Was just looking for something in my closet this morning and found some pictures of my parents old XJ and their Land Rover. Just got to thinking that thats what prolly got me into wheeling in the first place when I was a little kid.

The XJ was a like 1990, they never modified it or anything but we would go for drives on like seasonal roads and stuff, occasionally a little bit of muddy or rocky stuff but nothing crazy. The drives were more for scenic purposes than for offroading itself. But I was only like 4 and I didnt know the difference, I thought it was the coolest thing ever, I loved going on trips like that. All the pictures had me with my head out the window looking at stuff.

Then a couple years later they "upgraded" to a Land Rover Discovery, it had a roof rack and like one size over stock BFG AT's on it. Did the same sorts of things with it, I still loved it though. Then a couple years after that when they sold it and bought a Lincoln LS, I was pissed .


Just got me thinking how I ended up wanting a Jeep in the first place. I'm still happy I bought a Jeep and not a Rover though, they cost like 5x as much to modify. Anyone else wheel when they were a little kid?

 

My family acquired a pristine WWII surplus Jeep when I was in Kindergarten back in the 50s. I learned to drive in it off road before driving on road and then drove it in high school. I have had 4WDs since and have never quit driving off road.

 

dad taking us out 4x4ing in the back woods of virginia. i remember doing river crossings and having to stand on the seat because water was in the cabin of the old bronco he had. that and later, in the late 80s, going in the wrangler on emerald isle in north carolina.


and of course, driving the hmmv in the military didn't help either.

 

back when i was five or six our grandpa gave my sister his old 74 ramcharger, so we would hit the lower trails in the black hills with it (we avoided the higher up ones because the truck had just started to develop its overheating problem), plus it didn't help that most of my uncles had 4wd rigs and jacked up trucks also. im still driving that old ramcharger today(most of its rusted away but its still mostly there ) and i dont think i would ever trade it even for a lifted xj

 

My first and only XJ got me into it.I went down a service road and off the rr tracks and was hooked.I've allways wanted a lifted Jeep and finally have it .At first I thought they just looked cool til I found out you can accually use them everywhere.I have only been wheeling for about a year and I'm 37.I'll proly wheel til I die now.Wonderful and expensive hobby though.It's a great bonding experience for the whole fam.

 

My first 4WD was an FJ-40 Land Cruiser to go play in the woods and snow.

Then as my camping turned more towards remote locations i bought a ScoutII for a trip to Northern Maine in 88. Drove as a daily till it rotted apart.

Bought an immaculate 2 door XJ as my daily driver in 95, built it for a trip to Colorado in 98. Rolled it in 00 at Tellico, bought and built my current rig.

 

My dad was into wheeling when I was born..

Started out in a car seat in his '78 K5 Blazer on 44's.....

It's in my blood..

 

i wish my parents were like that. as i am still 17 and in high school still this limits what i can do as far as wheeling. my buddies that are all mostly older them me got me into it. even though that only had 2wd f150s and s10's it was still fun. all the good times that we had at sand pits and gravel yards really got me into it. so i decided to buy a cherokee 4 door 4x4 and join them. plus the fact that they are really fun in 15 to 20 inches of snow.

 

My dad took me to Moab in '99 and '00 before he died. best time of my life. Once i saw my sister's XJ with 35s, i was hooked.

 

Grew up with my father having a 1981 4wd Toyota Pickup... then he got a 1985 Jeep CJ7.. I have just always been around 4wd vehicles and have seen how they can perform when properly equipped and driven.

 

My dad is a mechanic in the 4 corners. He always had a 4x4 and we usually took them to Moab or to Silverton and Ouray or on the occasional family reunion to Buena Vista. His 4xs included a Jeepster Commander named Igore, an 84 toyota pickup, a ?? Fazda with a 2.8 V6 swap and eventually a 87(?) XJ. Of all of them, his XJ was his favorite. When I was 16 I followed suit with an 85 Toyota XtraCab. I was in love, but I finally had to sell it cause gas was so expensive ($1 to $1.20). When I got married my wife had an 89 xj, which I commandeered and lifted. It was sold when gas was high again ($1.30) and when I finally got the chance I bought my 2001 a couple years back. It is lifted about 6" and sits on 32's. I don't drive as far and gas is no longer much of an issue with me. I love taking my kids camping and 4wheeling in it now, and so do they. It has begun again!

 

It's in the blood. I grew up in Murphy, NC (Tellico Country!!!!!.....RIP) and both sides of my family are avid outdoor people. My grandpas had varieties of Trucks, Jeeps, Scouts and Broncos. My dad and uncles followed suit and that was how we had family outings...4x4in, hunting and fishing. As some of you have seen, I recently "inherited" the '73 Bronco that my dad bought the winter before I was born to begin to restore it and wheel it (none of this sell it on CL or Ebay for $20k).

So like I said..wheelin is in the blood and hopefully my daughters will keep it alive

 

my dad would take me on some mild offroading in his 93 toyota, then i learned to drive that and it was all downhill from there....hooked

 

my dad had a Landrover pickup when I was 8 or 9. We lived in Iceland at the time and he was a member of some rag-tag offroad group. Nothing overly modified just a bunch of guys out havin' fun. Eventually we sold the Rover and moved back to the states and that was pretty much it. That was back in the 80's.

Back in '08 my boyfriend was re-united with an old ****** CJ3a he had worked on as a high school student back in the 90's. He was out driving it in town and ran across somebody in a local Jeep club. We started hanging out with the club and heard tales of all of their offroading adventures. It sounded like a lot fun but we weren't about to offroad the ******. We finally bought the ZJ last month just so we'd have something to knock around and wheel with the group in. It was still bone stock on the one trip it took, so we rode with other people the whole weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and the rest is history.....

 

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