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Decent off road drive to Pinnacle Mtn Firetower in Johnson City Tn.

Chunky White

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I finally found a place that I could try out the JTR and mildly test its capabilities. I will say the JTR is the most capable stock vehicle that I have owned so far. I did most of the trail in 4lo with the sway bars disconnected and used the rear locker. I believe I could have done it easily in 4hi but wanted to see how easily it would go up the small muddy climbs and a few rocks with minimal input from me. My buddy who I followed said he was using 4low and I didn't really know what I was getting into so I followed his lead. I only have one pic of the JTR and my buddys JKU but will post some from the firetower. I obviously didn't blast through the mud holes like the guy who i followed but didn't bypass anything either. I only scraped the bottom in one spot coming and going and misjudged a rock drop in one spot which caused me to drag the bumper. I am wondering if I could have avoided dragging the rear drivers side bumper if I had the sway bars connected which would have not allowed the JTR to be as flat in the kind of off camber spot. I didn't drag going up but had a better visual of the line to choose


Jeep Gladiator Decent off road drive to Pinnacle Mtn Firetower in Johnson City Tn. 1688327886910


Jeep Gladiator Decent off road drive to Pinnacle Mtn Firetower in Johnson City Tn. 1688327923134


Jeep Gladiator Decent off road drive to Pinnacle Mtn Firetower in Johnson City Tn. 1688327949788


Jeep Gladiator Decent off road drive to Pinnacle Mtn Firetower in Johnson City Tn. 1688327987582
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JTenn

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I finally found a place that I could try out the JTR and mildly test its capabilities. I will say the JTR is the most capable stock vehicle that I have owned so far. I did most of the trail in 4lo with the sway bars disconnected and used the rear locker. I believe I could have done it easily in 4hi but wanted to see how easily it would go up the small muddy climbs and a few rocks with minimal input from me. My buddy who I followed said he was using 4low and I didn't really know what I was getting into so I followed his lead. I only have one pic of the JTR and my buddys JKU but will post some from the firetower. I obviously didn't blast through the mud holes like the guy who i followed but didn't bypass anything either. I only scraped the bottom in one spot coming and going and misjudged a rock drop in one spot which caused me to drag the bumper. I am wondering if I could have avoided dragging the rear drivers side bumper if I had the sway bars connected which would have not allowed the JTR to be as flat in the kind of off camber spot. I didn't drag going up but had a better visual of the line to choose


1688327886910.webp


1688327923134.webp


1688327949788.webp


1688327987582.webp
Nice! Everyone I wheel with (98% wranglers) are amazed at how capable our JT's are. I have done everything and more than they do. Is the underside a little battle worn? Yes it is but that is to be expected with our long wheelbase. I'm not sure what the limit is yet, I haven't found it. It's most likely beyond my driving capabilities.
 

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Chunky White

Chunky White

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The trail is called fire tower rd. and is in white. About halfway up there starts to be trails that break off of the main road where the trails becomes more challenging but doable in any vehicle with enough ground clearance. Sorry for not being able to give better directions but you can follow the road marked in white back to dry creek rd. For anyone wanting to hike here there are many trails heading here and some atv and motorcycle trails also which are too small for vehicles

https://www.google.com/maps/place/P...3705104!16s/g/11c45tn12_?authuser=0&entry=ttu
 
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Chunky White

Chunky White

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Nice! Everyone I wheel with (98% wranglers) are amazed at how capable our JT's are. I have done everything and more than they do. Is the underside a little battle worn? Yes it is but that is to be expected with our long wheelbase. I'm not sure what the limit is yet, I haven't found it. It's most likely beyond my driving capabilities.
The JTR is the first vehicle I have owned that came with selectable front and rear lockers and auto sway bar disconnects. I haven't tried the front locker because I didn't really need it today but hope to in the future. I will hopefully get some bigger tires soon along with a 2.5" lift and wheels. The lift and bigger tires will be nice but would have made me scrape on a lot of trees that I avoided today that my buddy didn't. He says he has 4.5" lift and I know he has 35" tires. Side by side his roof doesn't look much higher than mine. His lack of fenders makes his look like its much higher in my opinion
 

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NateMob

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Cool trip report, we used to mountain bike to that fire tower from the trailhead off i26. One day we'll be back and have to make it there in a vehicle!
 
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Chunky White

Chunky White

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Cool trip report, we used to mountain bike to that fire tower from the trailhead off i26. One day we'll be back and have to make it there in a vehicle!
You can get to within a less than a mile by vehicle before you reach a gate. I passed two guys on MTN bikes who were climbing up the hill when I was walking out. I have lived within 30 miles of the tower most of my life and hadn't heard of it until recently
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