Four Wheeler – October 2019

62 OCTOBER 2019 FOUR WHEELER fourwheeler.com

suspension and into new wheels, tires, front

axle, and coilovers, along with the reimagina-

tion of the lighting from boring to brilliant. In

this installation, we made the final preparations

on the JK so it would be well outfitted for Four

Wheeler’s inaugural Overland Adventure (and

all its future endeavors).

In order to maintain manageable fuel econo-

my for the bouts of highway between trail runs,

we stuck with 33-inch rugged-terrain tires—

Dick Cepek’s new Trail Country EXP. Since

the 33s didn’t add much ground clearance and

the Jeep still had abusive, rocky off-roading on

the docket, we decided to trail-proof the under-

belly with MetalCloak’s Undercloak Integrated

Armor System. The stock plastic bumper on

the Jeep’s backside had been thoroughly altered

B

UILDING OFF-ROAD VEHICLES IS OFTEN ABOUT

sacrifice. We trade paychecks and fuel

economy for bigger tires, weight at the

scales for winches and armor, and we

might even give up highway privileges just to run

that sought-after engine swap. When crafting

our plans to turn a beaten ’17 Wrangler into an

adventure-worthy steed, we had choices to make.

The overarching goal for this Jeep was

simple—give it enough gear and suspension for

overland travel, provide enough armor and trac-

tion to keep it safe while bouncing off the hard

obstacles, and have it operate within the con-

fines of a close-to-factory tire size to ensure that

acceptable highway mileage would not be com-

promised. In previous issues, we documented

the Jeep’s transition out of its battered stock

by rocks, and the factory rear recovery point

actually lessened the departure angle. GenRight

Off Road’s aluminum rear bumper weighs

roughly 60 pounds less than similar steel bum-

pers, improves the departure angle, and offers

two frame-mounted recovery points.

One area we refused to compromise on was

fuel, for the Jeep and its passengers. To keep the

gas tanks topped off throughout extended off-

road travel, we mounted a 4.5-gallon RotopaX

FuelpaX beside the spare tire. As for fueling

hungry adventurers, the days of balancing

stoves and cookware on logs and rocks are now

in the past. The Drop Down Tailgate Table

from Front Runner Outfitters was built to fit

the JK’s tailgate and offers a meal-prep surface

within easy reach of the cargo area.

Skidplates, tailgate cooking, and more for an adventure-

bound Wrangler

By Jered Korfhage [email protected] Photos: Jered Korfhage

Tech

PROTECT & SERVE