Mall Crawlers

marvilusone

marvilusone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Location
Charleston, SC
I hate these useless piles of parts. Here I was this morning headed up Hwy 3 coming right past DEI and from a side road out crept a metal flake purple CJ-7 mall crawler. I'm doing 60mph (late for work as usual) and had to slow down to 10mph to avoid rear ending this piece. As I'm following it I notice a few things. A Spring over that just didn't look right for some reason, 3" blocks FRONT! and rear and a rear brake line that was streched tighter than a guitar string. I'm still noticing this thing isn't hardly moving but the motor is laboring away to inch this thing up a very slight incline. It really sounded like this thing still had factory gears in it and was running at least 38's. All I could see out the windshield were lift blocks, brake line and tires. Finally we make it into Mooresville where the POS takes a left headed to the High School(it all made sense now) and when he hit the brakes the whole damn thing looked like it was having a seizure! It was shaking, wobbling and wandering all over the road. Also to finish it off it had a huge Ramsey winch on the front for loading it on the rollback when it busts something going over a curb. I've seen some cobbled together rigs on the trail but there you're mostly only putting yourself at risk. This yahoo was on a public roadway just biding his time till a brake line snaps or a block comes out from the front end and makes a total mess. Just had to vent.
 
yup...build it right, or drive a civic.

on a 4x4, there are no shortcuts for looks.

Things you see on a civic:

LED Tail pipe extension
Fake brake cooling ducts
Fake hood scoops
LED washer nozzles (why?)
Fake chrome rims (those stupid hubcaps)
Fake custom paint jobs...just lay vynal on it!
Ive even seen fake N.O.S. bottles!!!!
fake spoilers
 
I have no problem at all with someone who just wants a nice-looking 4x4 to drive around in. It's no different than having a hot rod.
I don't condone driving one that's unsafe as you described, though.

Don't see why there should ever be any animosity towards 4x4's that aren't taken offroad. So what? If it does what their owners want them to, then all is well.
If it won't do what you would want it to...well, it's not yours, why would you care?
 
I'm with ^^^

I mean i am building a jeep right now that I hope never sees a trail....
 
/\ why i don't understand that concept. what's the point of 4x4 if you never use it?
 
xjsaretheway said:
/\ why i don't understand that concept. what's the point of 4x4 if you never use it?
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Maybe you like the way it looks? The way the interior feels? All the room inside? (if it's an SUV or 4-door truck)

If you're going there, then what's the point of having a fast car that you never take to the race track?
What's the point of having an extra room in your house that nobody ever uses?

Etc, etc.
 
BigRedB2 said:
yup...build it right, or drive a civic.
on a 4x4, there are no shortcuts for looks.
Things you see on a civic:
LED Tail pipe extension
Fake brake cooling ducts
Fake hood scoops
LED washer nozzles (why?)
Fake chrome rims (those stupid hubcaps)
Fake custom paint jobs...just lay vynal on it!
Ive even seen fake N.O.S. bottles!!!!
fake spoilers
Click to expand...

Does not apply :)

I got a jeep that seems to be built ok, minus the fact I need to fix the damn control arm

and a honda that seems to be stock (and needs alot of work... both 99
 
Lol, apparantly is does apply...you built your jeep and not your honda. and from what i have seen, your jeep is built in a safe and useable manner.

i wasnt not insinuating you cant build a truck for looks. i was pointing out that the guy wanted a lift, so he took a short cut and put blocks on the front, and never bothered extending, or even apparantly relocating the break lines. Sounds like stuff my ricer friends used to do...ever see any one try to slot brakes at home?
 
Im with SkyHik5.. I am building a jeep that will never hit the trails. If I want to wheel, i have my toyota. But for putting around town, I'll drive my M38a1 (when its done). There is too much time, and money put into it to take it out and mess it up.
 
xjay said:
did you say jeep, never and trail in the same sentence???????????
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Yep....No offense but if you want a trail Jeep it seems like you take the body, throw everything else away build new shit and bolt the body back down. I miss the Cj7 my dad had when I was a kid, its one of th few good childhood memories I have. Riding down the road in that Jeep with no top, me standing in the backseat hanging over the rollbar getting hit in the face with bugs. I know how unsafe it was and wont let my kids do it, but just working on that Jeep brings back those cool mems...

So Im gonna build a :huggy: mall crawling Jeep (no blocks or banjo brake lines) and cruise....
 
Yea I have a friend around here runing on 52's
D44 front...maybe some of ya'll remember the pics.
I have talked to him about making it right or staying off the road
He has 60's now and saving for a nice steering kit...he doesn't have the power to turn those things offroad anyway. If he wants to ride the roads thats fine with me.

And another story there is a kid that called me the other night about doing a spring over on a YJ. We talked then he came over to the shop. Again we talked a while and he told me he didn't have a job and or little to no money..other than gas money. He was running on a set of bald 35 Sx's. Then I asked him why a spring over...well he say a dude told him it would take 30 min. and just buy taller blocks in the back...and he gave my man some blocks!!! What he failed to tell him is steering mods, brake lines, and 38's on a Dana 30/35 combo was axle breakage waiting to happen. So I asked if you have no money why....because "35's don't get the ladies" and I told him half-a$$ed junk don't get the ladies either.
 
I'm bashing on mall crawlers not on correctly built 4x4's that don't see the trails. My definition of a mall crawler is something that has been built in such a way that it appears to be off roadable but at a closer view you can see it is just a cheap and most times unsafe lifted rig with big tires and flashy paint and bolt on's. Mall crawlers have nothing but sex appeal to try to get looks and girls. I have nothing against a 4x4 that has been built correctly and will never even see gravel but at least it has been built right and could go off road if the owner desired. I myself have owned plenty of 4x4's that had been built up and never went off road but they could've if I wanted them to and all of them were safe and done correctly. Maybe my definition of a mall crawler is different than others but I see them as the black sheep of our community. I will never include a rig that has been built correctly in the mall crawler catagory no matter what it's use or purpose is. Just my opinion.
 
a mall crawler is a vehicle that does all its time at the mall on the pavement instead of on the trail in the dirt. it can be built perfectly or just held together by duct tape, but if it only sees pavement and doesn't have a spec of dirt on it, it's a mall crawler, aka street princess.
 
Ha Mall krawlers are quite possibly my favorite type of 4x4's, right beside the super high horsepower "sub" monster trucks the dudes in the trucks gona wild DVDs are runnin -> My ultimate goal is to get my Jeep to that status one day, then absoultly spank everyone of ya'll rockkrawlers in everything :burnout: :flipoff2:

I'm actually building a super sweet mallkrawler for a good friend right now, 9" worth of stacked blocks in the rear, 3" blocks in the front, super drop Z-link draglink bout 15" total lift on a 87 K10 on 40's with complimentary stock 10 bolts and 3.07s, who wants some :flipoff2:

And yes i'm making it safe you 4x4 nazi's :shaking: anyone who says you cant run stacked blocks in the rear and blocks in the front obviously doesnt know what a beef azz set of home made ladder bars are, and when I'm done with that super drop Zlink draglink if it ever breaks it will be because the entire truck was just dropped off the grand canyon and landed on it :driver:
 
dude beer pong saturday hit you hard
 
xjsaretheway said:
a mall crawler is a vehicle that does all its time at the mall on the pavement instead of on the trail in the dirt. it can be built perfectly or just held together by duct tape, but if it only sees pavement and doesn't have a spec of dirt on it, it's a mall crawler, aka street princess.
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Yep, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, if that's what he owner wants to drive.
 
^^^and I for one have no problemw/ that.
Where I have a problem is when people drive something that is unsafe on the road, because that affects not only you, but potentially me, my family, and thousands of other folks.
You want to build it held together w/ duct tape, fine by me - just e sure to trailer that badboy to the shine 'n show competition.
 
RatLabGuy said:
^^^and I for one have no problemw/ that.
Where I have a problem is when people drive something that is unsafe on the road, because that affects not only you, but potentially me, my family, and thousands of other folks.
You want to build it held together w/ duct tape, fine by me - just e sure to trailer that badboy to the shine 'n show competition.
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True, but the same can be said about every idiot in any type vehicle running around with brakes metal-to-metal, steel belts showing on the tires, etc.
 
Pacfanweb said:
True, but the same can be said about every idiot in any type vehicle running around with brakes metal-to-metal, steel belts showing on the tires, etc.
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Absolutely.
I guess what's added here is the includion into a partiular genre - e.g. it's a 4x4. People see that and it feeds into a stereotype. That reflects poorly on all of us here.
 
I am in complete agreement with all of the posts here, If you want a good looking jeep, with ya know 33's or hell maybe even 35s on it. Just to have as a nice DD and street vehicle, thats cool, but once you cross into having such large tires and a winch, thats when you have crossed the line. I mean, my jeep, is a beater, its not very "pretty" to most, and it isn't exactly reliable, but I knew that when I bought it, decided to lift it, and abuse it. I have often thought about buying another XJ just to have a reliable DD and keeping it stock... Its all about the look to some people though. I just enjoy driving jeeps.
 
You know, when I was young, I used to say the same thing as a lot of you kids posting here.
I'd rag on a friend who had a really nice Jeep but wouldn't wheel it...called it a "grocery getter" or a "show Jeep".
Said I couldn't understand having something like that and not wheeling it.

Now, I see that was a pretty dumb position to take.
All of you will eventually, too.
 
Pacfanweb said:
You know, when I was young, I used to say the same thing as a lot of you kids posting here.
I'd rag on a friend who had a really nice Jeep but wouldn't wheel it...called it a "grocery getter" or a "show Jeep".
Said I couldn't understand having something like that and not wheeling it.
Now, I see that was a pretty dumb position to take.
All of you will eventually, too.
Click to expand...

Heck I knew that b4 I even started driving :shaking:


funny thing is 6 years later, of my 3 vehicles I have: the one that is always broken the most is not my 2 Wheeling rigs, its my DD :rolleyes:

Which makes me have to DD my Wheelin Rigs . . . which is a good thing :driver:
 
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