I rolled in like a dusty cowboy last night after blasting 17 hours straight back to the Seattle area from an amazing long weekend in Moab. This is my third trip there, first time with other drivers (and most importantly, spotters!) and boy was it a blast. Most importantly, after Moab, big trips like Sedona, and multiple LCDCs, I'm ready to certify this rig as..proven. It was an amazing experience—everyone should go at least once.
Planning
I wish I was the kind of person who could just hop in the car, meander and just point and shoot to whatever trail feels right, but I ain't him. I was also bringing two first-timers and wanted to make sure they had a great time as well so I spent a lot of time researching, searching YouTube, and flipping through the FunTreks book. I also created some specific criteria for the week:
Funny enough, deep in the archives of YouTube I came across a lot of rigs and faces that I recognize from what I assume was past cruise Moab events— @mcgaskins, @Romer , @TheGrrrrr , @Markuson to name a few. The original plan was 4 days of wheeling, gradually increasing in difficulty and finishing the week with Poison Spider or Top of the World. We ended up calling it short of that, but more on that later. We finished the week running Hurrah pass, Chicken Corners, 7 mile rim (twice-ish), and Fins-and-things.
In terms of making sure my rig came home, I packed the following:
Rig Postmortem
My rig did amazing and came home whole, only with a few new "from Moab, with love" scratches mainly on the corners, the armor, and a few new marks on the skid plates.
My buddy Adam brought a mostly stock triple-locked 80 series and it did amazing all week with exception of needing to baby sit a leaking berf
My other friend brought an 80 that he just picked up that's a monster—LT1 V8, triple locked, transfer case reduction, 37x13.50 and the biggest rear links I've ever seen. Unfortunately he blew a power steering line between the pump and brake booster and we had to quickly limp him off the trail before he lost the pump and belt.
Planning
I wish I was the kind of person who could just hop in the car, meander and just point and shoot to whatever trail feels right, but I ain't him. I was also bringing two first-timers and wanted to make sure they had a great time as well so I spent a lot of time researching, searching YouTube, and flipping through the FunTreks book. I also created some specific criteria for the week:
- Maximize fun while minimizing mechanical risk
- Avoid risky off-camber slick rock
- Focus on only in Moab scenery: dunes, slickrock, canyons, caves, buttes
- Provide several duration options so we can mix and match depending on how we’re feeling
- Focus on trails that I’ve seen Land Cruiser sized / IFS vehicles successfully complete
Funny enough, deep in the archives of YouTube I came across a lot of rigs and faces that I recognize from what I assume was past cruise Moab events— @mcgaskins, @Romer , @TheGrrrrr , @Markuson to name a few. The original plan was 4 days of wheeling, gradually increasing in difficulty and finishing the week with Poison Spider or Top of the World. We ended up calling it short of that, but more on that later. We finished the week running Hurrah pass, Chicken Corners, 7 mile rim (twice-ish), and Fins-and-things.
In terms of making sure my rig came home, I packed the following:
- ARB Jack
- ARB tire puncture kit
- Glue Tread
- Spare axle, output seal and hub socket
- Spare fluids (no more AHC fluid and syringe this year!)
- Spare headlight bulb
- Spare u-joint
- Spare fuses/breakers
- Compact impact and sockets, breaker bar, big hammer and cheater pipe
Rig Postmortem
My rig did amazing and came home whole, only with a few new "from Moab, with love" scratches mainly on the corners, the armor, and a few new marks on the skid plates.
- I discovered that my EE Offroad skids were missing 5-6 bolts from the skins due to neglect on my part—I never checked them after installation. Thankfully I found some replacements at the local Moab ACE hardware. My cat guards are also very loose.
- There is a piece of AHC line flopping around on a cross member that occasionally would knock after a big whoop and it freaked me out first couple of times
- The ride was pretty miserable at first, dampening was great but truck was so busy and rocking side by side. I increased the rebound on my dobinsons +2 and holy crap, different truck. It felt composed and athletic even at moderate speeds. I still wouldn't jump it though
- I am missing a bunch of driver side fender liner due to aggressive rubbing. When I had my SPC UCAs installed, I didn't know what I didn't know and they are set up for maximum caster and the wheel is just getting too close to the rear of the wheel at full stuff—which it does freely with the skinny AHC sway bar.
My buddy Adam brought a mostly stock triple-locked 80 series and it did amazing all week with exception of needing to baby sit a leaking berf
My other friend brought an 80 that he just picked up that's a monster—LT1 V8, triple locked, transfer case reduction, 37x13.50 and the biggest rear links I've ever seen. Unfortunately he blew a power steering line between the pump and brake booster and we had to quickly limp him off the trail before he lost the pump and belt.
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