In addition to battering the old yeller Chevy, Editor Pw also spent a day on an official run with the Red Rock 4-Wheelers over the Gold Bar Rim trail. The Red Rock 4-Wheelers have various trails-- depending on your and your vehicle's capabilities. Some folks even fly into Moab, rent a Jeep from one of the various local 4x4-for-hire establishments, and hit the trails, so consider that option if your own Jeep won't make the trek.
We hate to do it since southern boy Chris Durham gets in the magazine all the time, but check out this TJ he built. This is just the type of innovation we like to see-40-inch tires with only a 111/44-inch body lift and front leveling spacers. Keep the center of gravity down low; add a 60 and a 70 for axle beef, and a Jeep 5.9L V-8 for plenty of G-O. Rumor has it Chris sold the Jeep before he could get it back on the trailer to go home.
While out on the trail we ran into some more Jeep engineers running some unusual Libertys, Commanders, and Grand Cherokees. We're sure these guys are the lunatic fringe compared to most pencil-pushing, keyboard-tapping OEM employees, but that is just fine by us. What better way to build a real-world 4x4 that works where we want them to work than to get out in the mud, sand, and rocks and hang with rough-neck wheelers like us? We're not sure if DaimlerChrysler Jeep has a designated Off-Road Technologies group who take unusual prototype rigs with unique engines and suspensions out in the dirt, but we're sure that if they do, these guys would be a part of it.
While I floundered on the...
While I floundered on the trail, some guys from the Built to Grind off-road club out of Arizona showed me what was up. They spared a few minutes here and there to make sure I wasn't stranded, but for the most part ran the trail with no issues. Here Dennis Denison attempted a gnarly climb in his Bronco buggy on Volvo portal axles.
Feature Editor Jerrod Jones...
Feature Editor Jerrod Jones didn't get his own 4x4 ready in time for Moab, so he just showed up and borrowed a rig. Rick and I were giving him a hard time about it, but since we brought our own rigs, we now have to go home and fix them. Jerrod simply borrowed the Jeep keys from the guys at West Texas Off Road and doesn't have to turn a single wrench of Moab repair now that he's home.
At the end of the week in...
At the end of the week in Moab the XRRA Rock Racing series had an event at Area BFE, and it had thrills for the whole family. RJ Brown was there in his new Toyota-bodied rock racer and wasn't scared to get more than a few feet of air under it. Rock racing, it's like rockcrawling, but without the boring go-slow part.