Freedom and independence are two of the best aspects of venturing into the backcountry. When you’re in a well-equipped rig with a full tank and an epic trail in front of you, there’s a good time in the offing.

Keeping gear secure in the backcountry can be a challenge when that gear is in an open pickup bed. In the past, we relied on less-expensive ATV chests for lightweight storage, but they had cheap (or no) weatherstripping and cheap latches. Our gear being coated with dirt and moisture was a constant problem.

An ice chest works fine when taking a day trip into the backcountry, but if an extended outback foray is planned, melted ice and spoiled food are unwelcome companions. A fridge freezer should be on everyone's equipment list.

Jeep has continued its ever-popular JK model, and new owners who are interested in stepping up in off-road capability are looking to add suspension lifts and taller tires. American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) has a number of suspension options for JK owners based on the desired ride height and application.

We've had pretty good luck with the stock Dana 30 front axle in our '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ. Despite the fact that it still uses stock gearing and an open diff, it's chugged its way over every obstacle we pointed it through the years. Albeit the trails we've traveled were mild and we do our best not to push its limitations so it will still be ready for the weekly commute every Monday, the axle as a whole has not lived up to its failure-prone Dana "Turdy reputation.

There was a time when Jeeps and other trail rigs had little aftermarket support in the way of axle upgrades. The best and beefiest option back then was to find some Dana 60 axles at a salvage yard and either cut down the tubes or simply run them wide. When you snapped shafts or bent an axle tube, you ordered the same part that broke, straightened the tube, and put it all back together. These days, the options are numerous. We have high-strength front and rear axleshaft kits backed by multi-year warranties and heavy-duty, bolt-in axle assemblies that will seemingly never break, bend, or explode. You can now replace your broken or failure-prone parts with something substantially better without building a custom salvage yard Dana 60. Check out the following to read how.

If you've kept tabs on our '04 4Runner build, you know we've been using an automatic locker in our Currie 9-inch rearend. The automatic locker has done everything we've asked: It's been self-contained, automatic, and maintenance-free. Why change? It wasn't the noise factor, as the occasional clunk or pop wasn't a big deal. It wasn't the handling, as it was easy to adapt our driving style. The locker unlocked when coasting and locked up when accelerating. What was the reason? The deciding factor was tire wear.

There’s so much emphasis on GPS navigation these days that some among us seem scared to go buy a loaf of bread without TomTom leading the way and OnStar watching from above.

The 2012 model year is the last for GM’s 355 pickup, the Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon. The 355 burst onto the scene in 2004, replacing the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC Sonoma pickups. The Colorado and Canyon pickups improved greatly from 2004 to 2012. One of the biggest improvements was the 5.3L aluminum-block Gen IV V-8 that became available starting in the 2009 model year. V-8 power in a lightweight truck brings a smile to our faces every time the accelerator is mashed.

It’s easy to imagine an epic adventure, one that includes everything that’s been brewing on your to-do list for years. However, if that epic adventure ends with an empty bank account, you’ll be hard-pressed to do anything similar for a long, long time. We don’t know about you, but we need regular doses of dirt. We’ve found after lots of unscientific study that a steady dirt diet makes for a healthier off-roader. Binging and purging? No thanks.

Sometimes you need a winch; sometimes you don't. You're likely more than pleased to see it mounted in a heavy winch bumper at the front of your rig whilst tackling your favorite trail. But, maybe not so much during the daily commute when you're burning through fuel that costs $4.50 a gallon and knowing well that you are constantly carting around an extra few hundred pounds of winch and bumper that is contributing greatly to your crappy fuel economy.

Details make the difference, a cliché that rings especially true in the case of suspension joints. There are a variety of suspension joints on the market, and one type does not fit all applications with the same aplomb.

For a company that started as a twinkle in Dave Harriton's eyes back in 1991 with the purchase of his new '91 Canyon Blue 4.0L Jeep Wrangler YJ, American Expedition Vehicles has come a long way. Officially established in 1997, AEV has been releasing new Jeep-specific products from the beginning, celebrating their 15th year in business in 2012. Producing industry leading products from the very beginning, such as the TJ 112-inch stretch kit, TJ and JK Brute pickup conversions, cutting-edge wheel designs, and JK Hemi swap conversions, to the full line of JK products from the 2007-to-present model years, AEV covers the full spectrum of TJ and JK models. Fast forward to 2012, and Dave and his crew are still developing products that fill the void.

First, let's explain the name change. We found that many don't know what a Gen IV GM V-8 is. Many others thought this was a GenRight project vehicle. While GenRight builds great Jeeps, this isn't one of them. This one is ours. So, after asking readers what the name should be, we've decided on "Real Steel," after the movie about a resurrected derelict robot boxer. Our YJ was a derelict and is now resurrected, too.

We ride on a lot of different styles and brands of tires in our line of work. In one year, we might use six or more sets on one vehicle just to get a fair share of highway and trail miles on each of them (we also drive a lot of miles!). Very few tires have wholly disappointed us in our tests, as each has typically offered some feature or degree of capability that has held our interest. Many tires, however, have impressed us greatly, either through improvements applied in redesigns of existing model tires or the excellent performance realized in newly launched models.

Sometimes, less is more. During a recent outing, I packed so much stuff that I "treated" myself to a new experience. Between tools, food, camera gear, water, extra fuel, clothing, and other miscellaneous items, the 4Runner became noticeably sluggish. That's never happened before. There's a saying that too much is never enough, to which I counter sometimes too much is simply too much.

The Gen IV YJ is getting back into shape with the help of Jeremy Thompson at Dixie 4 Wheel Drive in St. George, Utah.

In my opinion, Jeep should include a 3-inch lift and 33-inch tires in the Rubicon option package. After all, the package already includes a heavier-duty transfer case with a 4:1 low range, heavier-duty Dana 44 differentials with 4.11:1 gears, selectable lockers, and a front sway bar that can be disconnected on the fly from the driver's seat. So why not include even larger tires and a lift, as well? (Actually, now that I think about it, the Mopar Jeep option package includes a dealer-installed lift and taller tires, so it's a good start for Jeep.)

If you’ve ever spent any time in traffic staring at the back-end of an 18-wheeler looming large in your windshield, then no doubt the block letters proudly spelling “air-ride equipped” has been indelibly emblazoned into your memory; nothing provides more button-busting pleasure within long-haul truckers’ circles than to boast that their crates of lead-laden plastic toys from China making their way across the United States are well cradled in soft cushions of an air-ride suspension. Now you can best any trucker out there, but we’re willing to bet what you’re hauling is a lot better than plastic toys from China.

We like YJ Wranglers. They have a strong frame and are simple. It doesn’t matter whether the headlights are square or round — real Jeeps work. After helping our friend with the red YJ you saw in these pages a few months ago, we wanted a YJ of our own.

Sometimes we want to go ’wheeling so bad with our newly found 4x4s that we forget they might not be ready for the punishment of going off-road. Tackling a difficult trail can be rewarding and a lot of fun, but if your rig just has a lift and bigger tires and is not adequately protected and set up with a good winch, you may end up with permanent damage to the front or rear, rocker panel, or undercarriage.

Lifted trail rigs take a lot of abuse as a whole, and the steering system is typically the most vulnerable to damage. The repeated stress of bumping and knocking around takes a toll on the factory steering parts, not to mention that two of your rig's major steering components – tie rod and drag link – are the first items to meet rocks and other trail objects head on.

We typically turn big tires on our 4WDs and when it comes time to slow down or stop, it's good to have a braking system that can handle the rolling inertia of that wheel and tire mass. That action starts with the mechanical movement of your brake pedal that actuates the brake master cylinder mounted to the firewall. From here, hydraulic fluid is pushed out through the connecting fluid lines to your calipers and/or brake cylinders at each wheel.

If there’s a term that permeates the 4x4 world, it’s "swapping." When it comes to hard parts, we swap engines, transmissions, transfer cases, steering boxes, brakes, and axles.

Many of us who have owned older vehicles have had one or more with front drum brakes. While drums can be made somewhat effective with high quality shoes and some careful tweaking, front disc brakes are far better performers, especially if you've increased tire size and weight.