Correct- for the winch. Got it thru OK4WD.

 

Our rig in Death Valley last weekend. 10 gallons of water on the roof and 10 gallons of gas on the bumper.

 

Hello all a couple buddies of mine are going to be taking an expedition through west texas, nee mexico and colorado. Im wondering if there are anyparts that yall would recomend to bring as spares or replacements or if there are and suggestions yall might have to help us better prepare?

I know we will be doing black bear pass as well as other trails around Albuquerque, Denver as well as some trails in west texas. Does anyone have any sugesstions on what to look out for on any trails out there? Ill have a more complete list in a couple days

 

What time of the year are you going? There's too much snow around black bear to do that trail any time soon.

 

We are planing it for July.

 

Should be perfect timing! I'd check out a few threads about what people pack when they go off road. There's a few specifically tailored to over landing. I would search something like "Packing List". Or a Google search would be good since it may bring up other sites with more information.

 

Thanks man weve got the basics down for thee most part i was just wondering what kind of replacment parts most bring for overland styled repairs?

 

If it was me, I'd find out what would be most likely to break on my own jeep and get spares or have a way to fix it. Or invest in some preventive maintenance. You could go as far as packing extra axle shafts and an on board welder but that's definitely not the norm. Maybe some more experienced over landers will chime in. I just pack the basics but I'm also a pretty reserved driver and I know my and my jeep's limits. Maybe do a trial run with some imaginary break down scenarios? That's how I'm teaching a friend about wheeling and recoveries. Sorry I couldn't be of more help

 

Space and weight are a premium. Although I have a number of spare parts due to replacing OEM components, I don't really carry anything beyond a few fluids and, when I think necessary, a second spare tire. I do carry tools and am prepared to pull a front axle shaft, if need be. But, if I break a front lower control arm (I know of one case where that happened), my replacement is back at the house in the attic. Who has room to carry all of that stuff? As for the second spare, some would say that's overkill. Well, I started that after in the first 100 miles of a nearly 500 mile trip I ripped open the sidewall of one of my tires. All of a sudden I was traveling without a spare. What is the chance that you'll have a second tire so damaged that a tire repair kit won't work? Well, the motto at Big Bend Ranch State Park (in west Texas) is "Bring Two Spares". And with good reason. As for tire repair kits, I recommend getting a really good one. I carry this one:

Ultimate Puncture Repair Kit - Adventure Trailers Store

It isn't cheap, but it has way more parts than the much more popular ARB. It even has a sewing needle and thread to sew up that tire sidewall (should you have an inner tube to still hold the air--another spare piece of kit that's worth carrying, if you can find one). The tools in this kit are exceedingly well-crafted. When you handle them, you realize that this is top quality gear made for serious work.

As for where you might go, places I've been in west Texas include Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Both have plenty of off-road opportunities. Big Bend Ranch State Park you can go pretty extreme. Last time I was there a ranger was trying to convince us to take a particular road that no one had successfully driven in the past couple years. We had other plans, but even the Road to Nowhere that we took showed little signs of recent usage.

Big Bend National Park has Black Gap Road, which is a lot easier now that the NPS has put a bypass and blocked off the highly off-camber stuff. Before you never saw anything on this toughest section of trail in the park. Now you see cowboy Cadillacs on it. Still, incredibly beautiful park, with a good amount of solitude. But nothing like BBRSP: Have never seen anyone else in this park, and a couple years ago they had a grand total of 2500 visitors: All year long.

In New Mexico check out the Gila National Forest. Plenty of Forest Service roads wind through the area. You'll run across the occasional, charming mountain towns, depending on your route. There's even a ghost town up that way. Do be sure to check out your planned route on the MVUMs to ensure that you're staying on legal routes for your vehicles (available for free on the web).

Colorado is easy. Pick up a copy of Wells' Colorado backroads and 4WD trails book and choose your routes.

I have a variety of videos on multiple trips into these areas. You can view them on my YouTube page:

youtube.com/c/digitalbydoiron

 

Thanks Mark. We are planing on going through big bend on our way to New Mexico because of your vidoe of "west texas travese" and it looked like a lot of fun. We will certainly be looking in to getting a sexond spare. Thanks for the suggestions.
Thanks
Sam