer hooked up. It really sucks being in 2nd gear all the way up, but there is no way around that. I think that you should consider the Genright Enduro tank and call it the day. It will make a big impact on your range at a “fraction” of the cost. Just my $0.02.