Well, I went wheeling/camping this past weekend in France, and I have a few things to add.
I destroyed my front fenders because I didnt trim enough. Before I went, I trimmed a little, and checked it by flexing as much as I thought it would flex, and I thought I had plenty of room. (I also didnt want to trim if I didnt have to). It was no where near enough. Basically, the lower rear portion of both fenders is rolled into the fenderwell area. The longarm set-up flex's ridiculously well, and my new TruXus tire lugs made mince meat out of my fenders. I didnt hear it, nor feel it, just happened to see when we got out of the Jeep. I am fairly sure I can straighten it out to be pretty decent, but I will definitely be needing to do some more trimming.
The problem with this is that I need to run a flare of some sort, and the stockers arent going to cut it (especially now that the metal insides are completely mangled). The Bushwackers would be IDEAL in terms of plenty of clearance, and keeping my Jeep legal by covering my tires. I know they are not the best in terms of toughness, but I will have to take my chances. So, I am going to order a set soon, plus I think they look pretty cool....
I forgot my camera on the trip, but have a couple that a friend took, and will post them below. I will post the fender carnage tomorrow when it is daylight out.
Other than needing a re-gear and a locker for the front, I was impressed with the Jeep. It was WAY muddy this weekend, and I got stuck a few times (along with everyone else) because of it, but overall it did very well.
On another note, my Camp Kitchen freekin ROCKS! It was a huge hit and and even bigger success. I got a Coleman two burner "perfect flow" stove just before the trip, and made some of the best camp food that we have ever had. Everyone, especially the European's were very impressed with it, and I think the kitchen had the most photo-ops of the entire trip. I have to add to the kitchen:
1. Lantern pole on one of the corners.
2. LED lights under the overhang above the stove
3. A clip of some sort to hold a trash bag on the side
4. Cut a hole in the side so my gas regulator/pipe for the stove will work better.
I am going to be switching to a bulk propane tank next week, and will have to set-up a tree and/or manifold that will allow me to hook up several things at once, as well as run the tent heater at night without having to change the small bottle halfway through the night.
Did I mention it was muddy? The wife was happy though....
pretty happy myself.
This was pretty cool. It was a recovery I did on a little Suzuki Sami that had dropped its front end into a HUGE hole created by two Uni-Mogs earlier that day. The Sami rolled over on its side and its front, so I winched it back onto 4 wheels, and pull him back out of the hole. He wasnt hurt, and wheeled the rest of the night.
This event was a "night driving" event, and was pretty cool to see all the rigs using the auxillary lighting. It made the offroad place a LOT more challenging than in the daytime, but the big HID's provided plenty of light and then some.
Thanks for all the compliments and suggestions guys!
~James
