How you got into 4 Wheeling

[DRaider90]

I was brought up in a construction business family, and the first piece of equipment I got to operate was a 743B Bobcat skidsteer loader. From there it was a snowball effect, till I was reading 4 wheeling magazines and waiting for the day I had my own truck. The more time I spent in the mud/dirt operating skid loaders over the course of my life, the more I was interested in wheeling. It may sound weird to some, but hey it is what got me wheeling.

It even led to a Bobcat collection:

My ultimate classic Chevy Tow Rig:

Gotta have the towmaster trailer, complete with chains and adjustable/sliding ramps:

Bobcat 7753, vertical lift path loader. This was my favorite loader of all time (what became to be the 773 etc):

Bobcat 743B, looks just like the first Bobcat I got to drive many moons ago:

Bobcat 610, a great classic. I never got to operate a 610 but I thought it was a cool looking more classic loader.

Cat 375 Excavator, outside of Bobcats I did to get operate backhoes, trackhoes (aka excavators),terramites, and other equipment. Had to at least get one heavy equipment model.

AM General Hummer. This is what operating equipment lead me to. The dream of owning a Hummer. The model has working seat belts, working steering wheel, full metal construction, lots of detail, etc etc.

I came close to owning an used 95 Hummer, black 4 door with tan interior. I even test drove it, which was a blast. Its a long story but its obvious I didn't end up with it.

So how did you get into 4 wheeling?

 

[**89mightymax**]

i got into 4wheeling when i first got my licence. i started trail riding with my buddies. its great i love it. i love taking a day out and just hangin out with friends and having a good time. but the way gas prices are now its starting to get harder. but i still do what i can

 

[chris]

I started wheeling when I got my first 4wd when I was 18. Technically, I may have started a little earlier than that, but it was only as a passenger. As a young teen I was mostly into muscle cars; primarily mustangs. Most of my early wheeling was illegal, but I was a young pup and didn't know any better. It was always about mud! Didn't even know how to get to URE. I had heard about it, but thought it was just for four wheelers. I used to think back then that it'd be nice to have a place to wheel where I didn't have to worry about cops. Boy, how young and dumb I was. Wheeled for several years before I sold the truck and then didn't really wheel much at all until about a year ago. I must say my experience now is 350 billion times better than it ever was as a teen.

 

[Bullardbs]

started going with a guy I went to school with he had a wrangler 6.5 lift 35s and I had a 2wd s10 went everywhere he went and some places he could not. But got smart and got a 86 bronco and have had several others after that.

 

[ord.sgt.26NC]

I suck Eli. I built ships and would tote them to the river and shoot them with a 22.I spent 6 months building the frigate U.S.S. United States complete with rigging and sails.Huge model man.It didn't fair too well.It rolled and sank after the 6th cci stinger passed through the hull.Guess the ropes holding the cannons in place broke and all the rolling artillery shifted to the low side and caused her to flop.Classic fail of a sailing war ship.

 

[BIGWOODY]

81 1/2 ton chevy...10 bolt /12 bolt(both open), built 400, on 44's , 1987.I was 17 and it was tits at the time. There wasn't a mud hole in forsyth county I didn't sniff out.
I took a 7 year vacation from wheeling and picked it back up in 94', and now I'm on vacation from it again!

 

[Copasetic]

I've been in it since I was in diapers. We would always go down to the hunting club which is about 3 miles back in the swamp every weekend. I always looked forward to going every weekend with my Dad. I've only owned one car as a primary vehicle for 6 months in high school. I've always had at least one 4wd. Just a few short years ago I got introduced into the trails and rocks scene. I'm begining to hate mud now.

 

[UTfball68]

My interest didn't really come from anyone...it just always appealed to me. I haven't and don't do anything really extreme because I haven't had the money for upgrades or fixes in the budget. But I did start out with a stock 87 Bronco and have slowly been buying and selling more capable rigs over the last 4-5 years.

 

[rockcity]

I've always liked big equipment, etc. and loved to operate it when I was a kid. I wanted something 4x4 and with a soft top. At 15, I was on my way to buy a sammy when I saw a CJ5. Ended up buying the Jeep. I sanded it and painted it. new top, new tires, new interior, etc. etc. Enjoyed taking it a few places in the mountains around Hickory. first real 4x4 related goodie was a Ramsey Pro 9000 I picked up local used. Then I moved up to lockers and then lift, gears, tires. In high school I joined up with CTB for a few years and really enjoyed my time. Some of the guys I met back then I still keep in touch with to this day. I had such a great time with the CTB, wheelin' has stuck with me and become something I enjoy. So, I guess I can say I've been doing it for about 17 years or so. Not too long but being 32, thats more than 50% of my life span

There was a span while I was in college where I didn't go wheelin' much but helped start up the SAE Baja program at ECU to help fill the void.

 

[StretchASU]

Didn't have a rig in HS but somehow ended up being the one that knew how to fix/install everyone else's junk so I was always around wheelin'. Went mudwhompin' a bunch with some friends in HS then in college I got my 99 4Runner and got it pretty capable for an IFS truck (TRD/Land Cruiser Hybrid Lift, Rear locker, Full budbuilt skids, Sliders etc). Still want to buy that thing back. Being 40 minutes from Mtn City became addicting. Have gone through a bunch of projects since, but am on a slight vacation til I decide what I want to build/buy next. Until then I will continue to drag the 4wheeler and dirtbike out to the trails and hang out.

 

[lugnut]

When I was a kid the guy down the road had a jack up Golden Eagle with the side pipes and all. It was tall and loud. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. A real Tonka toy. That started my love of Jeeps. My wheeling started out of necessity to get back in the woods or to a good fishing hole. Never really been into the whole crawling thing, not yet anyway.

 

[Jody Treadway]

I took a 7 year vacation from wheeling and picked it back up in 94', and now I'm on vacation from it again!

Greg, get a $500 XJ and come race ECORS. It's more fun than I've ever had wheeling in the past.

You know you want to...

 

[BIGWOODY]

Greg, get a $500 XJ and come race ECORS. It's more fun than I've ever had wheeling in the past.
You know you want to...

it's in the works...

I really need to finish my budget (that's a laugh) Jimmys 4x4 buggy.

 

[Franklin]

My parents left the keys in a 86 4x4 Ranger when they went on vacation so I blame them. I was 15 at the time and I think she was 17

 

[drkelly]

My parents left the keys in a 86 4x4 Ranger when they went on vacation so I blame them. I was 15 at the time and I think she was 17

LOL!

I bought a 74 CJ5 for dirt cheap back in high school because I wanted to go wheeling. It had been rolled over, and was all beat up, so was perfect for a teenager wanting to wheel. I wheeled it in all the local mud holes and crap. It had 32" retreaded mudders on it . I sold it after about a year of fun. I think it was about 4 years later I bought a 76 GMC Jimmy for dirt cheap that I brought back from the grave, and did the same dumb local wheeling stuff for about two years. The truck was on its last legs, and wouldn't pass inspection, so I gave the truck to John Thomas and it became the original Stump Jumper, complete with log bumpers and everything. Over the following year or two he got HEAVILY into wheeling, going places like URE and Tellico. He talked me into building my 85 Bronco into a wheeling/camping rig. That was about 8 yrs ago, and I have been wheeling regularly since. I picked up a stock Samurai about 5 years ago just to fool around with, and have slowly built it up and it is now my favorite rig to wheel.

 

[Zachs]

My brother started working at High Country 4x4 (and later purchased it with another fellow employee) when I was in HS, so that got me interested...
Dad bought a 71 FJ40 and an 81 CJ-5 and I drove the hell out of both of those as I turned 16. I got the family Suburban and we put a brushguard and steps on it...the usual for back then. Then I bought a 99 Tacoma TRD and started "hooking it up" with all kinds of grills, lights, roll bars and what not. Then got rice with a Celica, but was always envious of my brothers TJ.

After college I got a real job and had enough money to get a TJ and keep the Celica (now de-riced)...immediately lifted it, tires, locker in the front, etc... Now I'm looking at putting a 609 in the rear and a spyder9 front with a D300 and all that goodness...already got the 60 housing for the front and the D300+4:1 gears and clocking ring, so I'm off to a start.

 

[Zebbie]

I like this thread! Good idea draider90!!

Have an older house which needed a lot of renovations. I got real tired of spending 15 min in the home depot parking lot trying to figure how if fit materials in my 4 door millennia. So 2 years ago a bought a Tacoma 4x4. my buddy has been wheeling at URE for years so i asked him to take me so i could see what the truck could do. i was hooked the first second on the trail. i love getting out of the house, camping and driving the trails.

 

[rock-lucky]

I was 3yrs old when my dad first took me wheeling. At age 5, I was in preschool and wrote that my favorite toy was a 4x4 truck. My mom still has the paper. I got the bug from that point one. It has been getting progressively worse. I have now got my wife hooked since high school. I really enjoy the sport and will continue to do it as long as I can do it.

 

[upnover]

Way back when I was a kid, I hunted with my dad. He had an old 48 Dodge truck, 2WD. We were in a hunting cub and we got stuck. AN old Scout come up the road and hooked to us and pulled us out with little effort. I was hooked.
When I turned 16 I got a 48 Willy's, and the rest is a long story, A never ending story!

 

[burrellsjeep]

My first car was a 91' Geo Tracker 4x4 , One of the hottest girls in my high school came up to me in the school parking lot one day after school and said "do you ever go out mudding?" granted this was one of the only times she had spoken to me, So of course I responded "oh yeah, all the time". So she asked me when we could go, That weekend a couple of us went out on my uncles farm land and got stuck, had to get my buddy in his K5 to pull us out. Damn thing was gutless, 6 inches of mud and it was bogged down. But hell that was the fun of it then. I totaled it 3 - 4 months later, Got a Trans am and missed it for a while. Sold the Trans Am and got a Honda ( I was doing a lot of traveling and the Trans was killing me on gas), Traded my father in law in 2000 for the 97 TJ I have now. Got married in 2001 had a "guys" weekend before the wedding, we decided to go and see what Uwharrie was all about. Never been to an OHV til then, Stock TJ 2.5 liter on 31s, Was one of the funnest trips ever, we wheeled the snot out of it. Made the trip an annual event this is the 9th year, Been hooked ever since, The wife has told me I am never allowed to sell that TJ, But she never said I couldn't rebuild it.

 

[stevehayden]

I got into wheeling when my grandfather had a wagonneer back in 77. Then I got transfered with the Coast Guard to Alaska in 80 so I bought a brand new J10 and drove it from Connecticut to Alaska all the way up the haul road to the north slope.

 

[Chuckman]

My Dad had a 67 CJ5, 70 CJ5, 72CJ5 all with 304's, used only to pull around a firewood trailer and get around in the snow- been riding in them since I was crapping my diapers. He sold the last one when I turned 15 so that I WOULDNT be able to drive it- right out from under me. I was SURE that I would get it as my first car as it just sat there most of the time. He sold that unmolested beauty that I lusted for so much on a sunny spring day and while I was about to cry from disbelief he gave me a brand spanking new snapper lawn mower (28" rear engine mowers were the $hit back in the day) and told me that I had no excuses not to work and to get my own, but I would have to work for it, not drop my grades, and that I couldnt have one with a v8. that summer I worked my ass off and most days made a $hit-ton more $ than I do now (taxes and all). The next summer, right before my sophomore year of high school, I went out and paid $5k cash for a 84 CJ7 with a hardtop and 31's. oh, yeah, that was IT. he was happy that I was safer with the 4.2 but better yet taught me that you WORK to get what you want.
I beat that little blue CJ all through high school and 4 years at ASU, rode all the trails you could think of and met my wife while working on it at a buds house while in college. it saw me through many girlfriends, many a lap on Stratford rd in WS on hot summer nights, lots of late night runs at Globe, missed classes while stuck in the woods, and once damn near killed me, but most importantly it taught me how to work my ass off for what I want. but the best part was it was MINE to play with, keep up, put gas in, insure, and maintain. how many 16 year-olds can/could say that?

thanks Pops.

 

[brokeass4runner]

Bought my fresh 4Runner right after high school and took it up to Kyle at 4WP to get a sweet roof rack, lights, and my mall crawling certification. Kyle said eff that, that's my old 4Runner, you're going to head to Crackers Neck with us and learn how to wheel. Flopped the shit out of it and never looked back.

 

[ml4x4buggy]

we lived on a 40 acre farm. i was 9 dad bought a 56 chevy cut the back out made a pickup. i learned to drive it in the mud working on junk ever since.i got stationed in cali and bought a 78 fj40. drove the rubicon serritrek courtrite lake. it was on i built a 76 camero on 44s with a 60 14 bolt combo it was boss here in the mud ran at fouroaks year ago. got out when the biog dollars came in cant run with 100,000 dollar motors that was 10 years ago . had a xj and bronco since then but nothing built. just bought a cj5 6cyl, 3 speed, locked 44 30 combo and a 89 yj 6cyl, 5 speed, 30 35 combo locked at both ends. had a blast at ure the 3rd we now have a small group of 5 hanging out

 

[72Rockcruiser]

Bought my fresh 4Runner right after high school and took it up to Kyle at 4WP to get a sweet roof rack, lights, and my mall crawling certification. Kyle said eff that, that's my old 4Runner, you're going to head to Crackers Neck with us and learn how to wheel. Flopped the shit out of it and never looked back.

That 4runner was my introduction to wheeling also. Mud bogging in construction sites and power lines. Young and dumb, ha ha. I sold it to a buddy in Toyota school and bought my first Land Cruiser, a 72 FJ40(hence the screenname). Been all dowhill since then. I think that thing has been flopped by everyone who has owned it since the original owner I bought it from. He would probably cry if he saw it now.