One of our Hawkes Outdoors Brand Ambassadors, Doc, took his fully upfitted 2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on a trip up to Minnesota and back this summer. He was kind enough to share some of the experiences he had along the way, and give some advice on anyone looking to take their rig on a long-term off-road trip.
Doc:
The trip to Minnesota started off with your standard highway driving until I got up into Minnesota. Lessons that I learned early on in the road trip: make sure you have good windshield wipers and your tires are properly aligned. I saw several Jeeps that did not have the right things such as these. Some of the areas I got into near the lakes and everything, you do need 4WD there, as well. Also make sure you deflate your tires a little bit, because even though that ground looks great, it’s very muddy and mushy.
Something to keep in mind as you go further north, especially around the lakes in that area, is that you will need better front fog lights, because those backroad areas are all flooded out and everything will absolutely engulf you. But it was fantastic going through all those old logging areas and seeing all the wolves, bears, and all sorts of other critters!
We then moved up into the interior of Minnesota just to do some further exploring in other places. Another note, as minor as it may seem, is to get steel valve stem covers, because those plastic ones will catch on pieces of wood or debris when you’re off-roading and get torn off. Then you can’t get into your valve stem cover to deflate or inflate your tires. On that note, having a deflator/inflator kit is a very good idea, as well!
Be sure to bring extra fuel, as we all know, and also a good thing to think about: even though your cell phone will get you pretty good coverage, there’s a lot of areas where that just won’t cut it, so a secondary communication system is always a good idea.
When I got back from my trip, I made sure to stop by Hawkes Outdoors and have them take care of the front fog lights (editor’s note: Doc upgraded to Baja Designs Squadron SAE LED Auxiliary Light Pod Pair on his front steel bumper). Other than that, the Jeep ran impeccably well! The roof rack was amazing for gear and items that I needed to stow there. The metal bumpers were also another big upgrade we had done in the past that don't seem like much, but protection, protection, protection! It’s very important, particularly when you’re 4-wheeling through a lot of brush!
Hats off to Hawkes for the outfitting and the phenomenal work they’ve done on my Jeep, and here’s to the future upfits we are planning to get done!
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