I'm sure you've considered what time of year you plan on getting to Prudhoe Bay...??? If you plan on anytime between Sept and April, be sure and equip your jeep for ice, snow, and sub zero weather.

Also, Lightforce lights are the way to go. We all use them up here as they're pretty much bullet proof. Go with the Honda generator if you can swing it. And the Superchips programmer has pretty much proven itself to most of us around here.

 

No way... Turbos can be made to "get in" at any given point and you may have the extra horse power at low rpms too, it all depends on the purpose it has been built. Superchargers are an "always on" version of turbos, that is why people usually think of them as a 0-60 device.

Sorry to disagree again, I made Iquique to Antofagasta and then to Santiago driving a Volvo at over 100/120 mph on very nice asphalt. The south of Brazil and some states of the northeast also have very new highways and no speed control, last november I drove a bit more then 7k miles there, 90 to 100 mph is common even for buses (ok, they are crazy, but it not the point).

Too late, I bought the Rubi last week. And I really think this lack of fuel is a thing of the past century. Besides the J8 is sold car/engine separated and they only come with automatic transmission. Although I agree that I could be better served with a diesel engine (most of my trips I do with mine pickups running diesel) I prefer a manual transmission over a diesel engine.

Noted, thanks. I am pretty sure it will be the one.

It looks brute, and beatuful Could not find the weight but looks much heavier then the stock bumper.

I will use the Stock wells/tires from the Sahara model.

The dangerous areas are around Mexico City, I have no intentions to get close there.

I live south of Panama, there is a whole continent south of Panama. The largest favela in South America (Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro) is less the 1/4 mile from my penthouse, if I were to be scaried I would be around my own neighborhood

I am planning to ship the car from Panama to Ecuador, heard that is the easiest way regarding customs bureocracy, and I HATE paperwork and bureocracy

 

Yes, I did. See the expedition page here. You will find the maps, route, gear and there is even a temperature graphic showing why I decided to star on june

Thanks!! You endorsed the ones I was about to chose.

 

If your rear tire carrier doesn't work out and you end up going with an AEV one (awesome company), they are NOT compatible with the Gobi rack (bummer).

 

First off...Wow...that sounds like an awesome trip. I'd love to try something like that when my son grows up, but I couldn't imagine the final cost of an undertaking like that. Are you being sponsored?

Looks like you really know what you're doing, and I hope to read about how it goes

 

As stated above, the Gobi Rack is definitly the most solid rack out there...that being said, it won't work with the AEV Rear Bumper (unless you modify and drill into the body - unknown if it effects the weight capacity). definitly agree to go for an awning as well.

To throw another light option in the mix, just cause it seems like your going for the most functional and $ isn't too high on list... LED VisionX or Rigid lightbars. Yes pricey but blow the conventional lights out of the water in my opinion (rigid bars come with fogs on the outer leds with driving leds on the inside - visionx bars will definitly fit with the gobi stealth rack). With all the add ons such as fridge, winch and everything else, the low amp draw from the LED's might be something to consider. As well as the "daylight" they provide.

I've seen a new Long Range Auxiliary Fuel Tank for JK from ARB. Alpha expedition has them http://alphaexpedition.com/index.php...mages.tpl.html
Might increase weight but gives you another option...

 

i was thinking along the lines of the gen right aux fuel tank for you to consider. i didn't see any mention of it in your posts. it adds an extra 20 gal under the rear where the stock muffler is. http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddet...ST8002&cat=276

btw, congrats on this expedition. you're doing what a lot of us all dream about. i second the adoption post. lol

 

I agree that the LED lights are really impressive, but I have to ask how durable are they? Can they take a shotgun blast or a slam from a baseball bat and still keep going like Lightforce can? When I put that kind of money out I want them to last.

 

Vizoo......I looked at your equipment link and noticed the Icom 2m handhelds. I take it you are a HAM radio op? If you want to pretty much ALWAYS be able to hear a voice coming back to you I would recommend getting at least your "General" Ham license and have access to the HF HAM radio spectrum. With the current solar cycle picking up, worldwide coms are getting better and better all the time. As far as radios go, the Icom IC-7k or any of the IC-706 models will get you on HF as well as VHF. I've talked to mobile ops from all over the world from here in Alaska on the HF bands.

With an undertaking of this kind, in the HAM world it would be known somewhat as a HAM "DXpedition". If the word got out you would virtually have thousands of HAMs monitoring you all along your way. I would think this would give you great piece of mind. Not to mention, the possibility to meet great people eyeball to eyeball, and have possible secure places to stay here and there along your journey.

Something to think about....

 

The rigid lense are made of lexan and the vision x are polycarbonite...on the rigids if one of the LEDs were to fail the others will not go out ("the christmas tree light effect" if you would) - not sure if vision x is the same.

I guess when your in the middle of Panama or the middle of Alaska it would be hard to get replacement parts...so in other words I don't know about the shotgun blast or a bat. Maybe someone who has first hand experience with the lightbars can elaborate

and if I were taking rounds from a shotgun my last worry would be my lights...but I understand what you mean by durability