getting out of wheeling?

stone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
charleston
anyone ever quit, sold the rig and parts and then get back into it later? now that i live in charleston i have no time to finish the buggy. i like 500 miles from anywhere to wheel. and i think i am losing the love because i only went 2 times in the past year. and one i was riding with a freind. i am just wondering if i get out if there is a chance i would get back into it one day? tell me your experience.
 
Many people goes through this :) Personally I've been through it twice..

1st was when i transitioned from my DD TJ on 33s to zuke-buggy trailer queen... That put off the trails for over a year.. I wheeled it 3 times relized MY wants out of 4x4 had changed...

2nd I started building my basic 1ton jeep. Sturdy but drivable.. I can still drive it to work and around town, yet wheel some hard stuff..

Distance - It sucks.. until some places open up local it sucks equally for everyone...

Just show up and ride along... Drive your car and hitch a ride.. I found I actually liked riding, having some skilz always helps someone, spotting, winching, wrenching etc... And its not your junk so you don't get as excited about the damage :)

But anyway, bigest thing for me was getting back into somthing I can drive to work if i feel like it...
 
I took a year off this year, spend money on other projects other then jeeps, went on a vacation that had nothing to do with wheeling. It sure has helped me decide where to go and what to do with off roading in the future.
 
been out for ~2.5 years... gathering parts to build up my 2wd yota right now... too bad i have other hobbies like rc cars and saltwater fish tanks to take my money :lol:
 
do what i did and get out by selling everything!!!!!!

The sport was to extreme and too demanding and i was not making enough money to stay in it and my rig was too nice to just bash up and destroy. So i sold the jeep and trailer and every last item that had to do with it. That way there was no temptations. Now i just enjoy watching everyone else wheel and break and bash up there stuff.:lol: :driver: :beer: The only way I would get back into it would be if I win the powerball jackpot and since the chances are 1 out of 146,732,865 I dont think I will have to worry about it. LMAO!!!!!

You can always bum rides off friends. ;) :p Thats what I have to do now.
 
I've been in the business for quite some time, but realistically, in the past 6 years, I've been wheeling like 3 times...

Been working on my buggy, working, school, married life, etc. but never lost the love of it.


Hopefully I'll get the buggy finished and back on the trail soon. Last trail ride was Dixie Run 2003...

You'll be out of it for a bit and if you were made to do it all you're life, you'll start having withdraw symptoms.

Rob
 
This is something Ive been considering a bit over the past few months. I dont' ever have time to wheel, the Jeep isn't very good on the road, and it eats up all of my money. I have too many other hobbies, and I really need to get them in order and get rid of a few. I was starting to get into RC stuff, and decided to step away from it because I still have the real jeep and such. I haven't really decided what to do about the jeep. Since its paid off and reasonably reliable, it doesn't cost me much to own it. However, I can't help but modify it, and everytime I go wheeling, I notice something else that needs changing or fixing. I feel like I am coming to a plateau with the modifications, but I know that will never happen. I will probably keep it forever because I have so much time and labor in it. I don't know how this post helps, but I wanted to share a similar opinion. Also, since I may have contributed to you getting into fourwheeling, I should at least say something if you are thinking about getting out of it.
 
I know some guys that have wheeled HARD every year for 20, maybe 30 years! (Robbie Mozely for example) They love it and it is their primary hobby, their entire family is involved too.

I think that makes a difference for most of us, is whether the significant other enjoys it as much as we do.

I bought my Jimmy in 95, wheeled it 2-3 times a year until 2003. Sold it, bought the YJ, wheeled it 7-10 times a year, sold it in March and currently don't have a wheeling rig...

...but, in June, I went to SFWDA event in Callantee and had a great time, rode with others, but REALLY enjoyed hanging out around the campfire.

For me, it is "less" about trail riding and more about "hanging out", which is either around a big obstacle OR back at the campground that evening.

I personally still plan to send in my club dues so I support the clubs financially and even without a rig I figure I will hit 2-3 rides a year, holding down the right seat of whomever has one open. Riding with others is certainly LESS stressful parts wise, but I have to admit I worry more since I am not in control in those offcamber situations.

My "NEXT" trail rig will be very much like Yager is talking about, built to wheel some AND able to drive to work/around town for fun. His is prob better built than I will be going for (he is 1 ton), I prob will do just enough to clear 33s on a TJ (unlimited rubicon is prob my next rig) Slap on a winch, and done...

The trailable/not fun on streets thing is what finally made me sell the YJ. Was tired of having something I couldn't play with more... you may see the same thing with the BUGGY.

Sam
 
Other than a buggy, I've got a 4x4 F-250 and a 4x4 KJ for mild stuff and the beach. That gets me by until the buggy is done...

But, I'm putting plates on the buggy so I can drive it on the street a little around town...
 
when ever you feel like your losing the love for it, just go ride. there have been times when the project seemed too big and tellico was too far away and then i just went and rod with people and bullshitted at the playground and i got my motivation back
 
Thought about it... The logistics are what gets me. It's a minimum 3-day weekend to go wheel. 1 day there, a day to wheel, and a day back. But this is similar no matter what you're into, if you get towards the extreme end of it, be it motorcycles (road or dirt), trucks, cars, or even things like fishing.

But, the wife isn't going to do track days with me on the bike, and she enjoys wheeling, we just don't have alot of free time right now... (And I don't have any replacement birfs)

But, it's paid for, and it's ready to be used, so we're keeping it. If I find I don't touch it for a year straight, we'll re-address it then.
 
i am supprised to see so many people on here that dont have rigs anymore. i am also supprised that some of you havent wheeled in a long time either. i am unsure of what i will do. i found a boat i like and have consided getting into that since i can use virtually anytime here. but i know if the buggy was finished i would be in it all the time. i havent driven my own rig since september. wow i am pushing 1 year. man i miss the old dd 4runner.
 
stone said:
but i know if the buggy was finished i would be in it all the time.
Click to expand...

There's your answer!
 
DOUGHBOYDD2500HD said:
The sport was to extreme and too demanding and i was not making enough money to stay in it and my rig was too nice to just bash up and destroy. So i sold the jeep and trailer and every last item that had to do with it. That way there was no temptations. Now i just enjoy watching everyone else wheel and break and bash up there stuff. The only way I would get back into it would be if I win the powerball jackpot and since the chances are 1 out of 146,732,865 I dont think I will have to worry about it. LMAO!!!!!
You can always bum rides off friends. ;) :p Thats what I have to do now.
Click to expand...
what are all those ouverson parts and the 6.0 litre for then?:confused: :popcorn:
 
Rob said:
I took a year off this year, spend money on other projects other then jeeps, went on a vacation that had nothing to do with wheeling. It sure has helped me decide where to go and what to do with off roading in the future.
Click to expand...

So where are you going and what are you doing? :driver:

I had some sort of ephiphany after going to Paragon last spring. I bought a tow rig and a trailer and hauled my Jeep up there. Wheeled it pretty hard for 3 days and hauled it home. Then I thought, "is this it?"

I think when you're building along you lose sight of where you're going. You're simply "improving" it. At some point you've "improved" it to the point that it's not much fun to drive on the road so you need another vehicle + trailer just to haul your toy to the place where you can use it. Then you use it, and since it's modded all up you run the "bring spare vehicle" trails. I had a good time but it was all kind of crazy. You have to ponder how the hassle and expense balance out against the fun.

Someone mentioned going on a ride and that really is the cure. The wheeling part is fun, the rest is a pain.
 
Agreed. When I first got my Jeep my thoughts were topless and doorless summer days and something to run on fire roads through national parks and also inclement weather days. Then I went wheeling and needed to get over this or that and made the modifications to do so and the cost just keeps escalating to get over the next this or that. It has caused me to remember what I originally got it for and how far off that track I am. That being said I have no intention of getting out of it but I do plan to change my focus somewhat and try and reign in where I have been headed. My plan is to stay very capable and not too big so I can enjoy it for my original intentions and those things I never thought I would do without making it into a trailer queen.
 
I'm going to fix what is broke, modidfy it and hopefully make it more stable to drive around town, and take easier trails so I don't break all the time.

I'd start over like Mike did, but I don't want to. I can make mine work better.
 
MY STORY

:) I just started going offroading about a year and a half ago. I bought a stock TJ for 13k cash and put about 5k cash into the same day. I thought that is all I would need but after going to URE with a few people and seeing some of the buggies I knew that is what I would want to do. I made a smart "business" decision to save my money (wife approved of that) on trips and small bullshit mods for my TJ and keep it like it is for stuff like URE and the beach and make it a DD. I have only been to URE the last to fathers days and nothing else because I have started a project in TX where we are moving to when we leave here. I started buying stuff for the TJ like hp44 and a dana 60 but sold them and over the last year I have spent all the money my wife will allow (one large purchase a month) on my buggy build in TX. It was a dicision I made based on a lot of factors. I did not want to tear up a 10k Jeep when I could just buy a 2k tube chasis and start a real build.

As of now I bought 404 built portal axles , 39 in Krawlers, wheels and beadlocks, Atlas, coilovers, all the guages, switch panels and stuff like that, I have the New (rebuilt) NV4500, fuel cell, three mastercraft seats (Me, Wife, and son), I have a lot of little shit to like padding, I have bought stuff like all the LED lights for the buggy and the head lights with rock lights too. I have spent a small fortune but in the long run it will be a great investment and a great hobby for me, son, and wife to work on when we go to our ranch. Some of you dont know me well but I am opening an offroad park in TX and my garge/shop is right on the property as well as our house.

What really helped me is sitting down with my wife and explaining to her my goals. looking at how much we use to spend on trips/clothes/fastfood/ and al lthe other crap we spent money on and found if my wife stopped going shopping every weekend and if I stopped gambling (i use to play hold'em at a underground place in New Bern, lost money and won money but mostly lost) So i gave that up and spend the 200-500 dollars a month now on my build. there are months that I dont buy anything and there are months that I order large parts like my Atlas. I have been buying small things lately because the next two things I order are going to be the 350 crate motor and X chasis or one similar (I have been checking Pirate for a good chasis and someone has one for like 999 that my work, not sure which one I am going with yet. I DONT WANT TO BUILT MY OWN CHASIS.

Anyway, this is what I have done to not get so burned out so fast.

Oh, wait, the main reason I started this was because i see everyone with pictures of there jeeps or buggys in the shop and they just sit there for a long time and I did not want to have my Jeep inactive for a prolonged amonth of time. I did not want to just take it somewhere either (allthough CRS did cross my mind :)

I think anyone that is feeling the crunch should sit down and so what I did and you will make a edumacated :) guess based on the information you gather in your "budgeting" of a build.

hope this helps
 
Well I guess this counts... when I lived in NJ it was in Trenton at first, but after I got married we lived in Browns Mills, a small town on the edge of Fort Dix. At that point I had a bone-stock 1988 2WD S10 pickup on 14" wheels, and I'd run that around the dirt (sand) troop trails all over the Fort. This was, of course, WAY pre-9/11. I had fun doing that, but once we moved to NC there was nowhere close by that I knew of, so it was just the DD and general stuff-hauler.

Then the engine gave up a cylinder, and I had to swap it for something else. I'd been just looking for a good old regular Blazer, but found the Jimmy for cheaper than anything else so I bought it. And since it was already lifted and had those 31's on....

And no, I don't plan to try to turn it into a mini-monster. It's just fine like it is, will still get me to and from both URE and work. My $.02.
 
Rob said:
I'm going to fix what is broke, modidfy it and take easier trails so I don't break all the time.
Click to expand...

Wussy! Might as well sell the King Ranch and killer trailer too, you wont need those anymore.:shaking:
 
Quit reading the freakin' mags and go wheel whatcha got! Go wheelin' , don't worry about making every obstacle and impressing everyone. Go to URE 10 times until you can do it all in your unlocked YJ (or whatever) with no problem.
A serious driver with a marginal rig is as fun (or more) to be with as the guy with the $50,000 TJ who has barely seen the trails.
I've been wheelin' since I was 14 years old. It's never gotten out of my blood.
Quit making it so hard, just go hit the trails. It does get old when all you do is talk about it and worry about who has more goodies than you do.
 
It sucks. I tore my buggy apart to build a new one. Got all the pieces but ran out of money to build the hammer powerplant that I crave. Quitting will let you know whether or not its part of your lifestyle or was just a weekend hobby. I cant stand not having something to wheel. I also love to ride and help wrench, and spot, etc, but when you dont have a rig your kind of out of the loop so to speak. Plus the opening of my shop has taking alot of my leisure time away. But when my new buggy is done, its on.
 
come on now reid...ever since you moved to SC you've been a puss about wheelin...

so move on back up here, fire that sombitch up and get back to it


:flipoff2:
 
I question this every morning, right about the time I hit my head on the interior roll cage, on the way to work or school. Then, i address it once again when i realize all the money i have left to spend on my truck to make it perfectly streetable(in my own mind). At this point in my life I can't even afford a trip to URE hardly, so spending all the money on my sas and getting my truck right seems like its been poop'd away. Even with all of this floating through my head, once I hit the trail it seems like everything has been worth it. So right now I'm just trying to tough it out until college is done and I can afford do to some really cool things with the rig. Just tough it out man, times will get better......(at least thats what i keep telling myself!)

Josh
 
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