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 --->>>
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