Off road discussion for newbs

[93civej1]

Ok, so im very green in the offroad world, and pretty much to jeeps all together. All of my time on trails and woods have been on 2 wheels.

I purchased my gladiator because I love having a truck, but at the same time, I love something about jeeps. My wife and I had a rubicon JK new at one point that we only had a few months and was only on the road until we had our first child. We traded it in for something else.

I then later got a XJ that I was working on to eventually make a fun trail vehicle. Sold it before finishing or taking it anywhere.

Ive had a few offroad oriented vehicles, 4runner , tacoma etc, but never really used them for what they ended up being modified for.

The gladiator, though new, and my personal vehicle and driver, I plan to use it for venturing off the pavement as well.

So far, I have taken it to a couple of local trails that are considered very easy. On the way out last time, while driving up an incline on one of the trails my wheels ventured off a dip on the side of the trail that I did not see, and made me feel a little uneasy for a second because below it was just down a hill side a long way down.

I am on 35's and better shocks etc, but pretty much stock S max tow otherwise.

Can someone give some of us that are green some pointers to enjoy these vehicles off pavement, but safely? I dont really plan to tear this thing up, but I know sometimes that is part of it.

I am more interested in staying safe, and making it home. How do you learn? How do you gain confidence? How do you avoid stupid mistakes that may cause a rollover?

Id eventually like to try some more intermediate stuff at some point, but that will be a long way down the road. Basically I enjoy just being out, but want to do it as safe as possible.

Help us green guys! (and gals)

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[Klutch]

While I'm certainly no expert, I've been around Jeeps and 4x4s since I was a kid in the '70s. Here are some points:

- Get some wheeling buddies. It's always better to have someone along in case disaster strikes. Spotters are also very helpful.

- Always carry your essential gear. Fire extinguisher, portable compressor, basic tools, recovery strap with bow shackles or soft shackles, bottle jack, lantern/headlamp and first aid kit come to mind. You should also get a radio. A CB will work, but HF/HAM has a much longer range. The typical deciding factor is whatever your wheeling buddies are using, use that. Oh, and always take a lot of water and at least some high-energy snacks. You never know if you might get caught overnight.

- Get a good winch up front. This will give you a lot of confidence knowing that if you get into a pickle, you can almost always winch your way out.

- Try to find a good trail book. It helps to know ahead of time what kind of trail you're on and what to expect.

- Use a good GPS app. A lot of people like Gaia. Knowing where you are and where you're going is helpful. It's always fun to peel off and explore, but if you get lost, you want to be able to get back and GPS can be essential there.

- Stick to easier trails and work your way up. You can still have a lot of fun on on easy and moderate trails. You'll gain essential skills you can eventually use for more difficult trails.

- Modify your rig as you gain experience and figure what you really want and need. A lot of people tend to dump a lot of hardware onto their Jeeps before they really get any miles of dirt under their belts. Invariably, they end up removing and replacing much of those mods after they figure things out. (20" wheels, anyone? )

- Find a good, local Jeep or off-road club. You can learn a lot of good information from seasoned wheelers. Be sure to ask around. I've been looking for a Jeep club in my area and I'm hearing most of them are drinking clubs with Jeep habits. (Nothing wrong with a couple of cold ones, but me personally, I don't like being around drunks. Saw way too much of that growing up in the '70s)

Have fun!

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

I am more interested in staying safe, and making it home. How do you learn? How do you gain confidence? How do you avoid stupid mistakes that may cause a rollover?

I'm reminded of a quote that I heard years ago: "Good decisions come from experience - experience comes from bad decisions"

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