Sand Highway whoops Glamis

Took the Xj out to glamis thursday for the first time. broke the front driveshaft on the way out so it was a 2 wheel drive trip. Going down sand highway to get to the sand drags how fast are you guys running over those whoops? I got 6.5 BDS coils and 5150s up front and RE 4.5 leafs JKS shackles with 5150s out back 12" all the way around. The front end seemed to be nose diving kinda hard going over the whoops like a bucking bronco. I have a winch bumper up front and a RK 3 link set up for rock crawling. But now I got a itch for speed after that trip. Was wondering what I could do to make it handle better over the whoops. In a lot of the videos it looks like the jeep body stays fairly straight while the susp moves, on my rig seemed like the whole thing was moving togather. Or are those whoops there just too big to take fast? All I saw at the time was buggies and quads going down the highway.

the faster you go over the woops, the less you will feel them. but know that it only takes that one bump to be off timeing and youll be going ars over tea kettle in a big way. woops are addictive to the beginner, but they are also EXTREMELY dangerous. i suppose its cool to see your suspension floppin all over the place, and not feeing the bucking in the drivers seat, but that feeling only lasts a short time. you WILL trash your jeep/truck/buggy/ect, not to mention that a crash IS going to happen. if you feel you really need to hit the woops at speed, start talking to the big boys on suspension set up. be prepared to spend more than your house is worth though. i personally hate the woops. i have traveled the sand highway so many times and got so tired of going slow through them and found myself gassing it, only to see my buggy start falling apart later. and have had way too many close calls. i was lucky, many dont overcome and end up hurt real bad. i know i sound like an old fuddy duddy, but i feel i should say something before you start putting alot of money into something, that you will need ALOT more money to even be remotly ready to hit them at speed. seriously think this one over, as it is extremely expensive, and extremely dangerous to hit them at speed. and for heavens sake, build the jeep strong enough to crash at those speeds way before building it the suspension or dont even think about it. JMHO!

The sand highway whoops are kind of big and far apart for an xj, but speed helps. Mostly its shock valving that will help keep you from nose diving and bucking.

simple, move the engine back 2 feet, along with the battery.

they dont build trophy trucks from scratch for no reason! 50/50 will NEVER happen on an xj...

Ya those are good points, thanks for putting me in prospective, its a rock crawling rig and I guess it is what it is! Ill buy a quad or sandrail for the go fast stuff

Didnt mean to crush dreams, but it is what it is!

HOWEVER, you talk about your jeep's body vs suspension movement, thats tuning. Any jeepspeed/go fast advice will apply to sand as well, for the most part. You can make it ride better.... but it will never be top dog of the dunes.

justin_502 said:

Ya those are good points, thanks for putting me in prospective, its a rock crawling rig and I guess it is what it is! Ill buy a quad or sandrail for the go fast stuff

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That's why I own a dirt bike and a sandrail,

What XJ were you driving? I was out there in mine this weekend and saw several XJs. Mine is tan on 33s

Tall white 2dr on 35s black rims no rear bumper atm. Saw a few xjs looked like a guy driving a black one was in the process of getting a dui driving down by the washes was getting a sobrity check. Lotta cops were out!

they pretty much check anyone that they think wasnt driving like an old lady. one afternoon i was giving rides to some friends while others tried to fix a broken buggy in the middle of the dunes. they were all drinking beer just sitting around because it was hot and not going anywhere soon. i noticed a plane following me around for a while. when i got back to the broke buggy, 2 quads with rangers came riding over. i hear on the rangers radio the station guy asking the pilot of the plane who they saw driving. me of course, so the ranger gives me a sobriety check since he see's everyone else drinking beer. i tell him i havnt been drinking but he says "yea right, you drive like that sober?" so when he makes me blow into that little machine and it comes up ZERO'S across the board, he then says "sorry, i guess you were telling the truth". all would have been cool, but the drunk ars wives/GFs (not mine) started cussing at the rangers and giving them hell for checking us. a few of them got tickets.....dumb arses..

That's why I don't go to glamis anymore. All the damn tree huggers and rangers have completely taken the fun out of it.

i for one LOVE that the rangers/LEO's are there. as popular as glamis has gotten in the past 20-25 years, that place would be a disaster without them. follow the rules and you will be just fine. if people want to drink and drive, or not follow the rules of the desert, than go somewhere else. (not directing this toward you bails85, just sayin). a free for all mentality is what started getting people hurt and killed A LOT more. once the LEOs got out there it helped big time. just the ones that didnt like to follow the rules complained. i didnt mind being checked for alcohol one bit, they were doing their job when they saw everyone else drinking and they were waaaayyyy drunk. lucky they only got a $50 ticket and not hauled in. the station was only a short ride over a couple dunes.

san felipe is just a little bit south, if your feeling a little bit shelted by the law.

Saw a white 4 door that was pulled over and everyone sitting on the sand. Personally I did not have one run in with any LEO and neither did anyone in our camp.

bails85 said:

That's why I don't go to glamis anymore. All the damn tree huggers and rangers have completely taken the fun out of it.

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The presence of law enforcement in Glamis has undoubtedly saved many lives over the last few years. I would not go near that place without them. There will never be a free for all place on public lands. The kinds of things that were happening there before they started ramping up enforcement were not cool.

I agree they need to be there. But I just don't like to deal with the chicken Shit tickets they write. My friend got A ticket for sitting on a 50 quad with his 2 yr old. The ticket was for riding doubles. The quad wasnt even on. And the motor was cold.

bails85 said:

I agree they need to be there. But I just don't like to deal with the chicken Shit tickets they write. My friend got A ticket for sitting on a 50 quad with his 2 yr old. The ticket was for riding doubles. The quad wasnt even on. And the motor was cold.

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It does suck when the officers write for stupid stuff. Having been on the other side of the coin, I have seen alot of cites issued because the person had an attitude with the officer. Not saying thats always the case. My brother got a bogus ticket for no flag on his truck in the vendor area once. It happens but I think for most part it is not a big problem.

jeeperjohn said:

It does suck when the officers write for stupid stuff. Having been on the other side of the coin, I have seen alot of cites issued because the person had an attitude with the officer. Not saying thats always the case. My brother got a bogus ticket for no flag on his truck in the vendor area once. It happens but I think for most part it is not a big problem.

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well see? thats where the grey area starts. technically the truck is offroad and you need a flag on your vehicle in the sand. crappy ticket i know, but that one is hard to dispute legally. now the guy sitting on a quad/three wheeler with his 2 year old can be disputed if the quad was not in the middle of the riding area. if in camp you can claim you walked over to the bike, not rode it over to where it was. we would need more info on that one. again though, knowing, and following the rules is easy, you just need to know them. and i do agree fully, a lot of the LEOs do write crappy tickets.

2stix said:

well see? thats where the grey area starts. technically the truck is offroad and you need a flag on your vehicle in the sand. crappy ticket i know, but that one is hard to dispute legally. now the guy sitting on a quad/three wheeler with his 2 year old can be disputed if the quad was not in the middle of the riding area. if in camp you can claim you walked over to the bike, not rode it over to where it was. we would need more info on that one. again though, knowing, and following the rules is easy, you just need to know them. and i do agree fully, a lot of the LEOs do write crappy tickets.

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The problem is they pick and choose.


I got pulled over for being on my cell phone, rolling at less than 5mph calling the people in my camp. After arguing with them that laws on the street don't apply to the dirt and visa versa, they cited me for a cracked windshield and no proof of reg in the truck. Such a PITA.

They also stopped a buddy for not having a pass hanging from his mirror in his truck, it was laying on his dash. When the ranger told him to hang it, he advised him of the safety issue that poses having something hanging from the rear view while hanging. I understand why they're out there, and I understand it's "Zero Tolerance" but "Zero Tolerance" has been proven time and time again to be ineffective.

crazyjim said:

The problem is they pick and choose.


I got pulled over for being on my cell phone, rolling at less than 5mph calling the people in my camp. After arguing with them that laws on the street don't apply to the dirt and visa versa, they cited me for a cracked windshield and no proof of reg in the truck. Such a PITA.

They also stopped a buddy for not having a pass hanging from his mirror in his truck, it was laying on his dash. When the ranger told him to hang it, he advised him of the safety issue that poses having something hanging from the rear view while hanging. I understand why they're out there, and I understand it's "Zero Tolerance" but "Zero Tolerance" has been proven time and time again to be ineffective.

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well yea sounds like you did get "picked on" sort of speak. but if you would have gotten pulled over on the 405 and was asked for registration, do you think the officer would just say "no prob dude, its cool if you dont got it"?
as for your buddy not hanging the pass, sounds like the officer just used that excuse to do a check. did he get a ticket for anything? everyone needs to remember that many of these officers are not trained rangers, and their normal job is in your town or city. they will apply their normal routine when in the desert because that is the way they were trained. again, yes they do make some very bad calls on what a citation is, but in general that is a small price to pay for having them out there when you NEED them.