Yesterday I hit the desert with some www.earlycj5.com guys to do some winch, wheel/tire, and suspension testing with the YJ. You gotta love flogging a beater.

I loaded up the YJ with some tools, recovery gear, snacks, drinks, and my oldest son, Charlie and hit the road at sunup. We filled the 15-gallon tank in Valley Center, CA, drove to the dirt hills of Truckhaven, CA near the Salton Sea, wheeled all day, then filled up in Salton City with a meager 7-gallons of fuel.

Cruising and climbing with the NP231 in Low range I was never left wanting for power. I credit that to the modest 31x11.50-15 tire size,  4.10 gears, and overall light weight of the YJ. But 31s are definitely the breaking point. Any taller on the tires and the 2.5L becomes a dog. As is, I had to wind the little mill well into the 3K rpm range the whole way home bucking a 40mph head wind and steep mountain grades. Still, when I topped off the tank this morning I was suprised to find I used less than 8-gallons despite driving nearly 100-miles at high rpm with my foot glued to the floor.

You can have a lot of fun in a rig like this. I don't have a ton of money invested in it, so I'm not shy about grinding the rockers into dirt, whanging the engine within an inch of valve float, or any other number of borderline abusive stuff. Yup, it's still fun flogging a bargain.