Going to Moab next week. I am looking into some places to go wheeling. I have read two ways about Hells Revenge. Some say one at least needs bumpers and sliders. Others say being careful, a stock 80 can hang.
my impression is that you would drag your tail a fair amount but you would otherwise be OK. I would think that a rear hitch would help a lot if you don't want your rear bumper to be scraped. But I'll defer to more experienced Moabers on this.
You'll hit front and rear and if you've got the stock running boards, you'll be dragging/bending those. You'll be fine on the long climbs and steep descents, it's the foot tall ledges all over the place that'll get ya.
my impression is that you would drag your tail a fair amount but you would otherwise be OK. I would think that a rear hitch would help a lot if you don't want your rear bumper to be scraped. But I'll defer to more experienced Moabers on this.
e9999 is 100% correct. You would be fine. I have seen many stock rigs on that trail. Assuming you stick with the main trail, and don't hit any optional routes like tipover challenge, I would think the trail is more of a 3.5 to 3.5+ rather than a 4 rated trail. I have run it numerous times, my only issue was losing a nut from a leaf spring hanger
I have also run it many times (never in my 80) and have been on the trail with just about any other vehicle you can think of, from ford rangers, 4runners, Cherokee's, wranglers, taco's, rodeos and so on..
If you pick wheel placement carefully you can do it with open diff's, with a rear locker it's no problem, and with both lockers it will be cake, just have a good spotter when you get to ledges that may hurt your rig and if you have lockers be sure to turn them off most of the time, they can make it Very hard to turn and will put a real bind on your drive train (at least turn off the front)
good luck
Bret
Yea we did Hell's Revenge and Hell's Gate with our stock, unlocked LX a couple years ago. We scraped the underside of front and rear bumper a little bit, and didn't have the running boards on. It was a lot of fun.
Went through it in a stock height Isuzu Amigo with a rear ARB. It had 4000 miles on it and was still unmarked when I returned it. Good spotters are key, the 80 is bigger in every way and you may drag your bumpers here and there.
I ran this trail late last fall in my newly acquired 80 with 285's and no lift. I was very glad that I had installed the Slee sliders. They got a workout- primarily on the "new" exit trail. It was reportedly a newly opened alternate route out just past tipover challenge. It was my first time running HR so I don't know the prior route. Running boards would have been destroyed. We had to help tow a rental Wrangler out of the same spot. I don't know if this section is still being used or if the exit has been re-routed or maybe filled in more with rocks. It was pretty ugly. I did drag the trailer hitch a number of times on the main trail- never the front though. Rear control arm came back scarred also. If you, or a passenger, don't like heights HR will probably scare you. I would never take my wife on it. I would also recommend a spotter for several areas where a mistake would be very costly. It has great views and is almost as much fun as riding Slickrock Trail (which you cross several times) on a mountain bike- which I have been doing for 15+ years. Fins & Things is a good intro to driving the slickrock fins prior to taking on Hell's Revenge.
I agree with Red's comments. Hadn't really thought of replying like he did that there are a number of trails that are fantastic without some of the damage potential of HR as a first trail in Moab. It's a great trail, but not one I'd send a rookie in an 80 on, or recommend as a first Moab trail. In fact, I guess we all forgot to ask the questions we should know before giving you a recommendation:
What is your experience level with offroading the 80, or offroading in general? Are you going alone, or with another vehicle? Experience level of others in the group?
Sorry we should have asked that first. A rookie can make a mess of an 80 on HR if he's alone and has no spotters or other vehicle, for instance.
I have done a bit of wheeling in the past, in the fj60 I used to own. That was 10 years ago. Wheeling in the 80, experience-none. I wasn't exactly planning to run Hell's, however I was wondering the general consensus because I have read so much about anyone and everyone, along with their grandmother running that trail.
It would fun to check out, but I don't want to wreck my pig. My first big mods will be sliders, front bumper, and rear bumper, in that order. I need some money first. Until then, I will stick to the tamer stuff.
