twisty wrote:The cargo area wasnt as big as I hoped but bigger then a JK/JL .
For some of us as Wille, the rear bench has been abandonned in some obscur location. I had to pull it a few times for extra passengers, and yes it is cramped with stacks of boxes, tools and supplies for the Jeep and the motos
twisty wrote:
In talking with the guy about my intentions he didnt seem to think driving his cream puffs up to alaska was a good idea since they are old and more apt to take a poo on such a journey vs a modern rig. My thought was the same as others on this board and feel they could make it easily but personally I would feel bad doing it. These things were works of art and the value of them is going up it.
Honest car salesman... indeed, something can happen. In the first Moab trip in 06 with the 74, I could not find a tire in 235x75x15 in Kingman, AZ, the tire developped an out of round issue, pounding one caliper pin out, luckily when I exited the freeway, I stopped by the junkyard, found the pin there and the alternator bracket to install a better alternator. So I had to skip the PeachSpring trail to the Colorado River. It took me untill Flagstaff to find one. Lesson here to have good tires before a long trip, or carry an extra spare.
The second Moab trip in 08, on the way back there was something missing, power, but on the long straight hyway it was not too noticeable, I do not drive 70mph, at some point yes, I could barely reach 60ish, but I was almost in Calif, I decided to stop past the donner pass summit and stay at a friend's place, gassup in Reno, yes, not a good idea because you have to crawl up the 7000 feet pass with a non alititude compensation carb, but I could do it without stopping to find gas late at night. Arrived at friend's cabin, unlocked gate, the engine died, and I could tell it was not going to restart... I tried 3x, left the truck, picked up the sleeping bag, keys and wallet and walked the 1/4 mile to a good night rest. The distributor quit, used the offroad motor bike to get supplies at the nearest town 25miles away. The battery died while tuning up, but being off the grid, I managed to solar charge the battery. Yes I do carry a spare distributor, a solar charger and a booster battery. The 2013 Ouray trip with the 85 a few things happened , the starter gave up and the fuel "issue" due to a an improvement that I tought was my mistake, but was not which took me a few years to resolve "loose inlet needle valve". The 2016 Moab trip the recent starter gave up again, and the gauges where acting up... more than usual,"fixed with modified CVR".
What is in store for 2018.... probably fresher rear springs, may be do the intake manifold seal... looked at the recommendation to get a grand cherokee with f---ed blender door... yes for $2500 it seems that a GC with working AC might be a better idea than spending $1500 to get my waggy AC working efficiently. Of course at the moment, my triple fracture keeps me up at night for another week, so I can think of unrational ideas.
Otherwise a stock 74 waggy without lift made it all over the places, such as the short cut south of Joshua NP called Berdoo canyon,the tour guide with hummee asked me where do I come from, I was going to say France .... I was sucked out thru a worm hole to where??? California...
A 2"lift seems the norm, most of the forest roads that I know, have become undesirable to travel thru, either by the amount of debris and the shrinking of the trail width that can barely accomodate a CJ. A big saw is in the tool pack, may be a chain saw for father's day?