Tripp pretty much got it. The buggy was cheap and had some issues and was to small for me. The work needed to make it larger would have involved reworking 90% of the cage and just not worth it for a cheap rig. I didn't plan to sell it right away but a guy offered me more money than I had in it so I figured why not. After putting 30 miles on it at Windrock a few weekends ago I am glad I did. My back hurt for days after riding it in it. Ill get another buggy or dedicated rig at some point, that I fit, and with an auto.
A trail rig is the way to go. Why I ever spent the money on 3 Jeeps ill never know. I have no issues sharing cost. Between truck, trailer and buggy with upgrades and replacing parts I was in about $16,500-17,000 and my buggy walked most obstacles as easy as people with twice as much money in their rig as my entire set up. How many people here (me included) will, or have, spend more than $16,500 on their Jeep between monthly payments and mods?
"What did you learn that you can share?"
-This is all coming from someone who has done it, who has been the new guy, made the mistakes, this is not a personal attack on any club, company or person. This is my opinion on it, having done it, if I offend anyone or say something you don't like, sorry, just an opinion. All my questions are rhetorical, no looking to debate my opinion.
1. If you wheel your daily driver you are retarded. Period. I did it for years and it all changed when I purchased a 97' Honda Civic and had something else to drive Mon-Fri. What are your plans when your jeep breaks? If you are one of the lucky few with friends with trucks and trailers then you are good (unless your in Kentucky, then they may say screw you). What about if you don't? Uhaul isn't open late on Sundays and even if you could get your rig back to the trail head and loaded up on someones trailer, you still have a broke rig and no ride to work the next morning. Ever seen a tow bill from wrecker? Whats the closest Jeep dealer to Windrock? Its something to think about. I honestly never did and looking back now I guess the best I could have done is left my jeep at the park, caught a ride with someone and then have to borrow a truck, get a trail (probably Uhaul) then go back and get the Jeep but it would be a day or 2 later and THEN have to fix it... So we are talking a week minimum without a DD...
2. Tow pigs and trailers are awesome and should be EVERYONE's end goal in this hobby. With that said, its one more vehicle to keep up on, replace parts and modify. You also have a trailer to keep up on and check over before every ride. Its gets $$$ at this point. Diesel for the truck, 15 qt oil changes, fuel filters, trailer tires + whatever your trail rig needs. But going back to
all you need to do is get your trail rig to a place where you can get the tow pig and you can get home and drive the pig to work tomorrow. Its a great piece of mind to have. I use to be the guy who said "look at me hanging with the big guys and I don't even tow".... yeah that's a horrible way to look at it. Its more like, "hey look at me taking my DD that I am still paying for on the same hard trail that guys who don't care about damage, monthly payments or a ride home."
3. If you are afraid to change parts on your jeep, if replacing an axle shaft or a drive shaft scares you then you should NEVER get on a trail. This goes back to
. Things break, no matter what high dollar part you have on your rig, it can break. We are tossing 1,000's of lbs around on rocks with lots of moving parts, eventually the unplanned will happen. When I first started this hobby, other than bolting on engine parts and wiring sound systems I had no real mechanical experience. I was lucky something didn't break bad back then. I don't hate on 4WP or Allsouth, I shop at 4WP being down the street from my house, my dad goes to AllSouth with his truck from my recommendation on them... But unless the part you are getting installed requires some crazy tool, like a gear set up, or fabrication, you should be figuring out how to do it at your house, alone or with friends. Because when you are on the trail, 4WP and AllSouth may not be there to get you home, now what? Plus, when you install your own parts you start to acquire tools that you can have on the trail to fix with. How many of you know what size the nut is, and have the socket to fit it, to remove off the end of the front axle shaft?
Topic: BigJerm ? (Read 720 times)
