Badlands Offroad Park

[ihatemybike]

Wife and I went to the Badlands Offroad Park in Attica, IN to meet and wheel with a bunch of other Liberty owners. We kept mostly to the "mellow" trails due to her Jeep being an almost completely stock, with the exception that it has one size larger than stock street tires. I aired the tires down to 25 psi and was really amazed what Jayme could get it to do, so were a bunch of others in built trucks and on ATVs. She overheard a couple people say they couldn't believe someone was actually wheeling a Liberty.

I think we officially have the bug. Someone is donating a 2 1/2-3" lift to her when they upgrade to a 5" lift and we'll hopefully follow with bigger AT tires soon after.

But my mind is also going hey, Grumpy is AWD. I'm fairly sure it could make at least 40% of what we drove without a lift and it's current tires. Once I get the fuel pump and tune-up squared away, I might have to look and getting it a little higher off the ground.

How big can I go in the front by adjusting the torsion bars?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Next time you are there say hi to the new owners, Kyle and Stephanie Knosp. They are the owners of the former Paragon Adventure Park. Tell them you wanna wheel your Astro like the "crazy canuck's" the Harpers did at Paragon.

Speaking from lots of experience, GET SKID PLATES and a 4"+ minimum lift and wheel it! You can get around 2" with the torsion bars. People will be amazed that you actually wheel and Astro...they won't even notice a Liberty wheeling.

[ihatemybike]

OMG! My wife is truly an off road monster now. Multiple times a day I hear, "I wanna go back."

Gonna have to add front tow points to her Libby and Grumpy. I figure I'll crank the torsion bars to begin. Lift and wheels will come later, since the Libby needs that stuff first.

Also need to look into flat towing her Jeep, want to save some gas buy only running one engine on the commute back and forth to the parks. I hope that after Grumpy is tuned up that it will be up to task.

Astro will make comfy on site sleeping quarters too.

[phr1$k37]

LOL so lucky to have a wheely monster wify eh? So when are you putting the lift into the Libby?
Grumpy will be lots of fun. Even with my limited 29" tires I have a lot of fun - I am sure you guys who can go larger will have TONS of fun.

[ihatemybike]

Yeah, I am. My wife really is pretty awesome.

The Libby's lift should be in by the end of May and get this it's free. Somebody switching from a 2.5" (3" with spacers) lift to a 5" lift is giving the smaller lift to my wife. She didn't ask or say anything, it was just offered up to her. His lift should be in within the next month and we'll be putting in hers as soon as we can. She'll run her stock tires with the lift probably until fall.

She has lots of mods planned for her Jeep this year.

Planned mods:
Remove the carpeting from the floors, install drain plugs, then Herculine the floors
Paint the stock rims black
Herculine the bumpers, fender flares, and lower doors
Add a CB
Front recovery points
Additional skid plates
Rock sliders

Later mods:
Lockers
Winch

[phr1$k37]

She is more of an off-road nut than YOU and I are LOL - my goodness I have no skid plates or sliders yet at all. But by sounds of it she does the wheeling and needs it. Hey just for record you better be getting photos of before and after. One month passes by very fast!
The tow points should go on ASAP. Winch is nice feature and for sure if solo but I doubt you folks will be out there alone.

[ihatemybike]

This is the first time I've ever seen her automotive geeked. She spends a lot of time on http://www.lostkjs.com and has been getting a lot of ideas there. I actually get in trouble if I wrench on her Jeep cause she wants to do it, caught hell when I put in the new headlights she bought.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

The very first thing you need to get on her KJ is skids and rocker protection! Those are MUST HAVE items. They are also the more expensive ones. The best thing to do is wheel it basically stock so that the driver becomes a great driver. If you give a newbie wheeler an extremely capable rig, their driving skills will suck! Trust us on that...we see it every time we wheel! Seems some of these guys order their Jeeps right from Quadratec and have every option available...yet they can't wheel to save their lives.

[phr1$k37]

Funny Dean mentioned about the rig and skills. I do nothing remotely as hardcore as you wheelers but when I started my off-road adventures with stock height ... those fancy runner boards became my rock sliders. I knew what I could or couldnt over come. When I went to 2" lift things changed again but MUCH less bottoming out even when just "walking" - holes became nothing. Now with the larger lift (~4-5") I have to learn what I REALLY cannot do because a few times my friends called me a girlly when I said "I cant make it over that!" but they were outside spotting and tons of room. Always better to think you cant than you can