Minnesota Transplant w/ XV-JP

[Pgopinath]

Hello Front Range Community: (trying to keep this between a simple intro and a life story)

My wife and I moved to Boulder in 2017 as part of a job relocation. Prior to that we had spent 20 depressing months in Fresno and 23 years in Minneapolis. I have worked 30 years in the Aerospace and Defense industry primarily on weapons platforms and UAVs. We have been avid backpackers since '82 but after three back surgeries and multiple knee surgeries between the two of us we we were looking for a more forgiving way to get out in the outdoors and explore.

We picked up a used Earthroamer XV-JP earlier this year and I have been doing some mild mods to it. We have a lot of off-road driving experience in the MN backwoods but we need to relearn our 4x4 skills for the CO and UT terrain. We have also both taken the PSDS courses and i used to race 911's for a few years.

We have hit a few of the easier trails over the past month and hope to do one every weekend while the weather permits. We definitely want to go along with more experienced folk who will help us with our skills.

[FINOCJ]

Welcome....keep an eye out for a run to miller rock this weekend.

[Tom]

Cool rig. I spent a long 14 years in Brooklyn Park. Bet you are glad to be out of that two seasoned state.

[Brian]

Welcome!

[Jim]

Welcome to the group!

Pgopinath previously posted:

[Pgopinath]

The winters seemed to get colder as i got older. So it is great to be in Boulder in teh winters. We still go back to our cabin N of Grand Rapids MN in the summers and spend a few weeks fishing and swattign mosquitoes.

[Pgopinath]

Thank you.

PSDS: Porsche Sport Driving School. We took the courses at the school in Birmingham. Of course the perfect line around a racetrack at 120mph has nothing to do with the correct line over an offroad trail - as I am rapidly discovering.

I am not confident enough to tackle a "difficult" trail so I will pass on Miller Rock this weekend.

[Tom]

Pgopinath previously posted:

[Pgopinath]

Brian: Thanks for the welcome.

[Tom]

Pgopinath previously posted:

[Jim]

Pgopinath previously posted:

[Java]

Welcome!

[xaza]

welcome to the group

[The StRanger]

Welcome to the dark side. ..
we have cookies! ! !

[Jackie]

Welcome! I was born and raised in MPLS. (Colorado is better)!!!

Seriously, you should give some thought to riding along with Jim or any other member who has an open seat. You will learn A LOT! And you'll quickly learn how nice, friendly and helpful this group is. You won't regret it. It's a blast even as a passenger!

[cnstaco]

Welcome, and does that Jeep have a truck bed? I like that.

[Maverick1872]

Welcome to the group - Love the XV-JP, never seen one in person before but want to! Did yours come outfitted with the ?60? liter aux fuel tank?

[Pgopinath]

Everyone: Thanks for the welcome. I would have loved to have gone along on the Miller Rock run. My schedule got messed up this past weekend. My wife and i try and hit an Easy/Moderate trail every Saturday. I had planned on doing a jump seat with someone on Sunday for Miller Rock. We had some problems come up on Saturday so we pushed our usual ride to Sunday and did Pole Hill Rd. We ran the"lasso" portion counter-clockwise. The ER is a heavy rig and I felt the brakes struggling on the steep downhill after the notch.

I will definitely join in on the next group run.

Sorry i missed the cookies.

[Pgopinath]

Hi Jonathan: Thanks for the welcome. I will be happy to show you the ER anytime you wish. If there are moderate trails by your way my wife and i could run those and meet up with you.

I am the second owner of the ER. The first owner got it directly from Earthroamer and did all the mods i would have wanted except for the aux fuel tank. The rig now has the 5.7L Hemi, AEV lifts, Dynatrac 60s, Walker Evans (beadlock?) wheels etc etc. He had the tent top updated and put in a rainfly. And best of all it only had 17400 miles on the odo when i got it. It doesnt have the aux fuel tank. The two AGM 110AH house batteries are located under the vehicle where the aux tank would go. I need to replace them with LiFePO4 batteries and move the batteries somewhere inside the cab. That will free up teh space for the aux tank. I have the tank on order so fingers crossed that i am able to relocate the batteries.

While the aux tank will add weight it will place it low and should offset the weight of the tent top.

On my Pole Hill trail run this past weekend I filled up the 25Gal fresh tank and the 10 Gal grey tank and it help move the CG down. I noticed a real difference when doing the steep downhill into the meadow.

Feel free to call me at Six One Two 8One6 7853 to chat anytime.

regards
Prabha

[Tom]

Pgopinath previously posted: