Where did your 4x4 hobby start? (specifically lookin for pre-1980's input)

[cruiseroutfit]

I'm working on a short presentation that I'll be presenting to the BLM along with Stephen N's much more broad and encompassing History of 4x4's next month. Specifically I'm focusing on the history of recreational 4x4 use here in Utah, i.e.fam the early days of the Easter Jeep Safari, recreational use of the HITR trail in the 1950's, etc. This is where I need your help, particularly our more 'seasoned' members that may have been wheeling during the rise of recreational 4x4 or at least heard the stories from fathers, unclues, grandpa's, etc. Where did you start out? In what vehicle? Was it related to hunting/fishing? Logging/mining? Pictures would be a bonus. Thanks for your help!

 

[DaveB]

In our family 4x4 recreation started back in the late 40s when my father bought a 48 Jeep. He drove it all over especially for hunting and fishing trips. One use for the old 48 was eluding the rich kids from East high after some rotten tomatoes and eggs just happened to sail into a dance at the Old Mill. No one could follow the escaping kids from Granite. He loved the old jeep but had to sell it after he got back from the Korean war and had a family to drive around. The next 4x4 that we got was a 59 Apache Chevy 4x4 pickup that we bought at a forest service auction in the mid 60s. We rebuilt it and added a camper on the back that we could ride in. We went all over Utah and neighboring states for all of our family vacations, hunting trips, fishing trips and off road adventures. We took it often down to the Manti Mountains where we explored every road off the Skyline Drive above Fairview. I remember one deer hunt on the Boulder Mountain where it snowed 18 inches and we spent the opening day of the hunt pulling people out. We sold the old 59 and bought a 70 3/4 ton 4x4 in the early 70's since finding parts for the old Namco front axle was getting to be a pain. It also went all over for hunting, camping, and fishing adventures. I posted some pictures of these early 4x4s on an earlier post about old 4x4s but can add some others if you want some more.

 

[Tacoma]

Mine started in the late 70's, with my uncles. One had a late 60's Ford Bronco, which he used to plow my grandparent's driveway, and he took us all for rides out into the field. The other had, oddly enough, a '59 Apache.. when I was 10 (in '83, sorry I miss the cutoff heheh) he taught me how to drive it, in 1st gear, because I had to slide below the steering wheel to push the clutch in hahah.. I drove that one all over the woods on the property, through the creek crossings, up and down every hill I could find. That must have been a NAPCO truck, or had a later axle swapped in.

 

[jackjoh]

I started in 1940 at the age of 10 at my uncle Joe's farm in Marshfield, MO. My cousin Dean and I would take their 36 Chevy P/U across country on the farm. Neighbors had a pickup with the bed removed they called a doodle-bug that was the envy of all the kids in the area.
In 1966 a friend at work talked me into spending Thanksgiving at Death Valley with my family. I had a Buick Special station wagon and he had a Scout 80 four banger. When the Buick could not follow him any longer all 11 of us, 4 adults and 7 kids ranging in age from 2 to 11, pilled into his Scout and went down Greenwater Canyon. That is when I gave up sports cars and bought a 1967 Scout 800. It was just too much fun that the whole family could enjoy. I later raced a little and got a Scout II in 1973 that I kept until 2005. I now have a 95 Jeep ZJ and a 06 Dodge Ram that do not get to see as much action as I would like.

 

[zukijames]

not very seasoned but.. i started in 95 haha with my dad and grandpa up log canyon( near fountain green fish hatchery) the reason i bring it up is because i remember my grandpa talking about how glad he was they made the road in 1959 before that they would go up maple canyon camp in the ranger station. Then unload the horses and have a long ride to where they wanted to hunt deer.. in 59 they made a road up log then at the top it cuts to the north and goes clear to the red ledges on the south side of nephi canyon and our family has camped in that same spot every year (that we could make it up that far) we took grandpa up to the deer camp 3 years ago at 86 years old .

If that road wasn't there we could have never taken him up there.. he loved it , i think it was the only time i have seen him cry.


sorry i know this isn't exactly what your looking for but hopefully someone will think its kinda interesting

 

[jackjoh]

Just added some stories.

 

[jackjoh]

Between then and now the biggest changes have been: 1. More people doing it. 2. In the old days you could go anyplace. 3. Now there are more specialized vehicles. In my day what you drove to the desert you drove to work.

 

[Tacoma]

Jack, in my day what I drive to the desert I drive to work too. Just so happens my work is at the end of a rad dirt road most of the time.

 

[SAMI]

My full size off road addiction was spurred at age 16 from an unforgettable jaunt up and down the hills of Camp Williams in the then Captain's personal HUMVEE back in 1999. I piloted his rig up roads with rocks the size of volleyballs, splashed through streams, and almost rolled the HUMVEE while claiming the "high point of the day", as the Captain called. It involved creeping up an embankment to see how high one could get their tire. Most tire marks were 3' above the road level, and mine was no less than 5'. I remember stopping at my high point, looked over at the Captain who had white knuckles the worste I've ever seen - as he calmly suggested that perhaps it was my Dad's turn to drive.. I could've reached out my driver window and touched the road. I rode the brakes as I turned into the direction the rig was pitched and righted again on the road.. Smile from ear to eat and turned it over to my Dad. I was hooked after that. A few months later I picked up an '87 Samurai for free from a teacher of mine who was leaving to Canada. He left the title and keys in the glovebox for me before he left. I dropped a new 1.3 in it, gave it a SOA, 33" TSL's, custom cage and bumpers, rear spool and lower t-case gears.. Talk about a gateway drug. I've since owned numerous 4x4's from '70 Land Cruisers through numerous 4Runners, to Nissan and Mitsubishi; and have found a love for off-road competitions and racing.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

My full size off road addiction was spurred at age 16 from an unforgettable jaunt up and down the hills of Camp Williams in the then Captain's personal HUMVEE back in 1999. I piloted his rig up roads with rocks the size of volleyballs, splashed through streams, and almost rolled the HUMVEE while claiming the "high point of the day", as the Captain called. It involved creeping up an embankment to see how high one could get their tire. Most tire marks were 3' above the road level, and mine was no less than 5'. I remember stopping at my high point, looked over at the Captain who had white knuckles the worste I've ever seen - as he calmly suggested that perhaps it was my Dad's turn to drive.. I could've reached out my driver window and touched the road. I rode the brakes as I turned into the direction the rig was pitched and righted again on the road.. Smile from ear to eat and turned it over to my Dad. I was hooked after that. A few months later I picked up an '87 Samurai for free from a teacher of mine who was leaving to Canada. He left the title and keys in the glovebox for me before he left. I dropped a new 1.3 in it, gave it a SOA, 33" TSL's, custom cage and bumpers, rear spool and lower t-case gears.. Talk about a gateway drug. I've since owned numerous 4x4's from '70 Land Cruisers through numerous 4Runners, to Nissan and Mitsubishi; and have found a love for off-road competitions and racing.

Lovely story, but none of that took place in even the 80's let alone pre-1980

 

[SAMI]

I simply wanted to share my story.. If it helps, my dad had a '60's Bronco in HS that he talked about all the time.

 

[zukijames]

sorry if we aren't being helpful but im sure enjoying the storys .. this should be a sticky !

 

[glockman]

I loved when my Grandfather would talk about how they had to use the one 4x4 in the family to pull trailers up or down canyons we camp and hunt in back in the day.

 

[zukijames]

I loved when my Grandfather would talk about how they had to use the one 4x4 in the family to pull trailers up or down canyons we camp and hunt in back in the day.

was he talking about the tractor? my grandpa had an old ford 4x4 tractor they would use since at that point no one( atleast in sanpete, had a 4x4 truck)

 

[glockman]

Nope. My uncle had a 4x4 pickup. He was the only one in the family. Funny how we take that for granted.

 

[Bart]

I remember riding in my grandpa’s 48 Willys CJ2a in the early 60s. I was 5 or 6 at the time. He would drive around town and take me up into to the hills. He also had a couple of old military ambulances that my dad grew up hunting, fishing, and camping in and the stories that surrounded those days are too numerous and crazy to compile. I’m especially amazed now that those ambulances were driven to Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, as well as covering Utah many times over. My grandpa had a service station on 36[SUP]th[/SUP] and Harrison in Ogden and would use the 4x4s for repair and recovery runs.


My father always had 4x4s when I was young. Our hunting trips up to the Lost Creek area above Croydon were always a great time of the year, and there were a few years when it snowed a lot during the week while we were up there, making the trip out especially scary. We also had a couple of recovery runs to town and back up into the hills during those hunts. The 4x4s I remember most were grandpa’s Willys, an early Dodge Power Wagon and a 63 Ford truck.


When I was 13 my dad bought a 66 Ford Bronco and it was the first rig that I actually got to wheel. We would hike a long ways while hunting and my dad would send me back to get the EB. That Bronco became my driver when I turned 16 and my dad bought another EB (69). After spending months fixing it up, painting it, and installing a stereo, I learned a hard lesson. Early Broncos are not sports cars. I was racing a friend (as 16 year olds do) and took a corner to fast. Went into a ditch, hit a culvert grate, over corrected, and launched into the air. I went end over end the first time, and sideways 6 more times, according to the cop report and my friend that was behind me. No seat belt usage at that time. I was lucky to live.


After that it took a while before I bought my next rig, but I’ve had many since then. My off road experience grew exponentially when I purchased an 88 XJ in 1996. It had 5 different suspension systems on it in 2 years, and it ended up with the first front long arm upgrade I had heard of, an Atlas, Dana 44s, and 37s. I started competing in 99 at the second Warn event and ran ARCA, RRCA, UROC, and CalRock events from 99 until 2006. It was fun and expensive, but I wouldn’t trade the memories.

 

[Badbuggy]

In the early 70's I grew up on a farm, in Oklahoma. The dirt roads were pretty crude, and when it rained they were an adventure. My Stepdad had a 1965 Ford 3/4 ton 4x4, and we were coming home one night in a rain storm. We slid off in the ditch, but never stopped. He got the front end back on the road, but the rear stayed down in the ditch. We ran for about 1/2 mile like that, and the truck finally ran out of gas from being tilted so long. We went back to get it the next day with a tractor, and we were amazed at what we had driven through.
I went to work for my uncle, I was about 14 at the time. He had a Willys cj2a, and we used it to build fence with. I got alot of great wheeling with that rig. By the time I was in High School I got my first EB and I was really hooked, and have owned at least 30 4x4s since then.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks guys, keep them coming!

 

[mbryson]

I think we've got some pictures of my grandfather and his brothers deer hunting in an MB/GPW in Farmington canyon in the '50s. My personal 4x4 experiences started with my grandfather's '74 Blazer with my dad driving it while deer hunting. My dad then bought his own 4x4, a '48 Willys CJ with Montgomery Ward hardtop. I don't know if we have any pictures of that, but there are tons of stories about my dad and his lack of mechanical knowledge getting him in a pickle with that Jeep.

It really was an amazingly capable rig for what it was. It was pretty stock with some weird lockout hubs. Each hub had two levers that you flip out from the hub, turn in a full circle and then reclip to the hub. A screwdriver or similar was pretty handy if it was kind of muddy. He used 235/15 snow tires for traction and we'd lose a few now and then for sidewall issues.

We used it to explore the whole Logan area Cache National Forest "trail system" (really roads) and for his various deer hunts (Coalville, Scofield). The Scofield hunt was pretty interesting. Somehow we managed to drive that CJ from Logan to Scofield (speed limits were 55 mph then, but I think we had trouble keeping speed?) with him, myself and my younger brother in the Jeep. Spent a few days driving around looking for elk and after an unsuccessful hunt headed for home. My dad managed to smack the oil pan on a rock pretty good and caused a leak. We loaded up on oil and bubble gum in Scofield and headed for home. We'd stop every 5-10 miles and check the oil. He kept handing us bubble gum to chew for the next stop to plug the hole in the oil pan. I've never really liked bubble gum since then but it got us back to Bountiful where we borrowed my grandfathers truck and drove the rest of the way home with that.

I'll update with the Coalville deer hunting story at another time if there is interest. It involves three adults (mom, dad and my now deceased uncle), two harvested deer IN the Jeep with us, my brother and myself, the CJ with the hardtop, extreme cold, three flat tires on the Jeep, a beaver pond, mud, a LONG walk (likely about 3-4 miles?---but to my 10 year old self, it was 20?) in the middle of the night, sheep dogs and a flat tire on the grandfathers pickup that towed the Jeep to the hunting area as we arrived at dawn (lots of frost).

 

[jackjoh]

Jack, in my day what I drive to the desert I drive to work too. Just so happens my work is at the end of a rad dirt road most of the time.

Lucky you.