Wardell
New member
Hi everyone,
I'm a new Jeeper currently living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but I'm moving up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in November. I just bought my first Jeep about 2 months ago, a 2014 JKURX. The upcoming move is what prompted me to get a new vehicle since I'd need something way more capable up there than the Mini I had before, but I've always wanted something I could drive off road and figured the timing was right. I'm in the Canadian Army, and I've done a lot of work in the middle of nowhere, but it's all been from the right seat or out of the commander's hatch, so I've been itching to get something I could drive off road myself. A friend of mine was trying to get me to consider a few Fords or Subarus, but after reading up and test driving a few of them, none of them really compared to the Wrangler. Also, the Wayoflife videos helped me in my choice. It was great to see an active and supportive community of Jeepers enjoying the outdoors, and showing what a well kitted out Jeep can do.
Anyway, just to give you an idea of why I wanted a Jeep, most of the year up in Yellowknife it's like this:
View attachment 104749
... and if you've ever watched Ice Road Truckers, you've probably seen the most extreme end of the winter spectrum that they have. But for the part of the year when the snow melts, you have this:
View attachment 104750
View attachment 104751
View attachment 104754
The big thing to note - plenty of rock, even where the "city" is. There are basically three types of terrain up there: the glacier carved rocks, strips of taiga forests, and spongy muskeg. And of course, that's criss-crossed with streams and lakes. Sounds like perfect Jeep terrain to me!
Edmonton is the closest real city, but it's a two day drive to the south. The highway running up to Yellowknife from Edmonton can get like this after the spring thaw:
View attachment 104752
... and that's when it's not on fire! Seriously, the forest fires were really bad last summer. Smog levels in Yellowknife were off the chart for a few weeks just due to the fires, and there was an incident when a bit of Highway 3 was actually burned out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/crews-repair-scorched-section-of-n-w-t-highway-3-1.2707223
So even if it wasn't just for fun (and since it's my daily driver, it's not), I'm thinking the Jeep is a good investment for up there.
So far, I'm loving this new beast! Here are a few pics from a drive I took through Lanark County yesterday. I was hunting for mud, but I couldn't really find much on the back county roads... and the flooded section I found washed most of it off anyway. (They really need to come up with off road parks here like they have in the US.)
View attachment 104746
View attachment 104747
View attachment 104748
So far, she's still stock. The first bit of mods I need to do will be to prepare her for a sub-arctic climate: liners for the hard top, battery blankets, a dual battery install, block heater, and winter tires. I know, most of that is *yawn* but since I'll be needing winter tires anyway, and those will be on more of the year than the summer tires, I may as well go with larger tires while I'm at it. I'm thinking about getting a 2.5" spring lift and 35" Duratracs since they are the only winter rated off road tire I can find, and from everything I've seen they have had very good reviews. Are there other options though? Any good recommendations on a spring lift kit? I was thinking Teraflex... but after some of Dennis' recent comments, I'll probably put my money elsewhere.
Also, are there any Jeepers from up North on here? It would be good to find a few people to boot around with.
I'm a new Jeeper currently living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but I'm moving up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in November. I just bought my first Jeep about 2 months ago, a 2014 JKURX. The upcoming move is what prompted me to get a new vehicle since I'd need something way more capable up there than the Mini I had before, but I've always wanted something I could drive off road and figured the timing was right. I'm in the Canadian Army, and I've done a lot of work in the middle of nowhere, but it's all been from the right seat or out of the commander's hatch, so I've been itching to get something I could drive off road myself. A friend of mine was trying to get me to consider a few Fords or Subarus, but after reading up and test driving a few of them, none of them really compared to the Wrangler. Also, the Wayoflife videos helped me in my choice. It was great to see an active and supportive community of Jeepers enjoying the outdoors, and showing what a well kitted out Jeep can do.
Anyway, just to give you an idea of why I wanted a Jeep, most of the year up in Yellowknife it's like this:
View attachment 104749
... and if you've ever watched Ice Road Truckers, you've probably seen the most extreme end of the winter spectrum that they have. But for the part of the year when the snow melts, you have this:
View attachment 104750
View attachment 104751
View attachment 104754
The big thing to note - plenty of rock, even where the "city" is. There are basically three types of terrain up there: the glacier carved rocks, strips of taiga forests, and spongy muskeg. And of course, that's criss-crossed with streams and lakes. Sounds like perfect Jeep terrain to me!
Edmonton is the closest real city, but it's a two day drive to the south. The highway running up to Yellowknife from Edmonton can get like this after the spring thaw:
View attachment 104752
... and that's when it's not on fire! Seriously, the forest fires were really bad last summer. Smog levels in Yellowknife were off the chart for a few weeks just due to the fires, and there was an incident when a bit of Highway 3 was actually burned out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/crews-repair-scorched-section-of-n-w-t-highway-3-1.2707223
So even if it wasn't just for fun (and since it's my daily driver, it's not), I'm thinking the Jeep is a good investment for up there.
So far, I'm loving this new beast! Here are a few pics from a drive I took through Lanark County yesterday. I was hunting for mud, but I couldn't really find much on the back county roads... and the flooded section I found washed most of it off anyway. (They really need to come up with off road parks here like they have in the US.)
View attachment 104746
View attachment 104747
View attachment 104748
So far, she's still stock. The first bit of mods I need to do will be to prepare her for a sub-arctic climate: liners for the hard top, battery blankets, a dual battery install, block heater, and winter tires. I know, most of that is *yawn* but since I'll be needing winter tires anyway, and those will be on more of the year than the summer tires, I may as well go with larger tires while I'm at it. I'm thinking about getting a 2.5" spring lift and 35" Duratracs since they are the only winter rated off road tire I can find, and from everything I've seen they have had very good reviews. Are there other options though? Any good recommendations on a spring lift kit? I was thinking Teraflex... but after some of Dennis' recent comments, I'll probably put my money elsewhere.
Also, are there any Jeepers from up North on here? It would be good to find a few people to boot around with.
