Top of the World and Dry Mesa

[Scott P]

Does anyone have some current conditions on Top of the World and Dry Mesa 4X4 trails?

They used to be no problem for my mostly stock 90's Pathfinder, but I've heard that Top of the World at least, has gotten worse over the years with some sizable rock ledges.

By way of comparison, I can get my Pathfinder over Elephant Hill and to the Doll House, but not much rougher than trails such as these. How do the trails above compare to say Elephant Hill or the Doll House?

Thanks for any info.

[middlefork]

Scott, here is a picture going up Top of World trail this spring. We turned around at this point on ATV's as we were not that adventurous. People we talked to said it was much worse higher up. Hope that helps.

[phatch]

Add a suspension lift. This will give you the approach, departure and breakover angles to go to these places. They're not too expensive and a simple lift will add a lot of possibilities to where you can drive.

Calmini and Superlift seem to be the better lifts for this vintage.

Gotchas to keep in mind for a lift:

Upper and lower control arms. While you can often re-use the stock arms, you'll likely run into alignment issues over time. Simply because the angles will eventually exceed the built-in adjustments with wear and tear. After market arms will include adjustments with increased range, and often greater motion for longer travel.

Extending brake lines. Stock brake lines may not have enough travel for the new range of motion.

Accelerated U Joint wear . Because of the increased angles in the drive line, the U and CV joints tend to wear somewhat faster. Depending on the angles, there are adapter kits to improve them if needed.

[Scott P]

Thanks. It is very doubtful that I'll make any modifications to the vehicle though. As it is, I've only been driving the vehicle 1000-1500 miles a year for the past several years. It runs really well, but given the low amount I use the vehicle, and the fact that I'll probably be trading it in or selling it to get something newer in the near future, I don't think it is worth spending much on modifications. I have extra skid plates and oversized off road tires, but that's about it for now and I'll have to make do with places the vehicle will get into now. The section is the photo definitively looks doable.

[moab mark]

Top of the world has really deteriorated towards the top over the last few years. I think the jeep club has moved the rating up?