Learner’s Permit, new JLU and fire hydrant

[CMACAUSTIN]

was teaching my daughter to drive in my new JLU the other day. As we were backing out of the driveway, she got nervous, I yelled stop, and she hit the gas instead of the brake. We jumped the curb and landed on top of a fire hydrant. You have to see it to believe it. We had to remove the bumper end cap to get the Jeep off the hydrant. We even had to jack it up to reach all of the bolts.

There is a scratch on the underside of the bumper I’m not too worried about and a few scratches on the tie rod (may have that part wrong). Anything else I should check out or be worried about on the Jeep? The teen driving is another forum. The Jeep handles like new and still drives straight as an arrow. Thanks in advance.

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[BillG]

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@CMACAUSTIN

Naaah, you are good to go. That Rubi is aok. No big deal, kid will learn. Been there, done that, I got lots of kids .... all adults now. Geeez, could I tell you a few stories. Seriously, your Rubi looks aok and so does the hydrant.

If your daughter is still that green, she may need more time practicing in a big, empty parking lot with some orange cones.

Weird how she got the Rubi hung up on the hydrant and to boot with pretty much no damage at all. She dodged a bullet so to speak. So did your Rubi. So did the hydrant.

 

[RussJeep1]

A new Wrangler owner, immediately upon purchase, drove his rig over to a concrete wall, only feet away from the dealership and started scraping the new rig's passenger's side against it. The sounds could make a car lover cringe.

People ran out of the dealership to see what was going on, no sooner than the owner proceeded to repeat the action, now on the other side of the rig.

"Sir--I know it's your vehicle," said the salesperson to the owner, "but I can't help but ask what you are doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious," the owner replied. "I'm breakin' her in!! Know of any swamps nearby?"

 

[Chief_Dan]

As stated above it doesn't look bad at all. But, those hydrants don't give much (trust me). So as "flyairam" stated have your alignment checked & I would also recommend checking the bumper mounts. Not familiar with the JL, at least not yet. But, those are the items I would check judging from your pics, over what you haven't checked so far.

I wish you well in teaching your daughter to drive. i taught all my daughters (3) on my old 4x4 truck & my autocross car. Nothing around to hit out in the fields with the truck & nothing but cones at the AX. One got the nickname of "cone killer" at one of our autocross events. Didn't hurt the car, but cost me a clutch, eventually on both the truck & the car. Hahahaha, good memories though.

 

[RW Sting Gray]

A new Wrangler owner, immediately upon purchase, drove his rig over to a concrete wall, only feet away from the dealership and started scraping the new rig's passenger's side against it. The sounds could make a car lover cringe.

People ran out of the dealership to see what was going on, no sooner than the owner proceeded to repeat the action, now on the other side of the rig.

"Sir--I know it's your vehicle," said the salesperson to the owner, "but I can't help but ask what you are doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious," the owner replied. "I'm breakin' her in!! Know of any swamps nearby?"

Ya, I was gonna say "instant trail cred!"

 

[RubenZ]

I think she's ready for the Rubicon trail!!

 

[old8tora]

Anything else I should check out or be worried about on the Jeep? The Jeep handles like new and still drives straight as an arrow.

Give her a high five . Straight axles are the best .

Had it been a IFS vehicle , it would have been a problem .

 

[millerjl]

Damn... without the pics, we wouldn't have believed you. Definitely ready for some trails.

 

[DanW]

Another plus for a manual transmission. My daughter, also with a learner permit, doesn't want to drive a manual yet, so she steers clear of my JL. Lol! Glad you all are ok and the Jeep now has only a scratch and a great story!

 

[am1978]

was teaching my daughter to drive in my new JLU the other day. As we were backing out of the driveway, she got nervous, I yelled stop, and she hit the gas instead of the brake. We jumped the curb and landed on top of a fire hydrant. You have to see it to believe it. We had to remove the bumper end cap to get the Jeep off the hydrant. We even had to jack it up to reach all of the bolts.

There is a scratch on the underside of the bumper I’m not too worried about and a few scratches on the tie rod (may have that part wrong). Anything else I should check out or be worried about on the Jeep? The teen driving is another forum. The Jeep handles like new and still drives straight as an arrow. Thanks in advance.

Because no good story ever began with, so.....we were eating a salad and.....you’ll never believe what happened next. Drink a beer and maybe give her one for the effort.

 

[Shots]

Ha ha. Yup, it's fine. Alignment would be the only issue I can see, and looking at the damage, I doubt even that was affected.

 

[karynm8621]

I hit a hydrant as a kid. They absolutely shatter...It was just like Mr Magoo...

She got lucky on that one ...

 

[Shots]

As I understand it, modern hydrants are designed to break away from the base with enough force. They also have an emergency shut off that prevents the geyser that you see in movies, or crashes from years ago. I could be wrong though, and completely misunderstanding what i was told. I'm not a firefighter so maybe one of them could chime in.
Looking at the damage on the Jeep she didn't hit it with near enough force to break the hydrant. Certainly lucky though, because if she had it would likely be expensive. Not only for property damage, but for vehicle damage that likely would have occurred too.

 

[Rubi-Zero]

Not as bad as I was thinking it was going to be when I read what happened.

I too have been teaching my daughter to drive the manual in the Rubi, in time it will be great. It’s something that almost all her friends and future friends just don’t ever learn. I believe it will make her a better driver because she will be more aware and have to think and focus on driving more.
Hopefully this doesn’t discourage your daughter from learning, so good luck on the teaching, I think it’s great. Mine is still trying to master the hills

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