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XJ noob: camping rig ideas

A

airman401

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Upstate, SC
Hello all,

Sorry in advance if I am posting in the wrong area , but I just wanted to introduce myself and ask for some ideas.

I am Ryan and I am coming from the world of volkswagens but Im already growing very attached to my XJ. I live in upstate SC, at the foot of the apalacian mountains and blue ridge parkway.
I have a 91 Laredo with 252k miles and am intenting to build a camping rig/dd. No heavy wheeling, just trails, woods and mud (clay).

I already installed a shackle lift, which I know is somewhat unpopular, but I only want some aggressive tread 30's.



My question is, what are some popular mods for light use camping rigs?
Any help would really be appreciated!


Thanks!
 
A roof rack - definitely a roof rack; especially if you go out with more than you and a passenger. Unless your spare is mounted out back, the spare eats up a ton of space inside. Also, a chainsaw :) Much better to cut your own than to have bring your own..

Jerry can and mount.

If you plan to just sleep in the back of the XJ, a cool mod is a screen for the rear window.

Cargo net for the rear cargo area to keep stuff from banging your noggin..

Skid plates, if you don't already have them, since you're not too high off of the ground and may be driving over logs and fallen timber in your neck of the woods..

Rear sway bar should find a new home in the trash and get disconnects for the front.

Lights, lights and some more lights..

ARB fridge :)
 
Removing the rear sway bar is the first thing I do to any XJ I own. Stock, slightly lifted or sky high. They are a worthless pile of junk that does nothing but make your jeep ride like crap.

Take it off, go hit a speed bump diagonally...then tell me if I am wrong.
 
Oh and a great big HUGE Second to the ARB fridge. Yes, they are stupid expensive but out of all the mods and add ons I have made over the years it's still my favorite.

Nothing beats being out on the trail for a week and being able to pull an almost frozen frosty beverage out and not deal with melted ice everywhere.
 
airman401 said:
I'm in Greenville.
Click to expand...

I'm in Abbeville. 30 minutes up the road from you.

airman401 said:
I have heard so many mixed results from removing the rear sway bar. What's the truth??
Click to expand...

The rear sway bar? It's pretty much common consensus that it does absolutely nothing and functions best in the garbage.

Remove it. That's usually the first thing that goes when I climb under an XJ.


Now, for the place I was going to mention:

Have you ever heard of Horse Pasture Road?

This is a public dirt/gravel road system that is only open through parts of the year. It's about 20 miles of road between the paved road and an old abandoned Lake Jocassee boat ramp. There's several nice camping spots along the way. One of the spots is on the side of a pretty nice creek.

That road includes Jumping Off Rock that overlooks lake Jocassee. Nothing tough about it. You could do the trip in a stock XJ and it's long enough that if you take your time you can easily make a 3 day trip out of it.

We left on Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday.

If you're feeling bored you can flip through these pictures.

http://s29.photobucket.com/user/lowrange2/library/Jumping Off Rock

If you decide to go, make sure the gates are open before you leave.

Then Triple Falls isn't far away.

DSC_3694edit.jpg
 
Last edited:
offroadordnance said:
@ LR2 thx for posting that up. That looks really cool. How's the camping spots? Relatively flat and dry for tents?
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're pretty nice. I wouldn't say they were super duper flat but they're certainly usable spots. The spot by the creek is pretty big. We have 3 (?) tents on it at once.

It seems that I don't have any pictures of the actual camp sites. :(

They're decent spots.

The spot at the boat ramp is up on a plateau that the gravel road circles around. Certainly dry. Flat. Pretty small. We crammed 3 tents on top of it as well.

View from the boat ramp.

DSCF7696-2.jpg


This is the Jumping Off Rock Overlook of Lake Jocassee.

DSCF7653.jpg
 
Re: Re: XJ noob: camping rig ideas

Lowrange2 said:
I'm in Abbeville. 30 minutes up the road from you.



The rear sway bar? It's pretty much common consensus that it does absolutely nothing and functions best in the garbage.

Remove it. That's usually the first thing that goes when I climb under an XJ.


Now, for the place I was going to mention:

Have you ever heard of Horse Pasture Road?

This is a public dirt/gravel road system that is only open through parts of the year. It's about 20 miles of road between the paved road and an old abandoned Lake Jocassee boat ramp. There's several nice camping spots along the way. One of the spots is on the side of a pretty nice creek.

That road includes Jumping Off Rock that overlooks lake Jocassee. Nothing tough about it. You could do the trip in a stock XJ and it's long enough that if you take your time you can easily make a 3 day trip out of it.

We left on Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday.

If you're feeling bored you can flip through these pictures.

http://s29.photobucket.com/user/lowrange2/library/Jumping Off Rock

If you decide to go, make sure the gates are open before you leave.

Then Triple Falls isn't far away.

DSC_3694edit.jpg
Click to expand...

I will def so this! Perhaps we cam plan a trip? Thanks!
 
airman401 said:
I will def so this! Perhaps we cam plan a trip? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Since that trip a while back we've hatched a baby. She's 3 months old now. It'll be a while before I can make the trip again.

We're all going to Jeep Fest in Jasper GA Sept 6th. We're camping at Talona Creek Campground. Not remote camping at all but it should be fun.

Might be something you'd be interested in.
 
See if this map works.

This is the entire stretch

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

If not, these are the coords:

Start: 35.050657,-82.81283
End: 34.989042,-82.931881

(Apparently it's only 13 miles. With a couple different side roads to explore.) :dunno:

We came in late Friday afternoon, Set up camp by the creek about half way down the road, finished driving to the lake Saturday morning, kayaked across the lake to "The Wall", then camped at the boat ramp and drove out Sunday morning.
 
Good to see more upstate xjs. I live down in abbeville area, but work in Greenville. So up there a lot. I am waiting for horseshoe to reopen, then gonna check it out.
 
I would ditch the shackle and go with a full length add a leaf for added weight capacity and lift.

V8 ZJ coils will give you a bit of lift in the front.

Good year Duratrac tires

Front and rear tow points

Mopar T-Case and Gas tank skid plate

Headlight harness upgrade
 
karstic said:
I would ditch the shackle and go with a full length add a leaf for added weight capacity and lift.

V8 ZJ coils will give you a bit of lift in the front.

Good year Duratrac tires

Front and rear tow points

Mopar T-Case and Gas tank skid plate

Headlight harness upgrade
Click to expand...

Great list.
 
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