went wheelin in a jeep for the first time

[big dan]

and I fell asleep cause I got so bored. some friends from school called me and told me that they were goin muddin with some locals and wanted me to go. I was worried about getting my truck stuck since its stock with 32" buckshot mudders and I dont know the area. showed up at the guy's house to find two stock jeeps with 31" mudders. we stood around talking for a little while about how deep all the mudholes were and how much fun it was gonna be.

heres a little background on what Im used to, I drove an 84 3/4ton locked with 7in lift and 35s. I used to take this truck to competitions where it was common to have water come up my windshield and in my doors. then I rolled and smashed the cab and am starting over with this new truck.

through the whole trip the guys were screaming at each other, "dont go through that hole, nobody can make it through that one." they were hitting MUD PUDDLES at about 30mph so they "wouldnt get stuck." several times I heard them say "man Im glad I got a jeep, these things will go through anything." when I asked they didnt even know what lockers were. after about an hour I got tired of all the "how cool jeeps are" talk and splashing through the mud puddles that I fell asleep. at the end of the ride they asked if I had fun and I laughed and said "I ride my bicycle through deeper mudholes than that."

I cant wait to get my truck built so I can show them jeepers how to wheel. these guys are just the kind of people that make me not like jeeps.

 

[shaun89]

haha thats an awesome story, sounds like some of the kids around here i know, except he has a mazda b4000.

 

[bigblazer87]

I've got a number of people around here like that; most are Heepers, but there are some others in Furds and then some IFS Chevy's. All of them think they're going wheeling even though they're just driving down dirt/gravel paths (illegally, mind you) and going over some bumps. Then they come to school the next day boasting about how "sick" it was and how one of them almost got stuck in this 3' mud hole. Stupid...

 

[85mudr]

Thats as funny as a guy around here with a Xtera. 6" lift and 35's saying that he can out wheel me and that my chevy was ****. We went out to a pit i now well and i asked him what have you done performance wise? he said i have a snorkel and a Cb.I Told him ok lets roll dont go right a dually dodge got stuck. Whats he do, go right and all that was left was the top of his roof and half the tailgate.
( the dodge was on 42 and was an diesel with 513 gears )

 

[goldwing2000]

after about an hour I got tired of all the "how cool jeeps are" talk and splashing through the mud puddles that I fell asleep.

Makes me think of Billy Bob Thornton in John Cusack's car in the movie "Pushing Tin".

 

[big dan]

right now the same guys are building an old willys flat fender which I will admit is a pretty cool jeep but its got some issues. still has tooth pick axles and 35s and an aluminum bumper. they were discussing how jeep was owned by ford and chevy at one time. one of them said he had a jeep that was made from ford chevy and amc parts. I know that its possible to transplant the parts but he was meaning factory. after that trip I got some major motivation to start building my truck.

 

[muddermilitia]

Here's a question to ask them and see if they are true jeepers. Which auto company built the first "jeep"? here's a clue, its not ford and its not willys

 

[big dan]

so who is it? I remember hearing something about a company called gp maybe? anyways, Id like to at least know the right answer so I dont look like a complete idiot.

 

[big94gmc]

Here's a question to ask them and see if they are true jeepers. Which auto company built the first "jeep"? here's a clue, its not ford and its not willys

OOH, good trivia! I always thought F*rd was the original. Humm.....

 

[muddermilitia]

Bantam made the first prototype "jeep" for the military, the military then asked other car companies for prototypes. Ford and Willys both made protoypes. I forgot what Bantam called their vehicle, but the ford was the gp and the willys was the ma.

Willys won the contract because their motor had the most power, but they liked ford's design better. So willys came out with the mb which looked much like ford's gp but had more power. The U.S. got in the war and willys couldn't make jeeps fast enough so the military went to ford and asked them to make jeeps as well. So ford started producing the gpw.

The bantam prototypes are very hard to find as well as the willys ma prototype. The fords gp are a little easier to find, but I believe they made under 3,000. Very few were 4-wheel steer! My dad owns three ford gps!

 

[cbbr]

Here's a question to ask them and see if they are true jeepers. Which auto company built the first "jeep"? here's a clue, its not ford and its not willys

You mean the BRC?

 

[goldwing2000]

Actually, according to the History Channel, Bantam's design was the absolute best but they were such a small company that they didn't have the capacity to fill the order, so it was farmed out to Willys-Overland and Ford for actual production.

Both Willys and Ford ended up making their own design changes but none of them were as good as the original. Especially the 4-wheel independent suspension on the Ford. That was just a death trap!

 

[BizeeB65]

See I have actually grown to respect the jeepers here in KY, cause they ACTUALLY BUILD thier rigs... now you do get a handful of retards that spend 30K on a rubicon, and expect to follow me in my K5 in the trail... might as well flat tow em through a day of wheeling... but on the other hand, I personally know a guy that has done an incredible job of building his cherokee. And that damn thing will GO.

Anyways... yea, there are the typical stupid heepers out there, but respectable ones exist too.

 

[79ON40s]

i went out goofing around at local spot thats known for huge mud holes, and ran across a couple of kids with two stock jeeps with buick tires on them, as they going trough this small hole and videotaping it, on what we call the "lower level" i told them about a huge hole (small pond) on the upper level that i could get through but i doubted they could. so being proud of their "built for offroad vehicle" they said they would do it. both of them got burried to the door handles. they asked me to pull them out, and i agreed as longs as they got video of my 3rd gen 4runner pulling them out

 

[big dan]

well there are a few jeepers around here too that I have a lot of respect for. two in particular that I wheel with. its a guy and his son and they are both stand up guys. they have both done a lot to help me out and actually built their jeeps too, even though you can hardly call them jeeps. one is a custom frame with all chevy 1-ton parts and a jeep body and the other is a 3/4 ton dodge with a jeep body. I still give em a hard time though. the ones that get me though are the ones that I went wheelin with the other day. the kinda guys that think a stock jeep will outwheel any vehicle because "thats what they are made for."

 

[big dan]

one other thing that Im a little embarrassed about, my dad is one of those jeepers that thinks they are the ultimate offroad machines. but I dont give him too much crap cause his dd is a 3/4 ton chevy. he doesnt really use it for trails and such but we have taken it through some pretty nasty stuff down logging roads to get to the firewood and then drove it back out loaded down.

 

[sandawgk5]

right now the same guys are building an old willys flat fender which I will admit is a pretty cool jeep but its got some issues. still has tooth pick axles and 35s and an aluminum bumper. they were discussing how jeep was owned by ford and chevy at one time. one of them said he had a jeep that was made from ford chevy and amc parts. I know that its possible to transplant the parts but he was meaning factory. after that trip I got some major motivation to start building my truck.

Jeeps were made up of parts from all manufacturers at one time.

My Dad had an 86 Grand Wagoneer and it had a GM Delco Alt, Motorcraft AC, A 4.2l Straight 6, a 727 Torqueflight and a 208 Tcase Drivers drop Dana 44 and a Dana 35 rear.

It really was kind of a Bastard Vehicle but it was quite capable as far as a stock vehicle goes. It was pretty reliable also we drove it from Ft. Meade FL to Cape May NJ when my brother graduated bootcamp and it did not miss a beat.

My Brother (Enginenine) actually took the axles and drivetrain and put them in his CJ. He's got a 360 for it now.


Ira

 

[goldwing2000]

All
Makes
Combined

 

[muddermilitia]

Actually, according to the History Channel, Bantam's design was the absolute best but they were such a small company that they didn't have the capacity to fill the order, so it was farmed out to Willys-Overland and Ford for actual production.

Both Willys and Ford ended up making their own design changes but none of them were as good as the original. Especially the 4-wheel independent suspension on the Ford. That was just a death trap!

Actually the 4-wheel indepedent suspension ford jeep didnt come out until the sixtys. Yea the Bantam was called the BRC, I couldnt remember the name. I actually heard that Checker Cab company came out with a prototype, but I only think they made one. I have seen the bantam, willys, and ford protoypes all together in the same place with my own eyes!

Chet Krause,the guy that used to own Krause publications(they make Old cars weekly, hemmings motor news,etc.) has a 4-wheel steer Ford GP.

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

All
Makes
Combined

I had a 79 CJ-7 that was a definite mongrel but it had a 304 and set of BFG 33's on it. I had a blast driving that thing in the summer.

I like my Chevy for all around driving and 4 wheeling but I have fun with other makes of 4x4 as well. Eventually I would like to get a Dodge WM-300 or M-37 to rebuild. My DD has always been a Chevy truck but the wheeler I have owned the longest is a 42 Ford GPW. I bought when I was 16. I upgraded to "the much stronger" T-90 trans from a T-84 and someone long before me swapped in a more reliable and stronger 19 spline Dana 41 rear axle in place of the spicier 25-2. It still runs the 134 ci L-head engine with a 1bbl and points in the dizzy. Its good for about 60 hp @ 2800 rpm. It has a set of 7.00 x 16 Gates or Armstrong tires in place of the 6.00 16 NDT's and is an absolute blast to idle it up hills and over obstacles that these "trail rated" owners can't get their Rubicons up. I learned a lot about driving finesse in that rig as well as the 10,000 ways to use a hi-lift.