Off Roading …

I am considering the purchase of a new toy and as a result have had to educate myself on the ins and outs of off road vehicles. I like to work on cars more than I like to drive them so one of the primary criteria is that the vehicle is easy to work on. That in itself equates to lots of after market parts. I haven’t done an exhaustive amount of work but it seems that the primary vehicle of choice in this category is theĀ  Jeep.

Jeeps come in many shapes and sizes and there is an endless supply of after market accessories. If I am serious about taking to the trails, I will need a lift kit and may need a winch. There are options for different fenders, brush bars, skid pans, rims and tires. None of my current vehicles are able to tow a trailer so a towing kit would be nice. There are trailers that I can rent or borrow for those times when I need to move things that don’t fit in a Honda civic.

Once I had narrowed the search down to a Jeep TJ, I started looking at options. The Jeep TJ is also called a Jeep Wrangler and there is a special version called a Rubicon. Turns out that back in 2005 (or so) Chrysler decided to make a special Rubicon edition for people who really wanted to drive off road. The Rubicon adds a 4:1 axle ratio, lockable front and rear diffs, better suspension and a front sway bar disconnect. These are things that can all be added to a regular TJ after the fact but the Rubicon comes with them from the factory.

I reviewed all the available motors and decided that I would like the 4.0 liter 6 speed manual transmission. The six speed transmission on the Rubicon provides for a couple of low gear choices that would come in handy for crawling over rocks.

So what’s left? Most of the vehicles come with both a hard top and soft top, so the only real question left is what color? I’m kind of partial to black, but I have seen a really cool copper color. Anyone else out there have an opinion?

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