Dealer Sponsored 101 Offroad Experience Word of Caution

[JWM PLAYS]

i did not realize there were built rigs in your group, I thought they were all more or less stock. It is really crappy of them put a mix of vehicles in one group on a delouting like that. Put like vehicles with like vehicles.

Yeah this is what occurred to me after it was too late and we were in too deep. There were definitely rigs there that were less prepared than hers so I feel like we could have been paired up with a better group for "101" training. I mean the event is open to any and all and I got the impression, several in our group were buddies and obviously veterans including our guide and we kind of fell victim to that. It was one of those things where we were on the trail and the first obstacle felt wayy too much and she barely got through it then I was thinking, okay that's the worst of it then we turn the corner and the next obstacle is worse and you realize your trapped now. I literally told my wife at one point, your Jeep isn't making it out of here in once piece. You can imagine what it was like with 4 other Jeeps behind us and we finally got to a point that was impassable and we had to negotiate turning a Gladiator around on a rock trail in the woods. It was a mess. I mean I felt bad for everyone else in our group because they had built rigs and they were constantly having to wait on my wife as we were moving rocks and trying to build some path for her to get through what they easily drove through. I have to believe they didn't enjoy it as much either. I could tell that others in the group could see that we were completely taken aback and felt trapped, they were being very kind and telling us sorry for all she was having to put her Jeep through. Live and learn.

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[JWM PLAYS]

Was the spotter guiding you on lines or were you picking your own? Did the other lightly modded gladiators also run the same trails? Also did you try running through the obstacles first or just bypass? A stock gladiator will rub, smack, and make all manner of ugly sounds but it can get over a lot of obstacles as someone else mentioned.

The spotter was very actively guiding lines. Heck there was no other way because her and I were at a loss. The groups broke up in the morning and we never saw another group (probably a hint there) so as best I know, no other group took the route we did. I have no way to know how easy or difficult the other groups routes were. Another clue here, our group was 2hrs late making it back to the meeting point and we were the last ones to get back. As for bypasses, I'll be honest with you, the trail we were on felt like we needed a bypass for the whole thing. There were long stretches with no obvious bypass that everyone else drove over easily that took 3 times as long for her to navigate with the pro spotter giving her foot by foot directions. I think this speaks to how far over our heads we were. Another clue is we eventually got to a point where the bypass to an obstacle was impassable to her rig which was when we had to turn around a Gladiator on a rock trail surrounded by trees.

 

[DocMike]

I can tell you when we take newbies we put them in between two rigs with winches plus recovery gear and we give them a handheld GMRS. Also air them up after.
I prefer a gradual approach and ease people in over a few trips.
People accept when a newbie joins that we will stick to easier stuff and build confidence.

 

[Darkamek]

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I think if you look around on Facebook, here or the JL forums. You should be able to locate some take off fenders among other stock parts.

 

[bleda2002]

The spotter was very actively guiding lines. Heck there was no other way because her and I were at a loss. The groups broke up in the morning and we never saw another group (probably a hint there) so as best I know, no other group took the route we did. I have no way to know how easy or difficult the other groups routes were. Another clue here, our group was 2hrs late making it back to the meeting point and we were the last ones to get back. As for bypasses, I'll be honest with you, the trail we were on felt like we needed a bypass for the whole thing. There were long stretches with no obvious bypass that everyone else drove over easily that took 3 times as long for her to navigate with the pro spotter giving her foot by foot directions. I think this speaks to how far over our heads we were. Another clue is we eventually got to a point where the bypass to an obstacle was impassable to her rig which was when we had to turn around a Gladiator on a rock trail surrounded by trees.

Oof, definitely sounds like they just over-estimated the capabilities of your gladiator. At least the plastic fenders are easier to replace than the painted, not that its much consolation. Edit: Looks like you have painted in your picture, that really sucks as those are much more of a pain to replace.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

On the flip side, you now know more about your skills and abilities. Knowing what you don’t know was the hardest thing for me to figure out.

I had a college prof who was always mentioning knowing what you don't know. For his tests if you guessed and were wrong - no credit. But if you knew that you didn't know the correct answer and told him on the test where you would find the answer, you got partial credit. He was just as concerned with us understanding what we don't know as knowing what we did. And - where to find the answers for things you didn't know.

 

[JWM PLAYS]

I can tell you when we take newbies we put them in between two rigs with winches plus recovery gear and we give them a handheld GMRS. Also air them up after.
I prefer a gradual approach and ease people in over a few trips.
People accept when a newbie joins that we will stick to easier stuff and build confidence.

Wish we had been on one of your trips. We had all the recovery gear already. We really were trying to be prepared and not just show up straight off the lot. We had all the stuff to recover, air down, air up etc. I just think we got with the wrong group and paid the price.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I can tell you when we take newbies we put them in between two rigs with winches plus recovery gear and we give them a handheld GMRS. Also air them up after.
I prefer a gradual approach and ease people in over a few trips.
People accept when a newbie joins that we will stick to easier stuff and build confidence.

Education fits you - life would be a much easier thing with teachers like you.

 

[DocMike]

Backwards planning. Always have a desired outcome in mind. Plus if I bring people up, more people to wheel with.

Education fits you - life would be a much easier thing with teachers like you.

 

[pbrevo64]

That is really unfortunate, I am sorry to hear about your experience and I hope it does not keep you from trying out other trails, ideally in a more controlled and appropriate environment. The Jeep club I am a part of has a few 101 courses we host, as well as 201 and Winching and Recovery Techniques classes, and we do our best to avoid these types of situations. For the 201 and WaRT, it is more technical and there is an expectation that you will hit skid plates, might bump a tree and will likely get stuck. But for the 101, we base it off of experience, and design it so a stock Sport can get through everything. Usually go over airing down, disconnecting sway bars, general recovery gear, and make sure everyone has a winch-equipped Jeep either in front or behind them. For most obstacles, especially at the start of the day, we give people the option to skip (but highly encourage they try it) and slowly ramp up to more challenging obstacles to get people out of their comfort zones, but still well within their vehicle's capabilities.

My suggestion, if you haven't already, find a club that hosts wheeling events that cater to all abilities. Search for a few on facebook, and meet up with a couple different local groups until you find one that you mesh well with and who you feel is a good fit.

 

[JWM PLAYS]

Oof, definitely sounds like they just over-estimated the capabilities of your gladiator. At least the plastic fenders are easier to replace than the painted, not that its much consolation. Edit: Looks like you have painted in your picture, that really sucks as those are much more of a pain to replace.

Not a big deal to do the work for us. Just disappointed at having to replace a $600 fender due to a “101” “we won’t take you down anything extreme” event.

 

[JWM PLAYS]

That is really unfortunate, I am sorry to hear about your experience and I hope it does not keep you from trying out other trails, ideally in a more controlled and appropriate environment. The Jeep club I am a part of has a few 101 courses we host, as well as 201 and Winching and Recovery Techniques classes, and we do our best to avoid these types of situations. For the 201 and WaRT, it is more technical and there is an expectation that you will hit skid plates, might bump a tree and will likely get stuck. But for the 101, we base it off of experience, and design it so a stock Sport can get through everything. Usually go over airing down, disconnecting sway bars, general recovery gear, and make sure everyone has a winch-equipped Jeep either in front or behind them. For most obstacles, especially at the start of the day, we give people the option to skip (but highly encourage they try it) and slowly ramp up to more challenging obstacles to get people out of their comfort zones, but still well within their vehicle's capabilities.

My suggestion, if you haven't already, find a club that hosts wheeling events that cater to all abilities. Search for a few on facebook, and meet up with a couple different local groups until you find one that you mesh well with and who you feel is a good fit.

I appreciate your kind words. I have to be honest and say I felt shell shocked for lack of a better term during this event. I knew without a shadow of a doubt we had been mislead and was going to sustain damage as a result. This is my wife’s Jeep and I know she wants to off-road with it but I’m going to be hard pressed to go with a group any time soon. Later that same day after the dealership event was over, we explored the park on our own and when we started a new trail, we would get out and walk it first to see if it was within our comfort level and we found that to be much more enjoyable than what the dealership had put us through.

 

[TheOpa]

I can appreciate your apprehension given such a bad experience but would also encourage you to not give up on group events just yet. Try a Jeep Adventure Academy vs. a local dealer event, and also take into consideration the good advice from the other members here. If you are out there and something does break, you will be glad to have someone else around. Local clubs on FB or in the regional based member forums here you will find good, like minded people to wheel with.

 

[AZCooWhip]

Sadly there is a lot of subjectivity in off road trails.
As I was cutting my teeth I learned that one person's easy trail is another's demanding trail.
Vehicle build, driver skill, weather can all play into how well your day goes.

Did they air you down or conduct any sort of driver meeting before hand?
Did they have spotters?
What kind of damage did you receive?

This. All. Day. Long.

Curious ….did they tell you what trails you were going on? I always do my homework the best I can on all trails to see “what I am getting into”. Left over mentality from my former road course racing life. Studied every track prior to arriving for the real deal.

Once you get ”your legs“ with more experience on how things react in the wild, then taking on the unknown is much easier. Always …..Always ….always have the right gear with you. Whether you need it or not.

Curious on your damage. The first time you drag your belly over rocks, you think you just royally screwed the pooch When in all reality ….all is well.

 

[ShrimpHappens]

We didn't want to show up with a bone stock Sport expecting miracles

If it were truly an "Offroading 101" you certainly could have. I took my bone stock Sport S to an offroad park with the local club a couple of weeks ago because they said they were gonna do green (easy) trails only, and that's exactly what we did. Came away with nothing but clear coat scratches.

You were misled.

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