One of the largest Jeep and off-road events in America is none other than the Eastern Jeep Safari that takes place every year in Moab Utah. This event started as a small single day tour of the Moab trails in 1967. Today it has morphed into a nine day events which gives off-roaders the chance to test their skills on over one hundred trails. EJS has also been a stomping ground for Manufacturers to release their new Jeep specific product, and even Jeep themselves giving customers a taste of what’s to come with the new Jeep Wranglers. This event is always a great family friendly event where you will be able to meet a ton of Jeep and off-road enthusiast which range from the everyday driver to the hardcore wheeler with a non-street legal ultra-capable rig the resembles something out of an alien movie. EJS is committed to bringing their community together to keep the passion alive for trial riding.
Our week started off on the famous Flat Iron Mesa trail which boasts scenic views of La Sal Mountains, local cliffs, and different canyons throughout the trail. Much of Flat Iron Mesa trail is two track on sandy dirt which is mostly rated a 4 being easy. Don’t be fooled you will come up to some spots on the trail where the 4wd, diff lockers, and our Falken MT tires were tested.
Later in the week there was an organized trail run that would be going up the infamous Cliffhanger trail. This trail is the only route to get onto Amasa Back which is rock formation surrounded by, Kane Spring Canyon, Hurrah Pass, Jacskon Hole, with a loop of the Colorado River. Mos of the trail consits of unlimited traction surface with some sand areas in between the rock formations. Their was different levels of difficulty along the trail so we are glad the PIAA Jeep Renegade is a failry capable rig built for this kind of wheeling. The Metal Cloak suspension and fenders give the Jeep enough clearance to articualte enough to squeeze the 37 inch Falken MT tires in the fender wells. The tougher sections of Cliffhanger is decent Kane Road to teh creek where you will need to climb back out. Depeneding on the time of year the creek can have much more water than we had this week, making the crossing much more treacherous.
You will come up on some steep ledges that will require pinpoint wheel placement and a flexible suspension. Maybe even sections where you may need to winch up for some added insurance. This trail is "buddy system" recomeded, which is always a good idea out on any trail. Cliffhanger has many amazing views to see along the entire trail. Just make sure the rig is stopped to take a good look around. The Cliffhanger trail has a lot of sections that will bring on the “pucker” factor. Some sections aren’t much wider than our Jeep Rubicon so being seasoned on the trail will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
Eastern Jeep Safari is an event that we look forward to every year. It's a great opportunity to teach customers about the benefits of our lighting products, and test out the modification of the the Jeep we built for the past SEMA show. The past year the PIAA Jeep has been put through it's paces participation in multiple off-roading events much like EJS. The countdown to the 2018 Eastern Jeep Safari has already started.