Self-Inflicted Damage?

[azjl#3]

My bad, I didnt know you knew the park and trail we were on. Not shown is the trail we came off from the left, but I'm sure you knew that.

I won't deny it was inexperience, but I guess I'm the only one who's done it.. ?‍

I have to say thats about as perfectly a soft spot as one could hope for. Curious, did motor cutoff from impact or did you turn it off?

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[Spank]

I've popped off fenders, pinstriped my doors and hard top more times than I can count, almost peeled off my snorkel, scratched my wheels and tires, my bumper and grille have been blasted with rocks, annihilated my skidplates and rock rails, and it has never bothered me. But if I see even the tiniest dent that some idiot in a parking lot added, I lose my shit.

 

[Jeep4Win]

I wanted mine to stay perfect but with going off road there just isn’t a way. So far bent tailpipe and hitch, knocked a fender flare loose, pinstriping, scraped up wheels, bent steering stabilizer, and plenty of scuffs to the factory skids. But the memories and fun though!!!

 

[dbp512]

Aww, it's taking a nap...

 

[blnewt]

Only damage to current JL is some coolant leak, and after 2 years I still can't ID it, but I can smell it
Smashed down off a rock and was enough to cause it. Also some deep skid gouges and a few pinstripes, but that's the toll that has to be paid, and worth every penny!

 

[COJeeper]

I would never have bought a Jeep if I was not going to take it off road. That being said, I don’t know what you think of people taking their jeeps on the trails. Do you picture us as a bunch of hillbilly rednecks screaming “get r doooone yeeehawwww!!” While hitting a beer bong and driving 200mph through a forest at night with no lights?

I vote red and can assure you that does not describe me. I was snow wheeling last winter and was screwing around talking trash to my father in law who made a mistake and because of it ran into a tree busting the mirror off. Luckily, I found one on facebook marketplace for $30.

My Jeep is my daily driver because I’m not rich, can’t afford 5 vehicles. I take it on plenty of trails and I’ve got some scratches which I’ve expected but I never just expect I’ll be put there breaking things. I walk unknown river crossings, get out and analyze technical obstacles, and always try everything I can to get home without creating unexpected expenses.

 

[COJeeper]

2 years, 25,000 miles, Rubicon Trail, Moab, and many more hard trails and only minor scratches to the paint, no dents or breaks. The skid plates, on the other hand, have some gnarly scars. Ditto the wheels. All proof that I use the Jeep for what it was designed for, not just running back and forth to Costco (which I also do).

On weekends for free lunch??? I love free lunch weekends at Costco! Just get like 20 free samples and I’m good. The. I also end up walking out with a $300 bill…. I guess it wasn’t free….

 

[Sparty]

An old timer gave me some advice back when I got my TJ new.

"take a ballpeen hammer and whack a quarter panel - damage will be a lot easier to stomach after that"


While I obviously didn't take his advice, the intent was spot on. After my first trail damage (minor), I didn't really stress about other minor events.

At work (High School) I created my own parking space making it impossible for some dork to open a door on her, back into her, or even look at her wrong. Getting dinged in a parking lot is NOT a cool story. Rocks and trees at 20+ degrees off camber and a wheel off the ground? That's good stuff. That's Jeepin'.

Now a piece of advice from me:

If you want to avoid door dings in a parking lot - get a nice set of rockers with the bar on the outside. Any idiot that whips their door open will get a nice pucker on the edge of their door compared to a little scratch you might get on the bar of your rocker guard.

 

[blnewt]

On weekends for free lunch??? I love free lunch weekends at Costco! Just get like 20 free samples and I’m good. The. I also end up walking out with a $300 bill…. I guess it wasn’t free….

Similar to those "free" Vegas hotel rooms ?

 

[Bobby Hank]

Now a piece of advice from me:

If you want to avoid door dings in a parking lot - get a nice set of rockers with the bar on the outside. Any idiot that whips their door open will get a nice pucker on the edge of their door compared to a little scratch you might get on the bar of you rocker guard.

I hear you. I have large steps outside each door, and with just the small lift, they are a defense for cars. But I live in Florida where there are plenty of other jeeps and trucks, driven my kids and old people galore. I park away from things. I can use the steps.

 

[GearWhore]

First hit is the hardest to stomach!

Though I've gotten more body damage on my JL from the careless Jeep dealer than I've managed to do on the trail. And I do a lot of trail...

 

[Flip]

I love off-roading, that's the main reason I purchased my 2nd Jeep, but I try very hard to keep damage to an absolute minimum. Currently in about 6 months some rock rash on the rear fender flares, a few but very minor light scratch or paint chips all from gravel roads. I tagged a small tree against my rear bumper and passenger rock rail last week. The aftermarket full wrap around bumper and Rubi rail did its job protecting my jeep, but a wider LOD rail is in my very near future.

 

[Ratbert]

Anyone with a round muffler needs to have their "Rock Crawling" card taken away!

 

[C.Sco]

The only body damage I've gotten so far was caused by a loose ratcheting strap that got caught in my tire, causing the buckle to scratch the paint a little. Kind of annoys me to this day, since it wasn't even "trail damage" per se, it was completely avoidable. And it was my passenger who forgot to tighten that strap back down... so it wasn't really even self-inflicted.

Other than that, all I've ever damaged is stuff that was meant to get damaged, bumpers and skid plates. And my wheels are a bit trashed, plus my unpainted fender flares are pretty scratched up, but those are all sacrificial parts in my view.

Only thing I've ever broken that wasn't really meant to get broken was my steering stabilizer (which I've since relocated to hopefully avoid a recurrence), and my muffler got pretty mangled on the Rubicon trail, which I replaced with a high-tuck version to hopefully avoid a repeat as well.

 

[SadRobot]

Does it count if my Jeep has damaged me? I will forever have a scar on my arm from the time I was trying to get my quick release sway bar links back into place and the pry bar slipped, arm flew up and my bumper took out a small chunk of my arm.

Maybe the Jeep was taking revenge on me for all the trail damage I've done to it. ?

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