minimal mods for MOAB

I got my 89 XJ (215k miles) as a replacement for my rolled over Explorer recently. It's taken a bunch of work, but may now be reliable, but not too pretty. It's for daily driving with kids and needs to be safe on the road.

However, looking at various pics and reports from Moab, THAT looks like fun. It even looked like some almost-stock XJs do it, although I dont' know how they handle the stresses and unnatural forces in some of the places! I used to ride trails and such in my Bronco II, and I'm gettin' itchy again I think :helpme: The Explorer never could cut it, so it's been a long while.

The question is (are):
Can one participate stock with maybe LT or AT tires? If not, what would be the minimal lift (CHEAP) and tire selection to do it? Cost is a big issue with all the repairs so far, but I'd like to occasionally go out and maybe even go to Moab or some of the more exciting rides.

Thanks.

Skill and using your brain are more important than equipment. I ran a ton of the trails at Moab on 3" with 31's. There are enough trails that you can have a ton of fun with a stocker there. As for tires, Moab is different than a lot of wheeling places. What they call slick rock is anything but slick, unless it'w wet. It's like driving on sandpaper. That is one of the reasons why there are so many axle breaks. I run 35's with BFG TA K/O's at Moab and love them. They aren't quite as good here in Colorado on the big granite stuff, but in Moab, they are like glue, and they have decent road manners and life.

The best thing I can recommend is to get some seat time in a semi-stocker before adding a ton of lift and crap. Until you get some seat time, all a lifted, locked, bigger rig will do is to let you break stuff quicker and dig yourself a bigger hole.

No offense, but I see a lot of checkbook rigs with drivers that have no idea of what they are doing or how to fix something that breaks. That is how you get hurt or hurt someone else. Ask the people who have been around for a while. Most will say they had a lot more pure fun when they were running virtually stock and not spending so much time and $$$ working on a rig. Tale some of the extra $$$ you save and take a few more days off from work to wheel.

thats some good advice old man, you will learn a great deal wheeling stock. you may want to consider some cheap budget boost and 30" all terrain and with some skill you can go all over the place.

The bad thing is that I remember when 31's were considered extreme. Keeping it to 30's or 31's will keep your expense to a minimum. When you get above that, you start having to deal with lots of issues and things get expensive. Fun but expensive. :explosion

You can do most trails in Moab stock if you take it easy. Some of the higher rated trails actually have bypasses for the harder obstacles so you still have fun. If you stay stock, I would highly recommend you at least invest in skid plates (gas tank and transfer case).
Looks like old-man covered it nicely. The first time I ever did Gold Bar Rim, it was a stocker that led us. During the annual Moab Fall Fling, we get the stockers through Hells Revenge as well as Poison Spider.
Like old_man said, if you can get just a little bit more clearance with the likes of a budget boost, you'll do great. Check the For Sale section for some used shackles/add a leafs and some coil spacers.
There are trails to suit every level in Moab.

What should you have at minimum to run Moab? Here are some ideas from the by-laws:

• Legally required automobile insurance and registration;
• Fire extinguisher;
• First Aid Kit;
• Tow Rope (no metal hooks allowed), Tow Chain, or Winch;
• Safety belts;
• Spare tire, jack, and lug wrench;
• Hooks both front and rear (or suitable attaching point)
• CB (HIGHLY recommended, but not mandatory)

For a good all-round tire that works with your DD plans and mileage, I second (or third?) old_man's recommendation of the BFG AT. I got plenty of miles out of my three sets...

Tow hooks in front, reciever hitch with shackle or tow hook insert in rear, good quality strap, CB, full size spare, and last but definately not least rock rails. All of these things I would do before I would spend money on a expensive lift and tires. You can do alot of fun trails down there in a stock Jeep.

no one has mentioned sway bar disconnects which can really help you out.

I don't know if I would run discos with no lift. But one more thing I would do is remove the rear sway bar and trow it away.

Thanks Yucca for the reminder about the rest of the stuff. I guess I forget that everyone does not necessarily know that.

I didn't know....

what would be the max tire size while stock in a LT or AT tire? I'm not familiar with those numbers.

Any recommendations on where to look for a CHEAP couple of inches of lift? :confused1 :

30 x 9.50 works well I understand...I haven't ran this, so I could be passing SPOBI.

You can get a cheap 1" BB from Quadratec, it'll come with a 1" lift shackle and 1 3/4" coil spacer (you remove the stock coil isolator, the rubber guy on top of the coil to net 1" only). That is made by Daystar.

Although it's been covered, stock can often fit 235/75R15 without rubbing, some configurations can fit a 30x9.50 although that can be a tight fit.

Typically, the 30x9.50 will fit with a 2" Budget Boost and 31s with a 3". You can often fit one size larger if you don't go offroad, or if you trim wheelwells.

old_man said:

The bad thing is that I remember when 31's were considered extreme. Keeping it to 30's or 31's will keep your expense to a minimum. When you get above that, you start having to deal with lots of issues and things get expensive. Fun but expensive. :explosion

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the funny thing about that is, is it really more fun?

I had just as much fun wheelin my first car (yes I said car) an '87 Nissan Stanza as I do now with an MJ on 35s with lockers. I had a buddy with an XJ on 31" MTs and I followed him everywhere he could go in my little 2wd Stanza. It was fun! I miss that little beast

point is, make the most of what ya got, and it doesn't require huge tires to have fun. the one big thing that will prevent you from having fun is breaking, so just don't throw big tires on without upgrading appropriately ($$$).

my recommendation would be a 3" lift, 30x9.50 tires, proper skids and tow-points, then if that gets a little boring throw a lunchbox locker in the rear.

BrettM said:

I had just as much fun wheelin my first car (yes I said car) an '87 Nissan Stanza as I do now with an MJ on 35s with lockers. I had a buddy with an XJ on 31" MTs and I followed him everywhere he could go in my little 2wd Stanza. It was fun! I miss that little beast

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You should have told your buddy to go someplace besides the mall. Hopefully sometimes you even beat him there .

Nay

If I was to start over (on a budget) I would go in this order...

1. tow points front and rear (if none)
2. skid plates (if none)
3. rock rails
4. gears and lockers (w/ 31" tires I would go 4:10)
5. budget boost 2"
6. 31" tires with LOTS of trimming

With that setup you will be able to do 90% of the trails in the USA... I think.

GSequoia said:

30 x 9.50 works well I understand...I haven't ran this, so I could be passing SPOBI.

You can get a cheap 1" BB from Quadratec, it'll come with a 1" lift shackle and 1 3/4" coil spacer (you remove the stock coil isolator, the rubber guy on top of the coil to net 1" only). That is made by Daystar.

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This sounds good... So 1" lift will allow me to run 30x9.50?

Will there be any turning or bottoming limitations or hazards?

Do I need to adjust any front end alignment for just an inch?

Do I need to do anything about driveshafts, pittman arm, shocks, etc for 1 inch?

Thanks.

go with a 2" budget boost. rocky-road outfitters has them for $100 i think. clearing 30's with 1" will be to close. you could just try and find some stock coil isolators and add two more to each side and then get chevy shackles. it will probably be easiest to just order the bb, unless you have access to a pretty good junkyard. might want to shop around some for prices, but i got mine there and was happy with the product and service.

oh we went on all sorts of trails! it's all about driver skills one time though the ruts were too deep in a trail and there was a big rock hidden in the dirt, I put a nice hole in my manual tranny. I drove it 5 miles home before I noticed, a piece of aluminum, some JB Weld, and that car saw another 20,000 miles of driving and off-road abuse

Moab IS a lot of fun. Like ACE said, there are a lot of by-passes, and people who'll throw a strap on ya, if needed (thus, the tow points). All the wrenching and swearing was more than made up for it by what I learned in just a few short hours on the trails down there. You learn your capabilities..strengths and weaknesses, and I figure, any time you learn what you're made of, and can still walk away from it, is pretty well priceless. Come join us in October, and we'll show you what we were made to do