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Winches on Mall Crawlers?

ECP

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This is Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA, the steepest public street in the lower 48. Notice the cobblestones, Pittsburgh has a lot of cobblestone streets, other steep streets, potholes and poorly maintained roads. Just living in Pittsburgh and owning a Wrangler should remove the owners from being called Mall Crawlers.
Screenshot_20210529-130720_Google.jpg
Its can't be that bad of a hill, that Town Car made it! ;)
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rickinAZ

rickinAZ

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Yeah, this feels more like a ā€œWhy do people put winches on vehicles that donā€™t meet my expectations of what an off-road vehicle isā€ thread.

I might be one of those people. Daily driver, stock height JLUR on 33s and I have no body damage. 93% of my miles are on pavement. Big 12k Zeon up front.

What you donā€™t see is the 7% of miles not on pavementā€¦ but, it seems like you probably donā€™t get out there or wouldnā€™t be asking these questions.
OP here. Actually my first statement was that I don't get out there at all. To your point, maybe that's why I ask so many dumb questions.
 

roaniecowpony

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I bought a Rubicon and put an aluminum front bumper on it and winch, set it up for flat towing and hauling my dog,, so I could bird hunt out of it. But the only took one big hunt trip before the pandemic hit. So, now it is basicallly a grocery getter. But, I may get to do some hunting out of it this season. Maul crawler? More like Costco crawler.
 

Wabujitsu

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OP here. Actually my first statement was that I don't get out there at all. To your point, maybe that's why I ask so many dumb questions.
Rick, your questions arenā€™t dumb.

Regarding the fallacious assumption that pristine Jeeps arenā€™t driven off-road, I can say that most of the folks I wheel with are meticulous about (1) avoiding body damage, and fixing it quickly if they do damage it; (2) cleaning, buffing, and waxing their Jeeps thoroughly and often. There are tons of Jeeps out there that are driven regularly off-road that look showroom-quality between their adventures. Thatā€™s the rule, not the exception, in my opinion.
 

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My Jeep will never see real off roading. I use my winch when cutting down trees to guide them to fall exactly where i want. What you see driving down the road isn't always what it appears to be.
 

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Ridgway Jeeper

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My Jeep will never see real off roading. I use my winch when cutting down trees to guide them to fall exactly where i want. What you see driving down the road isn't always what it appears to be.
WOW, that seems like a dangerous game... I learned to fall trees from an ex-logger that used to drop around 300 a day for 20 years. There are better ways...
 

aldo98229

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Trail ā€œpin-stripingā€ and minor wheel scuffs are unavoidable if you take your Jeep on a moderately difficult trail.

When I lived in California, rock crawling would damage the wheels and the undercarriage no matter what; on occasion, trails with deep ruts and chutes with tall walls would damage a fender or a body panel.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, overgrown tree branches and roots are the thing. I already got a minor dent on the passenger side doors. Snow is the other ā€œthingā€ here, but snow normally wonā€™t leave visible damage.

You have to be willing to live with some degree of damage if you take your Jeep into the wild.
 

JasonS

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My buddy; who shall remain nameless, but his initials are T. M. Has a rubicon recon, 37ā€™s, 3.5 lift with Falcon top of the line shocks, still bumpers warn, wirelsss winchā€¦ā€¦ wonā€™t take it off roadā€¦. He washes it a lot.
 

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My jeep is absolutely clean and it goes off road, just careful and much cleaning. I've yet to use the winch because of being stuck but it has been extremely useful around the house. Just last weekend I pulled my grandfather's 66 f100 under a carport with a locked up rear drum. Zero problem, couldn't have moved it without.
 

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My buddy; who shall remain nameless, but his initials are T. M. Has a rubicon recon, 37ā€™s, 3.5 lift with Falcon top of the line shocks, still bumpers warn, wirelsss winchā€¦ā€¦ wonā€™t take it off roadā€¦. He washes it a lot.
Tell me you're jealous without telling me you're jealous lol.

We have a few rigs here that are fully kitted up for overlanding but I do not think they actually go anywhere, my guess is they do some kind of instagram photo shoots. Not necessarily the way I'd spend money, but it's not my money so meh...my kids think they look cool.
 

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Col_Sanders

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You'd probably think mine is a mall crawler if you see it driving around, but take a close look at my bumpers, wheels, tires, and sliders and you'll see the tell tale signs of wheeling. They are all scratched, dented, and gouged from rocks.

I had a couple guys tell me I need to get it out and get some dirt on it right after I got home from EJS at Moab.
 

Wabujitsu

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You'd probably think mine is a mall crawler if you see it driving around, but take a close look at my bumpers, wheels, tires, and sliders and you'll see the tell tale signs of wheeling. They are all scratched, dented, and gouged from rocks.

I had a couple guys tell me I need to get it out and get some dirt on it right after I got home from EJS at Moab.
All you have to do is look at my flattened tailpipe šŸ˜
 

DwnSth

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Both of these get off road as often as possible. Part of the best thing about jeeps is that they clean up and look great. Guess they look a little mall crawlerish with winches when all shiney :)

Jeep Wrangler JL Winches on Mall Crawlers? 20210924_163147
 

JustDave

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WOW, that seems like a dangerous game... I learned to fall trees from an ex-logger that used to drop around 300 a day for 20 years. There are better ways...
I've been doing this for 15 years. It involves snatch blocks etc to make sure the Jeep is far from the danger zone. It's safer than it sounds.
 

OllieChristopher

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What boggles my mind and I cannot comprehend is why anyone would even buy a Jeep Wrangler and add a winch that never sees off highway? There is zero reason for it.

Since I learned how to drive I have never once purchased or considered a vehicle only to deliberately avoid using it for what is was designed for.

In the dozens of forums and thousands posts not one person has given a reason for this purchasing behavior other than they "like the look".

Even if I was filthy rich with money to burn I could only purchase a vehicle for function and capability.

It's a disservice to clog up a Jeep Wrangler forum with threads such as this one.
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