TurboTJ
Full Access Member
I used to rock crawl in my Jeep Wrangler up Poudre Canyon back in high school. Now, almost 15 years later I decided to go back this weekend in my Raptor and wanted to share the experience and some lessons learned with you guys.
For those of you not from the area, Kelly Flats is in Northern Colorado and rated difficult, for what that’s worth
Here is my hastily/poorly edited video of some of the more interesting parts:
And some lessons learned:
I met up with a Rubicon on the trail. We both thought I’d have to turn around before finishing hard attack hill. To my surprise, I had no problem keeping up with him, though I’m sure his Jeep is better in the rocks.
Today, driving into work. I can’t believe it’s the same vehicle. Rock crawling the hardest trails on Sunday, commuting to work in luxury on Monday. I am amazed at how well rounded this truck is.
For those of you not from the area, Kelly Flats is in Northern Colorado and rated difficult, for what that’s worth
Here is my hastily/poorly edited video of some of the more interesting parts:
And some lessons learned:
- As we all know, Raptors weren’t designed for rock crawling. However, I found it was better than my slightly modified TJ. The Raptor easily made up for my sometimes less than perfect choices of where to put tires and never got stuck!
- The side steps/running boards are not rocket guards! The last clip in the video, you can see I bent it up pretty good. Any idea who does make rocker guard running boards? Do the ADD ones provide any structural support?
- Rock crawling sucks compared to high speed off road. I always forget how stressful it is to rock crawl (at least sober). Seems like you’re always risking body damage or pushing down a tree to keep the tires where you want them.
- Stock sized tires with a stock suspension WILL rub. When I would flex my rear axle to its limits, I got considerable rubbing. I was planning to upgrade to some 37” KO2’s (with +3 Deavers and Geisers) but don’t think that’s an option anymore. Has anyone tried this combo while taking their suspension to full articulation?
- There was a considerable obstacle on the way out (at the end of the video). In the olden days, there was a bypass since you basically need a rock buggy to go down it. However, someone bought the land the bypass was on and put a gate in. I ended up backing out after bending my running board. This means turning around and redoing the 90% of the trail you swore you’d never do again!
- As everyone knows, video does not do it justice. The terrain looks so much easier unless you are out trying to walk the trail. My girlfriend fell three times while trying to walk ahead of me.
- Trail control worked great going downhill and struggled on tough uphills. Going uphill, it would push up against a rock or a ledge, come to a stop and then provide too much gas. I used left foot braking to go up hill over ledges to solve this. You can't beat trail control going downhill and slowing descents off ledges
I met up with a Rubicon on the trail. We both thought I’d have to turn around before finishing hard attack hill. To my surprise, I had no problem keeping up with him, though I’m sure his Jeep is better in the rocks.
Today, driving into work. I can’t believe it’s the same vehicle. Rock crawling the hardest trails on Sunday, commuting to work in luxury on Monday. I am amazed at how well rounded this truck is.
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