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I have been wheeling for over 30 years.
While the majority of my rigs have been
Jeeps (probably 18 or so Jeeps, I had 10
at one time) I did loose my way 3 times
and bought a Ram Charger, a Full Sized
Bronco, and a full Sized Blazer -- all
back in the 70s and 80s. Since then it has
been all Jeep. My main trail rig is an
82 Wagoneer but I have several other Jeeps
and have been known to drive any of them
off road on any given day.
Being from
the east coast, most of my wheeling has
been on hills and mud but 5 years ago I
moved to Arizona. Before that I made two
trips to Moab, UT and I knew then that
someday I would move West, find me a
cowgirl, and spend my spare time
wheeling.
Rock Crawling got boring and
expensive after a while and it seemed that
no matter how much money one would spend,
you could always end up breaking the
expensive stuff. The southwest had so much
to offer in history and trails. There was
more than rock crawling here, did anyone
else feel the same way? Well there were
others like me and Jeep Expeditions was
born in late 2006, although we really
didn’t know it until after our 1st trip in
2007.
My current trail rig is a 1982
Jeep Wagoneer Limited. Also referred to as
the Jeep SJ or FSJ (Full Size Jeep). Its
big, its heavy and it gets lots of looks.
I call it the "War Wagon" (I
like John Wayne movies) but my friends all
call it "The Beast". The beast
pretty much goes where the little Jeeps
go, only getting more AZ pinstriping. And
being 25 years old, it has its quirks but
mile after mile the few "bugs" I
have encountered are now fixed and
gone........'til the next one shows up
:-)
From the custom roof rack by
TTsFabworks, to the 7” SOA/rear shackle
flip also from www.ttsfabworks.com, the 33
BFG mudders and custom bumpers front and
rear it was a beginning of an “old farts”
toy. Now add Detroit and ARB lockers, 4.56
gearing, a 9000 lb winch and its ready for
most trails. You notice how the rear sits
a little low? That is Rustys Off Road
3" lift springs that have NO lift at
all. One of my next projects to replace
them with quality springs.
On the top
we have a 2nd spare tire in case the one
on the rear isn't enough, a Wilson Trucker
5000 CB antenna, a dual band Ham Radio
antenna, Sirius Satellite Truckers
antenna, Garmin external marine GPS
antenna, shovel, MaxAxe and a HiLift jack.
Did I mention that I had the roof Rhino
Lined with about 3/16" of protection.
It looks like a vinyl roof, cuts down on
the noise and protects the roof from nicks
and dings.
Inside we have a custom
stereo/MP3 system, a Kenwood D700A, Yaesu
FT-60R for back up, Cobra 29XL CB, a Jotto
Desk with a Panasonic Toughbook CF29
loaded with high resolution Topo Maps of
the entire southwest and medium resolution
Topo maps of the entire country plus
National Geographics National Parks Topo,
Delorme Street Atlas 2007, Garmin City
Maps and Topo, and more. On the dash sits
the Cobra Radar Detector (not sure why,
with the gearing we can't go over the
freeway speeds here in AZ), Sirius Sat
Radio receiver, Garmin 276C Chartplotter
with Topo loaded and connected to both the
Ham radio and laptop.
Its all protected
by an alarm system, the club, and Smith
and Wesson!
The 1963 Wagoneer
Rhino/Gladiator grill, faux horn covers,
and headlights add to its
uniqueness.
This winter its scheduled
for the next phase............ GM Vortec
motor and a 4 speed auto tranny.
This
picture was taken at the Toroweep ranger
station at the North Rim of the Grand
Canyon. The Ranger station is 60 miles in
the middle of nowhere.
My M-101 Jeep
trailer is loaded with gear for the 5 day
Grand Canyon Expedition. My trailer uses
the same wheels and tires as the Jeep to
keep it simple.
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