Potential Newbie

[etowns]

Ok, so I'm in search of an LJ, and want to do some cross country interstate expeditions across America. I am looking for a good setup that will work for me both on the highway and off the beaten path. VERY new to this, but love adventure. I want a capable vehicle that will allow me to take on any off-road excursions yet be capable on the highway in between these moments.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I am in the west, so short excursions will happen until I get my "wheels" under me, but really like adventure and challenge. I am a car guy, so I don't know truck suspension the way I know cars. Long arm vs short arm? 2.5 with high line vs 4"? high line or not? LCOG? 35's or 33's? Hardtop vs softop? Good brands?, etc....

Hope to be a part of this as I get more into it.

TIA

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Pretty much everything you can think of has been asked before, use the search feature of the forum and it will bring up a lot of useful information.

 

[Hilldweller]

Welcome to the forum.

Here's a good Jeep forum. Use the grain of salt theory too.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/

I'd shoot for a small lift, bumpers, winch, 33s, at least one locker, and good headlights.
Right now I'd suggest either the Trucklite or JW Speaker LEDs; both are plug and play. Get the latest iteration of each though; their previous models aren't as good for your needs.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/headlight-shootout-1166827/

 

[dumprat]

I have an 05 LJ. I had a 2.5" rough country lift and 33" tires,flat flares and loved it. Unless you wanna go rock crawling that is pretty hard to beat.

 

[Bigjerm]

The LJ is a great vehicle... I love mine and of the 3 Wranglers, it is my favorite. I guess I like it so much because it is a bit "rare". I went with the LCOG idea my self. I currently have 2" of suspension lift (cheap pro comp that came with the vehicle) and a 1" body lift with 35's and Metalcloak flares. One day when money flows like water I will do new axles, 37's, all new suspension system, all the good to make a real LCOG build. You can click my build thread in my signature. I need to update it with some mods.

For what you want, the more adventure side of it; I would do a good riding 2-2.5" suspension lift, disconnects, 33's, the Undercover Fab no body lift belly skid, engine skid (for the oil pan), auto locker in the front, winch on a cut down stock bumper and a tire carrier. Then add whatever else expo stuff you want.

EDIT: Check out JeepForum about the OPDA issues the 05 and 06 models have.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

Not sure if you are opposed to new, or maybe the extra set of doors, but I just got back from a trip in my '12 JKU. I've had it about a month now. I averaged 23 mpg with a mix of highway, mountain passes and gravel. Ride and handling is allot better than I had expected. Your first sentence stated "cross country interstate expeditions". In stock form any Wrangler is fine for Forest Service roads and a bit beyond. Our objective is to get away from people and get into those quiet spaces.

Just my $.02, its more about the travel than the farkles.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

To me the LJ was the best Jeep ever made.

 

[Longtallsally]

For what the OP stated as purpose, stock is perfectly fine. I get a bit surprised at how most folks say to immediately get a lift and tires here and elsewhere. Why? Here's my logic: I think even the TJ Rubicon has 32" tires out of the box. Going to 35" effectively give you another 1.5" of ground clearance. And what has to be done for those 35s? Lift, re-gear, and of course the tires at a minimum. You are looking at over $5k in parts alone for just that 1.5".

Now if the goal is to go to 37" tires, it becomes a bit more understandable, but all that for 1.5"? Seems kinda silly to me and more about "look at me" than what capability is required for the goals set out.

Lee Iacocca created the requirement for any vehicle wearing to Jeep badge, it must make it through the Rubicon... STOCK. This has since gone the way of the dodo, but I distinctly recall reading about stock YJs going through in the 4x4 magazines back in the day.

Then the other part is fuel economy. It is DECIMATED once you start going down that road.

My personal philosophy has been to do this stuff in this order: 1) winch, 2) lockers, 3) lift & tires (and re-gear at the same time). The winch will get you out of more than anything. Lockers will allow you to Tread Lightly, and finally if more clearance is required, you go get it. But if the OP is planning on even 50% road and more focused on distance, a lift and tires seems rather inappropriate.

 

[Bigjerm]

I dont think anyone immediately said to do it but it would be part of most people's build. A lot of things go into the build of a Jeep is done the smart way. By yourself a lot? Winch, tree saver, snatch block, and a good first aid kid should be #1

 

[Deleted member 48574]

Longtongsally,

You are spot on in my opinion - My home town there was a saying about 4wd trucks versus 2wd trucks -- that you get 400 feet further into the bog before getting stuck.

I'll add a couple of thoughts that stem from that old saying:

Jeeps* are incredibly capable from the factory. At the end of the day, no matter how many thousands of dollars in mods one spends cash on, you will ALWAYS find a place you just get stuck in or cannot go. There is no jeep in the world that can do EVERYTHING.

(*some -- a Compass is no Wrangler Rubicon, for instance)

That being said, if you have good recovery gear, regardless of your lifts, tires, etc. you can (hopefully) get yourself out of most jams you get into. Then, as you do more adventuring, you find the weaknesses in your platform for your personal type of travel. I heard the other day, a Jeep is like a car made of LEGO - you can make it work for whatever your dreams dictate.

The other piece of the Jeep puzzle is repairability. The further from Stock you go, in many cases, the less repairable your vehicle will get. Note repairable is different from reliable - but reliability also takes a hit.

Thing is, I can go into any one of the thousands of Chrysler dealerships, NAPA stores, Canadian Tire, etc. and get replacement parts for a stock JK. Once I get into mods, that becomes a LOT harder. And if I'm doing a long haul, say over a few thousand miles, I'd hate to have my specialized suspension/brakes/engine parts break and have to wait however-long to get a new one (The more specialized it gets, the more likely it is to be backordered/limited stock etc, based on the law of Murphy -- which is right up there with Gravity it seems!).

The final point is the $$. I can drive a LONG way on the 5K it would cost to lift my jeep higher then it is now. And that really comes down to the adventure experience -- some people really enjoy the prep of a rig which is awesome. Some people enjoy getting out there, even if it's in their Honda Civic Hatchback held together by ducttape and prayer. Some like a mix of both. This hobby should be yours to dictate.

Moral of the story -- Jeeps are pretty awesome as they are. If you get one, figure out what YOU want to do with it and what will give you the most pleasure.

For me, my Jeep is a daily driver/weekend warrior for camping and getting into remote places via Forestry Service Roads and low-level trails. I rarely go with other jeeps, and, with that in mind, I rarely go places that are technical/risk damaging my rig. I do however often have my fiancee and a couple of friends with me and in a 2 door JK, that means storage (rack) was my first priority over a winch. Knowing I do not have a winch simply means there are places I won't even try, but it is on my list -- thing is, it's built for my needs and will expand as those needs expand.
Cheers
Craig

 

[Bigjerm]

I heard the other day, a Jeep is like a car made of LEGO - you can make it work for whatever your dreams dictate.

Probably the best way ever put. To each his own. Weekend warrior/daily driver, expo, rock crawler, full blown buggy, the options are really endless. Its just a matter of what you want, and how much you want to spend!

 

[Deleted member 48574]

Probably the best way ever put. To each his own. Weekend warrior/daily driver, expo, rock crawler, full blown buggy, the options are really endless. Its just a matter of what you want, and how much you want to spend!

Or HAVE to spend, perhaps...sometimes my wallet nerve REALLY twitches in pain with some of the accessories so 'want' is a strong word!

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Longtongsally,

You are spot on in my opinion - My home town there was a saying about 4wd trucks versus 2wd trucks -- that you get 400 feet further into the bog before getting stuck.

I'll add a couple of thoughts that stem from that old saying:

Jeeps* are incredibly capable from the factory. At the end of the day, no matter how many thousands of dollars in mods one spends cash on, you will ALWAYS find a place you just get stuck in or cannot go. There is no jeep in the world that can do EVERYTHING.

(*some -- a Compass is no Wrangler Rubicon, for instance)

That being said, if you have good recovery gear, regardless of your lifts, tires, etc. you can (hopefully) get yourself out of most jams you get into. Then, as you do more adventuring, you find the weaknesses in your platform for your personal type of travel. I heard the other day, a Jeep is like a car made of LEGO - you can make it work for whatever your dreams dictate.

The other piece of the Jeep puzzle is repairability. The further from Stock you go, in many cases, the less repairable your vehicle will get. Note repairable is different from reliable - but reliability also takes a hit.

Thing is, I can go into any one of the thousands of Chrysler dealerships, NAPA stores, Canadian Tire, etc. and get replacement parts for a stock JK. Once I get into mods, that becomes a LOT harder. And if I'm doing a long haul, say over a few thousand miles, I'd hate to have my specialized suspension/brakes/engine parts break and have to wait however-long to get a new one (The more specialized it gets, the more likely it is to be backordered/limited stock etc, based on the law of Murphy -- which is right up there with Gravity it seems!).

The final point is the $$. I can drive a LONG way on the 5K it would cost to lift my jeep higher then it is now. And that really comes down to the adventure experience -- some people really enjoy the prep of a rig which is awesome. Some people enjoy getting out there, even if it's in their Honda Civic Hatchback held together by ducttape and prayer. Some like a mix of both. This hobby should be yours to dictate.

Moral of the story -- Jeeps are pretty awesome as they are. If you get one, figure out what YOU want to do with it and what will give you the most pleasure.

For me, my Jeep is a daily driver/weekend warrior for camping and getting into remote places via Forestry Service Roads and low-level trails. I rarely go with other jeeps, and, with that in mind, I rarely go places that are technical/risk damaging my rig. I do however often have my fiancee and a couple of friends with me and in a 2 door JK, that means storage (rack) was my first priority over a winch. Knowing I do not have a winch simply means there are places I won't even try, but it is on my list -- thing is, it's built for my needs and will expand as those needs expand.
Cheers
Craig

Actually, most aftermarket suspension wear items are available over the counter at parts stores. I can walk into any Napa and buy replacement tie rod ends, control arm bushings, track bar bushings, etc. And my lifted Jeeps are no more difficult to repair than a stock one, the parts all function the same, about the only difficult part is finding a floor jack to get it high enough off the ground safely.

But reliability does slightly decrease, not much of an issue with 33's and smaller but 35's and larger it becomes a concern on stock axles.

 

[Deleted member 48574]

Good to know, Black_ZJ, and a good point -- wear items are fairly easy to come by for a lot of quality aftermarket products. But, I stand by the critical part idea - if you suffer from catastrophic failure (i.e. not just a wear part) on a longer trip, the less common your vehicle is the harder it will be to fix. The same issue on a stock part just by the very nature of it being far more common shouldn't be as hard to come by.

As I understand it, this same principle is why you don't see a lot of Wranglers doing Overlands in Europe or Australia (though their numbers are increasing) -- the Land Cruisers and Rovers are far more common, and the parts/dealer network is there, ergo parts are easier to come by.

That being said, and as I said this in the original post, it really does depend what you plan to do with the vehicle. If you already know you want to tackle some extremely technical terrain or, lets say, are a veteran to off roading and know the types of trails you want to hit up, then you can take your brand new JK with 12 miles on the odometer and throw a lift into it and so on.

But, if you are brand new to the game, and this is your first rig, it's a good idea in my opinion to take it out and play around to find out what you are interested in doing with it before investing money in lifts and such. Then you can grow your vehicle in accordance to your interests, rather then sinking a lot of money into the wrong direction.

Cheers
Craig