Off-road excursions
Argyroupoli (April 2003)
In January 2003, we moved to a new house in Glyfada, one of the southern suburbs of Athens. Our new house is in an area surrounded by hills towards the North, East and West. Towards the South, we have ... sea. The hill which is to the West of our house, has proven to be a very nice 4x4 playground, with nice dirt roads (nice mean not passable by simple cars). And it is only in a 2 minutes distance from my house.
The last few weeks, I had the opportunity to visit this hill several times, the last one being on the afternoon of April 9th, 2003. Below, you can see some pictures of the Cherokee flexing its suspension.
)
I have noticed this ridge some days ago, when I passed from that spot. I thought it was a nice spot to flex the Jeep and indeed it was. Here you can see the front right wheel, almost at full drop.
)
This is a shot from the other side, dropping the front driver's wheel.
)
A close-up shot, of the front fender area, showing the articulation of the suspension.
)
The passenger's side wheel is nicely tucked in the fender.
)
I then put the passenger's side rear wheel on the ridge, to see how much the front wheel will open. I was impressed.
)
See how the driver's side wheel is fully stuffed inside the fender.
)
Same stance, a shot from the rear.
)
The front right wheel from a different angle.
)
I then turned the truck around and had the rear left wheel on the ridge.
)
Here you can see the front at full flex.
)
And here is the right front wheel fully inside the fender.
)
A shot from the rear.
)
Then I moved the truck a little further down, where a rock forms a nice, tall step. Here the XJ poses on the step.
)
A close-up of the front suspension at that position.
)
I then left that area and followed the dirt road higher up. These roads are quite erroded by the water, so they gave the Cherokee the opportunity to flex some more.
)
Left wheel all the way down, right wheel all the way up.
)
Same spot from the side.
)
A close-up of the right front wheel rubbing against the fender. I need to cut some more metal here.
)
Same spot, a shot of the rear right wheel.
)
As I was driving home, I had that magnificent view of the old Athens Airport. Athens was the only city in the world, which shut down an airport, when a new one became operational. What a pity, it could be used for General Aviation plans, for flight schools etc.
)
Last shot before exiting on paved roads. Nice flexing again.
)
I visited the same area, just a few days later, after I had trimmed the shock absorber mounts on the front axle. At this picture, the front passenger's wheel is fully up, while the driver's wheel is almost fully down. Yet the lower control arms hadn't bottomed up on the shock mounts.
){kind=link}
)
Left front wheel opened up nicely.
)
Right rear wheel opened up quite a lot.
)
Rear left wheel almost all the way in the fender.
)
A little further up, flexing the other way.
)
I drove for a little more up on this hill, towards some cellular phone antennas. From there, I followed a dirt road, leading to the top of that hill. As I was approaching the top, I noticed a really big bird, sitting on top of something white, a dead sheep. The bird was brownish in color with some white around its neck. I immediately stopped the truck, thinking that I shouldn't disturb the bird, but it was too late. The bird, which I think was a small eagle, flew up and landed a short distance away, watching me. I stayed motionless and shut off the engine. The bird took off again, and started making circles above the Cherokee and the sheep. I tried to snap a picture of the bird, and here it is. Obviously, the digital Sony camera's lens was not long enough to capture the magestic bird from close-up, so the shot is not perfect. Even seeing however a baby eagle so near Athens is something so rare, that I thought I'll put the picture here.
Site hosted by Lightband Communications, Inc.
Return to my off-road trips Page
Return to the Jeep Cherokee Page