I finally made my long anticipated road trip to Phoenix with the Rover. 900 miles, 55 gallons of gas, 14 hours and 0 problems. It was a good day. Leaving Denver the roads were still snowy from the previous days snow. Colorado Springs was a mess. The roads were a combination of ice and slush but made it through no problems. As I neared the New Mexico state line the roads got icy again as I climbed to 7800 feet elevation but never had a problem. Even passed a bunch of nervous drivers going up the mountain who flew by me earlier on the dry roads. The wind across I-40 was terrible as usual and at some points blew so hard I struggled to maintain speed but I would just let the truck do its thing and get my speed back when the gust died down. Tried to keep the transmission from downshifting as much as possible to help with fuel mileage. I drafted behind tractor-trailer most of the way across I-40 which helped some but the wind was still hitting the brick-like aerodynamics of the Rover pretty hard.

I used looking for a job down here as an excuse to come down but there is going to be more playing than work. My buddy and I are planning on running 2 of the easier trails near by just to get out and get some dirt under the tires. This will be the first time since I've owned the Rover that it has seen more dirt than just a dirt road. Should be fun.

As I hit the trails I will get some pictures and let everyone know how the Rover performs.

 

You should come to JEROME on your way back.
While Irma isn't up for the off-road challenge, we do have a beat up old 89 Toyota 4x4 that could venture out with your Rover!
Or even in Sedona. I've gone off-road a bit over there...ran into several Pink Jeeps along the way. I can't wait until Irma is off-road worthy enough to go where those Pink Jeeps can't. Yay!

I-17...have no idea what the exit number is...but go Camp Verde (Exit for 260) and head towards Cottonwood.

Someone a few days ago was toolin' around in a beautiful red Disco II that was tricked out quite well. I don't think it was a native Disco, I would have noticed it before!

 

I like to take my rover by the lakes either the apache trail near tortilla flats or up near lake pleasant around castle hot springs. mainly dirt roads (little much for a car) but there are plenty of fun pull offs on both routes that you can play on. there are also some washes along both of these routes so if it recently rained you can play in the mud!!!

 

I guess Four Peaks and Apache Trail are on the agenda for Saturday. Tomorrow is going to be spent doing some maintenance and getting my buddy's heep ready to try and keep up with my Rover. Going to change out my short CB antenna for a 102" whip mounted to the rear bumper for maximum communication range.

As I was checking my fluids today I noticed that I left home without my jack. Of all the dumb stuff to leave without, it had to be the jack. Worse part was I just walked out of Harbor Freight Tools where I was looking at all the bottle jacks they have on sale. Guess tomorrow it's back to Harbor Freight for a jack. I know if I go out without a jack I'll get a flat. Murphy's law is in effect.

 

well have fun I love going out there!!!

 

I finally got some dirt under the Rover's tires yesterday and it felt great. We didn't do anything too wild and crazy since both vehicles were bone stock and had suspensions that had settled. Overall both vehicles did very well in everything we threw at them. Really makes me want to get my suspension and tackle some tougher obstacles. Coming down the back side of the mountain was the only place the Rover struggled. Because of the weight of the Rover and how steep the descent is my brakes got really hot. Next time I will have the transfer case in low range going down the back side of the mountain to save wear on the brakes. It was a great day.

Here's the pictures. I'll post more when I get them from Dan, the Jeep driver. There are a lot more pictures of Four Peaks than Apache Trail as we were trying to hurry and get passed Fish Creek before dark.
Four Peaks and Apache Trail Pictures

 

Finally got all the pictures from my trip post to Photobucket. Overall it was a great trip. The 900 mile drive each way kind of sucked but it was totally worth it. I had absolutely no major problems with the Rover and the minor ones I had I just ignored until I got home and spent the day fixing them today. The worst problem I had was my front sunroof popped up and decided it didn't want to close so I drove around Phoenix for 3 days and made the 900 mile drive home with the sunroof popped up. Good thing it was warm.

Four Peaks trip slideshow

I was very pleased with the mileage I got out of the Rover. My best tank I got 18.3 mpg which included coming through the mountains at the New Mexico/Colorado state line. Air starts getting a little thin for the Rover at 7800 feet where the state line is. Worst mileage I saw for the entire trip was 14.2 mpg when I was off roading. I will never complain about either of those numbers.