First Trip Coming Up-Stupid Questions

[S3bird]

Hey guys, I'm meeting a bunch of people I barely know this Saturday for my first off road experience (excluding motorcycles). We are meeting at Cliff's Insane Terrain and I have an experienced guy who said he will guide me around for a little bit. I think the guys I'm meeting with are driving mostly Wrangles and maybe a CJ7.

My Liberty is completely stock with all season tires. I do have a hook in the back and recently installed the front Mopar hooks so hopefully I'm good as far as recovery points.

Anyway...
-How do you mount your trail flag? I though of simply zip tying one to the spare tire.
-I have a (newly rebuilt :favorites68 rear end with an open diff, is this going to suck as bad as I think it will? I've heard of applying brake pressure to help get both wheels turning.
-Does anybody disconnect the sway bars on the trail? I mean this is stock everything suspension wise so I'm not sure if that is even a relevant question?
-Stock tires aired down to maybe 20 psi?

 

[tommudd]

Hey guys, I'm meeting a bunch of people I barely know this Saturday for my first off road experience (excluding motorcycles). We are meeting at Cliff's Insane Terrain and I have an experienced guy who said he will guide me around for a little bit. I think they **** I meeting with are driving mostly Wrangles and maybe a CJ7.

My Liberty is completely stock with all season tires. I do have a hook in the back and recently installed the front Mopar hooks so hopefully I'm good as far as recovery points.

Anyway...
-How do you mount your trail flag? I though of simply zip tying one to the spare tire.
-I have a (newly rebuilt :favorites68 rear end with an open diff, is this going to suck as bad as I think it will? I've heard of applying brake pressure to help get both wheels turning.
-Does anybody disconnect the sway bars on the trail? I mean this is stock everything suspension wise so I'm not sure if that is even a relevant question?
-Stock tires aired down to maybe 20 psi?

People have zip tied it to spares before
Open diff depends on what tires you have, completely mall rated then yes it will, if an aggressive AT then not so much
You can disconnect the sway bar but honestly it doesn't make that much difference with no lift etc anyways
Air down till you fell comfortable
One issue though is with your already sagged suspension, airing down too much lower it down even more so your skids will be 4-5 inches off the ground possibly . ( you do have full skid plates i hope)

 

[LibertyTC]

X2^ Yes to Skids for sure, otherwise you risk damage to everything underneath/even rockers.
Even tho you are not lifted, your tires could be real problematic if it is muddy in there.
What tires are on it? Hopefully not ST or SRA's. How is your spare?
From what I googled from Cliff's Insane Terrain, it is in many areas for lifted folks, with good skids and more aggressive tires.
This will be a good learning time, we hope to hear about your experiences...
Just take it easy & have fun, but be safe out there!~arty52:

 

[LibertyTC]

Oh & check to make sure your sidewalls are not damaged or any cracks present, before airing down!

 

[boboborino]

And a note from me, if you feel it's too much, don't go home. Park your ride and jump in with someone. They'll be glad do bring you along, you'll have a blast and you will learn a lot, just by being a passenger.

Bert

 

[Cardhu]

Your 07, like mine, has a bunch of traction control things that will ocasionally apply brakes in less then desirable times in 4HI.

If you think you should be in 4LO, you probably have your answer and a lot of those "safety" features will be turned off and let you continue with your day and have you answering questions like "why did you stop in the middle of that?"

 

[S3bird]

Thanks guys for taking time to answer some newb questions.

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to come. Bummer it's suppose to be 40 on Saturday (and probably muddy) but at least I have heated seats and a great heater. I'm just going to switch to my "chill" personality and enjoy the day with some new friends.

 

[tommudd]

Thanks guys for taking time to answer some newb questions.

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to come. Bummer it's suppose to be 40 on Saturday (and probably muddy) but at least I have heated seats and a great heater. I'm just going to switch to my "chill" personality and enjoy the day with some new friends.

So back to questions, do you have full skids:shrug:
Seen too many over the years have to be dragged out of woods due to trans pan being ripped open etc

 

[S3bird]

So back to questions, do you have full skids:shrug:
Seen too many over the years have to be dragged out of woods due to trans pan being ripped open etc

I sound like a fool but I do not have any skid plates other than the factory transfer case plate that came standard. I'm going to take it easy because of that. Having to have the rear end rebuilt killed my budget, I know it's a lame excuse.

I do plan on getting at least a front and a transmission plate by the next trip when/where ever that might be. I see Mopar OEM ones still available online along with a few aftermarket ones.

 

[tommudd]

I sound like a fool but I do not have any skid plates other than the factory transfer case plate that came standard. I'm going to take it easy because of that. Having to have the rear end rebuilt killed my budget, I know it's a lame excuse.

I do plan on getting at least a front and a transmission plate by the next trip when/where ever that might be. I see Mopar OEM ones still available online along with a few aftermarket ones.

I hope you have fun, but personally I would not go out with out skids, all it takes is one slip of a rock and bam!
Not being a jerk, just can never be too careful

 

[yellocoyote]

Speaking from someone who has wheeled at Cliffs on MANY occasions (and cracked my factory front differential there), I would highly advise against going without at LEAST skids and some significant AT/MT tires. That's some pretty squirrely terrain in there for a stock KJ - seriously. The only areas where you risk NO damage are the gravel service-type roads.

As you already know, the weather has been quite wet around these parts... and that place simply does not dry out due to the nature of the hills/valleys there. Even when we have months of dry weather, that place is still sloppy.

If you go as-is, I predict that you're going to be pulled around a lot (due to mud) and/or you'll risk significant damage. It's not exactly a good place for a first-timer with factory equipment - unless you don't care about it working the same way at the end of the day. But, as it's your ride, you do what you think is best... and I wish you the best of luck! You'll have to let us know how it goes.

(Cheers)

 

[drewwenmoth]

Check the for sales on here, i see john has all 3 skids for sale. Jump quick you might have them this weekend, from my experience john is quick to ship (usually means hes already got the next big thing lined up )


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[HoosierJeeper]

I think everyone has said what I would say but, you should go to the Badlands sometime in Attica, in Indiana. Less muddy than Cliffs and has a better variety of terrain. Whenever I go I post in the Midwest section here.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Speaking from someone who has wheeled at Cliffs on MANY occasions
(Cheers)

Jayme, great to see you on here again! :waytogo:

Bob

 

[yellocoyote]

Jayme, great to see you on here again! :waytogo:

Bob

Not as often as I'd like, but yeah... I'm still here.

 

[CalcityRenegade]

If this trail is as Jayme states I would tag along with someone else. At least for you're first time. Get a sense of the trail and area and get some skids and tires set up first. Plus it is always more fun for someone else to tear up their rig than yours!

 

[S3bird]

Well I'm just going to go anyway and see what's going on. If it seems too gnarly I'll simply just park it and hitch a ride with someone else down there. I'm suffering from cabin fever in the worst way. Nothing to prove, just looking to try something different. This might be the wrong park at the wrong time but I've got an opportunity to check it out "now" with some people I've known for a while and feel comfortable with.

It's my daily driver until it finally warms up consistently so wadding it up isn't in the plans. Even with a lift, skids, big assed bumpers and mud tires I would still be taking it easy. Anyway we all have to start somewhere :shrug:



I do appreciate the advice you guys gave :happy160:



BTW for the next trip it will have skids but I doubt mud tires unless I run over a bunch of nails or something...

 

[profdlp]

...for the next trip it will have skids but I doubt mud tires unless I run over a bunch of nails or something...

Drive by a bunch of construction sites - maybe you'll get lucky! :icon_lol:

 

[S3bird]

Drive by a bunch of construction sites - maybe you'll get lucky! :icon_lol:

Not a bad idea ;-)

 

[yellocoyote]

In all honesty, if you can take the time and drive down to Badlands in Attica, IN (like Hoosier suggested)... they have such a HUGE array of terrain. Literally everything from mild-to-wild - that's where I usually suggest newbie wheelers to go. There are a lot of wide open areas... whereas Cliffs is very confined, always muddy, and just really easy to unintentionally make a wrong move.

I do like your idea of hopping in with someone else - at least that way you get to scope out the park before getting into a situation that will result in a bad, bad day.