What comes first, lifts & upgrades or recovery gear?

[havasu]

And it just looks darn cool!

[mssanchez]

A winch is just not an expensive hood ornament!

[TJBoomer]

Wow. What a story. For me it was a winch almost immediatly after purchasing the lift and tires. Both items were installed almost simultaneously. Then it was careful wheeling until I got the hang of things and progressed from there to Iron Undies and other mods. Also, anytime I went wheeling I tried to make sure I was not alone. Since then I have added a ham license/radio as well as a cell phone.

[czjeeper]

First thing I would recommend are recovery points front and rear, and basic straps, shackles/D-rings, etc.
Lockers are great, and in my experience, true 4 wheel traction is better than a lift and bigger tires.

[rivalarrival]

Originally Posted by czjeeper

First thing I would recommend are recovery points front and rear, and basic straps, shackles/D-rings, etc.
Lockers are great, and in my experience, true 4 wheel traction is better than a lift and bigger tires.

That's an excellent point - The time to figure out where to attach a recovery strap is not while you're sinking in a mud hole or stuck in a ditch. In a pinch, you can borrow everything else from someone; you can't borrow a recovery point.

I don't wheel much, but I do pull dozens of cars out of ditches all winter long. About half the time, there is a dedicated tow hook or tow loop; the other half, the owner of the vehicle rigs something up, usually wrapping a tree strap around an axle or swing arm. Every ditch-recovery attempt I've made and failed has had one thing in common: No recovery point on the vehicle. Every ditch-recovery I've made and caused significant additional damage to the vehicle has had one thing in common: No recovery point on the vehicle.

Every vehicle - whether it's a big ol' rock crawler or a Mini Cooper - should have a readily accessible recovery point on both the front and rear.

[office888]

Here's a pretty basic kit.

Spare tire
Jack
Lug wrench
First aid kit
1 gallon, 50/50 coolant
1 gallon, water
1 quart, oil
1 quart, ATF
Funnel
Rags
3/8 Tool Kit + Screwdrivers + Pliers
Tow strap
Snow chains
1 gallon, fuel
WD40

Or if you want to get more advanced.

2 x 5gal jerry can, fuel
1 x 5gal jerry can, coolant
1 x 5gal jerry can, water
1 gallon, oil
Medical kit (include sutures, tourniquet, betadine soap, more gauze, SAM splint, ACS quickclot)
12vdc air compressor
Starting fluid

By far the most important piece of kit in my eyes though?

Radio communications. You cannot rely on your cell phone in the boonies. At the very least, get a competent CB setup. The 102" whip antenna is a great performer.

If you want more capabilities though, get your amateur radio operator license, and install a proper transceiver + antenna setup.

The Yaesu FT857 + ATAS-120 antenna setup is a great combination and would yield reliable communications upto about 500 miles depending on atmospheric conditions.

If you want a little more durable antenna though, Tarheel makes great HF screwdriver antennas.

Or you can go with the cheap option, which are the Hustler center-loaded whips, or the even more durable Hamsticks, which are nothing more than coil loaded fiberglass sticks.

Reliability / safety mods though are the best mods!

[badmoose61]

Back when I had time and money to go off roading.

First came the lift & tires, and as money was short last was lockers.

As far as recovery gear, We carried two 30' recovery straps, hi-lift jack, and two 5 ton come-a-longs.

[RaggedOleMan]

I have a winch now, 2-snatch blocks, 200' + of straps & cables among other recovery items. They get used, too!

[madrabbitt]

Recovery and emergency gear should always come first. Especially because its going to be something you keep long term, no matter what you do to the vehicle after.

Things like straps, and tools, and whatnot will always fit, no matter what lift or armor or tires you put on later.

[RaggedOleMan]

Originally Posted by madrabbitt

Recovery and emergency gear should always come first. Especially because its going to be something you keep long term, no matter what you do to the vehicle after.

Things like straps, and tools, and whatnot will always fit, no matter what lift or armor or tires you put on later.

That's a good point.

Being a noobradoodle in the Jeep community was intimidating to me. I didn't know anyone who owned a Jeep or went wheeling, didn't belong to any forums, heck, I didn't even realize there were forums! so I just went out on my own to figure it out and getting stuck in the mountains during a winter storm warning was humbling. I suspect there are others like me...hopefully they'll stumble across threads like this BEFORE they go out wheeling alone...