Real Badge of Honors

[Supazuk]

There are two types of Badge of Honors one you need an App the other type you need balls!…..Jack
An easy trail at Jericho Mountain NH!

Mine looks about the same especially the bumper and mufler

Sponsored

 

[Janster]

Are you hearing voices in your head yet?….….. “I think I need a trail rig”

Best thing we ever did…… Have fun and don’t worry about trashing up your daily driver.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Are you hearing voices in your head yet?….….. “I think I need a trail rig”

Best thing we ever did…… Have fun and don’t worry about trashing up your daily driver.

We went the opposite direction and I'll never go back. Lots of trail rigs and beaters over the years. Trailers are a pain in the ass. Through trails like the rubicon are even worse as you either have to drive the trail rig down the highway or have 2 extra vehicles and a bunch of driving around to get the trailer from 1 trailhead to the other. And to make trails fun in a buggy you're pushing the limits until it's upside down or broken. Now it's a bunch of work just to get it back to the trailer. I much prefer a rig I can roadtrip anywhere, cruise with the ac on through the desert at 85mph, climb the Rockies at 80mph with the seat heater on, and air down and run trails like Pritchett Canyon, the Rubicon, or John Bull. Turn around and cruise home like the things a mall crawler that's never seen dirt. Out fir a Sunday drive and wonder where that trail goes? Let's find out. Half the fun and challenge is bringing it home looking good as new from the sliders up. My favorite compliments that we get often are "that things too nice to be out here".

 

[Supazuk]

We went the opposite direction and I'll never go back. Lots of trail rigs and beaters over the years. Trailers are a pain in the ass. Through trails like the rubicon are even worse as you either have to drive the trail rig down the highway or have 2 extra vehicles and a bunch of driving around to get the trailer from 1 trailhead to the other. And to make trails fun in a buggy you're pushing the limits until it's upside down or broken. Now it's a bunch of work just to get it back to the trailer. I much prefer a rig I can roadtrip anywhere, cruise with the ac on through the desert at 85mph, climb the Rockies at 80mph with the seat heater on, and air down and run trails like Pritchett Canyon, the Rubicon, or John Bull. Turn around and cruise home like the things a mall crawler that's never seen dirt. Out fir a Sunday drive and wonder where that trail goes? Let's find out. Half the fun and challenge is bringing it home looking good as new from the sliders up. My favorite compliments that we get often are "that things too nice to be out here".

I have to say from experience you never have the reliability either with a trail dedicated rig . often the maintenance and up keep falls off and the innovation follows

 

[Zachanadandy]

I have to say from experience you never have the reliability either with a trail dedicated rig . often the maintenance and up keep falls off and the innovation follows

With a trail rig is inherently a beater of sorts. "Don't get it right, just get it running" comes into play. If you're roadtripping the Jeep 1,100 miles to Moab you'll mage sure it's dialed. Oil changed, tires rotated, the whole 9. And since it is a $50k+ full bodied rig you're going to try a whole lot harder not to flop it or kill it. To me is far more impressive to see a nice, streetable rig on a tough trail like cliffhanger than it is to see a buggy that's either full tube or the body looks like a crushed soda can.

 

[Janster]

We went the opposite direction and I'll never go back. Lots of trail rigs and beaters over the years. Trailers are a pain in the ass. Through trails like the rubicon are even worse as you either have to drive the trail rig down the highway or have 2 extra vehicles and a bunch of driving around to get the trailer from 1 trailhead to the other. And to make trails fun in a buggy you're pushing the limits until it's upside down or broken. Now it's a bunch of work just to get it back to the trailer. I much prefer a rig I can roadtrip anywhere, cruise with the ac on through the desert at 85mph, climb the Rockies at 80mph with the seat heater on, and air down and run trails like Pritchett Canyon, the Rubicon, or John Bull. Turn around and cruise home like the things a mall crawler that's never seen dirt. Out fir a Sunday drive and wonder where that trail goes? Let's find out. Half the fun and challenge is bringing it home looking good as new from the sliders up. My favorite compliments that we get often are "that things too nice to be out here".

You can have a street legal ‘trail rig’….and not trailer it. A 2nd vehicle…..whether its 10 years old or 4 years old. With or without A/C… whatever you want.

Breakage occurs whether you’re in a new vehicle or an old one…buggy or daily driver. Things can break at anytime and on any trail at anytime.

Both your daily driver OR a trail rig (2nd vehicle) would need to be towed back home. The difference…. You can leave the trail rig sit in your driveway while you’re able to drive to work on Monday.

If you have another vehicle at home that’ll get you to work, then your JT becomes the dedicated ‘trail rig’…… and you can afford to let it SIT while you fix it……

 

[Zachanadandy]

You can have a street legal ‘trail rig’….and not trailer it. A 2nd vehicle…..whether its 10 years old or 4 years old. With or without A/C… whatever you want.

Breakage occurs whether you’re in a new vehicle or an old one…buggy or daily driver. Things can break at anytime and on any trail at anytime.

Both your daily driver OR a trail rig (2nd vehicle) would need to be towed back home. The difference…. You can leave the trail rig sit in your driveway while you’re able to drive to work on Monday.

If you have another vehicle at home that’ll get you to work, then your JT becomes the dedicated ‘trail rig’…… and you can afford to let it SIT while you fix it……

If that's how you define trail rig sure. My JT has always been that as I have a company car for work. It also gets roadtripped 600 miles each way to our AZ property every 4-6weeks. Is our home depot run vehicle. We have built an entire cabin using this truck. To me a dedicated trail rig is just that. Not a roadtripped, work truck that also gets wheeled. In that case even the wife's JLUR is a trail rig as she could drive the JT to work if she broke something on it. My idea of a trail rig is a batter you don't care if you rub it on trees or drag the side down a rock. Be it buggy or built tj or xj or Sammy. It's built to the point is not road friendly even if it can be driven on the street. Funny you mention no AC. Definitely not driving that rig through the desert on the way to Moab or even wheeling it there in the summer.

 

[Janster]

If that's how you define trail rig sure. My JT has always been that as I have a company car for work. It also gets roadtripped 600 miles each way to our AZ property every 4-6weeks. Is our home depot run vehicle. We have built an entire cabin using this truck. To me a dedicated trail rig is just that. Not a roadtripped, work truck that also gets wheeled. In that case even the wife's JLUR is a trail rig as she could drive the JT to work if she broke something on it. My idea of a trail rig is a batter you don't care if you rub it on trees or drag the side down a rock. Be it buggy or built tj or xj or Sammy. It's built to the point is not road friendly even if it can be driven on the street. Funny you mention no AC. Definitely not driving that rig through the desert on the way to Moab or even wheeling it there in the summer.

Around here…… there are two offroad parks and both of them are 2 hours away. That’s it……. Everything else is just a public dirt road or hunting trail. Those hunting trails aren’t even legal to be on unless you have a hunting license.

Whatever you call a trail rig……. It’s a another vehicle that you use for the trails.
Whether its a buggy that you tow around…. Or … it’s just another rig that you drive to/from the trails and/or go topless around town, and you don’t care if it breaks or gets messed up.

The whole point is….keeping your daily driver (whatever that may be) in the garage and free of offroad rash & breakage.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Around here…… there are two offroad parks and both of them are 2 hours away. That’s it……. Everything else is just a public dirt road or hunting trail. Those hunting trails aren’t even legal to be on unless you have a hunting license.

Whatever you call a trail rig……. It’s a another vehicle that you use for the trails.
Whether its a buggy that you tow around…. Or … it’s just another rig that you drive to/from the trails and/or go topless around town, and you don’t care if it breaks or gets messed up.

The whole point is….keeping your daily driver (whatever that may be) in the garage and free of offroad rash & breakage.

Again you use terms like "don't care if it gets messed up" though. We do pretty well financially, but I'm not trying to beat the body of either $65k Jeep up. I absolutely do care if they get messed up. Not to the point I won't wheel hard trails in either of them. Not to the point I'd be upset if I broke an axle or bent a steering or suspension link, as those are excuses to upgrade. But I'd never call either a "trail rig" as they get used for other things and are kept nice. If not being a daily was the primary requirement, half the guys in the Jeep forums that never even wheel would have trail rigs as they are weekend toys, topless beach vehicles, and/or toads behind their motorhome and not their DD. I wouldn't cry if the body did get messed up and accept that risk by wheeling them. Had a real close call just yesterday. Camera cuts out at the juicy part as my buddy panicked but we got it through without a scratch.

 

[Janster]

Again you use terms like "don't care if it gets messed up" though. We do pretty well financially, but I'm not trying to beat the body of either $65k Jeep up. I absolutely do care if they get messed up. Not to the point I won't wheel hard trails in either of them. Not to the point I'd be upset if I broke an axle or bent a steering or suspension link, as those are excuses to upgrade. But I'd never call either a "trail rig" as they get used for other things and are kept nice. If not being a daily was the primary requirement, half the guys in the Jeep forums that never even wheel would have trail rigs as they are weekend toys, topless beach vehicles, and/or toads behind their motorhome and not their DD. I wouldn't cry if the body did get messed up and accept that risk by wheeling them. Had a real close call just yesterday. Camera cuts out at the juicy part as my buddy panicked but we got it through without a scratch.

I wouldn’t mess up a $65,000 vehicle either. My 2024 Mojave and our BMW M4…
NO way in hell.

That’s why…I’d love to have more garage space for a 2010 or older 2 door Wrangler. It’d be paid for in cash… probably not worth anything if you tried to trade it in. Slap on a little lift, some good tires…. And you have yourself a beat-around-the-bush vehicle. Whatever you want to call it…. Trail rig, beach buggy, snow jeep, sand runner, Convertible, plow vehicle, pleasure vehicle… whatever…

I call it a trail rig…. Because it would be 15 years or older and I wouldn’t care if it got messed up. Not on purpose…but shit really can and does happen. Have it towed home (if needed) and I’ll get in my JT to drive to work on Monday.

 

[Zachanadandy]

I wouldn’t mess up a $65,000 vehicle either. My 2024 Mojave and our BMW M4…
NO way in hell.

That’s why…I’d love to have more garage space for a 2010 or older 2 door Wrangler. It’d be paid for in cash… probably not worth anything if you tried to trade it in. Slap on a little lift, some good tires…. And you have yourself a beat-around-the-bush vehicle. Whatever you want to call it…. Trail rig, beach buggy, snow jeep, sand runner, Convertible, plow vehicle, pleasure vehicle… whatever…

I call it a trail rig…. Because it would be 15 years or older and I wouldn’t care if it got messed up. Not on purpose…but shit really can and does happen. Have it towed home (if needed) and I’ll get in my JT to drive to work on Monday.

The JLUR and JT are too nice, too comfortable, and too capable for me to want another vehicle that I'd never want to drive anywhere more than a few miles away. Moab is 1,100 miles 1 way. Our AZ property is 600. Telluride is 1,200 miles. We roadtrip them all, wheel, and drive home just as comfortable. We roadtripped the last JLUR to Alabama to visit family. Wheeled in Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas while we were out there, and drove it home. The rubicon, John Bull, Holcomb creek, gutbuster, Pritchett Canyon, cliffhanger, the dusy ershim. From the rock sliders up they look like they've never left the mall. No repairs, no trailers, heated seats snow wheeling, AC desert wheeling when its 115⁰. The most capable off road vehicles ever available from the factory are also the most capable Wranglers on the road. These modern Jeeps are too good to go back for me.

 

[imallcrawl]

Not implying that's the case for the OP, but I've seen plenty of cars on the freeway and in parking lots with even bigger and more impressive badges of bad driving...I mean honor as you call it. Sure if they are earned on tough trails I'd call them badges of honor, but if you just overshot your parking spot at the mall and hit a light pole I'd hardly call that a badge of honor for example.

I learned my lesson with badges of "honor." Having broke a few axles and tie rods snap in half, then having a buddy take the the broken parts down the mountain to a friend's house who did a quick weld, then re-installing it, than driving backwards down the mountain only because the trail was too narrow I couldn't turn around, now that I would say is a badge of honor. It was runs like this why I am a mall crawler today

 

[Verne]

You guys are braver than I. My Mojave is my daily driver and my OCD would flare if it had those battle scars! LOL

 

[Zachanadandy]

You guys are braver than I. My Mojave is my daily driver and my OCD would flare if it had those battle scars! LOL

My mojave isn't my daily as I have a company car for that. The wife dailies her 2022 JLUR on 39s though. Wouldn't buy a Jeep and not wheel it personally.

 

[Verne]

My mojave isn't my daily as I have a company car for that. The wife dailies her 2022 JLUR on 39s though. Wouldn't buy a Jeep and not wheel it personally.

Oh it wheels. Similar to the picture you just posted . Like I said, I drive a lot on trails, sand and snow. I just know my limits and choose to avoid trails that I'm not mentally or physically equipped to handle. It's why the Mojave fits our lifestyle. It is definitely not a pavement princess.

Sponsored