Moab is a special place. Famous for its red slick rock terrain, sandstone arches, and sweeping panorama views of high desert bisected by the Colorado river, there aren’t many other places like it. Widely known as a destination for all things outdoors, from rock climbing to off roading, one of the single biggest events of the year that takes place here is the Easter Jeep Safari, put on by the Red Rock 4 Wheelers. Now in its 53rd year, the Jeep Safari is attended by thousands of enthusiasts for the Jeep brand.

This event presents a great opportunity for some of us to get out of the office and in the dirt to test what we talk about, get some of our staff  seat time and experience using our vehicles, and get as much content as possible from this unbelievably picturesque location. Thanks to years of exploratory operations from the petroleum and mining industries, there are literally hundreds of miles of trails to explore in Moab…enough that you can barely scratch the surface in a single week. While some like to ease into new terrain, we usually head straight to the hard stuff to beat the crowds. Our first two days were spent in the step-ledge filled Pritchett Canyon, rated as the hardest trail in the greater Moab area. Pritchett isn’t quite your typical Moab trail, as most of the trails are high on scenery, moderate in technical difficulty and the obstacles are fairly well dispersed and bypassable. Pritchett throws all those notions on their head: the obstacles are sustained, slowly escalate in difficulty, and the only bypass options are a few winch anchors available on the hardest hills. The funny thing about Moab, is that everything from a crew cab long bed Dodge to a short wheelbase Toyota buggy has a ledge in Moab that will forever be its nemesis. With names like ‘Chewy’, ‘Rocker Knocker’, ‘Rock Pile/Son of Rock PIle’ and ‘Golden Hill’, each obstacle presents rigs with unique challenges. No matter what you’re driving, 3 wheel motion, crab walking, rock rash, tire spin and winching are almost surely guaranteed.

Day 2, knowing the trail traffic would be heavier, we opted to take our beloved Toyota buggy and our shop manager’s 1-ton Jeep TJ out instead. These little 4 banger powered rigs are light, nimble and extremely capable in the rocks. While, 40”+ tires have become the norm, these rigs are running 37-38” tires which work better with their smaller size and lower horsepower. Our buggy is running a set of built Toyota axles, with RCV shafts, Trail Gear 6-shooter knuckles and 5.29 gears. Mike’s TJ has a front ARB, custom link suspension, with frenched in rear coilover mounts for Fox 2.0 coilovers. Thanks to lots of the right parts in the right areas, both vehicles made it through with little more than stacking a few rocks and pulling cable a couple times. Proof that bigger isn’t always better, these rigs prove that simplicity, strong axles and drivelines, and well sorted suspension can get the job done just fine.

Our final day of wheeling was to join the ‘Fullsize Invasion’ run on Behind the Rocks. We’ve always been a big fan of the Fullsize Invasion, as it’s more of a celebration of 4 wheel drive diversity than anything else. Never fully embraced by the aftermarket like the Jeep Wrangler platform, most full sizes end up an amalgamation of custom and off the shelf parts. Since many come as ¾ ton or higher rated stock, a lot of full-size rigs are naturally at home in Moab: they have long wheelbase, heavy duty axles, steering, and more horsepower to easily turn big tires. Behind the Rocks is a mid-level trail, with 2 real obstacles…the opening ‘Gate Keeper’ which determines who should/shouldn’t be proceeding, and the ‘High Dive’ which is a fitting, high consequence end to the trail. High Dive is a quite intimidating hill, with a steep descent punctuated by a tire-swallowing hole at the bottom on your hard to see passenger front; It’s an obstacle sure to tip you on 3 or 2 wheels and makes for a great show of skill and confidence. Thanks to the experienced spotting from Stephen Watson of Off Road Designs, no issues were had and everyone of the nearly 50 rigs who wanted to, made it through safely. We ‘borrowed’ Synergy’s White 2014 Ram 2500 to get an idea of what they have in store for this platform and came back really excited. This truck is built to the hilt, with tuned Fox 3.0 shocks, ARB’s front and rear, Nitro gears, PSC hydro assist and a bunch of Synergy stuff I can’t tell you about yet. What I can tell you, is that their Steering kit and radius arm drop brackets can take some ABUSE!