While reading thejafe tread about building his TJ and seeing how off topic it has slid. I thought about starting a diffrent tread about the mindset of building a Jeep.
There are a lot of ways to build a Jeep, maybe more ways than there is to skin a cat. The short list includes The Stocker, The Casual Tripper, The Camper, The Weekend Warrior, The Be All Do All, The Rock Crawler, The Moon Buggie, and I'm sure that you can add a few others in there.
cshontz"God, I love ExPo. :ylsmoke:
I started out bitten by the trail-riding bug as many do. Logical progression was to build bigger, and run harder trails. Eventually discovered that I didn't like 1) building and wrenching, and 2) obstacle-centric wheelin' - and that I loved exploration, touring off-highway, and the accompanying unexpected challenges. It took me several years to figure that out, and I feel a little alienated by the mindset."
Similar to Chris, I started out building my Jeep to explore ghost towns and the mining trails of Colorado. Then I wanted to go bigger, my dreams had things like a spring over, V8 swap, bomb proof tranny, granny gears in the t-case, bigger stronger axles and 36" tires. Thankfully my poor public servants salary prevented me from going down this road with my Jeep. But...... (the type A personality comes out)
I was still, pulled farther down the line by friends, competition rock crawling, and driven even farther by a part Jeep part buggy running on 38.5" tires, with the lowest COG that we could get and still have clearance for the tires. Then sponsors and winning became the priority over fun.
I was ran off from the rock crawling scene by the need to spend 80K or more every year to keep the rig running, replace parts and the never ending quest for a rig that weighs less, and offered better performance.
The quest in the media and on many of the message boards out there is for bigger and bigger. We want 40's and Rockwell's, we want a LS1, they say. I want a million bucks, but you don't care. Why should anyone on the net who I have never met care how I build my Jeep or any other vehicle for that matter?
I think that many people get lost in this buzz, glimmer and show, forget, or are just distracted by the hype, as to what there goals are with building there trail rig. I know that I was. For prospective I help to moderate a Jeep board. As I read many of the posts by people with high post counts I have been starting to wonder how many of them actually have a Jeep and how many of them actually use the Jeep to go any place at all. Many offer blank, or blind statements, without knowing the end goals for the person who asked the question. The .net is a great place that is full of info, but a good amount of that info is well BAD info.
While building a rig's to crawl up walls, I learned a lot of things about building a rig to survive in insane conditions. Many of those lessons I'm going to build into the next version of my good old Jeep, things like a lower COG, and less weight, without loosing any function, that is found in a DD. I want heat, AC would be nice (but I would need to add it) seats that recline, and the ability to seal out bad weather. I want the go most every where do most any thing Jeep.
I want to build what is in my eyes, a Jeep that will go most any where that I point it, can haul all of my junk for camping, can drive me to work, and can drive me across a trail or road that has been washed out by floods. All in all I want a Jeep that will give me a freedom to explore similar to the freedom that I have when I'm in a canoe. I think I know how to get to my end goal. I don't need "web wheelers" to tell me that something will not work. Shoot maybe I should get a picture of my Jeep flexed out on top of there computer monitor.
Alright enough of this senseless rant.
There are a lot of ways to build a Jeep, maybe more ways than there is to skin a cat. The short list includes The Stocker, The Casual Tripper, The Camper, The Weekend Warrior, The Be All Do All, The Rock Crawler, The Moon Buggie, and I'm sure that you can add a few others in there.
cshontz"God, I love ExPo. :ylsmoke:
I started out bitten by the trail-riding bug as many do. Logical progression was to build bigger, and run harder trails. Eventually discovered that I didn't like 1) building and wrenching, and 2) obstacle-centric wheelin' - and that I loved exploration, touring off-highway, and the accompanying unexpected challenges. It took me several years to figure that out, and I feel a little alienated by the mindset."
Similar to Chris, I started out building my Jeep to explore ghost towns and the mining trails of Colorado. Then I wanted to go bigger, my dreams had things like a spring over, V8 swap, bomb proof tranny, granny gears in the t-case, bigger stronger axles and 36" tires. Thankfully my poor public servants salary prevented me from going down this road with my Jeep. But...... (the type A personality comes out)
I was still, pulled farther down the line by friends, competition rock crawling, and driven even farther by a part Jeep part buggy running on 38.5" tires, with the lowest COG that we could get and still have clearance for the tires. Then sponsors and winning became the priority over fun.
I was ran off from the rock crawling scene by the need to spend 80K or more every year to keep the rig running, replace parts and the never ending quest for a rig that weighs less, and offered better performance.
The quest in the media and on many of the message boards out there is for bigger and bigger. We want 40's and Rockwell's, we want a LS1, they say. I want a million bucks, but you don't care. Why should anyone on the net who I have never met care how I build my Jeep or any other vehicle for that matter?
I think that many people get lost in this buzz, glimmer and show, forget, or are just distracted by the hype, as to what there goals are with building there trail rig. I know that I was. For prospective I help to moderate a Jeep board. As I read many of the posts by people with high post counts I have been starting to wonder how many of them actually have a Jeep and how many of them actually use the Jeep to go any place at all. Many offer blank, or blind statements, without knowing the end goals for the person who asked the question. The .net is a great place that is full of info, but a good amount of that info is well BAD info.
While building a rig's to crawl up walls, I learned a lot of things about building a rig to survive in insane conditions. Many of those lessons I'm going to build into the next version of my good old Jeep, things like a lower COG, and less weight, without loosing any function, that is found in a DD. I want heat, AC would be nice (but I would need to add it) seats that recline, and the ability to seal out bad weather. I want the go most every where do most any thing Jeep.
I want to build what is in my eyes, a Jeep that will go most any where that I point it, can haul all of my junk for camping, can drive me to work, and can drive me across a trail or road that has been washed out by floods. All in all I want a Jeep that will give me a freedom to explore similar to the freedom that I have when I'm in a canoe. I think I know how to get to my end goal. I don't need "web wheelers" to tell me that something will not work. Shoot maybe I should get a picture of my Jeep flexed out on top of there computer monitor.
Alright enough of this senseless rant.
