Wheeling - How do you justify it?

[Mudderoy]

After working on my XJ for over a year I was anxious to get it off the street and try it out off road.

Even then I was concerned about breaking something. I wasn't really concerned overly, I have been off road before, but I was concerned from a "Murphy's Law" aspect!

I've been under employed since 2002, okay really the under employed is fine it's the under paid that hurts. When I take my daily driver off road I'm thinking about what I can afford to replace. I figure the most likely failure is going to be a tire. Sidewall damage, etc... At $180 for a tire I have to ask myself if it is worth having some fun or wait a bit longer and get some money saved up.

Really anything can happen off road (as well as on road I guess) it just seems to me that off road is just more of a risk.

[msmoorenburg]

Well for me its just a toy" a cheep 4 wheeler" so if i break it i can let it sit. Also lots of spare parts helps too. Poor jeep has been on the trailer for 2 weeks now :( And for Jim and Wayne Its not a trailer Queen :)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/msmoorenburg/IMG_20110607_175021.jpg

[bigjim350]

Well mine isn't a daily driver so I can't really say. But I have off-roaded some of my other dd in years past. I didn't try to justify it or anything like that. Its what my hobby is and I enjoy it. If something broke i would just did into my spare parts or call a buddy with spare parts and put it together enough to drive to work and back. As in your xj. If ya cut a tire, i'm sure there are plenty of spares around you could use for quite some time, till ya had the money for a new matching one. Same with most the other parts on your Jeep

[4.3LXJ]

I have more than one rig I can use for a daily driver. But the Jeep is not jsut a toy, which is why I have an XJ instead of a YJ or TJ. I always keep a capable rig around just in case. We until recently were plagued with high water and mud on roads. And with the weather we have been having, who knows, it could snow big time at sea level in CA and not a plow in sight here.

[cantab27]

are you a soccer mum....no.........wheel it and worry about it tomorrow......

[XJ Rat]

Yep, I took it easy when my Jeep was my daily driver. Being able to leave it in the garage broken has its advantages.

There is no shame taking the bypass when an obstacle looks like, well, an obstacle. Sure, there are people who will say comments. They usually want to see you break, or are jealous of your ride, ignore them.

Definately a fine line between taking it easy, and really wheeling. DD taking it easy is good. Having to stay up until 3 on Sunday repairing the broke Jeep so you can get to work on Monday sucks. Been there, done that.

[toebee97]

Definately a fine line between taking it easy, and really wheeling. DD taking it easy is good. Having to stay up until 3 on Sunday repairing the broke Jeep so you can get to work on Monday sucks. Been there, done that.
Agree with XJ Rat on that. It's my DD, so I have to have a certain amount of forethought if I take it offroad. I don't make alot of money, and I'll make even less if I can't get to work. If I could wheel all day every day I would, but I don't have any spare parts, and none of my friends drive XJs, so they don't have any parts either. Just gotta make sure my a$$ is covered, or the wife will never let me hear the end of it. :rolleyes:

[LizardRunner]

Being a biker, da lizard is more my winter driver, boat tow vehicle and wheeler. I don't however go looking for places to try and break it. I just don't have the money to spend on lots of break fixes. This is not to say we don't go where normal vehicles can't go and it also doesn't mean I avoid obstacles. I generally think about my wheeling like I was racing. That means I go the path of least resistance. I am known to test the mud holes though I might be moving faster than most so I float over them for the most part, ya spray more mud that way:D

[jccatt]

Mine is my DD but i wheel it. I do hard but not fast. If i cant do a track i give it away, not go till it blows. I look out for cheap parts like spare axles, and keep 3 unis spare. I love wheeling. No worse than being a ski or surf nut.

[default83]

for the tire thing, just get the road hazard deal at discount, its great, everytime its a free tire. been there ALOT lol


if your that concerned about a ride to work, why not throw down 1500-2000 on a P.O.S. like a geo or something, just let it sit in the garage and if the time comes you have some sort of ride. i have four cars, so the jeep doesnt really get driven, i drive my truck for the most part, but i have been in a spot where all my cars were broke, it does suck lol

[Mudderoy]

for the tire thing, just get the road hazard deal at discount, its great, everytime its a free tire. been there ALOT lol


if your that concerned about a ride to work, why not throw down 1500-2000 on a P.O.S. like a geo or something, just let it sit in the garage and if the time comes you have some sort of ride. i have four cars, so the jeep doesnt really get driven, i drive my truck for the most part, but i have been in a spot where all my cars were broke, it does suck lol

lol that's great! I wasn't thinking they would honor that but I guess you don't have to say you were in a rock garden climbing a vertical face when the tire got damaged. Thanks!

[OverEasy]

Well as for me, I knew that I had my Samurai in a build that would finish up someday. As for taking the DD Jeep Cherokee out, it was stock, I knew that but still pushed it some. I knew it had limits. Now, the Jeep hasn't seen much trail time as the Samurai has been out more, that will change though as I just bought another DD.

[LizardRunner]

showed this thread to the wife last night, she says I have amend my post, so here are her thoughts. "Chip takes the jeep anywhere he wants to and especially if it is a road that I'll think, oh great, we'll get stuck or break something. But he always seems to get us back to pavement in one piece, So Far. When he turns off the nice paved road he always exclaims "It's a Jeep" then off road we go. I just glare at him but he pays me no mind except to holler "Woo hoo!" when he finds a nasty looking mud puddle. I do have to give him credit for slowing down and moving slower when he takes da lizard over rocky spots."

[Mudderoy]

showed this thread to the wife last night, she says I have amend my post, so here are her thoughts. "Chip takes the jeep anywhere he wants to and especially if it is a road that I'll think, oh great, we'll get stuck or break something. But he always seems to get us back to pavement in one piece, So Far. When he turns off the nice paved road he always exclaims "It's a Jeep" then off road we go. I just glare at him but he pays me no mind except to holler "Woo hoo!" when he finds a nasty looking mud puddle. I do have to give him credit for slowing down and moving slower when he takes da lizard over rocky spots."

lol that's great. Yeah I love taking my Jeep off road and I know there is a 99% chance that I'll make it, find a way to make it and not break anything that will strand me.

If I had about $2000 in the savings account I really wouldn't sweat the break. I just need to get to that point, but the last several years have been financially tough. If I would just get rid of all the fun stuff I'd have the savings.

Cell phones
Sat/Cable TV
Jeep site ;)

[4.3LXJ]

showed this thread to the wife last night, she says I have amend my post, so here are her thoughts. "Chip takes the jeep anywhere he wants to and especially if it is a road that I'll think, oh great, we'll get stuck or break something. But he always seems to get us back to pavement in one piece, So Far. When he turns off the nice paved road he always exclaims "It's a Jeep" then off road we go. I just glare at him but he pays me no mind except to holler "Woo hoo!" when he finds a nasty looking mud puddle. I do have to give him credit for slowing down and moving slower when he takes da lizard over rocky spots."

Way to go Chip:cheerleader:

[LizardRunner]

I hear ya Tony. My goal is to have our regular savings up enough for normal problems then to also have a lizard fund so that I can replace or up grade anytime I bust something. At that point I would probably consider MOAB or something similar or even the class 5 stuff in hotsprings. for now though I only take on the junk I run into trying to get somewhere, or back to the road I left cause it just looked like that little trail needed exploring.

[toebee97]

if your that concerned about a ride to work, why not throw down 1500-2000 on a P.O.S. like a geo or something, just let it sit in the garage and if the time comes you have some sort of ride. i have four cars, so the jeep doesnt really get driven, i drive my truck for the most part, but i have been in a spot where all my cars were broke, it does suck lol
In my case, 1500-2000 is more than I make in a month. Another car isn't really an option. I tell my friends "I wheel when I can afford to, if that ain't good enough for ya, tough shit."

[LizardRunner]

In my case, 1500-2000 is more than I make in a month. Another car isn't really an option. I tell my friends "I wheel when I can afford to, if that ain't good enough for ya, tough shit."

Good on ya tony. we all do what we can when we can.

[xj4life2]

I can't justify it , it makes no sence at all, but I like it and it relaxes me so when the opertunity arrises I go, even for an hour or two.I try not to think about breaking , just haveing fun> if it happens well then I deal with it but untill it does I try not to worry about it.

[Metlic53]

I'm 19 and in college, i've got the daily driver Jeep and the offroad Jeep. I DD my 97 and offroad/DD the 90. I drove my 97 wherever whenever and nothing would ever break, i took it through some nasty stuff and still nothing. Finally it sat in water over the axle for about 20 minutes at creekside and on the ride home the pinion bearing went out, now i've got a 44 ready to go into it. now i use the 90 for the main offroading until i'm out of college and have a good job. Its too dry for my taste to offroad right now.

[BigJeepBigJeep]

I'm 19 and in college, i've got the daily driver Jeep and the offroad Jeep. I DD my 97 and offroad/DD the 90. I drove my 97 wherever whenever and nothing would ever break, i took it through some nasty stuff and still nothing. Finally it sat in water over the axle for about 20 minutes at creekside and on the ride home the pinion bearing went out, now i've got a 44 ready to go into it. now i use the 90 for the main offroading until i'm out of college and have a good job. Its too dry for my taste to offroad right now.

+1

I don't like dry wheeling either. Gotta have some water and mud...

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[LizardRunner]

Wheeling, on any afternoon.... wheeling, can't get off road any time too soon... Grooving, my tires for better traction off road... oh, sorry just got that tune running in my head from reading this here thread.

[Firemanray]

When I bought mine it was a toy. It was nice and clean and straight, probably didn't know what dirt and mud was. The day I took a plasma cutter to the fenders that all changed,then I dented all 4 fenders and 2 doors. Now when I wheel I trailer it in and go for anything that looks like it won't kill me! I won't do DEEP water and I won't do anything to cause a major roll over, other than that, screw it, we'll fix it if we break it!


Oh yeah, the justification question................no answer.

[PolarXJ]

Mine started as a DD, after I graduated (jeep was paid for) I decide to get a cheap, high mpg car for commuting. Picked up a '86 Toyota tercel that got 38 to 40mpg with 70k on it. Gotta love old lady cars... clean...low mileage. :D The only down side to it, it was carb'd. So it sucked getting it started in the winter. Probably would still be driving it today, if it was for a teenage kid that decided to run a stop sign at probably 40mph in my neighborhood and t-bone it.

[saar]

The XJ is my DD but I have one more car (my wife's) so I'm covered (I do not drive too much usually, I work from home :-) )

While I started the business, I hardly went off roading since the fuel was too expensive...
Saar

[alwaysxj]

My jeep is my DD and it make me money by taking lazy people there pizza.....
I try to get out in the mountains when ever I can. I have a couple things that hold me back. I work two jobs so I don't have much time on my hands plus the new baby.
also if I break then I have no way to get to work, well I could always take the wife's 06 grand but she needs it too.

[AusXJ]

I go out when ever I can, but it is a struggle to get the time and moolah to keep the repairs up:cry::rolleye0012::watermelon:

[XJ4IV]

another vote option would be I limit HOW I wheel because its also a DD.... that there is my vote until the durango is finished!