How did you start offroading?

[k9sar]

wow... someone revived this thread

[navygz19]

I started in my 79 Volvo station wagon...4 cylinder, 100 h.p. AM radio, 4 spd. stick and one dash mounted speaker...and a locked rear end.

It WASN'T this one, but the exact same thing. It belinged to my mom, then she bought a 97 Q and I was the lucky recipient of the tank. I'd drive that thing through anything up in CT...mud, snow and mainly through my friends families couple of hundred some-odd acre tobacco farm. That thing was a TANK! I camped in it, had huge tapistries lining all the side windows and the back one on the inside and an air matress with the seats folded into the floor. Then I skipped all of my classes on day in college and piled in 5 incredibly overweight friends to drive to NYC for the day and see a taping of Conan O'Brien. I was doing about 60 (top spd. weighted down to the ground) and downshifted to third, but the clutch slipped, tranny locked, rears locked (still doing 60) and we spun completely around on I 95. THANKFULLY we ended up in the shoulder and nobody tagged us and we proceeded to elimuinate in our pants from laughter. The clutch pedal was limp as a wet noodle laying on the floor board. THAT was the end of my ganga-mobile

 

*sigh* meeeeeemorrriieeeeessss

Edited February 6, 2007 by navygz19

[NismoSkyZ]

I started a few months after I got my pathy in the summer. Everytime my family went to MD, I would take that bad boy onto some private trails and see what she had. It was great...I got to learn the basics of 4wd and have some fun in the mud. I finally found a trail where I could flex a little bit instead of just slipping around in the mud and I gotta say, the first time I went was very scary. I almost flipped in a rut and went head over heals :eek:. Well I haven't wheeled since the summer (i know, i know), but hopefully the next time I go I am lifted with Prado and have 32" M/T's.

 

 

BTW that was a great story navygz

[navygz19]

 

Get's me all *sob* teary-eyed when I think about it! [/drama]

[mws]

I was, ohhhh, about 6 yrs old when my father was transferred to Fallon, NV. He immediately bought a Land Cruiser, and then a seriously tricked out (for 1970) Bronco and we spent many, many weekends exploring. Mines, ghost towns, fossil hunting, fishing at unmapped lakes, etc. Planted a seed that won't die....

[Ishpeck]

When I was eighteen, I had a jeep (rusty old jeeps are great cars for kids: easy to fix, tend to resell rather well, no remorse in beating the hell out of them) and acres and acres of undeveloped land surrounding me. Now honestly, what's an eighteen-year-old kid supposed to do with those two resources at his disposal?

 

Adulthood necessitated I get rid of my wrangler (I sank so much money into that thing). Fast forward to last summer: A friend of mine needed some cash and happened to have an 88 pathfinder he wasn't using anymore. It was a match made in heaven. I love my pathy.

Edited February 6, 2007 by Ishpeck

[twotirefryer]

i got my 91 galant vr4(awd) bout 4 years ago and before i started sinking ass loads of money into it I went to larch mountian(local wheelin spot) and let her rip on the muddy gravely roads. it was cool but i wanted some real action, like trails. i went for a ride in my buddies ford truck and had the worst time of my life. got stuck 3 times in like 2 hours on some really wimpy trails. then it blew a headgasket. went a couple other times in some big jacked up rigs(never the driver, just the drinker) and it was ok. it was always something with the domestics. well the last time i went before i bought my pathfinder, i was in my buddies 95 hardbody truck. talk about wippin major ass. the thing was unstoppable with basic upgrades. i bought a pathfinder, did the same mods and laugh every time i see some big ass jacked up ford stuck. 4lo, 2nd gear, right thru the same mud pit. hehe. not that the pathfinder is the greatest rig or anything, but these things do crazy @!*% from the factory. oh yeah, i only paid $1500 bucks for it. that set off a boom and i can gaurantee you guys this thing will have a SAS within 2 years.

[turbopath]

I think I started about where the pavement ended.

[Ishpeck]

I think I started about where the pavement ended.

[TerranoNZ]

BROTHER!! *gives a manly bear-hug and slaps on the back*

I've even got your addiction for spot lights

[govols74n]

I think my off roading adventures began as a teen on foot.....running from the cops thouugh the woods and mud.... paranoid from smoking weed, then I realized that it would be better in a 4WD without being paranoid so I stopped smoking weed, now the pathy gives me that high, (almost) honest! -bounce-

Edited February 14, 2007 by govols74n

[jonainmi]

I bought my Pathfinder out of neccesity ... my old POS subaru was dieing and needed a replacement ... then after taking my new used pathy to the beach a couple of times, and up simple logging roads, I decided I needed bigger.... hehe.... thats pretty much how it began for me ...

WOW, sounds EXACTLY like my story!!!!!

 

Serously, i needed to replayce my 1992 Loyal :oops: and bought the 1991 Pathfinder! and have loved it ever since!

 

 

lol, life is crazy.....

Edited February 15, 2007 by jonainmi

[rustyole88pathy]

New to the whole 4wheelin scene...started with and still enjoying my 88 Pathy...

 

I actually tend to have the tendency to under estimate my Pathfinder's abilities offroad...but so far it's always gone where I've asked it to without a complaint. Now that's a good reliable truck...just a bit rusty...lol (bondo, steel, and painted patches have fortunately helped with that problem though)

 

My best story with the Pathfinder isn't really an offroad story at all. I was racing around some dirt mountain roads, in 2WD drive of course, getting her nice and sideways in the corners...and hitting speeds of 65-70mph. Needless to say that's definately pushing a Pathfinder to its limits on narrow dirt roads. Anyway, on one of the corners I overcorrected and ended flying off the road and into a boulder at about 50mph. I was cussing left and right at myself. I was absolutely positive that I had just destroyed my front suspension or steering...something must have broken with an impact like that. But I got out and the only damage was a blown front tire. Boy was I lucky. That was my realization that these things can take a beating...

[Pathie4me]

Well my story is a little different...I had an 89 gmc jimmy 4x4 and met a guy who was in a local 4wd club and invited me out to go wheelin'. The next weekend I met up wit them and off I went (reminder that it is middle of January and the truck is bone stock with 205x75x15 tires and BALD). Well the first part of the day was fine when we came up to a 80 foot long down hill on about a 30 degree angle...I was 8-9th in line and the others went down the hill (all modified J**Ps) dropped into a creek 3' across, 2' deep and 2' out. All dropped front bumpers into the creek and winched out the other side. WELL, now it's my turn...I put my seat belt on (something I never used to do) and down I went....Creeping...creeping...10 feet later.......SWOOSH!!!!!full speed slide into the creek.

The front bumper stopped on the other side and the body kept going 4" past!

Front end...toast

cab mounts all the way around...gone

grill....pooched

Rad....leaking

Headlights...fell out

bumper....bent

Had to winch out and ratchet strap the body to the frame to get me out.....

From that day I have been hooked and don't plan on giving it up any time soon.

 

By the way after that I bought a REAL truck....My 1991 Nissan Pathfinder SE....600,000km ago.

[xkrewx]

600,000 km's wow wat is that in miles. i would guess like 300,000 or so but im probably wrong.

 

i dont know if you can call wat i do ecreational offroading but its offroading nonetheless.

 

i was hunting duck with my buddy and he took me to this place way back in the woods and we had to drive over a "very undeveloped road." my pathy was stock at his point and my buddy was driving in a F-150, we had to go through a water outlet for a lake which was about 30 feet across and 2.5 feet deep. my buddy went through and had a whole heep of trouble getting his truck out on the other side. when he got out he laughed at me and said that my rig would never be able to do it seeing as he had trouble with it in his big tough F-150, I didnt want to cancel the trip on account of a creek/river, and i didnt want to leave my car there and wade across either so i looked at him and i said..."ah got *my "vocabulary" is so small* yourself, im comin over," (not actually knowing if i would be coming over or not).

 

I inched down into the river and slowng crawled through the mix of rock and mud until I reached ghe other side and slammed the gas and popped out like a champ!

 

my buddy just looked at me like holy crap... my american rig just got beat by a ricer, and i laughed at him.

 

the end

Edited February 28, 2007 by xkrewx

[Pathie4me]

372822 miles give or take a mile.

[xkrewx]

k so i was somewhat close

[fondo]

I started 4x4 when I aquired my pathy and had to flee town because of my "bad habits" if ya know what I mean. Its kinda exhilarating being in that state of mind and climbing a 45+ degree grade. Anyway, I don't have my "bad habits" anymore... just offoading in itself is enough to keep me high for a life time. But for some reason this post brought back a memory of when I was in high school. My buddy and I ditched class to go and toke up, he had a nissan 4 cylinder hardbody truck then and wasn't fully aware of its capability. He tried climbing a pretty steep hill in 4H and couldn't quite make it. After we rolled back down (failing miserably) I told him to give it another go, he looked at me in dispair and was convinced that his truck couldn't make it. I pushed down and pulled back the X-case shift lever into 4L. He was amazed, it was like all the tumblers fell in place and a door opened up in this kids head. He gave it a little throttle and felt all the un-tapped torque at his disposal and up we went. He for sure will never be the same. :Magic:

[nige]

right when i learned to drive in a 1990 chevy tracker. It started out doing doughnuts in the ski hill parking lot

[5523Pathfinder]

Before I got my Pathfinder(Big Homie) I did only a small amount of off roading. I mostly went with my brother in his 73 chevy and some of his friends in jeeps. I borrowed a 98 'Finder from work to haul some family members around when my younger brother got back from a 6 month tour in the Navy. I took it out playing in the mud behind my older brothers house and I had a ton of fun.

I got my rig out on a few light trails, but never took it anywhere hard. I knew I wanted to get a lift and bigger tires, but that was it. Then I went out with my older brother wheelin and some jeeps got stuck on a trial(thats my youtube vid). I knew then I needed to build something to verify I could get up that trail.

I built up Big Homie and never looked back. I was going out like every weekend there for a while, but it was the same ol' trails. I finally got back to the trail that inspired me, and I kicked its muddy, rocky a$$! I was really proud that day!

Now it seems like I am always getting some kind of info on how to improve what I have. Magazines, internet information, TV shows, other rigs & NPORA all help with what Big Homie might grow up and be someday. Me, I am and always will be a student of anything I am interested in. I watch what other people do and think things through when dealing with obstacles on the trail.

[adamzan]

I only got into offroading recently, before that I was so obsessive about the paintjob (still am) but it all started when i plowed through a snowbank getting onto the highway that was the most fun I've had in so long. Yeah they plowed the highway, but not the on ramp

 

Tree huggers can hang themselves in the trees.

[silverlion]

I was 15 and just got an old '76 International SWB truck. 392 V8, all wheel drive. Me and a buddy snuck it out and went to the river. At 2 AM, I'm calling my uncle. I bribed him with a case of beer to not tell my parents. By the time I was done with it, it was on 44's. That really messed up the capability. I was young and dumb. Live and learn. It did get the girls though! 6- 4x4's later I bought my first Nissan, no more domestic for me. No goin' anywhere gas hogs!

[nunya]

Got my start in my 91 Hardbody, following a friend in his Wrangler on the way to camp. He pulled a left where there was no road and I young and stupidly followed. A broken rear shock for me and he blew the top off his battery somehow. From then it continued, when the block cracked from driving with a bad head gasket dumping water into the poor little 200k 2.4l I bought a 93 HB 4x4 as a temporary ride so I could keep goeing. Found a 93 2wd with a doner motor(another 2.4l), put the 91 back on the road and sold the 93 out of state so as to never see it again. Proably the only one of my cars that didn't go from me to the crusher. Recently the frame finally fell totally apart on the 91 and I finally got me my Pathy(which is what I always wanted in the first place) and life goes on just the same.

[Legalalien]

My first offroading experience was on a 2 1/2 ton WW2 Army truck douring a field training exersise in South Korea. I got stuck a couple of times and had to have a tank recovery vehicle pull me out but from that point forward I was hooked.

[Red87Path]

offroading? or strictly 4 wheeling? there is a diffrence. i started taking my "cars offroad" when i lived in texas and the parties were always out in the middle of some field, on top of a steep ass hill, or down a trail by some lakes. first took my very first car, a 73 datsun 260 z out in the dirt. amazing what i could climb in that car, then i discovered how well front wheel drive cars did in the dirt climbing. all started there. my daughter has been off road fanatic since she was 2yrs old when we were living in wyoming. shes all about faster daddy faster hahaha. its more than just a sport i say, its a lifestyle.