nasonguy

we gunna be taking lines that my stocker can make? Or at least stuff that I can get around?

Tankerblade

I might be up for it if a stocker can get through it and depending on the dates

t-amos

there are easier routes around the hard stuff. iv seen stock wranglers and 4runners do it, so it they can do it a xj can do it. the only thing im worried about now is the weather. ill be taking the easier routes also if there is snow and mud. also im worried about the depth of the creek that we need to drive through. im not planning on wrecking my jeep this go around, low on money, school just started, but its az and the desert can dry up in just a few days, so we will keep an eye on it. feel free to throw down dates available.

nasonguy

A Stocker with only 2wd!

Not raggin' on your rig man, 2wd XJ's can do a lot, just sayin' a 4wd XJ can do a helluva lot more, haha.

nasonguy

Any Saturday after january will work for me, gunna be up in Prescott this weekend....

Tankerblade

haha im not complaining. if i cant get through all i'll need is a little push or pull. No worries

nasonguy

I'm down for a little pushing. I don't do pulling or tugging (leave that to my wife... lol..) as I don't have a rear hitch, or a front one for that matter.

t-amos

i have rear recovery but still waiting on front recovery. i plan on just installing a rear receiver pack until i can get or make a nice bumper.

azboy

the tube u buy, so wat ever u want, and he gunna do my exo for like 250 plus the cost of the tube.

Az40cal

Gents,
I live about 25min from the entrance to Charleau. Of course, the weather is hammering us like heck right now. The CDO wash will be flowing hard for a little bit, and has had significant flow for a little while with these weekly rains. The gap is a wild trail, I did it with my brother in his stock 04 TJ. Man, I wish we would have had Lockers. Its a fun all day'r. We made it too the first creek, and just shy of the cabin. EVERYONE up there said to turn around- that bone stock unit is going to get hammered.
So, yes, there are work arounds and provided the recent weather hasn't been too bad those work arounds will be fine. It took us like all day to go roughly 9 miles and turn around and come back.
So unless your lifted and locked, you won't make it to Oracle. You will have to turn around.
But hey, I am one of those guys who wants to come back without sheetmetal damage.
I just got my transfercase skid plate in the mail, and need to get it on. I can't do a trail of that level until I at least get a gas tank skid. That will complete the three I need to start heading out.
By the way, I finally got this pig through emissions.

t-amos

az40cal, i agree that the gap isnt a piece of cake but (just my oppinion) i dont think that excessive armor and lockers are imperitive. i did most of the gap during deer season a couple months ago in a F150. only mods it had were slightly bigger mud tires and it did just fine, but then again because of the elements it is always changing. i like the gap because it is always different. if i did it right now i would deffinatly want lockers, armor, and maybe a snorkle haha
i cant wait to do it

Tankerblade

Sounds like fun. But i think i'll have to pass on that. I cant risk doing any damage to my rig. Has to last me till i can get myself a 4wd drive cherokee!!

Az40cal

Tankerblade,
Why don't you convert yours instead of buying another... way cheaper?
As I understand it you can probably get all the parts from one parting out on craigslist.
Unless you have the money for two vehicles/maint/tags/ins/etc.

t-amos, right now I would prefer to take the GAP in full size do to some narly fissures that sucked my brothers stock tj in and hammered some of the underarmor.

I am used to wheeling with full size track width allowing me to straddle more. This narrow jeep is definitely a learning experience with the approach to the same obstacles.

My jeep had no skid plates, and on the standard camping trip with wife and kids it has about 1/2" of travel before the rear axle is up against the bump stops the whole time. On the gap, every inch counts so I will go light and be up for a run as soon as I get a gas tank skid plate.

Anyone know of one?

bsflipfrontflip

mudding tomorrow at montana mountian should be alot of good stuff who is going

Mike H.

Did some quick looking on the internets and found this...

Posted by user name KrispyKritter on another Jeep forum
"This scenic route is for 4-wheel drive vehicles only. The road up and over Samaniego Ridge is rough and rocky and requires good ground clearance as well as excellent traction. People who don’t have that type of vehicle have made this trip on foot, on horseback, pedaled it on mountain bikes and ridden it on dirt bikes or ATV’s. No matter how you manage to get here, you’ll be impressed by the views, the interesting rock formations in the high country, and the desert oasis at the end of the drive.


Before you get to the gap and after you pass over it, the views are broad and expansive. The country you’ll pass through is mostly rolling, grassy hills covered with Upper Sonoran, open oak woodland vegetation. That includes some cactus, more yucca and still more oaks and juniper, with a few ponderosas scattered among more sheltered locations. After passing through Charouleau Gap, the road drops into the upper reaches of beautiful Caņada Del Oro. This canyon is home to the same ephemeral stream you crossed at the beginning of your climb, several miles and one huge U-turn downstream of where you’ve ended up. In contrast to the broad, sandy riverbed in which you started, these upper stretches of the caņada are filled with big cottonwoods and sycamores and extensive mesquite groves, or bosques".

and these video's.

Looks like fun.
Pretty long drive from Phoenix.
Post up a firm date and I'll try and make it.