Long distance trips in an MJ

[Htchevyii]

Out of curiosity, I've been trying to add up the mileage that we have put on the old MJ in the last 4 years. Adding up the big trips puts me at about 16,000 miles, but there are plenty of 3-4 day trips that I didn't count, I'm guessing it's closer to 20,000.

 

Our first long trip was the Oregon Gambler 500 which was about 800 miles. That was followed by our longest trip to date, 2800 miles to Death Valley, Mojave, Valley of Fire, ETC. since then, there has been many 1,500-2,200 mile trips in CA, OR, ID, AZ and especially NV.  The last was 2,000 miles to the Mojave Road. Heather even takes it on a "girls trip" now and then.

 

There hasn't been a ton of major issues along the way, but there has been some. The biggest wasn't the fault of the Jeep, but myself. We were on a loose rock shelf road that gave away and ended up sliding into a lake near Boise ID. I could have done better on my part, but hindsight is 20-20. We did have to tow the Jeep home and flush and dry it out as well as replace some electronics on that one.  The other major failure was the internal slave cylinder failing in the Black Rock Desert 500 miles from home. We drove home by starting the truck in 1st gear and rev matching shifts. It has an external conversion now. Other than that, we've lost a few bolts and suffered a cracked exhaust pipe, but not too bad. We've also driven abt 3000 miles in the '89 XJ in the last 2 years. I thought that it's lower mileage and mild build would be ideal for longer trips, but so far, we still prefer the MJ.

 

It was kind of stressful at first, but I've come to trust the old truck and am confident that we can overcome most problems. We aren't hesitant to jump in it and drive it all day every day for a two week stretch. We've been chronicling our adventures on YouTube if you haven't seen them. We've got a long weekend coming up and we're heading to have not some more ghost towns in NV.

 

https://youtube.com/@campoutwestus?si=tq5MV8_WkJmNDCEQ

 

[89 MJ]

They are great videos. I always look forward to watching them when they come out. 

[Htchevyii]

Thanks! We appreciate that! I can't wait until we can get out again!

[watchamakalit]

I haven't gotten to watch all the videos but the ones I have were very enjoyable. 

[Htchevyii]

Thanks! I just gave it a check over and it looks like it's ready to go ghost town hunting in NV in a few weeks.

[Pete M]

always a good time living vicariously through your travels.  

[Htchevyii]

😁👍 cantt wait to hit the road on Friday!

[fiatslug87]

Can’t wait to see the videos