Stock KJ, good offroad??

JeepMorrison · **Joined:** Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:34 am **Posts:** 1236

I have a stock, 06 with 27000 miles on her. Im gonna get me some skids and some good A/T, in like 245/70. Do I really need a lift to go trail riding?

im might do a rear iso lift and a "trim packer" to go along with the clevis lift i did.....

durangotang · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:30 am

You don't NEED a lift... don't even NEED 4x4 for that matter. It'll just limit what you can do.

Budke · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:14 pm

The KJ is good off road completely stock. I wheel mine and its stock. I even have some crappy tires that don't really help at all.
The extra ground clearance would help a lot though. Also, you're gonna want to get hooks.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:35 pm

Stock w/ decent tires, recovery points and a buddy along to help If you Do get stuck and you will go places that will surprise you and have a blast doing so.

jeepetorp · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:42 pm

Lift kit´s are for chicken...

Ooops.

I´ve got one, and a winch. But that´s just for the good look...

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

Stock is great....

Xodius · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:58 pm

Hey Kayak, stocks are good. I used mine all the time that way. I put my OME HD lift on....almost 2 years ago now and love it even more but :twisted:

. FYI, I am in the desert, not that it really matters but the lift just gave me an opportunity to not hit the rocks that I already went over. LOL.

KJKev · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:23 pm

The very first time I wheeled my stock KJ was at Rockport. Everyone was asking, "are you gonna wheel that stock Libby?"
I said, "hell yeah". It did great.

The guides told me that 99% of offroading is the driver anyway.

Just don't go by yourself. I did that 'once' and had to walk 2 miles in driving snow to get help.

dgeist · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:01 pm

I had 245/70R16 AT tires (no MTs or anything) and no lift and no skids (that last part wasn't on purpose) for the 2009 ECS. The only other non-stock item was a few accessory tow points (mopar hooks and a hitch reciever work fine). I was amazed at the stuff I got through and I think some others were as well. As mentioned, good spotters, a tow strap, and good skills seem to be the most important thing.

Just having one day of trails under my belt made me feel like I was twice the driver I started as at the beginning of the weekend. Take you time picking your lines on obstacles, be cautious when you're not comfortable and trust the advice of those with more experience than you and you'll have a great time.

Dan

dcsveen · **Posted:** Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:07 pm

i wheeled mine stock and it did fine but i am 100% happy about lifting it, the extra clearance helps alot, and it looks ALOT better too, if i were you and i had the money i would definately lift it

mikey1273 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:21 am

I wheeled mine a bit once too.. I am mostly on roads but off road was fun. I was not suprized the jeep did great off road but how easily it handled the trails I was on.

InCommando · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:40 am

Took mine out with temp tags on it. hey will do as well as any stock vehicle w/o lockers, and better than most. Short overhangs front/rear are a great advantage.

tomsjeep · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:17 pm

Nothing wrong with stock. Although the definition of 'off road' varies from person to person... I'm not sure I'd try the Rubicon in my stockish Libby.
Recovery/tow points are a necessity though. Nothing wrong with getting yourself in a stuck situation, just wrong to have to destroy the vehicle getting it out!

And the driver does make a lot of difference... I've done things with a Honda Accord that people in 'suvs' were getting stuck in the ditch trying to do. Your most important piece of off-road equipment is your brain.

jhblackwell · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:49 pm

dgeist wrote:

I had 245/70R16 AT tires (no MTs or anything) and no lift and no skids (that last part wasn't on purpose) for the 2009 ECS. The only other non-stock item was a few accessory tow points (mopar hooks and a hitch reciever work fine). I was amazed at the stuff I got through and I think some others were as well. As mentioned, good spotters, a tow strap, and good skills seem to be the most important thing.

Just having one day of trails under my belt made me feel like I was twice the driver I started as at the beginning of the weekend. Take you time picking your lines on obstacles, be cautious when you're not comfortable and trust the advice of those with more experience than you and you'll have a great time.

Dan

X2
When I first wheeled my '06 stock sport at Camp Jeep '07 I was totally amazed at what the KJ could do, as I was when I watched Dan in his stock Libby at '09 ECS. Absolutely awesome what can be done when you have a good vehicle, good spotters and experienced advice to supplement your good driving skills. Dan proved that to me, and I suspect with more agressive tires he would have done even better.
Dan....look out, bubba, you just might get hooked and end up adding all kinds of stuff to your stocker...I did, and I'm having a blast. :wink:

VoodooMann · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:16 pm

tomsjeep wrote:

Nothing wrong with stock. Although the definition of 'off road' varies from person to person... I'm not sure I'd try the Rubicon in my stockish Libby.

If a Jeep has the trail rated emblem, it 'Technically' means it will cross the Rubicon Trail stock

[rubicon] trail rated

oddball · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:26 pm

Stock KJ's suck off-road. :wink:

JJsKJ wrote:

Stock w/ decent tires, recovery points and a buddy along to help If you Do get stuck and you will go places that will surprise you and have a blast doing so.

Seriously though - I have to agree however I can't stress enough how important front & rear recovery points are - stock or lifted. Don't go off road without them.

tomsjeep · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:06 pm

VoodooMann wrote:

tomsjeep wrote:

Nothing wrong with stock. Although the definition of 'off road' varies from person to person... I'm not sure I'd try the Rubicon in my stockish Libby.

If a Jeep has the trail rated emblem, it 'Technically' means it will cross the Rubicon Trail stock

[rubicon] trail rated

Lots of things are 'technically' possible. I'm not arguing the badge, or the rating, just that I wouldn't take my 'stockish' Libby on the Rubicon. That's because I'm cautious about damage to my daily driver not because I fear it's capability. But I remember seeing a still-stock YJ, with the little tiny stock tires show up for a muddy trail wheeling event once, and was surprised how well the 2 girls did that were driving it. Yes they got stuck, but so did I and so did everyone that wasn't seriously locked and lifted with major mud tires on.

VoodooMann · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:26 pm

All i meant was the libby can do it.

I still get tired of reading all of these other 4x4 forums that say 'ohh the libby sucks off road, every one i have ever seen breaks axles left and right,' or, 'you take your liberty off road? I take it that means down the dirt road at the state park, because you'd get stuck otherwise' or like the time I had water poured on my windshield by a guy saying 'durrrhurrhurr, i thought if i watered it, it might turn into a real jeep.'

truth be told, I have outwheeled people in fairly heavily modified rigs on a few occasions, and it isn't because the liberty is necessarily that awesome, but most of the time (where I live) the people that ride those rigs can't wheel for crap and use their overdone rigs as crutches for their lack of skill.

not to knock on any one group in particular, I love wranglers and other 4x4 brands, and I have friends that wheel other 'four-by's' but it seems like whenever I have gone on a trail run with my friends in the past, there is always THAT guy at the trail, He ALWAYS has to challenge my liberty to make his (often pile-of-crap-rustbucket) rig look better, and he is ALWAYS a jerk. :lol:

now that my little anti-libby-bashing rant is over...

Im bone stock as far as drivetrain/axles/gears/diffs(open) and all that goes, I have fairly aggressive ATs (primewell PA100) and i haven't gotten stuck yet, and I do some pretty tough mud bogging, where my friends old TJ got stuck often with LSDs, and me in the past with my explorer w/ LSDs (knocks on wood). I take it all down to the BLD that the liberty's ESP provides.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:40 pm

Things you might be able to do on the cheap.

Do the clevis lift for the front...free w/ labor

Buy two 1.5" pucs for the rear springs...about $40-50

Fit some 235/75/16s (Hercules Terra Trac ATs come in that size)

That should give you much more clearance and you might be amazed how far you could go.

tomsjeep · **Posted:** Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:32 pm

Voodooman, I am not bothered nor offended by your rant. In fact, I pretty much agree with your thoughts. It's just that my Libby is currently the DD, so I ain't big on doofing it all up. Now, in a few years, I'll likely look at making it the play toy, and then I'd go anywhere with it.
But in the meantime, unemployment keeps me miserly on repairs/upgrades, etc.

Stock KJ, good offroad??

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