VIDEO : JL JOURNAL - STOCK on the ROCKS

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
JL JOURNAL : STOCK on the ROCKS - Jeep JL Wrangler Rubicon on Last Chance Canyon Trail

Although we have had a chance to take JET Li, our brand new 2018 Jeep JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited, out on dirt and even up some rocks down the street from us, what Cindy and I have been really dying to do, is put him to the test and out on one of our all time favorite trails, Last Chance Canyon. Located in the El Paso Mountains near the town of Ridgecrest, Last Chance Canyon is a relatively short but beautiful trail that's filled with tons of great history and of course, plenty of rocks that are just small enough for a bone stock Jeep to take on but still big enough for a built up Jeep to have fun on. In fact, it's because of this reason that we typically like to take people who are new to Jeeps, out on this trail and to give them their very first taste of wheeling.

In this episode of the JL Journal, you get to see totally raw and unscripted footage of JET Li taking on the rocks, out in Last Chance Canyon and totally bone stock. Clearly, what you'll see is far far from hardcore rock crawling but we think it'll give you some idea of what an JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited is capable of and right off the showroom floor. We will have to apologize ahead of time for the quality of this video as we were using a back-up camera the day this was filmed and it isn't exactly the best. We hope that you'll enjoy the video just the same.

 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Cool trail, looked like Jet Li handled it very well. How often was the fan kicking on? Thought I heard it a couple times in the video

It only came on those 2 times and both times after turning off the engine and starting it up again. I can only assume that the computer was trying to preemptively cool things down because a quick look at the gauges showed that things were running at a safe temp. Sure, they were on the warm side but nothing even close to being critical. I should note that the fan is crazy powerful too - you can almost feel the air sucking into the engine standing next to the grill.
 

jeeeep

Hooked
pretty impressive!

the rear license plate holder looked like it was hinged so it wouldn't rip off?

Did you notice a difference in steering ease?

I need to move!!! lol
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
pretty impressive!

the rear license plate holder looked like it was hinged so it wouldn't rip off?

Did you notice a difference in steering ease?

I need to move!!! lol

I don't know if the license plate holder was hinged but it was clearly made to pull away and snap back into place. As you can see in the video, all I did was push it back on and all was good. :yup:

Regarding the steering, the electric assist did great. Granted, we were just on stock wheels. :crazyeyes:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Pretty capable bone-stock - but when do the serious mods begin???

LOL!! You only have a stock Jeep once. We've got plenty on order already but we want to have as much experience wheeling our JL stock as possible to help us to understand what we really need or don't and to have a reference point for the future :yup:
 

Sharkey

Word Ninja
I'm not going to lie, you look as giddy as a school girl. It's nice to see and hear the excitement in your voice getting to start back at square one with something new/stock.

Now that you have put some freeway miles on him, what are your general thoughts about the subtle changes to the body, grill, windshield rake, etc.? Does the JL still feel like a brick (albeit refined) going through wind at freeway speeds?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not going to lie, you look as giddy as a school girl. It's nice to see and hear the excitement in your voice getting to start back at square one with something new/stock.

Now that you have put some freeway miles on him, what are your general thoughts about the subtle changes to the body, grill, windshield rake, etc.? Does the JL still feel like a brick (albeit refined) going through wind at freeway speeds?

:cheesy: It's been way too long since we've had a chance to start from square one and with something totally new. It really is exciting.

The subtle changes you speak of make the JL feel like a luxury SUV on the highway. Even in windy conditions, it feels great. Where I might make a negative note is in the electric steering on long straight drives like on 395. Every little movement you makes in the steering wheel translates into a movement in the Jeep so it feels like you're always making micro corrections. Now, this is no big deal to me being that I drive 2 JK's with sensitive ram assists but I do understand that this may be a new thing for a lot of people.
 

JKJKJKJLJL

New member
Amazing! It’s nice to see what that dude can do on the rocks! I can’t wait to get mine out. It’s similarly spec’d as Jet Li but in granite crystal and matching top. No name yet.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

Jeepin' Rob

New member
So how do you like wheeling with the automatic vs. the manual transmission? Have a 5 speed manual now and thinking of the JL but uncertain whether to switch to the auto or not.
 

rumblebee3

Caught the Bug
As always awesome video! Love that you guys are putting out so many of these! And the type of video you're doing... Meaning not all cut and edited and fine-tuned for perfection. Really brings a personability to them. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun! Just wait till you guys get bigger tires and some armor and sounds like Jet Li will be unstoppable!

Sent from my XT1585 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

JeepFan

Hooked
That looked like so much fun. I was so close but yet so far from being able to join you guys that day. Great video!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Amazing! It’s nice to see what that dude can do on the rocks! I can’t wait to get mine out. It’s similarly spec’d as Jet Li but in granite crystal and matching top. No name yet.

No need to rush a name, it'll come all on its own :)

I was looking forward to watching a stock JL going through the V-notch. So disappointed. 😎

Looks like you guys are enjoying starting from scratch! 🍻

LOL! Maybe next time. And yes, loving staring all over again. So much fun :yup:

So how do you like wheeling with the automatic vs. the manual transmission? Have a 5 speed manual now and thinking of the JL but uncertain whether to switch to the auto or not.

Truth be told, manuals are what I grew up with and what I know best. That being said, autos are simply superior on the rocks.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
As always awesome video! Love that you guys are putting out so many of these! And the type of video you're doing... Meaning not all cut and edited and fine-tuned for perfection. Really brings a personability to them. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun! Just wait till you guys get bigger tires and some armor and sounds like Jet Li will be unstoppable!

We're glad to hear you're enjoying the raw format of our JL Journals. Stripping everything down is the only way we can crank them out as quickly as we have been and using music costs a lot of money. As far as JET Li goes, he's almost unstoppable now :crazyeyes:

That looked like so much fun. I was so close but yet so far from being able to join you guys that day. Great video!

We'll just have to do it again :yup:
 
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