Outfit Your Jeep Wrangler for Off-Road Fun

If you've just brought a Jeep Wrangler and want to enjoy off-roading adventures, then you will need to get a few after-market accessories. Now, a Jeep Wrangler is an awesome machine to go off-roading in, but that doesn't mean you should drive a stock, off-the-floor model right into the woods. You want to be prepared for the rough conditions that you will encounter. Here are some things to get.

Winch

You should have a winch installed on the front of your Jeep. This will save you a whole lot of trouble should you run into a ditch and end up stuck. The winch can be used to drag the Jeep out of the ditch and back up onto level ground. The way a winch works is that you will take the cable from the winch and wrap it around a tree or large boulder that is on higher ground. Then you turn on the winch, and it retracts the cable, pulling your Jeep towards the boulder or tree and therefore out of the ditch.

Off-Roading Tires

You should also get separate tires for when you go off-roading. While it might seem like a nuisance to change the tires, you really should go through the process. Off-roading tires have larger treads and are designed for muddy surfaces. Regular tires are better designed for paved roads. Off-roading tires will grab onto the trails and prevent skids and slips that you might encounter if you use regular tires. When you're done driving off-road, you should make sure to change back to regular tires. Don't slack and use off-roading tires on paved roads; the large treads will wear down on highways, so save these tires for when you're hitting the trails.

Mud Flaps

This is not so much a safety issue as an issue that involves protecting your car's paint job. When you are driving out on the trails, you want to prevent pebbles and mud from splashing up and hitting your paint job. Little stones in particular are a real problem; they will scratch up the paint. Mud flaps can prevent you from having to have to deal with scratches and paint repairs.

Roof-Rack Lighting

This one is more important than you think. Perhaps you might think that you're only going to drive during the day and therefore won't need excess lighting. Well, you should always plan on emergencies. If you end up getting lost, you might need those extra lights should you end up in the woods after dark. There are no streetlights in the woods, and you don't want to rely solely on your headlights. Roof-rack lighting will help to make driving much safer. This is especially important when you remember that you won't be on a regular "road," so you will need to spot ditches, down branches, and other obstacles in your path.