Come along as Pearl tackles the Broken Arrow Trail in Sedona, Arizona. We tackle all obstacles with a straight stock Jeep Cherokee XJ. But can it handle the famous Devil’s Staircase?
Thank you! The Broken Arrow Trail is one of those places where you can just relax and enjoy. The scenery is beautiful. The trail is very easy with the grand finale of Devil’s Staircase for a little thrill. Our all stock lil Jeep just got some new Smittybilt front and rear bumpers with winch. Just a small upgrade to help us self recover if we get stuck in the backroads. Not planning on changing her much more than that but it did make me sad that she is not completely stock anymore. Putting the bumpers on myself just about killed me though. The Smittybilt instructions and parts are not made for an XJ with the Upcountry option. I had to do a lot of modifications to make it work. Not for the faint of heart and certainly not like the easy installs I researched on RU-vid before taking this on myself. Thanks for watching!
@@VanLifeByTheRiver well you need it, for recovery that is a must have when you are alone, and I too enjoy a stock xj, and are you going to put Lunch box lockers?
@@julioARTUROS no lockers. We will probably not modify it more than what we have. Just front and rear bumpers, winch, and rock sliders, and a roof rack. I am still looking for a roof rack that I like. I might upgrade the radio to double din so that we have navigation and backup camera. We will be towing this XJ behind the van as we head to the south east coast this winter.
You are so right on. Incredibly capable machine right from the factory. I did end up installing an aftermarket bumper (front and back) with a winch. The main reason for the bumper was so I could tow the XJ behind our adventure van. I did keep all the original parts just in case I ever wanted to put it right back to factory stock. Ironically, I am going to sell the XJ soon. I bought a new Chevy Colorado ZR2 which will now be towed behind our motorhome. I have been racking my brains out trying to find a reason to hang on to the XJ but I can’t find one. It will just end up sitting on our property in Wyoming which would be a waste. I will be putting the word out soon. This XJ is particularly sweet. Autographed under the hood by the lead singer of a very famous rock band who was the original owner. Very very cool dude. Shhh, It’s a secret, though! Thanks for watching!
She sounds sweet, be sad to let her go. Yea it was hard finding a good one at the right price..but I did finally find a pretty clean XJ. Nill rust, nice straight body, geart interior, so yea happy chappy 😊🇦🇺
Good eye! Yes she does. It is a great option to have, although it caused a lot of teeth gnashing when putting on the aftermarket bumpers front and rear because the brackets inside the frame rails are completely different than standard. It just created an extra element of difficulty for a novice modifier. I got it done, though. I wish I could leave Pearl completely stock but we need the extra security of getting ourselves unstuck. We get quite remote sometimes.
Yes, they are great vehicles. Ours is not bone stock anymore. Has Smittybilt front and rear bumpers and new winch on front. Just to help us get out of trouble if we need it. I feel better. Thanks for watching!
I hear ya! This vehicle does really good at handling anything we throw at it. We don’t do too serious of stuff, though. We specifically bought this car so we could have a cheap, reliable and capable car that we didn’t have to worry about. Our original intention was to take it into Mexico for some extended travel down there. Figured it could handle the conditions in reasonable comfort and be more easily repaired if needed. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@VanLifeByTheRiverthat sounds like true overlanding. Only reason to modify one these is so you can go out of your way to an off road park, which 9 times out of 10 doesn’t have anything interesting at the end. Keeping it stock lets you drive all day on the highway to get to the true adventure spots. I wish I hadn’t ruined my xj by lifting it, the ride is insanely bad now. A horse would be more comfortable.
Check out the Grand Tour episode where they drive french cars (season 4). They take little 2wd economy cars off roading. They actually do extremely well, but totally destroy the cars in the process 😅
I agree! When I was looking around to buy, I was originally hoping to get a bright red Jeep. But it is getting hard to find any XJ that is in good shape and not rusted out. So when this particular rust free, extremely well maintained original owner Jeep came on the market, I snapped it up immediately. Was on Craigslist for about 30 minutes when I bought it. The white has definitely grown on me since then. I will recondition the paint and get her fixed up nice inside and out. Thanks for watching. We have a couple more Sedona Jeep trail videos coming up in the next few weeks.
I'm from Croatia and it took me almost a year to find a good XJ. Then I came across a preserved black turbo diesel XJ. It wasn’t even for sale, but I bought it anyway. 😅
I envy you. I love that model. Great thing about Broken Arrow is that a stock XJ can handle everything there easily. I think the beauty of the scenery is what attracts all the Jeeps, not the technical aspects. It’s a great relaxing playground for a half day excursion. Cap it off with a thrilling ride down Devil’s Staircase and then a cold one at a restaurant outside deck in Sedona overlooking the valley, you feel like you’ve had a very very good day. Thanks for watching!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed this. I don't have the Jeep with me at this moment. It is about 400 miles away. However, those are KO2 tires that should be close to stock sized. We did not air down specifically for this trip but when we are in Sedona for a few weeks at a time, I usually let some air out from highway tire pressure. Not much though. We will be doing this exact same trip in one month with our new 2022 Chevy Colorado ZR2. "Pearl" (the Jeep) will be staying in Wyoming year round once we get her up there this summer. The Colorado will be our new toad vehicle behind our motorhome during our travels.
You guys made that look easy. Purl looks great with the graphite colored wheels. What size tires are you running? They look about perfect and I need a set for mine ASAP.
@@etc-and-more ok, this is what we have. BF Goodrich KO2 T/A LT235/75R15 on the original stock rims. I took the Jeep today up a very snowy and rocky Wyoming backcountry road and it cut through it like butter. These are great tires that ride nice on the highway too without too much noise. I hope this helps you!
We did not air down. The Broken Arrow trail is very mild. Devil’s Staircase is the only challenging thing and certainly take a look and decide what is safest for you and your comfort level. Airing down won’t hurt but we didn’t need to. Enjoy! You are going to have a great time in that area!
I am not certain that those are exact stock size tires although they would be close. The Jeep is not with me at the moment otherwise I would give you an exact tire. They are KO2 tires put on by the previous owner but this Jeep was a city use vehicle and was left stock. This Jeep does have the Up Country option which raises it slightly higher than other XJ’s although it is a small amount. Our Jeep has recently been modified from stock with aftermarket bumpers and a winch to help us self recover and as a tow point attachment in order to tow behind our adventure van. Thanks for checking out the video. I will try to remember to post the tire size when I am around the Jeep next week.
@@VanLifeByTheRiver i have 235/75/15 (about 29") on my xj. barely no rub. i just put new leafs in the back which gave a decent lift, but it is still stock. my tires are the biggest to ever come stock with an xj. absolutely sufficient for my needs. stock were 225/70/15.
Those are KO2’s in standard stock size I believe. They were put on by original previous owner who kept the Jeep almost entirely stock. Great tires! If you need specific size, I will try to remember to check out the tire size for you.
