- Location
- Riverton, UT
This is great, keep the stories coming.
Where did your 4x4 hobby start? (specifically lookin for pre-1980's input)
- Thread starter cruiseroutfit
- Start date
rondo
rondo
- Location
- Boise Idaho
I think you should interview Dr. Rick Pewe from four wheel and off road magazine. Not only does he have his PHD, he has owned a 4x4 shop, 4wheeled in every vehicle imaginable, has more skill than you do, fabricated space shuttle parts in his basement, welded in sandals without injury, and claims to have INVENTED the tube buggy, rock crawling as a sport, the first tire over 32' tall, and the 4wheeling hobby as a sport. I'm sure he'll talk to you. He's a very humble person!
TJDukit
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
- Location
- Clearfield
Mine started probably right when I was born in '82. I'm sure my parents took me out a few times in Utah before we moved to Santa Cruz. In California we had an old Wagoneer not sure what year it was but man that thing was an ugly green. I really don't remember going out in it too much but I can still picture that ugly beauty in my head. I still have a love for any FSJ.
For the longest time after that we didn't have anything four wheel drive but we did have an awesome '78 Honda CVCC hatch back my parents would take anywhere. I can still remember towing the motorcycle trailer with that thing down trails full of mud and snow and driving by stuck four wheel drive rigs, that thing just floated over everything. Most of my childhood camping was done by getting there in that Honda.
We moved on to Northern Cali out in the middle of nowhere when I was twelve where I finally learned to drive that car. I would take that thing up and down our three mile drive way and just about anywhere on the 150 acres we lived on. Sadly the car was crushed by a tree before I ever got my license.
We had a few Isuzu Troopers after that. When we moved to Oregon I spent years bombing around forest service road around our house, mostly in two wheel drive pickups. I did make it a point though take everyone of my parents new/used vehicles up the forest service roads and test out how well they handled jumping on certain parts.
When I finally joined the Air Force I didn't see anything offroad until I made it back stateside. When I moved from Germany to New Mexico I got my first Jeep. A '99 TJ which was wheeled very hard in stock form with just some 31" BFG MT's. I am pretty sure my first trip out to the Canadian River just north of Amarillo was when I really found my love of off roading. I met a lot of good friends and learned a lot about how to wheel what you got and just have fun. The Canadian River still is probably my favorite place I have ever wheeled but probably only because it was what turned me into a rock crawling Jeep lover.
I sold that TJ shortly after I finally lifted it(never wheeled it with the lift), luckily I ended up in an '03 Z71, no crawler by any means but it made it's way of Marry Ellens Gulch a couple of times. Then my green TJ. Once I had my second jeep I knew I would be a Jeep guy the rest of my life. It was another one of those wheel what you got and have fun kind of rigs.
I think I've always had a love of anything off road but only since 2005 have a I really known what a 4x4 could really be capable of. My wife asked my once "If you had to choose between hunting, fishing and wheeling, what would it be?" Without hesitation my love of wheeling trumps any other hobby I could have.
For the longest time after that we didn't have anything four wheel drive but we did have an awesome '78 Honda CVCC hatch back my parents would take anywhere. I can still remember towing the motorcycle trailer with that thing down trails full of mud and snow and driving by stuck four wheel drive rigs, that thing just floated over everything. Most of my childhood camping was done by getting there in that Honda.
We moved on to Northern Cali out in the middle of nowhere when I was twelve where I finally learned to drive that car. I would take that thing up and down our three mile drive way and just about anywhere on the 150 acres we lived on. Sadly the car was crushed by a tree before I ever got my license.
We had a few Isuzu Troopers after that. When we moved to Oregon I spent years bombing around forest service road around our house, mostly in two wheel drive pickups. I did make it a point though take everyone of my parents new/used vehicles up the forest service roads and test out how well they handled jumping on certain parts.
When I finally joined the Air Force I didn't see anything offroad until I made it back stateside. When I moved from Germany to New Mexico I got my first Jeep. A '99 TJ which was wheeled very hard in stock form with just some 31" BFG MT's. I am pretty sure my first trip out to the Canadian River just north of Amarillo was when I really found my love of off roading. I met a lot of good friends and learned a lot about how to wheel what you got and just have fun. The Canadian River still is probably my favorite place I have ever wheeled but probably only because it was what turned me into a rock crawling Jeep lover.
I sold that TJ shortly after I finally lifted it(never wheeled it with the lift), luckily I ended up in an '03 Z71, no crawler by any means but it made it's way of Marry Ellens Gulch a couple of times. Then my green TJ. Once I had my second jeep I knew I would be a Jeep guy the rest of my life. It was another one of those wheel what you got and have fun kind of rigs.
I think I've always had a love of anything off road but only since 2005 have a I really known what a 4x4 could really be capable of. My wife asked my once "If you had to choose between hunting, fishing and wheeling, what would it be?" Without hesitation my love of wheeling trumps any other hobby I could have.
Randyzzz
Fully Scrambled
- Location
- Sisters, OR
Cool stories!
My off road addiction started in the late 70's- I had a pretty hot Mustang, but after many tickets, finally six in one month including exhibition of speed/drag racing, I decided it was time to get off the street and into the dirt. Never looked back.
Got a sweet 67 Bronco, modified just about everything on that truck. Back then I fit 33" tires which were monsters. Was a lot younger and braver back then...went through a lot of rigs, too. A good day off included grabbing the wife, some lunch, a few guns and a load of ammo and heading off road...at least once a week.
I can credit my off road addiction with giving me the incentive to learn how to weld, fabricate, and do anything else need to build a nice truck.
Monster trucks were all the rage by then, so I built my share of towering trucks. Also got interested in short course stadium racing, Mickey Thompson Grand Prix style. Never went far with that...too expensive. Then my job moved me to Ogden- thought I'd gone to off road heaven, compared to SoCal.
As I got a little older my "need for speed" rubbed off on my wife-I remember getting thrown out of one of the Monster Truck shows in Ogden back in the early 90's, my wife took my 86 Bronco over the crushed cars, caught some good air, and then started doing donuts (all after the show, of course) and she got us thrown out. I was managing the Riverdale Pep Boys at the time, and was a bit embarassed since we were a sponsor...but it was a good memory.
Moved back to SoCal, got into the desert race scene for a while, then got interested in rock crawling. But Cali was to over-legislated and over-populated, so I found work in Oregon.
Fast forward to current day, due to some neck and back injuries I don't bounce around as much any more, mainly do trail riding. Getting close to finishing the build on my "Dream Jeep", and 82 Scrambler with a 5.3 and all the goodies. Still building trucks, work on hot rods, and have a side job doing restorations and customs focusing on Jeeps and VW's but I'll work on whatever pays. Considering making it my full time job...anything to keep me around my obsession!
Side note- my wife and I have been married 32 years and have had over 84 vehicles in that time. Yeah, we're both a bit obsessed.
My off road addiction started in the late 70's- I had a pretty hot Mustang, but after many tickets, finally six in one month including exhibition of speed/drag racing, I decided it was time to get off the street and into the dirt. Never looked back.
Got a sweet 67 Bronco, modified just about everything on that truck. Back then I fit 33" tires which were monsters. Was a lot younger and braver back then...went through a lot of rigs, too. A good day off included grabbing the wife, some lunch, a few guns and a load of ammo and heading off road...at least once a week.
I can credit my off road addiction with giving me the incentive to learn how to weld, fabricate, and do anything else need to build a nice truck.
Monster trucks were all the rage by then, so I built my share of towering trucks. Also got interested in short course stadium racing, Mickey Thompson Grand Prix style. Never went far with that...too expensive. Then my job moved me to Ogden- thought I'd gone to off road heaven, compared to SoCal.
As I got a little older my "need for speed" rubbed off on my wife-I remember getting thrown out of one of the Monster Truck shows in Ogden back in the early 90's, my wife took my 86 Bronco over the crushed cars, caught some good air, and then started doing donuts (all after the show, of course) and she got us thrown out. I was managing the Riverdale Pep Boys at the time, and was a bit embarassed since we were a sponsor...but it was a good memory.
Moved back to SoCal, got into the desert race scene for a while, then got interested in rock crawling. But Cali was to over-legislated and over-populated, so I found work in Oregon.
Fast forward to current day, due to some neck and back injuries I don't bounce around as much any more, mainly do trail riding. Getting close to finishing the build on my "Dream Jeep", and 82 Scrambler with a 5.3 and all the goodies. Still building trucks, work on hot rods, and have a side job doing restorations and customs focusing on Jeeps and VW's but I'll work on whatever pays. Considering making it my full time job...anything to keep me around my obsession!
Side note- my wife and I have been married 32 years and have had over 84 vehicles in that time. Yeah, we're both a bit obsessed.
Last edited:
airforceret
Member
- Location
- Mishawaka, Indiana
Well I got my start in about 1964/1965. We had an old (44 or 45) Willys that we towed behind the truck/camper. I'd stand in the seat to stear and my dad did the pedals. I eventually graduated to sitting in the seat and doing the pedals, while peering through the steering wheel to see out the window. But I still needed dad as a spotter as I really couldn't see much of where I was going. I lost two of my front teeth that first year when we hit a bump and i nearly bounced out over the windshield..
We really weren't into hunting or fishing, just exploring old logging and mining roads! And to some old family cemetaries that you really couldn't visit otherwise. A couple years ago we even took a trip up to where only the old foundation remains, for a one room schoolhouse my grandpa teached at when he was young. He'd ride the mule and spend the entire week living in a sleeping quarters in the back corner of the schoolhouse, then ride the mule home for the weekend. I had never known he was a teacher before then.
In 1980, I finally bought my first jeep. A 78 CJ-5 with a three speed stick (what a piece of junk transmission), but I wheeled it hard. Being in the Air Force, I took a long hiatus from wheeling while I served, but in 2006 I met up with my son in Moab and rented a Rubicon to go wheeling with him for the first time. His TJ was mostly stock back then, but he seemed to have the knack (and determination) to rock crawl with it! As soon as I got back to Indiana, I bought an 01 TJ and started making upgrades. Now it's an annual mecca to Moab to meet up with him and wheel. It's the only time we get to spend together each year, so we make the most of it, doing what we love together.
The reality is... if it wasn't for wheeling in Utah (and Colorado)... I would not have this quality time with my son and daughter in law. Sure I could visit them, go out to dinner, blah blah blah... but the key is "quality" time, doing what has been a passion in my family for generations. My dad is near 80, dying of Cancer, and yet he still goes wheeling in Missouri when he feels up to it! We even got him out to Utah 2 years ago before he got really sick, along with my brother. Three generations ... one common passion! Wheeling.... It's the last and the only time we have all been together...
Roger...
We really weren't into hunting or fishing, just exploring old logging and mining roads! And to some old family cemetaries that you really couldn't visit otherwise. A couple years ago we even took a trip up to where only the old foundation remains, for a one room schoolhouse my grandpa teached at when he was young. He'd ride the mule and spend the entire week living in a sleeping quarters in the back corner of the schoolhouse, then ride the mule home for the weekend. I had never known he was a teacher before then.
In 1980, I finally bought my first jeep. A 78 CJ-5 with a three speed stick (what a piece of junk transmission), but I wheeled it hard. Being in the Air Force, I took a long hiatus from wheeling while I served, but in 2006 I met up with my son in Moab and rented a Rubicon to go wheeling with him for the first time. His TJ was mostly stock back then, but he seemed to have the knack (and determination) to rock crawl with it! As soon as I got back to Indiana, I bought an 01 TJ and started making upgrades. Now it's an annual mecca to Moab to meet up with him and wheel. It's the only time we get to spend together each year, so we make the most of it, doing what we love together.
The reality is... if it wasn't for wheeling in Utah (and Colorado)... I would not have this quality time with my son and daughter in law. Sure I could visit them, go out to dinner, blah blah blah... but the key is "quality" time, doing what has been a passion in my family for generations. My dad is near 80, dying of Cancer, and yet he still goes wheeling in Missouri when he feels up to it! We even got him out to Utah 2 years ago before he got really sick, along with my brother. Three generations ... one common passion! Wheeling.... It's the last and the only time we have all been together...
Roger...