New to a 4x4 vehicle

Gill2003

New Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2005
Location
Mooresville
Hi, Im pretty new to 4x4 Jeep. My jeep wrangler is all stock except for 33inch tires. I was wondering, is there any MUST HAVE upgrades I need to have before I even think about going off road? Also, I live north of Charlotte, anyone know of anywere I can go offroad legally. I am ready to do something with this investment!
 
There is a rock course down there to play in. You might need to invest vol. hours or a few $ to the owner. Contact scarface on here. Whatever you do you will end up putting more and more $ into making your wheeler better. Most guys will tell you a winch is a good starting point. ;)
 
well if you have 33 then you most likely allready have a lift. I would say gears and at least a locker in the rear, and lock the front to if you can afford it. Then I would get some rock rail to protect the rocker pannels. A winch is good for emergencys but is a Real PITA if you have to use it all of the time becuase you non locked jeep is allways stuck

I run a detroit locker in the rear and a power lock"posi" in the front and I love it.
 
Gears, Lockers, SYE (Slip Yoke Eliminator), New rear axle, and a winch.

All that will only cost you several grand LOL.

I currently run 33" tires, Detroit rear Locker and super 35 kit in my rear dana 35 (do not do this upgrade it works well but swap is cheaper and with a swap you get more for your buck), 9,000 lb winch, 3.73 gears (also gear lower then this with 33" tires my second rookie mistake LOL), No front Locker in my Jeep yet.

I drive a Jeep and all I can say is welcome to the addiction.
 
Wolfpack OffRoad said:
There is a rock course down there to play in. You might need to invest vol. hours or a few $ to the owner. Contact scarface on here. Whatever you do you will end up putting more and more $ into making your wheeler better. Most guys will tell you a winch is a good starting point. ;)
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yeah, buy a winch first :D
 
where you from in charlotte, i'm living in the south charlotte area. pm me i can lend yah a hand if needed.
 
Lets talk i got all kinds of stuff im offloading and a place to play when ur ready and ...

I already yelled at josh today so my angers gone. ;)
 
So I have a lift on my Jeep? The dealer said it didnt, and I specifically asked him to tell me if it had a lift. Is it possible that it does not have a lift? or maybe I am mistaken, and I have smaller tires on it.

So maybe this is a dumb question, but what and why a 'detroit locker' and why would I need a new rear axle? A winch doesnt sound like a bad idea, but I thought I remember someone telling me it already has 3.73 gears.

It does not sound like there are many places outisde of charlottes/ in charlotte etc etc that you can 4 wheel in except for Scarface's. Where do you guys go, legal or illegal? I mean I have been itching to get this thing off road, and so far only action it has seen is a drive around our house which includes a shallow ditch and a sidewalk and a curb, I decided against going into the pool since I dont have a snorkel...LoL(funny story, the neighborhood rent-a-cops came by later that day to tell me it is against association rules to drive on the grass, even on my own property, and that my neighbors complained)

So last thing I had, What are some do's and dont's associated with Wranglers, or 4x4s? General maintenence and things to look out for etc etc

Thanks guys, my transition into the 4x4 world has been made alot easier.
 
Hey man I live in Mooresville too, so if you need help installing anything let me know, got alot of tools.

As far as what to upgrade first it all depends on what your planning on doing with it. A winch is a good thing to have but they are an expensive option if you're not going to wheel that much, knowing somebody with a bigger vehicle that would be willing to pull you out if neccesary is just about as good.

Me personnaly I would go with A lift and bigger more agressive tires, and maybe a detroit ez locker or a lock right locker in the rear because they are the most inexpensive lockers.

Once again it all depends on how far you're willing to go with your vehicle when it comes to the question everyone has of "What should I do next?" :cool:
 
I am going to assume your Jeep has a stock driveline in it which would consist of a dana 30 fornt axle and a dana 35 rear axle (according to what year it is).

If it is an 87 or newer then the rear dana 35 axle is weak. If you wheel it hard that axle will break. Sometimes even under moderate stress. The Dana 30 front axle has been used for 30 years in Jeeps and will hold up fine with 33" tires.

If you have a wrangler and have 33" tires you do have a lift. I have never seen a wrangler that you could fit 33" tires on it stock.

Lockers - You will eventually wish you had them front and rear. Detroit is what I run but there are other good options avaliable that are cheaper.

There are not to many legal places around here that I know of (I live Mount Holly on the other side of Charlotte from you).
 
So maybe this is a dumb question, but what and why a 'detroit locker' and why would I need a new rear axle? A winch doesnt sound like a bad idea, but I thought I remember someone telling me it already has 3.73 gears.

I was in URE last sat. and a guy in a TJ with a d35 was going up the trail(not a hard part) and broke his rear axle in half :eek: I got the rear-end apart at about 3am and got a new axle for the guy the next day and got him back on the road, I did not charge him anything, but the axle was $150.....That is why they say "you need a new rear axle", but that is not to say that if you go to URE and wheel that you are going to brack your axle, but.......


As for a place to Wheel URE will be the best place for ya, it is about 45min or so from you and should let you brack somthing or get stuck :D O and STAY OFF THE GRASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
just post a pic and im sure we will tell u if u have a lift or not? cuz it is possible to cram 33s under a stock jeep...not wise perhaps, but seen it done (cough cough Josh).

3.73 gears are nothing to be proud of...so whoever told you that you had them was prolly right but it doesnt mean anything. Theyre just standard.

Detroit is a brand of locker to answer your other question. Locker is kinda like a limited slip...when a tire slips the locker will lock both axle shafts forcin them to spin...therefore both tires on each axle will always be spinning...get it? dont worry it took me a while to understand it too...and i still dotn have one but they are a huge difference.

Rod
 
3.73 gears with 33" tires leaves me wishing I had geared mine lower sometimes. I geared mine when I had 31" tires and did really think I would be going larger anytime soon. Less then a year later I had 33" tires and more lift LOL. SO a regear would help you out a lot I am sure. Also what motor does it have in it?

The list of upgrades you can make to a Jeep to enhance its offroad performance is long and varied. Everyone takes a different route but if you already have lift and 33" tires then you baught it well on its way. Those are some of the first large expenses right there.
 
Wheel the hell out of that thing stock. Then ask: "self, what do i need to make my jeep tougher". Answer alot of this stuff after wheelin a couple of times or you will regret the money spent.
 
Ah, I was wrong. I have 30 inch tires. To my 373 gears is big, but thats because I know more about cars then I do SUV/Jeeps. SO I hear 373 is no biggie in the Jeep world. About the Lockers, I thought transferring powering to the slipping wheels was the right thing happening in SUV, does it not give you more traction that way? I mean they boast about it at the dealers and tv commercials. I just thought limited slip was more beneficial to cars then Jeeps.

Hey Jraw, where do you go when you want to get offroad in mo'town, aside from that muddy corner of talbert and brawley school road lol.

But all in all, if I just wanna get off road and not do anything extreme stock is ok for me eh?

While im asking, what kinda stuff you guys got on your vehicles? Just to get an idea of what the scene is like.

What is URE?
 
think about it this way...if one tire is slipping and it doesnt have traction at all..say its in the air..then what good is it if ur giving it 400 ponies and all your torque? A locker will lock both shafts together and the other tire( assuming it has traction) will get you out or at least make you move.

URE = Uwharrie National Forest...the closest place to legal wheeling around here..about 2 hours away from south charlotte...can be done with what you have so u should look into goin, dont go alone tho...
 
Gill2003 said:
Oh and if you have 33 with 373 gears, what is bad about it jeepnmud? Does it effect the speedo or soemthing?
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The bigger the tire the more you need to gear your jeep. In other words the bigger the tire the more power it will take from your engine to run. If you went up to a 33" it will prob push it but every time you go up a hill
you wil have to switch down gears. You basically have a stock jeep with one tire size larger. I wouldn't worry about fixing it up till you know what you like. I other words wheel it and save money. You have many places you can go now.
 
fryedaddy said:
The bigger the tire the more you need to gear your jeep. In other words the bigger the tire the more power it will take from your engine to run. If you went up to a 33" it will prob push it but every time you go up a hill
you wil have to switch down gears. You basically have a stock jeep with one tire size larger. I wouldn't worry about fixing it up till you know what you like. I other words wheel it and save money. You have many places you can go now.
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On a dry day you should be able to run Uwharrie stock. Jason (hobbie, I hope he found a job I have not heard from him lately) put his CJ through the paces with open diffs. You will find an EZ locker or lockright in the rear axle as mentioned above will make you happy for a small investment. Other goodies as previously mentioned always help too. Bigger tires and a lift will help. If you use the jeep as a DD, performance such as power and gas mileage will suffer if you go with bigger tires and don't re-gear. I run a FSJ, so I can only relate what I have heard. This board and others will give you plenty of info.
 
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