The Wheeling trend / rollercoaster / process

[HeavyMetal]

As time has gone on, I have cared less and less about hardcore obstacle wheeling (even though I was never crazy about it before) and more about just "getting out there" and exploring or seeing the outdoors in a Jeep.

I started with a small Jeep and built it up quite a bit, and then built another small Jeep after the fact specifically for exploring/small time woods/adventure running.

I cant tell if this is me just being "over" the wheel break buy break wheel approach, or if its just a change of the times in general with exploration stuff becoming more popular.

Anyone else feel the same way? Through my time on here, it seems every single person that builds a "1 ton" XJ or jeep ends up selling it or barely wheeling, and generally regrets it, or it forces them out of the scene for one reason or another. OR they come back and build something smaller. That isnt a guarantee, but a general observation.

Though I will say since the beginning I never saw the appeal of building something ridiculous and going out and breaking the hell out of it every single trip.

[justtorchit]

ohhhhhh the roller coaster.....

I have gone through the paces of having a cheap xj with a little lift and tires, to a oneton xj that could no longer go down the road.

At the begining i just wanted to go everywhere i could to just bomb around. 1 hunk of junk jeep later, i picked up the red jeep. Little by little , I found myself wheeling with much larger rigs and at this point i started breaking things while stomping the skinny pedal( axles, spiders, steering). so rather than just upgrading the little things, the cool thing was to just rip everything out and go strait to one tons, 3 link, 5.38s, double beadlocks, yada yada yada.

Well that was a horrible decision on my part. I started wheeling only once in a while or whenever i could get a ride on a trailer. when things broke they were expensive. i was a college kid on a college budget, and eventually just gave up with it and bought the stock green XJ to get around.

I think this jeep was my turning point. I realized i was having a blast just going from trail to trail with 33's and a welded rear. i wasnt doing the craziest obstacles but i sure was challenging myself and the jeep. eventually i rolled that one, and swapped everything to my white jeep.

Took sometime to get myself straitened out, while still wheeling here and there, but i made plans to build a jeep that was "built" yet small enough to just load up and adventure wherever i wanted. What i ended up with has been the best jeep i have built. Not only does it outperform my one toned xj, but it is still mild enough to drive everyday and put a smile on my face whenever i get behind the wheel. Hell, i loved it so much that i sold my car becasue it no longer served a purpose to me.

The first time i took it to rausch i wheeled with Danny and Ryan in very mild vehicles and had a blast by seeing almost the whole park in one weekend. There was only a few times we had to stop to fix something and i enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than sitting at at a single obstacle, all day long, waiting for everyone to get there stuff fixed.....

So yeh, ive def changed from one thing to another and alot of people call me crazy for going smaller..... but im having a hell of alot more fun

[Luke95]

The Wheeling trend / rollercoaster / process

I feel that you all were right. Gone are the fun times of blowing 40 dollar parts, the place I started wheeling isn't even a challenge any more, I will most likely get laughed at because I want to wheel easy trails and enjoy a day or two of just being out side with my friends. Also the more I spend the more I have to spend if that makes sense.

So I did what I had thought was the smart move but in reality all I did was make it so I have something that I can drive around but it isn't the same as it was. It isn't the most fun on the road. I bought what turned into another project. He'll I almost want to build a wj on the small side and dd/wheel that.

[Buffalo Phil]

The issue is that for me, my current wheeling has hit a plateau, but it was a plateau I've personally created because of one big reason: money.

I'm still on stock axles, the same suspension I got back in 2006, with a few other minor modifications here and there. Outside of a rather mind bending and heart breaking overheating issue that continues to plague my Jeep once in a while, it drives well enough on the road to get me to wheeling places where I can do a decent amount of stuff and then go home.

Money has kept me from doing anything else to the Jeep because with the next step comes a lot more money. Go to bigger axles, you get bigger problems, bigger breaks, and then before you know it, I'm buying a tow rig and a trailer and finding a place to keep it for the 39 weekends out of the yeah I probably won't be using it. To me it's a stupid investment especially since wheeling around here is so scarce. Other than Mabell, everything else is a 3+ hour trip away. If we were out west and there were more than just 1-2 places to go within a 5 hour range, it would probably be worth the longer rides.

I'm happy on my low level plateau of stock axles and 33s. I break, sure, and most of the parts I can get at a local parts store. I will admit, though, that I am at a point where I just don't want to break anything because I don't want to deal with the hassle. I ran Rock Creek once at Rausch and slashed a tire and said 'never again'. My Jeep looks like a hot mess straight from Satan's Scrap Yard of Eternal Rage, but that's because in the past I've abused the Jeep a bit too much and I think now it's time to just take it easy. It also doesn't help that I just hardly go wheeling any more.

[Pedro]

Exactly why I don't beat my jeep up. I want it to look good and be able to drive nicely down the road. I put too much money into it to make it look like shit. It's also nice to have your prep sheet for Rausch be just to put gas in it. If the obstacle has a good chance of breaking my jeep I won't do it. I hate being that guy to break and am just as happy cruising lesser trails for the whole day. I love the fact that I can take it on close to 1000 mile round trips to New Hampshire, camp, wheel, and drive home without much worry.

If I had a buggy or something legit enough to beat up, had a reliable truck, and a trailer I would go all out driving. But I can't afford that yet.

[Harry]

The Wheeling trend / rollercoaster / process

Good topic.

This is August will be nine years with my Jeep. It is my most prized possession. I saved for a year in high school knowing what I wanted, DD'd it on small lift/tires through college and turned it into a dedicated trail machine after graduating.

My main motivation in this hobby is that I love building things... if someone asked me which part of this hobby I enjoy more, wheeling or building, I don't think I could decide.

For the first couple years, I was pushing my Jeep every time I went out wheeling. Sometimes things would break, sometimes not. But I'd never make it up everything I tried, and I could always see what I needed to do to make it able to do that. And then I'd do it. That is exactly the process that has kept me as engaged in this as much as I am. It's like an addiction.

One tons have been one of the best modifications I've done to me Jeep. I could not keep my 30 together to save my life. I was changing shafts once a day at Rausch, and it was completely my fault for always trying to put it in places it didn't belong. But that's what's fun about this to me, and it was obvious that if I wanted to keep doing bigger stuff... I needed to build a bigger Jeep. The time I spend fixing my Jeep on the trail has been about quartered since I went to tons.

Sometimes I miss hopping in and driving it around, and I still can. It drives ok enough, but it is obviously not something I'd want to spend 5 hours on the highway with. But I did that. For a long time. And it was fun, but I've moved on.

The bottom line is that I have enjoyed every single phase my Jeep has gone through and I only anticipate that will continue to happen.

Disclaimer: I started wheeling Rausch with a group that was heavily dependent on tow rigs, and consisted of about 1/4 buggies. This certainly influenced me, and everything may have gone completely different had I started wheeling with a different group, like you guys. But I know I would have ended up here all the same, I have had an inexplicable fascination with four wheel drive since I was old enough to understand the concept at age 4.

Plus I love the all mechanical torque producer that is my tow rig, even though it hates me. It is almost too much to balance it all when everything takes a shit at once, but I honestly can't imagine having it any other way.

[Riot]

Without reading all of the responses... Apparently everyone on SIS is a freakin' author now.


I'll simply say, "Overbuilt XJ's killed "

[XJ1701]

My stance has been since i started building my XJ, which to be honest the lift and was an answer to my dying suspension(and some talking from Hux), then next thing you know I'm swapping axles and regearing, and all that crazy stuff... but to my point i wanted something not "crazy" expensive to play with, it also serves as a backup when the DD is down, and im happy with that. Will I go bigger? I don't know.

[kracker]

So funny to see this topic come up... My wheeling career has spanned 15+ years and I've had everything from a CJ YJ TJ JK WJ XJ to two yotas one of which is my current ride... I always dreamed of owning a buggy to keep up with the big dogs and now I realize that all the fun I once had was when I was In my stocker YJ on 33s O/O ... Wow!!! I'll never forget the first time I made it to the top of Finnies in easthampton Ma( trail near mabelle that is now closed)... What a rush ! Now I look at it and I'm like, meh.... What's harder? With that being said, yeah it's cool to be able to just walk all over everything u see without a hiccup.... But man, does it get boring fast.... Unless ya do something really fucking stupid!! Then as others have said... Break out the $$$$$ cause it's gonna hurt!! Honestly I love my buggy and it's badass but there are sooooo many times I really miss my YJ that I sold skippy(Erika).... It was the PERFECT rig for me , locked on 35s with a cage but still had good road manners and was fun as hell to drive!! I have offered to buy it back from her several times and she won't part with it.... Smart girl! She knows she has the best rig for this area... A capable weekend warrior that u can walk Into any parts store and fix it for under a 100.00.... How can ya beat that? Moral of the story.... Keep it simple and just have fun!

[Customjob]

If I ever fix the other one, I have both a "big" truck and a "small" (little) truck. Both are fun in their own ways and I definitely enjoy both. I can relate to those wanting to stick to easier trails and explore as I have been in that kinda mood with the little bronco lately. I dont mind just taking the easy way around and watching sometimes and not having to fix something I break. I am not hard to convince to try something a little harder though. Also I am missing the big bronco because i want to try stupid things again. So I guess I am kinda sitting on the fence and offer no help to your question Neither will be sold though.

Neither of these trucks drives on the road very well right now but the smaller one has seen the road for a few trips here and there. It is fun to drive it around however I love the piece of mind when wheeling that if anything breaks I just have to get it back to the trailer.

Now as far as the building aspect of it; I very much enjoy building the truck as well. I did not do much work on the big bronco myself; the little bronco I did everything myself. I definitely enjoy the building aspect and making things myself. To me there is nothing much better then making something out of nothing and having people say it looks good.

[CumminsJeep]

I just miss wheeling in general

[Bigbike]

I freckin miss my Black XJ so much. That truck did everything i wanted it to do and more. Never really broke that bad, i drove it everywhere. It could of used a few things it wasn't perfect, definitely more trail rig than road rig but it still drove 4 hours away wheeled and then drove home every time. I will hopefully be wheeling the Ranger this weekend and im excited to try it and hopefully regstister it so I can drive it around. Im pretty sure i can make it fairly streetable while still good offroad.

I enjoy pushing myself offroad exploring is cool, I would love to have the time and moeny to go have a rig to drive all over the U.S. and visit all the offroad parks and random site, but i like going and pushing myself to try bigger and harder obstacles.

[hoggie101]

I never intended to go to tons or 37's all I really wanted in the beginning was 33's and 44's f/r im dding my xj now and its not bad to drive on the road at all I just have to fix my front shocks and itll be driving better then before, I dont like fixing things so I tend to over build things and beat on my rig but I know that my xj is probably living ln borrowed time so before it dies im going to start on a buggy so im not out of wheeling, I love to explore and do the hard stuff so I guess im not much help

[calvynandhobbs]

Some of my favorite wheeling has been 2-3 day trailrides just down 2tracks of upper Michigan finding waterfalls and other places that you can't get to without 4x4. Camp on the side of the trail, get up the next morning and do it again. Not a lot of obstacles, but a great time. Since moving to CT it seems to be more obstacle driven out here so building my rig to be able to take on most obstacles on 35s/37s, but also maintain road status. I like driving to the beach without the top and doors with a cooler in the back end. I also like driving it to work on occasion.

[HitItWithSomeSpeed]

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