Great find.

 

Hello all
Im curious has anyone here built an expedition styled 2 door i only ask cause ive started to get into the overland style

 

There is a 2 door expedition modded thread. Check it out

 

I have the same front bumper as that Jeep in the vid. I'd say in that video the Jeep rocked it offroad and I quite like driving it on road as well. I do love the classic looks of the defender though and no doubt it holds more payload than the Wrangler

 

... too. ;-) We show some love for two doors here, as well. CascadeWanderer does his wandering of the Cascades in a two door and posts here regularly.

 

Thanks Mark. Yeah - my 2-door is built as a general-purpose rig. I use it for overlanding, trail running, hunting & fishing... All sorts of stuff. I've kept it deliberately simple. Started with a basic 2012 2-door Sport, manual trans, and went from there. I've avoided a roof rack, to keep overall height low, and keep the weight lower. Have also avoided any permanent type of shelf/drawer system, though those are very tempting.

I camp in a ground tent. Have a big one when there's two of us and a smaller tent when I'm solo, or just me and my dog.

BTW - am in Washington State - and I do this stuff year round - rain, snow, sunshine, whatever comes. Well almost. I was glad to be at home in our last big winter storm earlier this week!

For mods:
16x9" rims with 285/75/16 Toyo MT's - about the same as a 33x11.50 or so.
Front Dana 30 set up with 4.10 gears and a Yukon Zip air locker
Rear Dana 44 set up the same
Tera Flex 1.5" coil spring leveling kit - the one with four new coil springs, not spacers
Smittybilt bumpers & rock sliders/bars all around
Engo 10,000 pound winch
Vision X aux lights up front
sPod switches built in
ViAir underhood compressor for the air lockers and tires
Replaced some of the front steering components with heavy duty stuff
Tatton rear drive shaft

Also bought an ARB fridge last summer on a 106 degree day - It's GREAT

Have all the usual recovery gear: shovel, pul-pal, straps, hi-lift jack, also a set of four heavy-duty tire chains.

Last summer I used it to complete the 600 mile WABDR (Washington Backcountry Discovery Route) twice, once with Mark Doiron. If you check out his videos - mine is the little white two-door. Looks like a midget next to the big, lifted four-door JK's!

It works really well with the 4.10's and 33's and the fairly light weight of the 2-door.

Here are a few photos, it looks, and is, pretty mild:

Back end - packed on the last night of our week-long trip on the WABDR:


Typical campsite:


Less than two weeks ago, here in Washington:


Stripped down with no doors, no roof, for a day of challenging wheeling in the Liberty area, Washington:


Me, having a blast, driving my Jeep that day. The bag is full of maps, insect repellent, etc... Stuff I might need right away.


With my buddy's red JK, up high in the Cascades last spring:


Yes, the two-door can be a great little rig, with an advantage on the tight trails. Sometimes though, i do wish I'd purchased the bigger four-door. But the two-door is so danged fun!

Regards, CW

 

I couldn't resist a few more photos...





With the older, smaller, tires, stock bumpers, etc:


I honestly think that most "overlanding" could be handily accomplished in a completely bone-stock Jeep JK. Add your camping gear and some nav stuff, and enjoy.

Regards, CW

 

Agree^ while some mods are nice over landing is about distance covered on moderate to light terrain. Occasional river crossings make snorkels desirable but not necessarily imperative. Etc etc... mods will make it easier or more enjoyable but I would have no issue going on an overland trip with someone in a stock 4x4.

That being said there are expedition style overland trips where some mods are considerably more important...

 

Hi CW. Can you define NAV stuff. What do you consider essential equipment for over landing? Thanks!

NORTHRIDGE4X4

 

Most of my "overlanding" is real simple stuff - not even close to being worthy of the title "expedition."

An old Boy Scout and infantry Marine, I'm quite happy roaming with map and compass, though this past year I actually got a simple little GPS, courtesy of Mark Doiron!

A couple of my buddies, including Mark, run some rather impressive GPS setups, with big screens. Those things come in handy sometimes!

I'm sure others have all sorts of answers about what would be important for their navigation needs.

Guy