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How to be a good spotter?

DadJokes

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I have no experience doing it and it’s not exactly like launching or catching F-16’s for me. lol

I thought there may be some good reference threads, articles, or your recommendations on what to look for right here.

Right or wrong, my first instinct is clearance over an obstacle. Followed by-
-Can the vehicle clear it with little to no damage?
-Can it approach or depart the obstacle safely?
-Are you setting yourself up for the next obstacle if necessary?
-Will there be sliding?
-Where could it go?
-If it’s a water crossing, how deep is it before going in?
-What’s your stock or modified (including lift kit height change) max water crossing depth?

If I’m off here, fire away. I’m looking to be able to spot well and share this with another I teach spotting to.

Thanks
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jlopes68

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I have no experience doing it and it’s not exactly like launching or catching F-16’s for me. lol

I thought there may be some good reference threads, articles, or your recommendations on what to look for right here.

Right or wrong, my first instinct is clearance over an obstacle. Followed by-
-Can the vehicle clear it with little to no damage?
-Can it approach or depart the obstacle safely?
-Are you setting yourself up for the next obstacle if necessary?
-Will there be sliding?
-Where could it go?
-If it’s a water crossing, how deep is it before going in?
-What’s your stock or modified (including lift kit height change) max water crossing depth?

If I’m off here, fire away. I’m looking to be able to spot well and share this with another I teach spotting to.

Thanks
It's mostly just common sense and tire placement. If clearance and damage are a concern? turn around. I recommend rock sliders and under carriage skids as 1st mods, even before a lift. then you wont have to worry about damage only clearance. It also gives you time to save for a good lift while your buddies drag you over anything you get stuck on in the meantime. and then you can learn all about spotting.
 
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DadJokes

DadJokes

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LOL, don't take this the wrong way. My advise is don't let your mouth write a check you can't cover. Get a lot of wheel time in before volunteering as a spotter. I've seen some pissed off folks that where led astray.
Yeah, there’s no way I’d spot for anyone but for my own Jeep right now.

It does seem like common sense but thought a keen eye for spotting trouble from experience could be worth some pointers. I realize it’ll mostly come with experience though.

It’s a topic I don’t see so I thought people could share their stories and wisdom here.
 
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jlopes68

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Yeah, there’s no way I’d spot for anyone but for my own Jeep right now.

It does seem like common sense but thought a keen eye for spotting trouble from experience could be worth some pointers. I realize it’ll mostly come with experience though.

It’s a topic I don’t see so I thought people could share there stories and wisdom here.
tough to verbalize spotting for me, i guess a few tips would be to maintain a view of all 4 tires, look under the vehicle while spotting. keep moving so you can update your view, back and forth from front to back and side to side. make sure you can see for the driver. most often spotting is just giving the driver confidence about what they cant see.
 
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DadJokes

DadJokes

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tough to verbalize spotting for me, i guess a few tips would be to maintain a view of all 4 tires, look under the vehicle while spotting. keep moving so you can update your view, back and forth from front to back and side to side. make sure you can see for the driver. most often spotting is just giving the driver confidence about what they cant see.
That’s solid advice. So keep moving and looking low at all 4 tires for continuous situational updates.

It seems basic but sometimes it’s easy to get fixated on one thing and not notice another potential issue.

Thanks!
 

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1. Your Jeep is much tougher than you think (except for the sheet metal:))
2. Never go alone.
3. Put the most capable vehicle up front, learn from its path.
4. If you have 2 very capable vehicles in the group, put the second most capable vehicle in the rear, just in case.
5. Place the tires on the high spots.
6. For rocks, try it slow at first. But sometimes you’ll need the skinny pedal.
6a. If you’re flooring it due to lack of traction, beware when you finally get traction! You could be headed in a bad direction or transferring a lot of force to the once-free tire and axle shaft (easy to break stuff).
7. Take tools and know how to use them.
7a. Friends went to Easter Jeep Safari and a newbie JK owner broke a U joint. EJS staff were going to leave him, my friends rebuilt the U joint for him.
8. Until you know how to fix your own vehicle, take it easy (do easier trails).
8a. This is one reason why you should do as much work on your own Jeep as possible - to learn how to work on it.
 
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DadJokes

DadJokes

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1. Your Jeep is much tougher than you think (except for the sheet metal:))
2. Never go alone.
3. Put the most capable vehicle up front, learn from its path.
4. If you have 2 very capable vehicles in the group, put the second most capable vehicle in the rear, just in case.
5. Place the tires on the high spots.
6. For rocks, try it slow at first. But sometimes you’ll need the skinny pedal.
6a. If you’re flooring it due to lack of traction, beware when you finally get traction! You could be headed in a bad direction or transferring a lot of force to the once-free tire and axle shaft (easy to break stuff).
7. Take tools and know how to use them.
7a. Friends went to Easter Jeep Safari and a newbie JK owner broke a U joint. EJS staff were going to leave him, my friends rebuilt the U joint for him.
8. Until you know how to fix your own vehicle, take it easy (do easier trails).
8a. This is one reason why you should do as much work on your own Jeep as possible - to learn how to work on it.
All sound advice. I should have added the placing tires on high spots to mine . Gotta clear the underside.

It’s good to hear your friends helped the newbie.

It’s been a while since I’ve done some u joints and those were driveshaft U joints. I’ll need to look into what spares to take for my Sahara. Snap ring pliers and common wrenches etc too.
 

GtX

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Spend a lot of time watching vehicles navigate obstacles. And really pay attention. You need to be able to anticipate where all tires will be based on where you're guiding one. Anticipate body roll. Anticipate clearance under the vehicle. Anticipate tire track. Etc.
 
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DadJokes

DadJokes

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Spend a lot of time watching vehicles navigate obstacles. And really pay attention. You need to be able to anticipate where all tires will be based on where you're guiding one. Anticipate body roll. Anticipate clearance under the vehicle. Anticipate tire track. Etc.
All good. Yeah, I can envision the need of watching that roll closely through a pinch section of trail that is off camber with vertical rock walls, trees that are close.

Somebody could be a wingman to a spotter to watch them working and learning something from them. If not that, even YouTube videos would be better than nothing. Practicing predicting of body roll, track/tire path, clearance, ...even sliding using both methods should be helpful.

Good stuff guys.
 

SouthTexasJLU

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You really have to know and understand each rig your spotting for. In my group we have everything from Built TJ's on 42's to JLU's on 35's. The "line" for each rig isn't the same. We wheel together enough to know the rig and the driver which helps.

Granted for most trails and most rigs it's common sense and basic understanding, but when your always trying the hardest lines it takes a little more.
 

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I think one of the best things to add is

"There should only be 1 designated spotter"

You can be a pro at spotting but if you have 2-3 guys arguing lines, it's over for whoever is in that car lol
 

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First rule of spotting is talking with the driver and making sure you both agree on what the hand signals mean and what terms you'll be using.

A simple list: "driver", "passenger", "stop" with hand signal, "come" - creep fwd, and "you're good" with a thumbs up.
 

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I think one of the best things to add is

"There should only be 1 designated spotter"

You can be a pro at spotting but if you have 2-3 guys arguing lines, it's over for whoever is in that car lol
Anyone can call "stop" but only one person can give other directions.
 
 



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