Who actually takes their JL offroad?

[wibornz]

When I first bought my Sport last year, my wife said “You aren’t going to take a 40K MSRP wheeling off-road, are you!?!?” I cocked an eyebrow that said “Puh-lease, woman! You’re DAMN RIGHT I AM!” I promptly threw some rock rails on it, and first time out I dropped it into a deep hole, punching the front and rear bumpers out of alignment, the Jeep resting full weight on one of the rails. I hammered out of the hole, went home, and whacked the bumpers back into alignment with a sledge hammer.

I blame @Roky for this LOL!

You're my kind of guy. I say whip it under warranty.

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[Dkretden]

My goal with my Jeep is not to find some super ugly trail and drive it for the purpose of driving the trail. Rather, I want my Jeep to take me to places —- said another way - the trail is not the destination Rather, it needs to lead to one. Maybe that’s on old mining camp or maybe it’s Sailing Stones in DV or maybe it’s the tallest mountain in the county or maybe it’s........ For me the lure of the trail is not the trail. I don’t see myself doing the badge of honor thing. It’s just not me.

many of those ‘destinations’ can be achieved with a far less capable vehicle than my (mostly stock) rubicon. So, why did I buy a Rubicon? Because it has all the capability that I might need if I do find myself in trouble and, frankly, I like how it looks.

I’m not a rock crawler. I’m not a mall crawler. I am somewhere in between.

 

[wibornz]

I just take mine to the mall.

But there was that one time in Colorado, Utah, Tennessee and Michigan that I wandered al lillte way off the road.

With all fairness, Michigan roads are terrible. This was last weekend on a legal Michigan road.

I may run that one trail out by Lake Tahoe on the West side in California in July. It will be a 4000+ mile trip. Just got to let things open back up.

 

[Toycrusher]

This past December we decided to take our 2019 JL Wrangler 2 door on an overland trip from NYC to LA and back along the US Mexico border. At the start of the trip it had 5000 miles on the dash and ended with 15,000. We went up north through Colorado and Moab where we hit as many trials and dirt roads as we could.

On the way back we went down through the desert to remote camping spots to get to big Bend National park in Texas to run the Jeep badge of honor trail.

Afterwards we kicked up through Tennessee with the last off-roading down at Wind Rock Park in the great Smokey mountains

Overall one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. We did the whole thing bone stock (except for some rock sliders) bc we honestly wanted to see what the Jeep could and couldn’t handle and give us a better idea of what we really “need” and how to build it.

Was nervous about some damage on a brand new Jeep... but besides some pinstriping everything performed great. Can’t wait to get it off-road like that again.

What an awesome trip! How did you like West Texas? I found the Big Bend state park has sketchier trails, but a couple in the National park were quite fun. Did a midnight run of the Black Gap trail, it might not be a tough trail in the daytime but parts of it were scary as heck in pitch black!

 

[Shots]

If by off-roading you mean taking it on service or mountain/logging roads, then yes, I do
.....

I was going to say the same thing.

Same here, I am in the woods heading to remote trout streams, that I no longer have to walk to.

Exactly what I use mine for. Get to a hunting blind, trail head, steam/lake, or other outdoor activity. To me the trail isn't the destination, but I know for my Jeep owners it is.

Funny that the two responses I quoted to agree with are also both Saharas. I didn't buy a Rubicon because I didn't need the extra stuff like lockers, rock rails, etc. I avoid the nasty stuff when I can, so a Rubi would have been wasted money on parts that won't be used.

... I don't understand why a person would buy one if they weren't going to do serious off-roading. Any minivan or Ford Edge would do much better on pavement. The photos people post of driving down dirt roads, I could do in my low clearance CTS-V and used to do more than that in my Taurus SHO. ....

IDK, there area lot of reasons why I bought one, and none of them are serious off roading.

1. I like the way they look
2. I like to be able to take the top off (and doors if I really wanted to)
3. I like the huge aftermarket for it
4. I like the large diverse community for them
5. I like that it can go everywhere my truck did
6. I like the maneuverability of it (especially compared to the crew cab Ram I had before it)
7. I like that it fits in my garage (my truck was too big)
8. I like that I can reach my wife without leaning over. Yes I'm that weird old guy that still holds her hand, or rests my hand on her leg while we drive. This is actually one of my favorite things about it compared to my Ram.
9. Of course, I also like that it CAN handle serious stuff if I need it to in a pinch.

There are probably other things I could come up with if I took the time to think longer. But at the end of the day, it's not a Ford Edge or minivan. Could they get me to the same places? Maybe. But why deal with "maybe" when you can drive a vehicle that can definitely get you there. There's more to a Jeep than it's off road capability. That's just 1 of it's many appealing characteristics.

 

[Shots]

My goal with my Jeep is not to find some super ugly trail and drive it for the purpose of driving the trail. Rather, I want my Jeep to take me to places —- said another way - the trail is not the destination Rather, it needs to lead to one. Maybe that’s on old mining camp or maybe it’s Sailing Stones in DV or maybe it’s the tallest mountain in the county or maybe it’s........ For me the lure of the trail is not the trail. I don’t see myself doing the badge of honor thing. It’s just not me.

many of those ‘destinations’ can be achieved with a far less capable vehicle than my (mostly stock) rubicon. So, why did I buy a Rubicon? Because it has all the capability that I might need if I do find myself in trouble and, frankly, I like how it looks.

I’m not a rock crawler. I’m not a mall crawler. I am somewhere in between.

Perfectly put. I agree with this completely. In fact I think I said the same thing, you just said it better.

 

[GreyFox]

I was going to say the same thing.

Exactly what I use mine for. Get to a hunting blind, trail head, steam/lake, or other outdoor activity. To me the trail isn't the destination, but I know for my Jeep owners it is.

Funny that the two responses I quoted to agree with are also both Saharas. I didn't buy a Rubicon because I didn't need the extra stuff like lockers, rock rails, etc. I avoid the nasty stuff when I can, so a Rubi would have been wasted money on parts that won't be used.


IDK, there area lot of reasons why I bought one, and none of them are serious off roading.

1. I like the way they look
2. I like to be able to take the top off (and doors if I really wanted to)
3. I like the huge aftermarket for it
4. I like the large diverse community for them
5. I like that it can go everywhere my truck did
6. I like the maneuverability of it (especially compared to the crew cab Ram I had before it)
7. I like that it fits in my garage (my truck was too big)
8. I like that I can reach my wife without leaning over. Yes I'm that weird old guy that still holds her hand, or rests my hand on her leg while we drive. This is actually one of my favorite things about it compared to my Ram.
9. Of course, I also like that it CAN handle serious stuff if I need it to in a pinch.

There are probably other things I could come up with if I took the time to think longer. But at the end of the day, it's not a Ford Edge or minivan. Could they get me to the same places? Maybe. But why deal with "maybe" when you can drive a vehicle that can definitely get you there. There's more to a Jeep than it's off road capability. That's just 1 of it's many appealing characteristics.

Well said
It's my money and I'll do what I want

 

[Whisky19]

Well said
It's my money and I'll do what I want

Agreed 100%. I had a BMW M3 years ago. It went 165 mph.. at best I got it up to 120mph. Sure was fun knowing I could if I wanted

 

[cb4017]

I don't rock crawl or play in mud but I did buy my JLU with the intention that it would spend a lot of time off road, exploring the Nevada desert. There are better vehicles suited to daily driver use but my Wrangler fits the bill nicely for what I do and will go anyplace I'm brave enough to go.

 

[702SaharaJL]

Ive give up stressing about scratches and dings. They’re badges of honor now.

Even on my Harley I’d lose my mind when I caught a rock. Now I just smile and think “one more trophy from the road. “

I’m carrying that same attitude with my JLUR. It’s not a show car. It’s my Jeep!

 

[MNML_OVRLND]

What an awesome trip! How did you like West Texas? I found the Big Bend state park has sketchier trails, but a couple in the National park were quite fun. Did a midnight run of the Black Gap trail, it might not be a tough trail in the daytime but parts of it were scary as heck in pitch black!

Thank you! West Texas was an awesome place! Had only ever been down to El Paso before. Big Bend was definitely a trek to get to, but I really enjoyed Black Gap and some of the other trials in the park! Running it in the dark must of been nerve racking with all the off camber drop offs on some of those descents . Hope to get back out there again!

 

[mniedbalski]

When my order comes in, I won't even have 1000 miles on it before I get my first badge. I bought it for fun, not to be a pavement queen.

 

[Movenpuck]

Third day of owning my 2020 JLUR

congrats, need to find me some trails like this in New York

 

[Toycrusher]

Thank you! West Texas was an awesome place! Had only ever been down to El Paso before. Big Bend was definitely a trek to get to, but I really enjoyed Black Gap and some of the other trials in the park! Running it in the dark must of been nerve racking with all the off camber drop offs on some of those descents . Hope to get back out there again!

I actually ran it in reverse so it was some off-camber climbs. I couldn't tell if I was inches from sliding down 20' or 200' at times. The wife and kids screaming in those circumstances definitely helped reinforce the tension

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