benjy_26

Yeah. We're down to personal vehicles, mainly in an effort to mantain a lower profile. The ZJ is a beast, but I always carry spare parts and tools. I feel naked without them. As far as the trailer is concerned, I've seen them get hung up on stuff that's milder than where we're going. The number of people going will be between 7 and 8. I'll be traveling in my own vehicle, wuth perhaps one more person on board There will probabluly be another 3 or 4 vehicles, most larger than either of my Jeeps. One of the guys usually takes a Ford Expedition out there. I don't know HOW he avoids body damage sometimes.

Haha! That's awesome ^^^^^ Someone else from Hell Paso!! Ben M. 1987 2wd Base SWB 2.5L/AX4 Purchased Jan 2014

Was it..... one of THESE?:

Alright, so far the To-Do list for this type of 'Manche adventuring includes, but is not limited to: 1. Building a viable dual battery system, or transporting a spare battery 2. Tool/hard parts storage 3. Building secure mounts for jerry cans, or adapting existing milsurp units to fit 4. Beefing the suspension to deal with the added weight 5. Find a viable water storage container 6. Rope, rope, and more rope 7. Not discussed, but always on the back of my mind: comms. CB with weather band should be enough, I think. 8. Stick welding rig. 9. Recovery gear. Anything else y'all would do to the truck?

Double post...

Bailing wire and duct tape are always in the bag of basics behind the drivers seat. ;) I was actually talking to my brother earlier this morning about stick welding with a battery. Glad I'm not TOO far off base. Beer may not keep so well, unfortunately... so it will be augmented, and to a certain point, replaced by Jameson's....and Cohibas. :fine print: As far as the rat-shot, I keep a ruger super 6 in .22 in my tackle box loaded as you described for just such an eventuality. Rattlers in the desert seem to like sitting by the pond....

Cool deal. Going on my list for sure. Excuse my Noob-ness, but, is there a preffered material for rope? Unfortunately, I'm only familiar with nylon and some other synthetic material ropes. Should I be looking at other types?

Oh, as far as the dual batteries, I don't currently run them, but I'm thinking a pair of AGM style 51 series batteries intended for a Honda Civic should not take up a lot of space and should provide a good safety net. I was thinking of the Optima Yellowtop deep cycle/starting batteries. Another idea that crossed my mind is to run a 58 series Yellowtop or a straight deep cycle in the stock location and to use a small Braille battery behind or under the seat as a main/starting battery. Those things are tiny, very light weight, and put out a surprising amount of power. Any others I should look at?

Yup, tools definitely making the trip. Good idea about the tarp. That should free up some space and serve other purposes if need be as well. Speaking of tools, what kind of in-bed storage do you guys use? I've been eyeballing the boxes that big rigs use under the doors next to the diesel tanks, but can't seem to find any used or cheaper ones.

Surefire and Streamlight have got me covered on the lights; scout, pistol, handheld, and headlamps are in the gear, along with plenty of batteries. Ammo....let's just say I'm ok on that end. Lol. I DO need to re-stock on paracord. I've been braiding a lot of stuff lately. As for refular rope, what do you guys like?

Thanks. :). I'll check it tonight!

Honestly, I have no idea how much higher I am than stock, but it sits 3 inches above what it was when I brought it home.

31's on high offset wheels. i made a typo somewhere back there. i usually run 32's on my Heeps, so I kind of confused myself.

Oh, and before anyone thinks I'm a dolt, the AR is definately making the trip. Cuz, you know, coyotes (and I don't mean thr 4 legged kind).

Thanks!!! Things like you posted are what I'm looking for. I honestly didnt give a thought to spare sensors, though I carry spare u joints and shafts pretty much everywhere I go.... I'll definately start buying em bit by bit.

Thanks. :) I'm not a fan of the plate on the grille either, but I hung it there because the local PD is a fan of using any excuse to collect revenue.... even though a front plate isn't legally required in TX. Besides, in that particular slab of grille, there's nothing behid it but the header panel. The radiator actually sits ONLY in the middle of my grille. don't know if that's a MJ only thing, but it is different than my XJ and ZJ.

Hello all. I wanted to gather opinions here, seeing as how y'all are the experts when it comes to the 'Manche's. This summer, I will be conducting some field work for my employer, in which I will be required to basically live out of my vehicle in areas ranging from wooded mountains in South-eastern New Mexico to the deserts of far West Texas. We will be operating in the vicinity of populated areas ( think approx 50-70 miles), but we will mostly operate on our own. The extent of this "camping trip" will be for about a month; from June to July. In this part of the country, we don't get a whole lot of rain during this time of year, but we do get extreme temperature changes. During the day, it can get as hot as 110 degrees, while at night, in the open desert, it can drop to the low 60's, to mid 50's. Now, this is mainly a mental exercise, but I will be taking suggestions from here as to what some of the future mods will be to my Comanche to get it to be able to pull off stints such as this. We won't be doing any XTREME ROK KRAWLIN!!!!!!, but we will definately be driving over some badly maintained fire roads, gravel utility roads, and at times, make some not-so-deep water crossings and maybe have to scramble up some jeep trails and ride some sand dunes. My knee jerk reaction to this scenario is to take my ZJ. Why? Well, it has a fantabulous suspension for fast, long distance off roading, is dead reliable, has plenty of lighting, and , if push comes to shove, I can sleep in it. The problems it has is that, quite frankly, it has crappy cargo room, it sucks gas down compared to the 2.5 MJ, and I already have it set up for what I want it to do. So let's look at what I have to start with: 1987 Jeep MJ 2.5L 4 cylinder (runs GREAT and is surprisingly capable and frugal after fixing the vacuum and electrical issues it had) AX5/NP231 swap currently in the works (Ditching the AX4) Non C Clip Dana 35 in rear. Originally came with 3.55's, but will be swapping in a set of 4.11's and either a Lock Right or a Spartan... maybe a Detroit if I can swing it. HP Dana 30, matching gear set, open diff. EBC USR rotors and green stuff pads. I like em on my ZJ.... I currently have the stock rear springs, ZJ V8 front springs with Energy Suspensions isolators and Skyjacker 10 stage Velocity Sensing shocks at all four corners. At this point I have insgtalled a pair of Hella Rallye 2000's, have plans for a new front and rear bumpers, and, to deal with the weight increase, I will probably step up to a pair of 3.5-4" springs in the front and maybe add a leaf from a XJ pack to my rears. Oh, and I'm running 31x10.5R15 BFG T/A KO's on 15x8 aluminum wheels. What else would you guys add?

What the hell, bits are free....

Another for good measure.

Sorry, rearranged albums. This is the original pic I posted.

Dunno. :-\ I'll repost pics asap.

don't get me wrong, I've towed at or above thr limits of my vehicles plenty of times, but if you're going to be towing right at 5000lbs on a regular basis, it may be time to consider something a bit bigger. I don't know how wheelbase and weight distribution come into effect (I'm no engineer... not THAT kind of engineer, anyway), but a Ram is very different from a MJ. BTW, wasn't a 4.0 4x4 metric ton model pushing very close to thr 4800lb mark towards the end of the Manche production cycle? I swear I read that somewhere... Add tools, fluids, people, and beer (what? It's for when you GET THERE :) ), and 5000lbs doesnt seem unreasonable. I've also seen precious few MJ's shod in the original P225 meats. Another thing to consider, as this works against the brakes.

Nice. Honestly guys, thanks for thr info. I feel better now about swapping one in. It just seems like most jeepers look at the ax5 almost the same as having herpes.

I do believe Oreilley's has em available for not TOO much. You just gotta talk the dude in thr green shirt into going into his Keystone (aka "fun) menu.

Ah.... Nuts. That would almost be too easy...