TrailRecon

We met up with some great folks for a 4 day overland expedition down to Baja California Mexico. We had camped in La Bufadora and Punta Final, tackled several miles of the Baja 1000, ate some great foot, and overcame a few challenges along the way.

During our Baja Overland Expedition one of the member of our group gave us a demo of how the Deadman Off-Road Earth Anchor can help you get out of a sticky situation when you don't have a solid anchor point. He got his truck stuck on purpose just so we could see it in action.

In this episode of the San Diego Jeep Club build, the club gets together to install a 4.5" Icon Vehicle Dynamics Stage 5 lift kit suspension system on the project Jeep build. This modification is going to really improve the Jeep's off-road capabilities and increase the approach, breakover and departure angles. The team rips out both axles in preparation for installing Dynatracs Dana 60 axles and this made some of the lift kit install a little more challenging that it would normally have been as you will see in the video.

In this video we take a look at a heavily modified 2013 Jeep Wrangler JKU (Iron Man) that was recently display at SEMA 2018. The owner has been building up this Jeep for the last 5 years and while there are a still a few things he wants to do, it's fully capable to hit the trail or a night out on the town.

Is onboard CO2 the right solution for your off-road vehicle? In this video I give you a detailed, close up look of the Power Tank 10 lb Jeep Wrangler JK Package, discuss some of the pros and cons of CO2 and then I hit the trail for a little testing... how fast can you inflate a 37" tire?

I went and upgraded my tires to 37’s and now my Jeep Wrangler JK modification to-do list just got a whole lot longer. So in this video I’m going to share with you my plan for all the necessary upgrades I’ve got to do now.

In this video, I take you along as I check out how the new customizable MEK Magnet armor is made in the factory, show you all the different 16 piece magnet graphic options available and give you a few tips on installing and caring for it.

In this video my good friend Marco from @OVRLNDX joins me in the garage to show me how to build the custom LED light strips he has had in the rear of his Jeep for over 2 years. This setup consists of 3 connected LED flexible LED strips secured in an aluminum channel and uses a controller to allow dimming and wireless use. It is amazing just how simple and inexpensive this DIY project is and Marco shares a few soldering tips along the way.

I finally got rid of my faded banged up plastic bumpers and upgraded to the new released Poison Spyder Bruiser front and rear bumpers. I’m going to give you a detailed look and show you how the install went.

I have been very, very busy over the last 2 days and in this video I share all the new Jeep Wrangler upgrades I just installed. I was over at a good friends house and we had a garage party with the good folks from the San Diego Jeep Club. We tackled installing new Dynatrac ball joints, c-gussets, exhaust spacers, a HAM radio install and the previous day I install a new Teraflex tire carrier. Plus I give you a look at what's coming up next!

In this video I discuss some basic information about HAM radio use, then I show you the radio, mount and antenna I installed on my Jeep Wrangler and then head over to a good friends house to show you the install. As a bonus, I'm going to show you 2 other HAM radio setups from some friends Jeeps.

Well it's about time we got the XJ back in the garage for some upgrades. In this video, I show you a close up look of KC HiLites Gravity G34 driving LED cube lights, then I show you how to I installed them on the XJ and take them out on the trail and light them up. I also share with you some problems we are having the XJ and some upcoming videos I think you will really enjoy.

In this video my buddy Mike joins me in the garage to help me upgrade my draglink and tie rod to a Yeti XD No Drill Top Mount draglink and 1 ½ ton Yeti XD tie rod by Steer Smarts. We discuss why a high steer setup is beneficial and then, talk about the specs of the new links and then take you through the install process and share several tips and tricks along the way.

I've been in need of some extra storage in my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon for a while now, with my 12 volt cooler, tools, recovery gear, camera gear and everything else I take with me out on the trail, I just don't have enough space. So in this video I show you the Vector OffRoad GGB storage shelf and share with you how easy it is to just bolt on.

I met up with the San Diego Jeep Club for our 2nd annual Woman's Off-Road Training event. I take you along with me as we watch a short portion of a hand signal class, visit with some of the ladies at the event and watch some very awesome Jeeps tackle a portion of Valley of the Moon trail. Good times!

My plastic fenders are tired, grayed out and falling off, so it's finally time to upgrade them. In this video I share with you why I chose to cut my plastic fenders, then show you the new aluminum Poison Spyder Crusher fenders in a standard size with everything provided and then I take you through my installation of them.

So another YouTube channel laid down the challenge and called me out and a few other Jeep YouTube channels to share our Jeep stories…. So challenge accepted!

I have been stockpiling a few items to install on the Jeep and in this video I decided to break out the camera and share show you these very easy modifications you can install. The items installed on my Jeep Wrangler in this video are Kargo Master hinge step, KC HiLites secure locking nuts, Teraflex front brake line anchors, and taking a look at 67 Designs Overland flashlight holder.

While I was at Overland Expo West 2018 I had the pleasure of meeting with Dave, the President of American Expedition Vehicles and talk to him about this amazing Jeep Wrangler build called Outpost II. This is a purpose build off-road overlanding rig and was my favorite Jeep of the entire expo.

In this video I spend the weekend at Overland Expo West 2018 taking you around and showing you some of the custom built overland rigs and meeting with owners along the way. We take a look at everything from an Earth Roamer to an old 1978 Chevrolet Panel van... so many awesome vehicles to check out!

I had the pleasure of meeting with Jason Koertge from Swell Runner and took a detailed look of his Toyota 4Runner and Turtleback trailer overland builds. Jason is a true gentleman and shares all kinds of details about his build, why he chose the modifications he has and his future plans.

This video is I take you on a quick tour of Overland Expo West 2018 and show you some highlights of the classes offered, show you several of the overland trailers on display and meet with a few vendors to see what new products they have.

While out camping with my good friend Marco from @OVRLNDX we realized it's been almost a year since we did the rig walk around of his 2015 Overland Jeep Wrangler build and decided to break out the camera and film all the new updates he's done over the last 12 months... a lot of changes have happened!

My son is home from college for the summer and it was nice to finally get in the garage and do some work the XJ. In this video we install a new stereo, speakers, plus a custom DIY ashtray auxiliary switch panel. We also try and hunt down the fuse for our cigarette lighter to see if we can get it working again. Lot's of electrical stuff in this video!

I decided to try something new in the world of Rig Walk Arounds, and I got a hold of the keys to this very nicely equipped overland purpose built Toyota 4Runner. Now I still meet with the owner and we take a close up look of his truck, but then I get behind the wheel and share my impression of driving out on the trail with you!

On this beautiful Saturday morning we headed up to the Holy Jim trail head for a much, much needed trail clean up day. This event was hosted by the good folks at Rebel Off-Road and with the help of all the volunteers over 5,200 lbs of trash was collected. Please consider volunteering your time this summer to help clean a trail near you!

I was admittedly a little skeptical about doing this install, but as you will see it's a very simple way to add a little responsiveness to your Jeep. In this video I give you a close up look of the BD Diesel Performance throttle sensitivity booster, show you how to install it and then we hit the road and I give you my impressions.

I was talking with my friend CPO over at the YouTube channel O3D Jeeps and we thought it would be cool to share with you guys some recommendations for tools to bring with you off-road.

Over the last couple years I have owned plenty of ice chest, then I purchased a Coleman 12 volt chiller to carry with me in my Jeep and recently I upgraded to a 40l Dometic Refrigerators. So I thought it would be informative to give you some of the pro and cons of each and show you how well they hold their temperature.

Have you installed larger tires on your Jeep? How about bumpers, fenders and a roof rack? The more weight you add to your Jeep Wrangler the hard the stock brakes have to work. In this video I install a Teraflex front and rear big brake kit on my 2015 Jeep Wrangler JKU and then take them out for a test drive and give you my impressions.

Have you ever taken a close up look of a Jeep Truck conversion? In this video we met with Rob to check out his very nice Jeep Wrangler that has the DV8 truck conversion. Rob has built this Jeep for adventure and has taken it to many amazing places. Let's meet with Rob and take a close up look of his build.

We had an amazing adventure through the desert and up into the mountains this weekend and while at camp in the morning I decided to take a few minutes and just do some quick filming around everyones Jeep camp setups. So in this video we are going to take a look at a some nice storage systems, refrigerators options, tables, water storage, roof top tents and more.

When you hear that a Jeep has rolled over you instantly think the worst. My son was recently cut off going down the highway and rolled the Jeep x2 and thankfully he walk away just fine. Our 1999 Jeep Cherokee XJ on the other hand has a lot of body damage that is going to be sorted out. This is just a quick video to show you the damage, more to follow on how we are going to bring her back to life.

So with a bigger lift, bigger tires and some harder wheeling in the future, it was time to upgrade my Jeep Wrangler JKU's driveshafts. I opted to install Adams Driveshafts 1350 Front and Rears. In this video I head over to my good friend Mike's shop (San Diego Off-Road and Custom) so we could use his lift and tap into his technical experience.

Halogen vs. LED vs. LED... which one is better? Spot, flood, fog beam patterns... how do they perform? In this video we take a look at some different light outputs and beam patterns. I admittedly had a little fun filming this and now have a new appreciation for how these different off-road lights perform.

I just returned from an amazing adventure with my son and 4 other great friends. We drove our Jeeps from San Diego, to Utah and then to Colorado to hit the trails, do some exploring and camping along the way. In this video I just want to share with you a quick sneak peak of all the great content that will be coming over the next few weeks.

We have been planning this trip to Utah and Colorado for several month and in this video I show you a brief look at some of the vehicle preparation we did and then my son, a few friends and I travel to Moab, UT to tackle the Top of the World trail. The off-roading in Moab is a amazing and this was a great trail to kick off this trip.

On day 2 of our Utah to Colorado adventure we met up with our good friends to complete Hell's Revenge trail in Moab. This trail is rated as difficult and has some very famous obstacles along the way like Hell's Gate, Tip-Challenge, The Escalator and a few hot tubs. This trail was a blast and while, we didn't attempt all the obstacles, we'll return in the future will a little less gear and give then a go.

On day 3 of our Utah to Colorado off-road adventure my son and I met with our good friends and ran the Poison Spider Mesa trail in Moab. This trail has been on my bucket list for a while and it was so awesome to finally get the opportunity to tackle it. Poison Spider did not disappoint!

We had an amazing 10 camping adventure and in this video I share with you some of the essential camping gear we took with us. From our food storage and cooking setup, tents and sleeping, lighting and electrical gear, water storage and chairs and tables. If there is something in the video you want to pick up for yourself, you can find it on the TrailRecon Amazon store.

In this video, my son, a couple good friends and I head an hour out of Moab to run the Elephant Hill Trail. This trail is a favorite of many folks and we were excited to explore it.

I have received several request to do an update on all the Jeep upgrades of done, and while I still have more to do, I thought I’d take a few minutes and bring you up to speed on where things are at. In this video we are only going to cover the outside of the Jeep and I’ll do and interior review soon.

In this video we leave Moab, UT and head to the beautiful mountain of Colorado to explore the Ophir Pass trail and tackle the famous Black Bear Pass. Ophir Pass is a short, easy and very scenic trail that you an run in just under 2 hours. Black Bear Pass is a longer and much more challenging trail with a steep hill decent, tight switchbacks and some very narrow sections of trail with sheer cliff to one side. Your technical driving skills will need to be at their best for this trail.

After just having completed the hair raising trek on Black Bear Pass, our crew headed to Telluride for lunch and then began the climb up Imogene Pass. Imogene is one of the most beautiful trails I have ever experienced and there were so many rustic old mines and camps to check out along the way. This is on of my favorite trails and a must visit if you are in the Ouray or Telluride Colorado area.

My wife finally got rid of her SUV and we got here a brand new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 2 Door JL in Hella Yella! I'll be doing a full detailed review in the coming weeks, but I just wanted to quickly introduce the Jeep to you and let you know what my guidance is for being able to modify HER Jeep! We will be having a lot of fun in this rig. I hope you all enjoy it!

I had a blast at Jeep Bash 2018 and there were over 300 Jeep in attendance of every make and model, new ones, old ones, Wrangler JL's, JK's, TJ's, Cherokees, Grand Cherokees, Jeepsters and many, many more. In this video I select my top 10 favorites.

4 days, 3 nights and a whole lot of off-road miles. My son, a few friends and I set out across the Anza-Borrego desert on our way to Sedona, AZ for what would be an epic overland adventure. in this video we explore the Arroyo Tapiado tapped mud caves, make our way down Diablo Drop-off, through Sandstone Canyon and setting in for the night at a secluded camp site.

We love our new 2 door Jeep Wrangler JL Rubicon in the color Hella Yella and in this video I take a few minutes and give you a tour of the outside, inside, discuss a few of the specification and share with you some of the things I like and don't like on this new generation of Jeep.

In this second part of our Anza-borrego desert, Bradshaw Trail and Sedona Arizona trip, we set out after getting hammered by a thunderstorm to cross many miles of desert and then head North to Sedona. We encountered a lot of weather along the way and meant we were going to be getting muddy for many miles. We found some great camp spots along the way, encountered a few creepy crawlers, tackled some fun trails and just had a great adventure.

TrailRecon is a YouTube channel that my son and I started in 2015 to share our off-road adventures. Our channel started out with the simple goal of making memories while exploring trails in Southern California. We love off-roading and making videos just added to the fun. Our videos are all about getting dirty and having fun as we hit trails, reviewing the latest off-road gear, sharing tips and tricks we’ve learned from our adventures, and pointing out the way to breathtaking new trails for fellow off-roaders like you to explore.

Now that my wife has had her 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon JL for a couple weeks no, it was time to finally add a few upgrades. Now while we are not starting off with a lift kit, big tires or a light bar, we are adding some very important upgrades that everyone should considers. Safety items and convince are a priority for my wife and I.

Our ten day adventure to Moab, UT through Ouray, CO was unforgettable. In this video I will share with you some of the planning that went into the trip, answer many of the questions you have been submitting, talk about the camping and trails and share with you what happened the last day in Colorado... which we didn't film.

Why does food at camp taste so much better than if it was cooked at home? In this video my good friend Marco from @OVRLNDX shares with us 3 tasty Mexican camp food recipes. Having some good when you are out camping really helps bring folks together and boost moral. I always enjoy Marco's creative and tasty camp foods and I'm honored he was willing to share these 3 dishes with you all.

Being out on the trail for multiple days can make it difficult to keep camera gear charged, laptops running and my fridge cool. I purchased the Goal Zero Yeti 400 with the Boulder 50 solar panel a few months ago and wanted to give you a close up look and share my opinion.

Meet Kate the Jeep and all mission 2016 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon JKU that has been built for overlanding and for hitting some of the toughest trails like the famous Rubicon. This Jeep was recently on display at SEMA 2018 and has an amazing story as to why it sits in it's current form. In this video I meet with the owner and we talk about the story behind the build and take a close up look of all the interesting modifications he has done to it.

When you install larger tires on your Jeep you will inevitably loose performance and the best way to get it back is to change out your gears with a new ring and pinion. In this video I share with you what I learned about selecting new gears, some basic gear ratio information and what new gears I chose for my Jeep.

What a transformation! Our 1999 Jeep Cherokee JX just spent the last 4 weeks in Ensenada Mexico at a Paint and Body shop getting all her dents and dings repaired and a whole new paint job. There was some extensive dent repair done and the new paint job came out great! Big thanks to Jorge Garcia for all the hard work!

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I did the initial review of the Smittybilt Overland rooftop tent! I have been using it a ton, in fact I’ve spent almost and entire month camping in it in 2018. In this video I will share with you some of the things I like, some of the criticism I have and answer several questions you have submitted.

Are you trying to decide on what budget overland vehicle to buy? I think the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo WJ might be one to consider if cash is tight. In this video I walk you around the 1999 WJ my son recently purchased and share with you what our plan going forward with this Jeep is.