Ragbagger
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Brian
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2024
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 128
- Location
- Gulf Coast, Alabama
- Vehicle(s)
- 2023 Jeep Gladiator, Sport S Max Tow
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- Occupation
- Semi retired
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- #1
My family joined Pensacola Jeeps for a charity trail ride this past Saturday called Jeeping for Warriors - to benefit Healing Paws for Warriors. They are a neat organization that trains and pairs service dogs with veterans. So it was an awesome cause. 56 Jeeps attended and the event raised a little over $3000.
It had rained a good bit so we saw lots of mud and several water crossings. The trail leads said the trails were stock (beginner) friendly. And they were I suppose, but weāre new to off-roading so we found it exciting and even a little challenging at times. You more experienced members are probably going to roll your eyes a bit,
.
Iāve made a video āride alongā if anyone would like to watch. Hereās the trailer:
Part one is also up, itās about 20 minutes long, you should be able to click through the teaser if you want to watch it. Iām hoping to finish part two today and upload it, it will end up being another 10 minutes or so.
For those that donāt do YouTube here are a couple pictures from the ride:
Our trail lead took this photo of my Gladiator doing one of the water crossings. If you watch the video youāll see I hit it too fast. I also made a mistake! I had my hand resting on the gear shifter, we hit the first underwater dip, and I accidentally shifted into neutral. Not realizing that, I had a moment of panic watching the water flow over the hood until I figured out what happened (and saw it wasnāt THAT deep, I just hit it too fast) and drove out. Lesson learned, put my hand somewhere else and go slower.
It was fun, scared me a little, and I did slow down for the rest of the water crossings - much to my 11 year oldās chagrin.
One of the Wranglers hit it even faster than I did! I wish I had that on video.
My wife managed to get her Wrangler stuck when we had to leave the trail and go around a fallen tree: high centered, I guess you call it? But she got herself backed off pretty easily.
Iām proud of her. She did great. The funny thing is I bought my Gladiator thinking it would mostly be a pavement princess. Sheās the one that has really gotten into trail riding. So here we are, and the family has been having a lot of fun. In addition, my stepson and I have a somewhat difficult relationship at times. He rode with me, and I think it ended up being a great bonding experience for us. My youngest rode in the Wrangler and slept through most of the adventure.
At a pit stop after the ride, just showing off the mud.
Both the Gladiator and the Wrangler did great. We have both Jeeps on 33ā tires, and it was enough, but now Iām considering a little bit of a lift If weāre going to continue wheeling. Extending the breather tubes is also high on my todo list for both vehicles. I need to get to that before hurricane season really gets fired up in our area.
Clean up took a good bit of the day Sunday, hitting both Jeeps with the pressure washer. I have one of those undercarriage sprayer thingyās Ryobi makes. That helped a lot. I also pulled huge clumps of pine straw out from under the Wrangler, and I managed to find some more yesterday.
My Gladiator earned a couple pinstripes too. Being a new vehicle, Iāll cry over it a little bit; then get over it. That black sure looks nice all cleaned up and detailed, but if weāre going off-roading thatās part of the deal right? I think theyāll mostly buff out. And if any donāt Iāll wear them with pride.
Thanks for reading.
Edit: The full videos are now up. I learned a lot making them. My teenage son is already offering critiques (and wanting to spend lots of cash on cameras and microphones, haha.). We all know what experts teenagers are.
It had rained a good bit so we saw lots of mud and several water crossings. The trail leads said the trails were stock (beginner) friendly. And they were I suppose, but weāre new to off-roading so we found it exciting and even a little challenging at times. You more experienced members are probably going to roll your eyes a bit,
.Iāve made a video āride alongā if anyone would like to watch. Hereās the trailer:
Part one is also up, itās about 20 minutes long, you should be able to click through the teaser if you want to watch it. Iām hoping to finish part two today and upload it, it will end up being another 10 minutes or so.
For those that donāt do YouTube here are a couple pictures from the ride:
Our trail lead took this photo of my Gladiator doing one of the water crossings. If you watch the video youāll see I hit it too fast. I also made a mistake! I had my hand resting on the gear shifter, we hit the first underwater dip, and I accidentally shifted into neutral. Not realizing that, I had a moment of panic watching the water flow over the hood until I figured out what happened (and saw it wasnāt THAT deep, I just hit it too fast) and drove out. Lesson learned, put my hand somewhere else and go slower.
It was fun, scared me a little, and I did slow down for the rest of the water crossings - much to my 11 year oldās chagrin.
One of the Wranglers hit it even faster than I did! I wish I had that on video.
My wife managed to get her Wrangler stuck when we had to leave the trail and go around a fallen tree: high centered, I guess you call it? But she got herself backed off pretty easily.
Iām proud of her. She did great. The funny thing is I bought my Gladiator thinking it would mostly be a pavement princess. Sheās the one that has really gotten into trail riding. So here we are, and the family has been having a lot of fun. In addition, my stepson and I have a somewhat difficult relationship at times. He rode with me, and I think it ended up being a great bonding experience for us. My youngest rode in the Wrangler and slept through most of the adventure.
At a pit stop after the ride, just showing off the mud.
Both the Gladiator and the Wrangler did great. We have both Jeeps on 33ā tires, and it was enough, but now Iām considering a little bit of a lift If weāre going to continue wheeling. Extending the breather tubes is also high on my todo list for both vehicles. I need to get to that before hurricane season really gets fired up in our area.
Clean up took a good bit of the day Sunday, hitting both Jeeps with the pressure washer. I have one of those undercarriage sprayer thingyās Ryobi makes. That helped a lot. I also pulled huge clumps of pine straw out from under the Wrangler, and I managed to find some more yesterday.
My Gladiator earned a couple pinstripes too. Being a new vehicle, Iāll cry over it a little bit; then get over it. That black sure looks nice all cleaned up and detailed, but if weāre going off-roading thatās part of the deal right? I think theyāll mostly buff out. And if any donāt Iāll wear them with pride.
Thanks for reading.
Edit: The full videos are now up. I learned a lot making them. My teenage son is already offering critiques (and wanting to spend lots of cash on cameras and microphones, haha.). We all know what experts teenagers are.
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