[GhostKnife]

Good Stuff!

[lvum4x4]

After a couple of battles with the snow we decided to change things up a little and explore the trails of Calico Ghost Town. The trails are legendary and I am happy to add this to my list of my favorite places to wheel. We hit a couple of the trails but the only one that I can remember the name of was Odessa.

I was the only the Grand Cherokee with 3 TJ's and a Toyota so I tried to earn some respect for the WJ's. My rig held up well to the trails; had to winch out of one spot because I was sliding close to the rock wall and we cabled up for the ledge since the TJ in front of my grabbed a little too much wall and dropped his rear wheel off the ledge. It was a scary moment for everyone and I didnt feel so great being next in line to cross but we all made it through with no trouble. I am always surprised by the quality of people you meet out on the trail, you could tell we were surrounded by good company just by the number of labrador retrievers running ariound. Everyone was very helpful and made for a wonderful trip. We want to thank everyone for their hospitality. We all made it out without any (minor) damage and had a blast as always. My Iceland bumper took a good hit and held up like a champ considering it is fiberglass.

Here are some pics...

[lvum4x4]

[lvum4x4]

[MoonyJohn]

Triple Post??

jk man, love your WJ. All around capable jeep you have, very jealous now that I have a WJ. lol

[lvum4x4]

Originally Posted by MoonyJohn

Triple Post??

No, just place holders so I can keep them all together if people post while I am creating the posts

Originally Posted by MoonyJohn

...jk man, love your WJ. All around capable jeep you have, very jealous now that I have a WJ. lol

Thanks, we have been very pleased with it, it goes to show you that if you set them up right, they are VERY capable. It surprised everyone in our group as some expected me to have some trouble is certain areas without lockers but it crawled through everything with little trouble.

[Yesfan70]

Looks great. How are you liking that Iceland bumper? The more I look at them, the more I'm liking them.

Have you got a side shot of your rig?


Very nice looking WJ. I'm quite envious (Still stock and off to a slow start with mine)

[lvum4x4]

Originally Posted by Yesfan70

Looks great. How are you liking that Iceland bumper? The more I look at them, the more I'm liking them.

Have you got a side shot of your rig?


Very nice looking WJ. I'm quite envious (Still stock and off to a slow start with mine)

I guess I will go ahead and put up a damage report for those who are wondering how "durable" the Icecland armor is. The Iceland bumper concerns many because it is fiberglass but we should emphasize that it is 1/4" thick fiberglass. I hammered the front end hard enough to take a chunk out of my D-Link yet the bumper only sufferend minor rock rash. I hit hard on solid rock and was very pleased when I finally got out and took a look. Structurally, it held up better than expected. My OME SS dampener was my only real casualty so I will be relocating that this time. The Rock Sliders are 3/16" steel and I used them in a big way on this trail. They held up with only scratches. My control arms suffered some rock rash but again maintained their structural integrity.

Here are some pics...

[MoonyJohn]

One thing about ZJ's to WJ's is the ground clearance difference. We had my 3" ZJ next to a 3" WJ and there were atleast 3 inches less ground clearance on the WJ. Too bad thats where you need it most too.. makes me debate getting the 4" LA to the 3" IRO.

[Ricochet88]

dang idk if i would have made it haha you finally have some battle scars! looked like alot of fun tho

[mJUSTINm]

Sorry I couldn't make it Kevin, looks like it was a fun day! Way to show 'em how it's done in a WJ, your jeep always does good. I'd love to go out there this summer. Looks like I'll need some sliders though! But they're on the list, right behind a better steering setup

I wish my iPod would load all the pics. They looked good from what I saw though.

[SnowLeopard]

That pic is just edgey. I like seeing your Jeep wheel. The dog pic is cool, too. Labs ftw!

I'm really surprised you didn't get any more damage going on that trail. Then you've got all the protection you can, eh? Looks like fun.

[theksmith]

nice to see you getting some battle scars on that pretty dub

[lvum4x4]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard

That pic is just edgey. I like seeing your Jeep wheel. The dog pic is cool, too. Labs ftw!

I'm really surprised you didn't get any more damage going on that trail. Then you've got all the protection you can, eh? Looks like fun.

I believe the Jeep would have climbed it no problem but I was sliding to the left because there was a small strip of asphalt on the right that let the tires spin so we winched up it just to be safe. That is another great thing, anytime we get into a questionable section we have the tools to get ourselves out so it really helps with your confidence on the trail.

As for trial damage, we built the Jeep to do this and it has passed every test we have thrown at it with the exception off-camber icy snow. We have good protection from Iceland Offroad. The rock sliders are about tire width and run along the entire side of the Jeep with 3/16" steel. They are really tuff and serve as frame supports for the uni-body. The fender is lightweight and extremely strong with a great approach angle and clearance. The fender flares have actually saved me in the snow once when I dropped into a 3 ft rut. the weight of the vehicle was on them and they came out with only scratches.

I am really pleased with all the Iceland Offroad components. It is one thing to see them new or in pictures and quite another to see that after going through a challenge like Odessa. We put every piece of armor and recovery gear to use on this trail and it all performed flawlessly.

[lvum4x4]

Finally got my 10" amber lightbar, just need my other door spot and I am done with lighting. I absolutely love Rigid's products!






...here is a (crappy) photochop of what I want it to look like and feel done with lighting (well maybe some rock lights)