Just thought I\'d introduce myself, name is Jim Nutt and I drive a \'97 TJ (and have been the only owner). I\'ve been wheeling for about 10 years, mostly in the AZ desert and the Sierras in CA as well as trails in MA, CT, RI, VT and NH. And I\'ve been to Paragon in PA a couple of times as well. I consider myself a fairly capable wheeler, preferring rocks to mud, but hey.. dirt\'s dirt.
The Jeep is a soft top 6 cyl (with A/C... it\'s an AZ jeep!) with 3.07 gears (yeah, I know), open front and rear diffs and 31\" tires. I\'ve got a badly dented oil pan skid plate, winch and a new front bumper (yea!). I also carry a HiLift jack, 20# CO2 cylinder (with air tools as well), shovel and fluids. I don\'t carry quite as much here as I did in AZ, because civilization\'s a lot closer at hand (out there I carried 3 days of food and water, plus an extra 10 gallons of gas).
I did have a LockRight in the rear, but it starting causing some serious problems so it was removed. I\'ve driven more miles open than locked anyway, so I\'m used to the open diffs. I\'m waiting now until I can regear and put in a selectable locker. However, what with being married only 2 years, in a 150 year old house and a 6 month old baby, that\'s kind of low on the priority list.
jim
