Stopping in to say hello.

[Keeper0311]

Howdy gents, I'm Aaron, live in the Fullerton area. I've got a 2000 Sport. Currently working on making it into a trail rig, while retaining it's daily driving use.

Wanted to stop in and make myself known. Any tips, tricks, and good places to collect all the needed gear, would be much appreciated.

 

[Ritsui]

Hi Keeper0311,

My tip: Just wheel it a bit (with a group) and find out how and why you get stuck...

Pretty much anything you need is on these forums. There are Sports from near stock to 6" lifted SAS rigs on 35's (and everything in between). Just start searching and you'll find whatever you need.

Welcome!

 

[Keeper0311]

Thank you for the welcome. At some point in the future I'd like to come out to some of the events the local group runs out hear, and see how that all goes down.

I don't have much down on my Ex suspension wise. Will be picking up some Ranchos, or Bilstiens to replace my stock shocks.

 

[Ritsui]

For mild wheeling, I'd put a "first mods" list in this order...

1) Recovery/repair/survival equipment. Here's a good offroad checklist.

2) Good tires, aired down for the trail. Nothing else matters if you can't get traction.

3) Suspension articulation (sway bar disconnects). Same as above. If you can't keep the wheels on the ground, what good are they?

Everything else will start to cost real money . A locker is a great upgrade... but it tends to put you in places where you really need other stuff (like sliders, skid plate, roll cage, etc). The dents and dings in both the body and entire undercarriage of my Sport attest to that :roll:.

 

[Keeper0311]

Thanks for the link. After going through it, it reminds me a lot of doing PCC's for Gun trucks in Iraq.

A quick question, where's a good place to mount recovery hooks, and how do I go about mounting them properly?

 

[Ritsui]

Your Sport should already have one (a loop) in the rear. For the front, almost everyone drills into the frame just behind the front bumper. It lines up pretty well with the plastic on most models.

I did one under each frame rail:

Note the "keeper" clips. Holds the tow strap on while it's slack.

If I recall correctly, there was already one hole and I just had to drill a second one. I used grade 8 bolts. I'm pretty sure the hardware that comes with most "Jeep" tow hooks will be fine.

Here's a better picture of the mounting. Not my truck, but it's exactly the same location: