If off-roading were a religion, Moab would be its mecca. It’s a place every serious rider should visit at least once in their life. And whether you’re spiritual or not, you might just have a religious experience atop the scenic bluffs and along the slickrock shelves.
Whether that’s a good experience or not depends on you and your UTV’s ability.
Don’t expect to tackle the Moab Rim Trail or Fins and Things with a stock side-by-side. A premium UTV setup gives you the traction, clearance, protection, and power you need.
With a Moab-ready machine, you’ll be able to see more of Moab, tackle any other Southwest riding trails, and hopefully understand why it’s the center of the riding world for so many.
There are tons of good starting machines for Moab, but you need to make sure your machine is capable. No upgrade is gonna turn your Pioneer 500 into the beast you need to dominate the trail.
So what do you need to look for?
Here are the key specs and considerations:
When it comes to Moab, the higher those specs go, the better.
Generally speaking, you can get more horsepower, suspension travel, and ground clearance from a sport model.
Utility models tend to offer more low-end torque and a longer wheelbase.
If you’re on a budget, it’s almost always better to start with a used sport model from a few years back. Saving a few bucks up front gives you more room to customize later.
If you’ve got money to spend, then shop around at the high-end range of models. We have tons of upgrades for UTVs like the Can-Am Defender HD11, the Polaris Ranger XD 1500, the Can-Am Maverick R, the Polaris Xpedition, and the Polaris RZR Pro R, and they’re all killer machines with more than enough capability to build off of.
Moab’s obstacles can be incredibly difficult to get past. But you can make them a lot easier by upgrading your suspension.
Moab is full of trails that are sloped and off-camber. Sometimes the bottom of these off-camber sections leads to big drops too. Wider suspension from a lift kit or long travel kit gives you more stability, which is key to riding confidently on tricky off-camber sections.
You also have to climb up and down shelves on various trails. The best way to get up and down a shelf is to have lots of ground clearance and shocks that won’t let you bottom out.
Check out all our shocks—the right set, properly adjusted, can save your back and your bottom.
Together, suspension upgrades improve the drivability and capability of your machine across difficult terrain.
Moab is all about rocks, so equipping your ride with tires and wheels specifically suited to them is a must.
Luckily, rock tire technology is better than ever right now.
Take our Cliffhanger Tires, for example.
They have big sidewall lugs, siping, spaced lugs with a strong centerline pattern, and a perfectly dialed-in rubber compound. These things will grip even the slickest rocks (even though the “slickrock” in Moab is usually quite grippy on its own). Not to mention, they have beefy connector lugs and an 8-ply radial construction for extreme puncture resistance.
Bigger tires make a big difference too. Think about it—if your tire is small, a rock might hit it halfway up your tire. To your UTV, that feels like a vertical wall. With a bigger tire, that same rock might only hit a quarter of the way up your tire. Now it feels like a bump.
You should definitely pair Cliffhanger Tires with beadlock wheels, and here’s why:
Grab yourself some Cliffhanger Tires (check out our other tires too) and get a set of beadlock wheels to dominate rocks. We carry our Healy Lock Series Beadlock Wheels, our MADLock Beadlock Wheels, and Assault Industries’ Hellfire Beadlock Wheels.
Rock crawling could be called rock scraping, because that’s what the underside of your UTV will be doing over a lot of the obstacles in Moab.
Without proper protection, you can end up with busted prop shafts, damaged differentials, and dinged frames. If you’re really unlucky, a rock could even find its way through the floor of your cab.
So get yourself protected with the following:
When you put the pedal down, what do you want? Power! And you want it fast.
That’s especially true on tricky climbs where rolling back a couple of feet before your drivetrain engages can make the difference between getting over a ledge and rolling back down for a full redo.
You can get more power right away with a few upgrades.
A transmission gear reduction or GDP Portal Gear Lift will lower your overall gear ratio. The result is more power and acceleration when you hit the gas at the expense of some top speed. However, if you run bigger tires, a gear reduction is a must. It will make those bigger tires feel like stock-sized tires.
You need a better belt too. That’s because stock belts use a generalized performance profile that’s good enough for any ride style. But you need a belt that excels at rocks, quick acceleration, tons of low-end power, and bigger tires.
That’s where our GBoost Heavy-Duty Drive Belts come in. For the terrain at Moab, you’ll want either the World’s Best Belt or our Rock and Trail Drive Belt. Both belts are designed to handle tons of torque and quick acceleration without slipping, overheating, or falling apart.
They’re perfect for the kinds of climbs you’ll see and the ideal UTV builds you need in Moab.
You (probably) aren’t and won’t have a local expert to guide you through the wilderness of Moab. Just because Moab has a biblical name doesn’t mean you should rely on Moses to lead you through the desert. That’s why in the 21st century, we use GPS.
With spotty cell coverage, you need a purpose-built GPS, like Garmin’s Tread XL, to keep you from getting lost in Moab’s complex trail networks. Better still, add some Cardo PACKTALK Edge UTV Communicators to your crew’s gear for easy vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
You can also shout, “Here I am!” to other riders by adding LED light bars and whip lights. It makes for safer desert rides when they creep into the night.
All these things keep you visible and in communication with everyone around you, which is key to safe riding in the desert.
Before you get behind the wheel, make sure you have a helmet and goggles. Not only will it protect your noggin, but it will also keep dry, dusty air out of your eyes.
To further your comfort and protection, you need:
A half windshield is ideal for hot desert riding because it keeps air flowing through your cab but diverts dust over your head.
If you ride during the cooler seasons, you’ll want a full or flip windshield to protect you from the cold.
A rear windshield reduces the dust swirl caused by using a front windshield alone. Trust us—anything you can do to keep dust out of your cab is a big win.
A roof gives you protection from the sun (and sunburns!), and it further reduces dust swirl.
You need storage too. Store drinks, snacks, and gear with one of our cooler and cargo box combos. Make even more room for gear by installing our Outfitter Racks. Make sure you have the right amount of storage whether you’re spending a day or a whole weekend out in the bush. The cargo can make all the difference.
Check out our front and rear windshields, roofs, coolers, and cargo racks to get the setup you need for a comfortable weekend in Moab.
When you get your setup just right, you’ll be able to push the limit with confidence, capability, and comfort. Odds are your UTV will look pretty damn good too.
Start building your own Ultimate Moab Machine with awesome parts and accessories from SuperATV today.
