In June 2021, the Pine Belt Jeep Club hit Moab, Utah. The most fun and equally stressful trail that we hit was definitely Cliffhanger. The trail itself is super fun and technical. However, once you add in amazing views and and cliffside Jeep riding, it transforms it into a once in a lifetime experience. This trail is definitely doable in a small Jeep on 35s but you will definitely want to be locked front and rear.

My Jeep was running really bad when we were on this trail and after a few months of poking around once I made it back home, I believe the issue was a torn gasket under the throttle body. It was well over 100 degrees the day we rode this trail and we were at a much higher elevation than the Jeep normally sees down on the Gulf Coast, so I am assuming all of that played a part as well.

Enjoy this UNCUT version of our trip through Cliffhanger. This video shows most of the obstacles on the trail, but we did turn around a little bit before the end of the trail.

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Brokefoot is one of my favorite trails at Hawk Pride and it was the perfect one to give the TJ a good shakedown on after the JK44 axle swap. The last two times that I have been on brokefoot I had to winch after the little slab section. I was always able to bypass that section and the take the right line exit out. Today, I felt like the "straight ahead" exit looked more challenging because it had some bigger rocks. I was super pumped to make it through the entire trail pretty easily after the new setup.

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The Pickle Trail in Moab, Utah was one of my top 3 favorite trails on our trip out there this summer. It is rated difficult and is a very short trail with three main obstacles: The Dill Pickle, Pickle Slicer, and The Jalapeno Pickle. This trail is definitely doable in a short wheelbase vehicle on 35's, but rigs with a bit more wheelbase and tire size definitely make it through a lot easier. For my setup, this trail was super fun and challenging.

The TJ has 2" Rock Krawler springs with a 1" body lift to accommodate a Teraflex Belly-up skid. It is locked front and rear with 4.88 gears and is running 35" BFG KM2's. I was pleasantly surprised how well this little Jeep handled everything we threw at it in Moab. Stacking a rock here and there goes a long way with 35" tires.

Enjoy some unedited footage from the trail!

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On our recent trip to Moab, we hit The Pickle and Mashed Potatoes trail. The Gravy Boat was one of the most fun obstacles of the trip. Being from the southeast, we don't get many chances to play in a bowl. Some of the other bowls that we saw were probably a bit much for our rigs, but I was definitely confident that the TJ could make it in and out of this one. It is really tight inside the bowl, but with a bit of maneuvering it really isn't all that troublesome. This bowl is fairly easy for 4 door and 2 door Jeeps with lockers. If you're in Moab, go check out these 2 trails.

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It's been a while since I have done a video for the [UNCUT] series, so I did a little digging on the hard drive and found this clip from our last trip to Stoney Lonesome. Stoney was hard on the little Jeep that day as you can tell from all the popping and noises that it is making in the video. This trip motivated me to get the Jeep into the shop and freshen it up some. Since this trip it got new bushings in all the control arms, new shocks, new lower control arm and track bar mounts on the Dana 30. Hopefully next trip it won't be making all of this racket.

I can't remember exactly which trail this was on at Stoney, but I definitely had to work for it to make it up this spot. Between hanging the diff, catching the under cut of the rock, and the mud from the rain, it proved to be a tricky little spot. With a bit less finesse and way more throttle and bouncing, the Jeep made it through while ripping off the rear lower shock mount and destroying my shock in the process. No big deal as these shocks were old as dirt and probably shot anyway.

Enjoy the clip!

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After a clunky last wheeling trip I decided that it was time to finally give the TJ some love. After a quick inspection I found a few issues that needed some major attention. The track bar bracket holes were ovalled out pretty bad and the front lower control arm mounts were basically destroyed. Along with those issues were also johnny joints needing to be rebuild on my rear upper arms, a tie rod end dust cover that needed changed, and a new extendable track bar that would need to be installed.

I went with the Artec track bar bracket, the lower control arm mounts came from White Rhino Fab, and the new track bar came from Rusty's Offroad. I was super pleased with the quality of all of these components. They are all super beefy and are nice upgrades for my TJ.

Thanks to my buddies Rob and Stopher for coming through to help with the project!

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After 2 years of having the welded spider gears in my 8.8, they finally started giving me some trouble. On two separate occasions the welds broke and unlocked the rear end. So, I figured now was the time to upgrade to a mini spool. The mini spool does not fit my limited slip carrier, so I had to order and open carrier to go along with it. Swapping carriers also means that you have to reset the backlash since not all carriers are the same. This ended up going pretty smoothly and I can't wait to get it on the trail and test it out.

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In this episode of Rock Crawling [UNCUT] we have the TJ on Slab at Choccolocco Mountain Offroad in Alabama. This is a fun spot and can be just a little bit sketchy in a short wheelbase Jeep. The last time I hit this spot was a few years ago and the TJ shot right up it. This time wasn't as easy and I attribute that to the rut that is now at the base of the slab. You used to be able to carry a bit more momentum up the slab, but with the rut at the bottom it creates a nasty bounce if you try to roll into it too hard. The successful line here was hitting it a little bit at an angle from the left side of the slab. This line gave the TJ enough traction to pull up the Slab. If you are ever at Choccolocco Mountain Offroad, you HAVE to give this fun little obstacle a go!

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After having lots of questions on Instagram about my 97 TJ I figured it was time to do a detailed walk around. In this video I briefly touch on suspension, axles, body armor, bumpers, and more. If you have any specific questions as to how or why I did some of these things, leave a message in the comments and I will be happy to answer them.

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**Here is a list that covers most of the major upgrades done on the TJ.**

-Front Axle- Factory Dana 30 upgraded with C-gussets, Chromoly Axle shafts, 4.88 gears, Black Magic Brake Pads, Centric Rotors, and an Aussie Locker
-Rear Axle- Ford 8.8 with stock shafts, 4.88 gears, welded spider gears, Black Magic Brake Pads, and Centric Rotors
-35x12.50 BFG KM2
-15" TrailMaster Wheels with 3.75" Backspacing
-Teraflex Belly Up Skid
-4" Suspension Lift (Synergy Front Springs, Superlift Rear Springs, ProComp Lower Arms, Rear Currie Adjustable Uppers)
-1" Body Lift
-1" Motor Mount Lift
-JB Conversions Super Short SYE
-Stock Front Driveshaft
-cut XJ Driveshaft in the rear
-Poison Spyder BFH Front bumper with Trail Stinger
-Frame Cap Rear Bumper
-DIY Swing Away Tire Carrier
-Rear Corner Armor
-Rocker Gaurds
-Flush LED Rear Tail Light Conversion
-8500lb Superwinch
-ZJ Tie Rod Conversion
-Novak Cable 4x4 Linkage
-Radio Shack CB
-RockIt Parts Short Ram
-K&N Air Filter
-Throttle Body Spacer
-Rugged Ridge Steering Skid
-Rampage Frameless Soft Top

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Having some fun testing out the new camera gear. Enjoy these overly dramatic shots of my 97 Jeep Wrangler TJ in the field.

Shot with Canon M50.

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1997 Jeep Wrangler making it up the Slab at Choccolocco ORV. Jeep is fully locked on 35" BF Goodrich KM2s at about 10psi. This wasn't a terribly difficult climb, but it does get the heart pumping at stock wheelbase. Choccolocco is a super fun park in central Alabama, check it out if you get the chance.

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Locked Jeep TJ Wrangler on 35s FINALLY makes it up the slab section of the 4 Fingers trail. After a ton of rain the day before, this slab was slick as hell. This was a fun spot because it was basically "send it and hope you stick". The longer wheelbases made it a little easier than I did, but it was challenging for everyone. Took about 20 attempts at this wall before it bounced just right. Next set of tires will be stickies!

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I FINALLY got around to adding a suck down winch to the TJ. The OpenRoad 3500lb winch (https://openroad4wd.com/collections/utv-atv-winch/products/openroad-3500-lbs-atv-utv-winch) worked perfectly for this project. It was compact enough to fit where I needed it to go and also came with all of the parts and pieces that I needed. With a little bit of fab work, you can easily add this suck down to your 2.5l Jeep. I think that it would probably work with the 4.0 as well, but I would imagine that you will end up trimming the fan shroud some to make it work. That shouldn't be too big of a deal though.

My initial thought on this is that it is going to be extremely handy. Especially when my little short wheelbase TJ is trying to follow all of the 4 door Jeeps in our group. Looking forward to getting on the trail and finding something steep to play on.

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It's been a long wait (I said 8 weeks in the video, but it has actually been over 9 weeks) for these custom length RPM control arms and it's been kinda killing my stoke on the project. Lindsey and I have been traveling a good bit, so it hasn't been a huge, pressing issue. However, Im going to be home for the next couple of months and now would be an ideal time for them to come through for me.

On a major positive note, these Methods turned out amazing. Can't wait to get those Nittos mounted up!

Progress is progress and all in all, custom builds don't happen overnight. I expected to have a decent bit of lead time, but where dey at doe?

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Since I haven't posted anything in a while and the Jeep is still torn down waiting on parts for the stretch, I started digging in the vault to see what I could find. I stumbled across this 14 year old footage from our very first trip to an offroad park. This trip changed mine and Lindsey's life and sparked what would become years of traveling, sight seeing, new friendships, new adventures, and lots and lots of hours in the shop upgrading this Jeep and learning how to fab and build.

I have had this Jeep since 1999 and had ridden plenty of, what we would now consider extremely light, trails around Memphis and the Tennessee River where I grew up. This 2010 trip to Superlift ORV Park was a step up from that and a dream come true. For years I had wanted to hit more technical trails, as I had worshipped JP Magazine and Peterson since middle school.

We are blessed to have found something that has led to such amazing memories in our life. It's awesome to look back at these clips and see how simple our setup was back then and how much fun we were having. I have been slowly building this TJ since I was 15 years old (now about to be 40) and if I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't build this Jeep any faster than I did or skip any of the stages that it has been at. In this video the Jeep literally only has a lift and tires. No rockers, no skid, no winch, and definitely no lockers on the stock Dana 30/35 axle combo. I have wheeled this Jeep on 31s, 32s, 33s, 35s, and now 37s on its 2nd axle swap.

I say all of this to say, "get out there and wheel". Enjoy your Jeep. Learn to drive. Hone your skills. Learn to wrench. Learn the ideas behind the design of the Jeep and why things work the way they do. Learn what makes it better. Learn what makes it worse. THIS is where life happens. This is the true culture behind the Jeep and offroad lifestyle.

So many Jeep owners in today's world have missed the journey. With the rise of social media, it is too easy to see the big popular Jeeps and go straight to building giant rigs. I love these insane builds as much as anyone, but the fun is in the journey. Don't skip the good stuff. Some of the best trips ever were these first trips with minimal builds. Of course I love where our TJ is at now and the EPIC trips that we are now able to take because of how it has evolved, but the knowledge learned along the way is irreplaceable. It has come a very long way and hopefully it still has a long way to go.

These clips got me feeling all nostalgic over here! Enjoy!

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