The scavenger hunt brought us to some absolutely beautiful areas of northern Michigan, like this field atop a hill. The views were spectacular. It’s easy to forget that Michigan is a huge state, with lots of open, rural wilderness. It’s not all like Detroit. The yin and yang of starting in the city and ending up in the country makes this Gambler especially cool.This was a neat challenge. It brought us to some really cool areas and showed us the true heartland of America. This isn’t something you get to see on a normal road trip, that’s for sure!By this time we had stumbled on our new friends in the JP Jeep. We ended up camping by them the night before and shared a drink and some stories. They broke camp early to go into town for a warm breakfast, but finding them on the trail was a lucky break. We decided to team up for the rest of the afternoon.The next batch of trails were pretty straightforward: just some dirt, some low hills, and the occasional mud patch.Then things got a bit interesting. As we crested one hill, we were faced with another, a few hundred feet tall, at an angle of at least 40 degrees, and with packed snow and ice on it.
While my buddy Jon began to get nervous, I calmly slotted the VehiCross into low range and first gear, and pointed the nose at the crest.
Those ZJs came with a shitty full time 4WD transfer case with a viscous center section that eventually failed. The NP231s that came in base models were true 4WD (locked front to rear with no differential). Still open diffs front/rear though…
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Those ZJs came with a shitty full time 4WD transfer case with a viscous center section that eventually failed. The NP231s that came in base models were true 4WD (locked front to rear with no differential). Still open diffs front/rear though…
Isuzu’s are workhorses. Period.