First “off road” trip in my Rubicon

[TheDerb]

I went to Windrock park today in my ‘23 Gladiator Rubicon. I went with no recovery gear, and enough tools to fix any tire issues- bottle jack, regular jack, cordless impact drill and full set of impact bits. Also an Air compressor and a battery powered air pump. My goal was simply to see what a Rubicon could handle without any modifications at all.

I was very clear with the front desk people at the general store that I just wanted something easy, because I am new to this. They suggested going on an easy/moderate 3 hour 50 mile trail. I didnt want to do 50 miles, so based on a private conversation with an acquaintance, I chose trail G40 and G20.

I aired down to 25 psi. logic behind this being that it would prevent any punctures in the tires, while keeping in mind I don’t really need to be at 15 psi for easy trails.

i began the trip by locking into 4L… you really need to go slow for that! I “grinded” the gears for a few seconds going a bit too fast trying to go into 4L, I slowed down and it worked. 4L went into neutral a couple of times within the first few minutes of going into 4L which was frustrating, but eventually 4L “stuck” and I was happy with it. I then disconnected the sway bar.

As a first timer, I noticed 2 things- first, 4L has some real strength behind it. There were a lot of times I really had to brake quit forcefully to get my truck to stop. Second, the truck really bounces a lot when that 4L takes you up to about 10 mph. I never exceeded 10-12 mph in 4L.

the “easy” trails I rode mostly consisted of unimproved roads, a few rocks here and there, and lots of ponded water. I did have to turn around on G40 due to the trail being washed out and understanding that my lack of recovery gear would have led to me high centering. I am going to attach a winch soon, and I’ll return to Windrock to tackle some moderate trails.

Anyways, this will be boring to most but hopefully a first timer will get some value out of it.

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[dmwphoto]

Nice. Sounds like fun. Having recovery gear and a winch will certainly be worth the money and aid in confidence.

 

[azmojave]

It’s only boring cuz there’s NO PICS. We wanna see the action

 

[Dougstdig]

Not boring at all friend. It’s important to learn your vehicle.

A couple of notes for future trips for you:
1: Shift into 4-wheel high. Click your off-road+ button. When the splash screen said you’re now in off-road+ mode, press and hold the traction control button for about 5-10 seconds. When the splash screen says your traction control is off…it’s the most off it will be. In 4 wheel high, the off-road plus acts like a peddle commander and changes your shift points to a higher rpm and also makes the gas/fuel peddle more responsive.
2: Shifting into 4-low - make sure you are barely rolling when shifting into 4-low and that you’re on relatively flat ground…not flexed out. I mean barely roling and not under power. Shift the trans into neutral. Grab the t-case lever and with steady but firm motion, pull (but don’t jerk) the lever all the way back. Put your foot on the brake and stop the slow role. Shift into Drive and you should be good to go. Interestingly, just as the Off-road+ mode makes your go peddle more responsive in 4-high, it will dumb it down in 4-low…making it far less twitchy giving you even more throttle control.
3: when in Offroad+ mode, you can run disconnected up to 18mph, automatically reconnect when you go over and then re-disconnect when you slow down. Additionally, your rear locker can be activated in 4-high.

The slow fire road trips are important to really learn your vehicle and all of its systems. This way you have less to think about then the trail really does get more interesting and you can focus on your driving and tire placement when needed.

 

[Belcher24256]

I went to Windrock park today in my ‘23 Gladiator Rubicon. I went with no recovery gear, and enough tools to fix any tire issues- bottle jack, regular jack, cordless impact drill and full set of impact bits. Also an Air compressor and a battery powered air pump. My goal was simply to see what a Rubicon could handle without any modifications at all.

I was very clear with the front desk people at the general store that I just wanted something easy, because I am new to this. They suggested going on an easy/moderate 3 hour 50 mile trail. I didnt want to do 50 miles, so based on a private conversation with an acquaintance, I chose trail G40 and G20.

I aired down to 25 psi. logic behind this being that it would prevent any punctures in the tires, while keeping in mind I don’t really need to be at 15 psi for easy trails.

i began the trip by locking into 4L… you really need to go slow for that! I “grinded” the gears for a few seconds going a bit too fast trying to go into 4L, I slowed down and it worked. 4L went into neutral a couple of times within the first few minutes of going into 4L which was frustrating, but eventually 4L “stuck” and I was happy with it. I then disconnected the sway bar.

As a first timer, I noticed 2 things- first, 4L has some real strength behind it. There were a lot of times I really had to brake quit forcefully to get my truck to stop. Second, the truck really bounces a lot when that 4L takes you up to about 10 mph. I never exceeded 10-12 mph in 4L.

the “easy” trails I rode mostly consisted of unimproved roads, a few rocks here and there, and lots of ponded water. I did have to turn around on G40 due to the trail being washed out and understanding that my lack of recovery gear would have led to me high centering. I am going to attach a winch soon, and I’ll return to Windrock to tackle some moderate trails.

Anyways, this will be boring to most but hopefully a first timer will get some value out of it.

Thanks for sharing, I am eager to do some trails this summer with my Rubicon. I have convinced myself the factory setup will give an old guy all the off-road fun he needs.

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