Barrett Lake 4x4 and a mini JL review.

Deezus

New member
Been putting off wheeling the new JL because I was really enjoying that new car smell and I was concerned about dragging the bottom of my new Jeep. I'm running an Evo "Budget" lift at 2.5" as well as 17" KMC beadlock with Cooper 37/12.50/17 tires. The trail is technical and harder going to the lake than coming back. I highly recommend not having doors or top on for this trail for 4 door Jeeps the downside is its very dusty but worth it. I would describe this trail as similar to parts of the Rubicon. I rate it between a 7&8. More skilled drivers than me might disagree.
The Cooper tires continue to amaze me. So quiet and smooth on the street and handle the rocks great. At less than $300 a tire for this kind of performance not only are they a bargain they look good too!
IMO, the boost I have is way overpriced. Yes it's a solid kit but at almost $600 it's not a "Budget" boost. That being said it's quiet and solid.
The JL cleared most everything on the trail and I was quite impressed with the new locker switching.
Another thing that I was happy about was being able to turn 37"inch tires fully locked on the rocks! Has anyone else experienced this? I'll temper my full enthusiasm until I hit the Rubicon this weekend but so far I'm very very happy with the electric assisted steering.
At this point I'm probably gonna leave it alone as far as upgrades until March as I'm really wanting to do Evo coilovers with the longarm this time around.
So, in closing, I'm very impressed with this new Jeep and the Cooper tires and highly recommend you guys give them a look there also made in the USA! If I was doing my boost lift again I would go for something cheaper as it will basically be thrown in my garage and forgotten about when I choose my lift. The trail is a blast and here are a few pics...
FB_IMG_1534256231523.jpegLakeside.jpegFB_IMG_1534256240950.jpegFB_IMG_1534256215440.jpegFB_IMG_1534256223114.jpegMilky%20way%20nights.jpeg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

CanadaJeep

Caught the Bug
I have to agree the coopers are a great tire. I had them on my JK and am defiantly going with them again on the JL
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome pics!! Been wanting to run Barrett for a while now but the smoke from all the fires kept me away from it. Looks like you got some clear skies on your run.

As far as Coopers go, I've been a BIG fan of them for a while now. They really are nice tires and hook up amazingly well on the rocks. :yup:
 

Deezus

New member
Awesome pics!! Been wanting to run Barrett for a while now but the smoke from all the fires kept me away from it. Looks like you got some clear skies on your run.

As far as Coopers go, I've been a BIG fan of them for a while now. They really are nice tires and hook up amazingly well on the rocks. :yup:
Yes it was great and a meteor shower as well. I'm very curious to see how the JL does on the rocks st 10psi fully locked up. What's been your experience?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Yes it was great and a meteor shower as well. I'm very curious to see how the JL does on the rocks st 10psi fully locked up. What's been your experience?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

My experience has been that at about 14 psi, my Coopers look more like my old Toyos and Nittos did at 10. Because of this, I tend not to air down as much as I used to and STILL find my Coopers do a better job of hooking up better than my previous tires.
 

tobyw

Member
We ran the Rubicon several weeks back, and with 37's aired down to ~8psi, I noticed that steering effort was only minimally different than at street pressure :thumb:

Kind of hard to make out in this picture from Cadillac Hill, but the driver-front is off the ground and the passenger front is bulged out pretty good, just to give you some idea of what my particular tires looked like at ~8psi...

2018-08-14_9-59-59.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
We ran the Rubicon several weeks back, and with 37's aired down to ~8psi, I noticed that steering effort was only minimally different than at street pressure :thumb:

Kind of hard to make out in this picture from Cadillac Hill, but the driver-front is off the ground and the passenger front is bulged out pretty good, just to give you some idea of what my particular tires looked like at ~8psi...

I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I really do like BFG AT's but they kinda suck on a trail like the Rubicon. If I were still running a set, I'd probably run them at about 8 psi too and just so that I could get a bit more grip on the rocks.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
While there's a ton of benefits to airing down, the more you go down, the LESS lift you have. ALSO, the less air you have in your tire, the greater the chance you'll have of pinching a sidewall to the point of failure. Of course, this is mainly a problem when driving fast. Not all tires are made the same and not all tires need to be aired the same amount to give the same amount of benefits.
 

Deezus

New member
My experience has been that at about 14 psi, my Coopers look more like my old Toyos and Nittos did at 10. Because of this, I tend not to air down as much as I used to and STILL find my Coopers do a better job of hooking up better than my previous tires.
I meant with the EAS. I felt no difference locked versus unlocked and at 10psi. Am I imagining this?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I meant with the EAS. I felt no difference locked versus unlocked and at 10psi. Am I imagining this?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

For the most part, I find that the electric steering does pretty well even when aired down and locked or at least, most of the time. I have been in a few situations where the obstacle was big enough and with enough traction that the steering felt like it just locked up - like you just couldn't turn the steering wheel if you had the strength to do so. These are situations where a ram assist would have pushed through but then, they've been far and few between.
 

tobyw

Member
I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I really do like BFG AT's but they kinda suck on a trail like the Rubicon. If I were still running a set, I'd probably run them at about 8 psi too and just so that I could get a bit more grip on the rocks.

No skin off my back! We all have our favorites, and we all choose our tires based on our specific needs and desires :beer:
 

Deezus

New member
Very nice Milky Way shot. What were your exposure settings? Interesting that Mars came out pure white.
Sony a6000
Samyang/Rokinon 12mm f2
SS 25s
Aperture 4
White balance daytime
Iso 800
Didn't know that was mars, thanks!

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
 

BillArnett

New member
Thanks.

Saturn is in your photo, too, much dimmer and lost in the middle of the Milky Way. Even poor demoted Pluto is there but much too faint to show up.
 

Top