Yesterday, after almost 2 years of ownership, I took my 80 on its first true shake down run. We drove up and did gold mountain and John Bull.
My 80 has got a 4" slee lift, arb front bumper, winch, dual swingout rear, white knuckle sliders, and 315s. As capable as it's gonna get without cutting and pasting a 3 link, chopping, bobbing, etc. These are my observations wheeling trails like jb.
This thing is heavy. You can feel the weight of it everywhere. All that armor, the truck itself, the rack above your head, all of it imposes itself on you at all times while doing trails like jb. This is not a point anywhere and jam on the gas truck like my rubicon was. Every move has to be well executed.
We started at gold mountain (3n69) and the 38. Even through the few obstacles on that trail, I was thankful for my lockers. I think you need them in a truck this big. I just want to get through the obstacle with the rubber down and without them engaged, that instantly becomes a lot harder than it needs to be.
The transfer case gearing also is painfully lacking, especially running 315s. There were points where, in 4L, I could barely get past the stall converter to make the thing go forward. Really needs 4:1, especially for something this heavy. Easy in a jeep or minitruck, where you can atlas and twin stick to your heart's content. Little more difficult of a proposition in an 80.
Spent a lot of time on my diffs and my sliders. A LOT of time. So much so that 37s may be in my future.
I did a full day of (imo) pretty technical wheeling in my 80 with my ENTIRE family with me. Wife and four kids 17 down to 5. Do that in a tj. I sold that jeep because wheeling with my two boys (who are small) was such a pain in the ass that it took all the fun out of trips like this. We did it in comfort, everyone was safe. And the 80 followed a 50k long armed, locked up jk through all those trails like it was nothing. Considerably more dramatic than the jb trips I was used to in my jeep, but never fearing for my life and the lives of my children.
Did not come out unscathed. Despite all my armor, I caught a tree above the flare of my rear passenger side qp. That's gonna need some body work. This was my only damage outside of sliders and diffs showing some good scratches.
All said and done, we drove it up, beat the hell out of it, and drove it back. With 6 people inside having the time of their lives. Got some poser shots at the top of jb with video shot from my kid soon to follow. So cal 80 folks, opinions?
My 80 has got a 4" slee lift, arb front bumper, winch, dual swingout rear, white knuckle sliders, and 315s. As capable as it's gonna get without cutting and pasting a 3 link, chopping, bobbing, etc. These are my observations wheeling trails like jb.
This thing is heavy. You can feel the weight of it everywhere. All that armor, the truck itself, the rack above your head, all of it imposes itself on you at all times while doing trails like jb. This is not a point anywhere and jam on the gas truck like my rubicon was. Every move has to be well executed.
We started at gold mountain (3n69) and the 38. Even through the few obstacles on that trail, I was thankful for my lockers. I think you need them in a truck this big. I just want to get through the obstacle with the rubber down and without them engaged, that instantly becomes a lot harder than it needs to be.
The transfer case gearing also is painfully lacking, especially running 315s. There were points where, in 4L, I could barely get past the stall converter to make the thing go forward. Really needs 4:1, especially for something this heavy. Easy in a jeep or minitruck, where you can atlas and twin stick to your heart's content. Little more difficult of a proposition in an 80.
Spent a lot of time on my diffs and my sliders. A LOT of time. So much so that 37s may be in my future.
I did a full day of (imo) pretty technical wheeling in my 80 with my ENTIRE family with me. Wife and four kids 17 down to 5. Do that in a tj. I sold that jeep because wheeling with my two boys (who are small) was such a pain in the ass that it took all the fun out of trips like this. We did it in comfort, everyone was safe. And the 80 followed a 50k long armed, locked up jk through all those trails like it was nothing. Considerably more dramatic than the jb trips I was used to in my jeep, but never fearing for my life and the lives of my children.
Did not come out unscathed. Despite all my armor, I caught a tree above the flare of my rear passenger side qp. That's gonna need some body work. This was my only damage outside of sliders and diffs showing some good scratches.
All said and done, we drove it up, beat the hell out of it, and drove it back. With 6 people inside having the time of their lives. Got some poser shots at the top of jb with video shot from my kid soon to follow. So cal 80 folks, opinions?
