jsmoriss

People buy Wranglers for many different reasons/activites -- I bought a Wrangler (4-door) for scuba diving, training my retriever, dog sledding, and canoe camping. In the next 2-3 years, I'm hoping to do a canoe camping expedition around Nunavut for a month or more. A lot of the places we'll be driving to have little or no roads and could be several days away from even the smallest of villages. We'll be driving over mostly barren terrain with small-med round rocks, soft muddy terrain, through small creeks, etc. I have a lot of the equipment figured out already, but I'm wondering how to protect/improve the Jeep's underside. I'll need decent millage and good ground clearance, but not the 4" lift kind of clearance. I was thinking more in the 2-3" lift with 32-33" tires. I like the FT Ultimate kit -- seems very robust -- but 3" might be a little much. I was also looking at the Solid diff covers. Should I consider additional skid plates? Should I mix the FT Ultimate kit (w/ or w/o Nitro shocks) with a 2" BB? Highway handling is also extremely important. :-) Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
js.

Jake_Blues

A full set of tools and on-board air and welder? make sure you can do field repairs of all your gear.

-E

mmccurdy

Don't mean to hijack, but how are you going to carry "several days" worth of fuel for this expedition?

This is actually a serious question -- even with two jerry cans it seems like you've got about 30 gallons max, which should be good for about 450 miles optimistically under off-road conditions.

I've been thinking of planning a multi-day thing myself and haven't even gotten to the armor part yet

Jake_Blues

Hmm, well with realistic off-road speeds of 10-20mph, 15 gallons might be a day's fuel. You're not going to be humming along at 70MPH through the forest.

It's a good question though, fuel would def. be an issue.

-E

jsmoriss

LOL! That's funny -- I hadn't gotten to the gas issue yet. My experience so far has been with the canoe camping part, not the Jeep part, and I guess that shows. :-)

Supplies could always be dropped off by float plane along a few pre-selected lakes. If they could hit 2-3 lakes on a single trip, it might not be too expensive... Sounds like I'll have to start looking at maps and doing some fuel consumption calculations! :-)

Thanks,
js.

jsmoriss

BTW, just to clear things up, when I said "several days away from civilization", I meant by foot or canoe! :-) Meaning, if the Jeep has to be left behind, it'll take us a few days to get to a small village, then perhaps catch a ride to a larger village, then arrange for FedEx to send us the part, etc. -- hassles I would rather avoid. :-)

Thanks for all the great replies!

js.

JacksJeep

If reliability is the prime concern, consider leaving the Jeep stock. Your Rubi comes on 32 inch tires with reasonable ground clearance. Instead, put your money into addition armor as it becomes available.

Cdash

Since you have a couple years, and only want to go 2 - 3 inches, I would suggest you wait.

I have never run OME (Old Man Emu) lifts, but have never heard a bad thing aobut them. The only will do 2" (or so) lifts and focus on handling. It is the only lift offered that I have ever seen that you can choose springs for Light, Medium or Heavy loadings. All others, 1 spring rate fits all.....(or not). This lets you pick springs that will serve your load needs without sacraficing ride quality. They are not out for JK's yet, but I have heard they will be soon.

Other than that, if your just dealing with small to medium bowling balls, you shouldn't need too much. The more supplies you take, the more likely you are not to need them. Murphys law at its best!

jsmoriss

(bold = stuff I hadn't considered yet)

Thanks! I was currently more concerned about the undercarriage. A lot of the above-tire stuff I have a good idea of... Well, except that pesky gas issue. :-)

Thanks,
js.

jsmoriss

Yes, I was also wondering about the weight issue on the springs / handling. All the fuel, tools, spare parts, etc. start to add up (not to mention the armor, bumpers, winch, and roof rack). Since this is also a canoe camping trip, everything else (food, clothing, tent, etc.) is more or less canoe weight. :-)

I'll definately check out OME.

Thanks!
js.