Trail Talk
The ride on the trail was almost relaxing as the suspension crept up and over everything I could find here in Colorado that was not covered in snow this time of year. Muddy hills, gravel roads and rocks all seemed to passe under the Jeep with the greatest of ease. I have not encountered any strange wheel hop or axle wrap up to this point. We will have to see how it works out in Moab during Easter Jeep Safari this year. If I find anything strange I will let you know.

All this street testing got me all wound up and tense. It was time to get it out on the trail and play. After all, that is why we installed the suspension in the first place. What better place to test a suspension called "Rockrunner" than in the Colorado Rocky Mountains! It is early springtime here in the Rockies so most of the high elevation trails are still covered with snow. We decided to take it up Left Hand Canyon just outside Boulder, CO (also know as Carnage Canyon).

Carnage Canyon is not the most difficult trail in the state but it definitely requires a pretty well-equipped Jeep to make it through unscathed. The last time I was up Carnage Canyon was in my YJ. I fought with the YJ the whole day on that trip. I even flopped it over against a tree on the way back down. The trip this time was a bit less exciting. Even with the open differentials, the Jeep crept up and over the wet rocks like a lazy spider. The suspension flexed very smoothly, quietly and predictably, leaving me with total confidence in its performance.

Toward the end of the trail there is a fairly long, steep, off-camber hill climb that happened to be muddy. I did the climb a few times, both forward and backward and then went back down. By the second time it was almost boring. The suspension put the power to the ground in a very sure-footed and predictable manner. I could not get any wheel hop or lift going up the hill, either.

The only problem I had all day was getting up a steep off-camber slab of granite. Fighting for traction at the top of the slab caused a bit of wheel-lift on the right, front. After I reluctantly backed off and took the lower route I noticed that everyone had the same problem; even the guys that were locked in one axle. They all lifted a tire and fought for traction at the top of the rock.

After the day in the rocks I was very pleased with my choice of suspension. It had performed so well on the street that I was starting to become a bit skeptical on how well it could perform off-road. I was very excited to see that it works just as well on the rocks, too. All you have to do to switch from mild-mannered street machine to full war bird for the trail is disconnect the sway bars.

Opening a Can of Worms --->>>