I thought i would post up some of my thoughts and experiences from my cross country road trip to the Rubicon Trail from North Carolina. How the truck performed, must do maintenance, and must have mods. Again, these are just my thoughts from my experience; so anyone who wants to argue something else is better, that's their opinion.
First off gearing: My truck has a supercharger installed so i should state that. In my experience with speed limits averaging around 75mph through Kansas all the way out to Lake Tahoe, there is no way that i would want higher diff gears. I was running with the cruise control on at between 78-80mph for hours and hours. The truck was averaging 2600 2700 RPM and it felt right. I would not want to turn higher RPMs for that long of a drive. I found the higher RPM i turned, the higher my water temps would go. On the trail, i really wished that i had the Marlin T-case crawler gears. Those would have been nice in Moab and in the Rubicon trails. Especially the Rubicon. Bottom line, my opinion is that stock gearing is just right for high speed highways.... with the fact that i had a blower. I think the combination of the stock gears and the blower were perfect.
Lockers: A rear locker is a must! I have a aussie in the rear and a ARB air locker up front. I only used the front locker 3 times the entire rubicon. If you have a good spotter and good tires, a rear locker will get you through "most" of the trails. However, there were a few spots that i did have to use the front locker. I was glad i had it. If i needed to, i could have winched onto the truck in front to get up. So, a rear locker is a must, front locker is VERY nice to have. If you do not have a front locker you should have a winch. I will say that i ALWAYS am glad that i have a winch.
Engine Monitoring System: I was almost obsessed with keeping up with water temps, charging voltage, intake temps. I have a ultra gauge that is installed. No issues arose but i was sure glad i had the ability to keep an eye on them as we climbed mountain passes and drove across hot deserts for hours. My engine temps averaged between 186 up to 192 while highway cruising at 75mph and the highest temp i saw was climbing a long pass going around south of lake tahoe where my water temp went up to 209.
Armor: This is kind of a no brainer, but i will talk about it. For the rubicon, sliders and a rear bumper are a must. I'm sure there are going to be folks who say they can wheel without sliders and i even rode behind an 80 exiting the rubicon that didn't have sliders, but i can assure you that you will want them. I used mine regularly as well as the rear bumper. I hit on my rear bumper a ton and was VERY glad i had it. I only hit on my IPOR skid one small time and hit the rear control arm mounts a few times, i was glad i had them, but i must say, rear bumper and sliders are a must.
Lift: I was probably one of the smallest lift trucks out htere. I was running an old worn out 2.5inch OME medium lift and with all the gear in the truck i was probably looking at 1 inch of lift
I was surprised at how many folks had the slee 6 inch lift. That seemed to be the lift of choice out there. My opinion is that i did just fine with my small lift. I am planning on going to the 4inch lift (if frankie still had the 3.5 inch i would do that), but you can run the rubicon and Moab with a medium lift. You don't need to be a tree house to get across the rocks. Actually there were a few times that i thought the 6 inch lift was too tall and some of the trucks "looked" tippy.
Truck Maintenance: If you have an oil leak, coolant leak or a driveshaft that is buzzing, it will worry you to death. When you are on a 12 hour desert drive in the middle of nowhere, every buzz or vibration get's your mind racing. I felt a buzz for a while and just assumed it was typical front driveline buzz from the front driveshaft not being happy because of caster. I'm sure that had something to do with it, but i ended up having a toasted front DS U-joint that i had to repair in a campground. I am so glad that i had baselined my rig with all the fluids and checked it for leaks. It's real comforting to crawl under your truck and see everything dry just before you get further out in the middle of nowhere. Also, you don't want to be "that guy" that is leaving a trail of oil down the middle of the trail when our whole sport is being examined with a microscope by environmentalist who are just looking for a reason to stop the fun. Also, if you do develop a leak, you can easily pinpoint where it's coming from if you don't have 6 of them that have been leaking for months. Make sure you fluids are new and clean, brake pads are up to snuff, all u-joints have been greased and all suspension bolts and knuckle bolts have been tightened. When i got to the trail head of the rubicon i had a front control arm bolt that had almost come completely out!! I now put blue loctite on any suspension bolts that i remove and replace.
Personal Hygiene: This is something that i honestly did not pay any attention to and kind of regretted it. Here in the east if you are in the woods and you need to do your business, you hunt out a private spot, dig a hole, do your thing, cover hole, walk away. That's not the case out west. First off, there are not a lot of private places. In the desert and even out on the slabs at the rubicon you can see forever! You also can't just dig a hole because it's so Arid that there's not enough rain and humidity to decompose your business. Hard to find a spot to hide, hard to lean against a tree and crap in a bag
So, a portable toilet that can handle a WAG bag and a small tent to use for privacy is nice. The tent isn't necessary but the portable toilet is.
Fridge: Yea, i realized after two weeks on the road that this is a must. I was so glad i had one and it worked great. The guys with the coolers even trying to keep them packed with dry ice eventually were left with water in the cooler and soggy food. I really think if you are planning an expedition to the rubicon or Moab, especially if you are driving across the country to get there, you need a fridge.
RTT: I decided that i wanted to keep the weight off the roof and i wanted to use my sunroof during the drive so i left the roof top tent and roof rack at home. I'm glad i did. Yes, it would have been comfortable at camp to have it, but i slept in the back of the truck without any problem. Cruising on the highway at almost 80 MPH makes you reconsider anything on your roof. My RTT that folds out and is a huge brick on the roof would have made the highway ride miserable in my opinion. If i were to do this trip again and wanted a RTT the ONLY one i would chose would be the maggiolina versions which are slim and aerodynamic. I do think that you can easily wheel the rubicon with a RTT, but the 4 day drive out and back with the RTT is another question.
Water: bring a lot! It's really dry out west and you will drink twice the water that you think you will drink. I always found myself with a bottle of water in my hand. We almost ran out and literally were drinking our last bottle of water as we exited the rubicon.
Heat Insulation: I learned first hand that the transmission tunnel especially on the PS will get HOT! It got real hot after 6 or 12 hours of driving. Hot enough to melt chap stick, any candy bars or chewing gum that were in the center console and even enough to throw my iphone into the high temp shut down mode a few times as it rested on the center console. So, i have ordered up some heat insulation to cover the transmission tunnel and hope that helps hold the temps down.
That's about all i can think of right now. I can add more later.
I averaged 13.4 mpg on the way out and 13.9mpg on the way back. I think that was due to the strong head wind that i experienced on the way out and it turned out to be a mostly tail wind on the way back.
I drove a total of: 5,336.4 miles!!!!
First off gearing: My truck has a supercharger installed so i should state that. In my experience with speed limits averaging around 75mph through Kansas all the way out to Lake Tahoe, there is no way that i would want higher diff gears. I was running with the cruise control on at between 78-80mph for hours and hours. The truck was averaging 2600 2700 RPM and it felt right. I would not want to turn higher RPMs for that long of a drive. I found the higher RPM i turned, the higher my water temps would go. On the trail, i really wished that i had the Marlin T-case crawler gears. Those would have been nice in Moab and in the Rubicon trails. Especially the Rubicon. Bottom line, my opinion is that stock gearing is just right for high speed highways.... with the fact that i had a blower. I think the combination of the stock gears and the blower were perfect.
Lockers: A rear locker is a must! I have a aussie in the rear and a ARB air locker up front. I only used the front locker 3 times the entire rubicon. If you have a good spotter and good tires, a rear locker will get you through "most" of the trails. However, there were a few spots that i did have to use the front locker. I was glad i had it. If i needed to, i could have winched onto the truck in front to get up. So, a rear locker is a must, front locker is VERY nice to have. If you do not have a front locker you should have a winch. I will say that i ALWAYS am glad that i have a winch.
Engine Monitoring System: I was almost obsessed with keeping up with water temps, charging voltage, intake temps. I have a ultra gauge that is installed. No issues arose but i was sure glad i had the ability to keep an eye on them as we climbed mountain passes and drove across hot deserts for hours. My engine temps averaged between 186 up to 192 while highway cruising at 75mph and the highest temp i saw was climbing a long pass going around south of lake tahoe where my water temp went up to 209.
Armor: This is kind of a no brainer, but i will talk about it. For the rubicon, sliders and a rear bumper are a must. I'm sure there are going to be folks who say they can wheel without sliders and i even rode behind an 80 exiting the rubicon that didn't have sliders, but i can assure you that you will want them. I used mine regularly as well as the rear bumper. I hit on my rear bumper a ton and was VERY glad i had it. I only hit on my IPOR skid one small time and hit the rear control arm mounts a few times, i was glad i had them, but i must say, rear bumper and sliders are a must.
Lift: I was probably one of the smallest lift trucks out htere. I was running an old worn out 2.5inch OME medium lift and with all the gear in the truck i was probably looking at 1 inch of lift
I was surprised at how many folks had the slee 6 inch lift. That seemed to be the lift of choice out there. My opinion is that i did just fine with my small lift. I am planning on going to the 4inch lift (if frankie still had the 3.5 inch i would do that), but you can run the rubicon and Moab with a medium lift. You don't need to be a tree house to get across the rocks. Actually there were a few times that i thought the 6 inch lift was too tall and some of the trucks "looked" tippy. Truck Maintenance: If you have an oil leak, coolant leak or a driveshaft that is buzzing, it will worry you to death. When you are on a 12 hour desert drive in the middle of nowhere, every buzz or vibration get's your mind racing. I felt a buzz for a while and just assumed it was typical front driveline buzz from the front driveshaft not being happy because of caster. I'm sure that had something to do with it, but i ended up having a toasted front DS U-joint that i had to repair in a campground. I am so glad that i had baselined my rig with all the fluids and checked it for leaks. It's real comforting to crawl under your truck and see everything dry just before you get further out in the middle of nowhere. Also, you don't want to be "that guy" that is leaving a trail of oil down the middle of the trail when our whole sport is being examined with a microscope by environmentalist who are just looking for a reason to stop the fun. Also, if you do develop a leak, you can easily pinpoint where it's coming from if you don't have 6 of them that have been leaking for months. Make sure you fluids are new and clean, brake pads are up to snuff, all u-joints have been greased and all suspension bolts and knuckle bolts have been tightened. When i got to the trail head of the rubicon i had a front control arm bolt that had almost come completely out!! I now put blue loctite on any suspension bolts that i remove and replace.
Personal Hygiene: This is something that i honestly did not pay any attention to and kind of regretted it. Here in the east if you are in the woods and you need to do your business, you hunt out a private spot, dig a hole, do your thing, cover hole, walk away. That's not the case out west. First off, there are not a lot of private places. In the desert and even out on the slabs at the rubicon you can see forever! You also can't just dig a hole because it's so Arid that there's not enough rain and humidity to decompose your business. Hard to find a spot to hide, hard to lean against a tree and crap in a bag
So, a portable toilet that can handle a WAG bag and a small tent to use for privacy is nice. The tent isn't necessary but the portable toilet is. Fridge: Yea, i realized after two weeks on the road that this is a must. I was so glad i had one and it worked great. The guys with the coolers even trying to keep them packed with dry ice eventually were left with water in the cooler and soggy food. I really think if you are planning an expedition to the rubicon or Moab, especially if you are driving across the country to get there, you need a fridge.
RTT: I decided that i wanted to keep the weight off the roof and i wanted to use my sunroof during the drive so i left the roof top tent and roof rack at home. I'm glad i did. Yes, it would have been comfortable at camp to have it, but i slept in the back of the truck without any problem. Cruising on the highway at almost 80 MPH makes you reconsider anything on your roof. My RTT that folds out and is a huge brick on the roof would have made the highway ride miserable in my opinion. If i were to do this trip again and wanted a RTT the ONLY one i would chose would be the maggiolina versions which are slim and aerodynamic. I do think that you can easily wheel the rubicon with a RTT, but the 4 day drive out and back with the RTT is another question.
Water: bring a lot! It's really dry out west and you will drink twice the water that you think you will drink. I always found myself with a bottle of water in my hand. We almost ran out and literally were drinking our last bottle of water as we exited the rubicon.
Heat Insulation: I learned first hand that the transmission tunnel especially on the PS will get HOT! It got real hot after 6 or 12 hours of driving. Hot enough to melt chap stick, any candy bars or chewing gum that were in the center console and even enough to throw my iphone into the high temp shut down mode a few times as it rested on the center console. So, i have ordered up some heat insulation to cover the transmission tunnel and hope that helps hold the temps down.
That's about all i can think of right now. I can add more later.
I averaged 13.4 mpg on the way out and 13.9mpg on the way back. I think that was due to the strong head wind that i experienced on the way out and it turned out to be a mostly tail wind on the way back.
I drove a total of: 5,336.4 miles!!!!
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