Decision Time...

[Trukk]

My drawers are loaded with recovery gear and have a 12k lbs hidden winch. I too have a rotopax mounted to the roof rack along with some recovery boards. I'll do aux tank after/when I do rear bumper with swing out. I think I'm leaning towards the 285/70/18 Ridge Grapplers. @kreiten's pics have me on-board. They are plenty wide enough and most importantly tall. I've never been let down by Nittos and everyone seems to love the RGs, so I'm heading over to Discount Tire now.

I went Ridge Grapplers 285/70/18 on stock rims with no spacers. Work fine on the street, we'll see if I rub on trail.

I ordered up BudBuilt Sliders (waiting on them to ship) and Shock skids (have them in a box). I figure I'm going to ease my way into tougher trail stuff, but wanted to protect my rails, and the low bits on my suspension. Also got a little extra height with the tires.

Lastly got it Ceramic Coated. I hate keeping black clean, and it keeps me a bit more sane. Also, hopefully will cut back on the pin-stripping.

So I guess my vote is:

285/70's
Shock skids to start.

Then next some sliders.

Play it by ear after that.

-Chris

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Out of the trails you're considering, only on Top of the World would you really see the benefit of skids. That said, I've been on that trail with 200s with stock skids though they've had 34s or 35s. You can also mitigate shock/LCA damage a bit by bringing some extra hardware.

You don't need to regear to run 34s and 285/70r18 is an awesome size for this truck — you will definitely see a hit in fuel economy, though.

I'd put the money into tires, some replacement hardware, and potentially shock/LCA guards.

Any chance you or someone else could provide an extra hardware parts list that would be a good starting point to throw in the drawers?

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I went Ridge Grapplers 285/70/18 on stock rims with no spacers. Work fine on the street, we'll see if I rub on trail.

I ordered up BudBuilt Sliders (waiting on them to ship) and Shock skids (have them in a box). I figure I'm going to ease my way into tougher trail stuff, but wanted to protect my rails, and the low bits on my suspension. Also got a little extra height with the tires.

Lastly got it Ceramic Coated. I hate keeping black clean, and it keeps me a bit more sane. Also, hopefully will cut back on the pin-stripping.

View attachment 2227308

So I guess my vote is:

285/70's
Shock skids to start.

Then next some sliders.

Play it by ear after that.

-Chris

That is a damn fine looking truck.

 

[Trukk]

That is a damn fine looking truck.

thanks.

Forgot, I also have the basic Icon 2.5 lift.

-Chris

 

[Markuson]

Vision=decent at the moment ))

FREE TO You TODAY:
-If you have a way to get them...you can have my ARB skids......FOR FREE.

They provide more than adequate protection for most drivers.

I’m in San Diego... If you know someone driving from here toward you... have them swing by and they are yours.

Beyond that... eek out those sliders if you can...because sliders really do serve you well in the rocks.

Sliders plus your Ridge Grapplers? You’d be good to go for now. I’m assuming you’ve already talked to Rob ( @Taco2Cruiser) at BudBuilt re your slider eta?

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Vision=decent at the moment ))

FREE TO You TODAY:
-If you have a way to get them...you can have my ARB skids......FOR FREE.

They provide more than adequate protection for most drivers.

I’m in San Diego... If you know someone driving from here toward you... have them swing by and they are yours.

Beyond that... eek out those sliders if you can...because sliders really do serve you well in the rocks.

Sliders plus your Ridge Grapplers? You’d be good to go for now. I’m assuming you’ve already talked to Rob ( @Taco2Cruiser) at BudBuilt re your slider eta?

LOL - SOLD! I'll happily drive to San Diego to pick them up. I haven't made that trip in a while. Also, yeah Rob and I have been in contact. He is a solid dude and I know they will make every effort to get them out. I shouldn't have waited so long to order them, that's on me. No matter what I'm going to have a great time, so I'm not sweating it... too much.

 

[Markuson]

LOL - SOLD! I'll happily drive to San Diego to pick them up. I haven't made that trip in a while. Also, yeah Rob and I have been in contact. He is a solid dude and I know they will make every effort to get them out. I shouldn't have waited so long to order them, that's on me. No matter what I'm going to have a great time, so I'm not sweating it... too much.

That’s a long drive... Hoped you might find a mate driving already.

 

[04UZJ100]

Truck looks good. Does that ceramic coating actually do anything or is it a gimmick?

 

[BAY2MTN]

Fair points. I'm in AZ so the vast majority of my wheeling is in dirt, rocks and sand. A standard AT like the Wildpeak would do just fine here and if it were offered in a 285/70/18, I'd probably be all over it. I do want bigger tires and CM is only a marker with regard to time. If I'm getting bigger tires anyway, I'd like to do it before CM, especially since it sounds like 33s/34s vs 32s would have a substantial benefit in Moab. I have all the camping gear I want and have completed almost all of the other mods I had planned. The last few projects for the truck are currently out of budget (lockers, gears, bumpers) so I'm trying to maximize bang/buck.

I'm with you on wishing there were more offerings in 285/70r18. I did check out the Nitto EXO Grappler AWT in that size; seems comparable to the Wildpeaks, but not sure on the feedback.
I'm running 275/70r18 (now having some rub after a BP-51 lift, with no spacers. I'm guessing spacers will alleviate that issue). You're right about the availability being a factor in the tire purchase equation. I think are two tires on tirerack.com in 285/70r18 vs 55 in 275/70r18!!!

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Thats what podcasts and my new HAM license are for. Killing time on the road. I had a guy drive round trip from San Diego last year to buy my RTT. He did it same day. Today a guy drove down from Vegas to buy one of my Kayaks. Where there a will, there is a way. You just tell me when it would be convenient to pick them up and what your spirit of choice might be. I was raised to never show up without a bottle of something.

 

[RobW0]

Thats what podcasts and my new HAM license are for. Killing time on the road. I had a guy drive round trip from San Diego last year to buy my RTT. He did it same day. Today a guy drove down from Vegas to buy one of my Kayaks. Where there a will, there is a way. You just tell me when it would be convenient to pick them up and what your spirit of choice might be. I was raised to never show up without a bottle of something.

I think it is chocolate milk, from what I can gather, from reading this forum.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

As it turns out we have some very nice glass bottled chocolate milk available here in Phoenix.

 

[tbisaacs]

LOL. Its amazing what a quick phone call can do. Talked to the dude at the tire place. For $70/tire less the 275/70/18 Ridge Grapplers are not only a lot cheaper, but more importantly, that size is far more common and easier to get ahold of should there be a problem. As a result the certificates for the tire are cheaper as well. All I'm giving up is a 1/2 Inch in either dimension and is still a full inch taller than what I have. I hadn't considered the availability aspect. That's sound logic. Tires should be here tomorrow. $1775 out the door. I won't look as cool as @kreiten but my budget is intact and I think I'll be happy with the results. Thanks for all of the input gentlemen. Its great knowing you are here.

Now go have a blast in Moab!

 

[indycole]

Any chance you or someone else could provide an extra hardware parts list that would be a good starting point to throw in the drawers?

There's a spare parts thread around here somewhere that's good reference for extended backcountry travel, but the situation is pretty different at Cruise Moab given that there are parts stores in town, plenty of folks on the trails with you to ensure that you get off the trail if there's a problem, and a dealer in Grand Junction. I don't have part numbers handy (and it most of online parts catalogs seem to have been redesigned and now I can't find anything low-level like screws).

I wouldn't stress out too much about it but if you have a chance these would be the priority items for most Moab terrain:
* Lower rear shock mount bolts
* Wheel studs
* Extra lug nuts
* Extra rear diff drain plug (or as I may have mentioned in the other thread... just make a point to inspect that day to day in case a rock tweaks it a bit)

If you end up on any of the overnight trips that travel over a lot of corrugations you may consider bolts for the front control arms (upper and lower). This feels like overkill, though. You'd be better off just making sure those items are torqued down ahead of the trip.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

There's a spare parts thread around here somewhere that's good reference for extended backcountry travel, but the situation is pretty different at Cruise Moab given that there are parts stores in town, plenty of folks on the trails with you to ensure that you get off the trail if there's a problem, and a dealer in Grand Junction. I don't have part numbers handy (and it most of online parts catalogs seem to have been redesigned and now I can't find anything low-level like screws).

I wouldn't stress out too much about it but if you have a chance these would be the priority items for most Moab terrain:
* Lower rear shock mount bolts
* Wheel studs
* Extra lug nuts
* Extra rear diff drain plug (or as I may have mentioned in the other thread... just make a point to inspect that day to day in case a rock tweaks it a bit)

If you end up on any of the overnight trips that travel over a lot of corrugations you may consider bolts for the front control arms (upper and lower). This feels like overkill, though. You'd be better off just making sure those items are torqued down ahead of the trip.

Thanks. Thats all good advice. I'll start assembling some of those things. Any value in throwing the stock UCAs and shocks in the drawers or is that overkill?

 

[indycole]

Thanks. Thats all good advice. I'll start assembling some of those things. Any value in throwing the stock UCAs and shocks in the drawers or is that overkill?

I wouldn't, personally, but to each his own

 

[Markuson]

I think it is chocolate milk, from what I can gather, from reading this forum.

True. Somehow I’m still too youngfor grownup drinks.

 

[linuxgod]

LOL. Its amazing what a quick phone call can do. Talked to the dude at the tire place. For $70/tire less the 275/70/18 Ridge Grapplers are not only a lot cheaper, but more importantly, that size is far more common and easier to get ahold of should there be a problem. As a result the certificates for the tire are cheaper as well. All I'm giving up is a 1/2 Inch in either dimension and is still a full inch taller than what I have. I hadn't considered the availability aspect. That's sound logic. Tires should be here tomorrow. $1775 out the door. I won't look as cool as @kreiten but my budget is intact and I think I'll be happy with the results. Thanks for all of the input gentlemen. Its great knowing you are here.

I think you will. I wouldn't sweat the width (it might even marginally help your gas mileage as there will be less rolling resistance).

FWIW that's actually why I went to 17s. 285/75R17 is a very common size by many tire manufacturers. At the time when I bought there were only 2 or 3 options for 285/70R18 tires (IIRC Nitto didn't have an RG in that size yet) and at least one if not both MT tires.

 

[Trukk]

Truck looks good. Does that ceramic coating actually do anything or is it a gimmick?

Well, I've had it on for about a month now. My truck is black, and lives outside. So far it still looks freshly waxed, even after a bunch of rain. No trail adventures yet to see how it deals with pinstripes. We'll see.....

-Chris

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I think you will. I wouldn't sweat the width (it might even marginally help your gas mileage as there will be less rolling resistance).

FWIW that's actually why I went to 17s. 285/75R17 is a very common size by many tire manufacturers. At the time when I bought there were only 2 or 3 options for 285/70R18 tires (IIRC Nitto didn't have an RG in that size yet) and at least one if not both MT tires.

His reasoning was that if I have a tire problem or two out in the sticks, the likelihood that a rural tire shop can get its hands on a 275/70/18 quickly is exponentially higher than trying to track down a 285/70/18. His point was that in a pinch I could probably be back on the road in hours vs days if they had to order something. Considering I have an Alaska and some Mexico trips on the table for this year, it made good sense to me.