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How Did You Get Started, And What Are Your Plans?

87K views 105 replies 69 participants last post by  Mike Bain 
#1 ·
I grew up around 4x4's and trucks. Mom and dad had a 76 Chevy K5 Blazer from new through 92 when they bought a 92 Blazer K1500 that I later bought. At first I just knew I wanted a big truck, specifically a Blazer. Didn't know much about automotive stuff or offroading, so my first truck was a 86 K5 Blazer with automatic hubs, a worn out 305, various leaks, and got really ****ty mileage. Oh yeah, and LOTS of rust. Sold that and bought my parents 92 K1500 Blazer Sport. Loved it, but learned a lot from it. Like GM's IFS SUCKS! I got into 4x4ing with it in San Diego, CA when I was stationed there in the Marines. Had a lot of good times, but also wasted a lot of money and time on trying to offroad with it and lift it. Shoulda just kept it stock and had fun, or sold it and got something rust free and capable. Sold the Blazer last May and picked up my current POS, a 93 Tracker 4x4 just for a cheap play toy that was a daily driver AND had real 4x4. Now it's falling apart so I'm looking for a Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 with a Cummins Turbo Diesel and a 5 speed stick. Only problem is due to the insurance co having to pay out a bit last winter from an accident I had, I may not be able to insure said Ram 2500.
So now I'm kinda shopping around for a Toyota Tacoma TRD (gotta love a factory electic rear locker) 4x4 with the 3.4L V6, 5 speed, and hopefully extended cab. Just wish they were more common here than the crappy S10's and Rangers I'm not as impressed with.
This is Michigan though.....
 
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#2 ·
aww, come on AJM, crappy s-10's??? yeah, yeah. mines different.
as for the topic at hand, my dad was a mechanic, so i've been spinnin' wrenches since i could talk. now i'm doin' it for a living. i was the only one in my family that dug cars, so as time progressed, i had the usual string of crap piles, then my first 4by. a s-10. go figure.
wheeled the wee out of it, and 5 more 4by s10's after that. witch brings me to the truck in my sig. pics are around here somewhere.
who knows what the future holds.....so, have i bored ya'll yet???
 
#3 ·
I grew up in So Cal and was around the desert until I left. My mom's friends had dune buggies, 3 wheelers, quads, 4X trucks and the like. My first time out with my mom on a 3 wheeler we hit a rut and i put my two front teeth through my upper lip. I still remember that and still love going out to the desert. When I finaaly got my liscence I inherited my mom's 82 diesel Isuzu P'UP. Not much later it got a body lift, cranked torsion bars , and 31" BFG's. I wheeled this thing through 3 engines and many gallons of fuel out at glamis and around El Centro. It is now awaiting the Caddy 500 swap and hopefully a set of Rockwell 2.5 ton axles. Think i might even go with Michellin XML's for the tires.
 
#103 ·
Well, the P'up still exists in the same form it did when I posted this, the Caddy motor was sold to Marv Springer then to Kert Cohoon at DIY4X, and I never got those Rockwells. I had the XMLs, but could not fit them in the truck when I moved cross country.

And I learned to proof read.
 
#4 ·
Well, we also had 4x4's in our family. My earliest memory is of my dad's brand new 73 K5. We did a lot of fishing down at padre Island and 4wd is not an option but manditory to get way down there. Not to mention all the various work needs that he neded the 4wd for with our land and what have you. Sometime around 75-77 range he bought a new crewcab lb 4x4 GM. As a kid I had several toys to play with... mini bike, modified go-cart's etc. Later on I messed around with moto-cross. When i turned 16 (1984) I bought a 77 Chevy reg cab long bed K10. Did a lot o playing with it, then lifted after about 2 years. I kept it until 99 and sure did get my 2000 dollars worth out of it. LOL My girlfriend (now wife) was raised around 4x4's too and since we planned on getting married, we figured 2 trucks wouldn't work so when she was 20 she bought an 84 K5. Thousands of off road miles later.. 2 kids... and 10 years of marriage, we are down to my 97 K1500 and her 01 4wd Tahoe. we plan to buy another K5 sometime in the future that we will use mostly for trail use.
So far my 4 year old daughter seems to be interested in off roading, and hopefull the 5 month old will feel the same.
 
#5 ·
I didnt grow up around 4x4s or dirt bike or anything of the sort.

I had a broke down Honda accord and needed a new ride. My dad had an '81 Toyota Trekker in his possesion. He bought it to resell. I talked him out of it for $1600 on payments. SInce I had a 4x4 now and internet, I searched for Toyotas. I found t4x4pickup.com and hung around there for a while until someone sent me to ORC.

With help from the friendly members of ORC, I built up my Trekker a little. Eventually, a member from ORC posted a link to POR. And thats where the fun began.


Now I have the '81 Toyota Trekker, an '85 Toyota extrcab built fairly well with 38.5" SXs. And I have a Sami on 30s with wrangler springs. And saturday night, I go pick up my second Sami. and next week, I pick up my 3rd sami....

My Web Site
 
#6 ·
you have lots of toys! judging from the pics on your website, i'd have lots of toys too if there was that much mud nearby
if i'm ever up in the oregon area, i'll be sure to call you up and we'll see who can dig to china first


btw, what's a "trekker"? different than a regular yota pickup?
 
G
#7 ·
I bought my first 4WD 7 years ago. My 76 F100 came with 6" of lift and 35s. I wheeled as much as I could, but only knew of one place to go, and non of my other friends had 4x4s. I also had very little mechanical experience.

Then 3 years ago, someone gave me my first 4WD magazine
That is when I realized what I could do to my truck, the mods started, and as they say...."The rest is history."

2 years ago I got involved in my first club and now most my friends have 4WDs and go wheelin' regularly. Mostly in NW Oregon.

In 2 weeks I enter my first amature 4x4 competition and plan on installing a custom 1 ton full high steer before then (if only the package would get here).

I don't know what the future holds. As long as I keep wheelin'
 
#8 ·
Hello Folks
Well, I've always had an intense admiration of anything to do with automobiles. Grew up wrenching on whatever junker I was driving, and learning from my old man that if you take care of your rigs, they will take care of you. While In my younger years I was speed crazy, I grew to love the 4x4's that we had....and the roads, trails, and mountains in our area. Between my old man and his brother, over the years we rode in all sorts of rigs, '76 Power Wagon, '78 F150 4x4 w/400, an '88 F250 4x4 w302, '95 Tacoma 4x4, '93 Pathfinder, and my uncle, now on his 9th Jeep, used to haul us around in his old Jeep Commando, or whatever Jeep variation he had at the time..including and '81 Scrambler, which he bought brand new, and still has today. And for me, I've had several myself, but currently its a '90 Toyota 4x4 for me, and a '95 Jeep YJ for my wife. So, there was always a 4x4 around and we went somewhere every weekend, the mountain, the backroads, the beach, etc...And now, I'm addicted, and I'll never be without a 4x4. My only problem is that mine is a daily driver....can't afford a woods rig yet, but I'll get one sooner or later. Anyhow, thats my story...

Rembrant
 
#9 ·
My first vehicle was a '76 Mustang II that kept me from riding the bus to school - when it ran! So I became a mechanic out of necessity. I drove that thing into the ground! After towing an OVERloaded U-Haul trailer back & forth across the Mojave to & from Monterey, CA, it blew 1st gear out of the rebuilt tranny, and I decided it was time for something else. I went shopping for a good, cheap, used F-Series with a 300 & manual and my Bronco was the first one I found that fit the bill. Boy, am I glad! After about 10 years of abuse, there are almost no original parts on it, including some of the frame, but it's at least as reliable as the MUCH newer vehicles my family & friends drive as evidenced by them calling me to get them off the side of the road MUCH more often than I call them (never!). They still don't believe me that I'll never get rid of it, even though they all saw it rolled & put back together.

I plan to keep on doing minor mods to make it more useful & driveable, but it'll never sit on tires bigger than 33's or be lifted. Right now, I can take it down 4-wheeler trails and then get on the interstate with a trailer & do 95mph with confidence. I refuse to give up the versatility since that's what I like most about it. To me, that's what an off-road vehicle should be.
 
G
#10 ·
Re: How Did You Get Started, And What Are Your Pla

my story started with love for the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, camping, boy scouts, etc... then i got my liscence and had an 87 toyota presuva (big box with engine inside) to change fluids or anything u had to live the front seats up. took that camping til the engine locked up, got 2 cars (87 olds tornado and 95 neon) now i have an 88 gmc jimmy and 97 honda passport. now i wheel when i can, and theres about 5 of us that go activily at school.usually a s10 blazer, my s15, 2 burbans a couple of jeeps. i'm not really mechanicly inclined but i am learning slowly, little things help, like neccessity.

theo
 
#11 ·
One of my uncles got me started wheeling waaaaaay back in the olden days. He took me to Spider Lake in his flathead V8 powered MB for my first Jeep trip. That was around 1957 or '58. That was all it took to become addicted. Since then I've played with dirt bikes, dune shooters and even sporty cars but I always gravitate back to 4X4's. I worked overseas from 1980 to 2000 but I still managed to get in some awesome wheeling in Australia, the Philipines, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Plans? I'm gonna take my '68 Jeepster out wheelin' in the desert ... or the mountains ... or wherever else I can dial in my hubs! Ain't Nevada great?
 
#12 ·
well i was the typical retard for quite awhile, i was supposed to get a S-10 instead of a Explorer first but it didnt work out(THANK GOD) my said plans were to drop an LS1 in the S-10 and slap on some 20s
WTF was i thinking, well then i got a Traxxas Rustler and learned that off-road and jumping was freakin awesome, and this was at 15, the summer that i was 15 we got a four-wheeler and i learned the thrills of sliding sideways through mudd, and decided i needed a truck, i went from 4x4 91 Explorer, to 2wd 86 Scottsdale, to 2wd 91 S-10, and now working on 83 GMC 4x4.

my plans are, 3/4 ton springs, with some 33s and possibly Zero Rates on all 4 corners. then save for dana 44 or 60 front, 14FF rear, then go 6 inch springs in front, shackle flip rear, with 2 inch blocks in rear. and some 36s, maybe get cutout flares and go 39.5s,

although the 3/4 springs i get, im wearing down the 235s i have, unless i can find some used 33s for cheap around here, i might have a set lined up already
 
#13 ·
A "Trekker" is baically a 4runner.

Winabego took a normal Toyota 4x4 and cut out the back wall. They built a new bed and top of fiberglass and added a back seat. Its cool, but I worry about damamging it because its special. Its For Sale
 
#14 ·
Benny: I didnt know such a thing existed, that's some good trivia!

i forgot to answer patrick's question...
i am 21 so my history is short. when i was a junior in high school, my friend got a mint 87 Bronco on 32" street tires and neither of us knew jack about trucks and even less about off-roading, and I think the only reason he got it was because the previous owner had no idea how much to ask for it and my friend got it dirt cheap. it was blacked out with burgundy interior, and he took the top off quite a bit while we all rode around in the back of it... it was exactly like the American Pie 2 fun-mobile. it didnt take me long to figure out how versatile it was, and how stout it looked, even on street tires. it climbed like a mountain goat and flogged through ruts with ease after he put on 32" BFG's on it, and i then realized how great such a fullsize swb truck could be off-road as well as on.

eventually i got tired of playing "big amp, even bigger speakers" in my 87 camry and decided to get a bronco just like his. i was originally looking for a late-80's model, but my 93 came along with a price similar to those 80's trucks, so i went and looked at it. WOW, as i pulled up to it to meet the owner, i instantly noticed how sweet the tint and 2-tone paint looked, along with a certain beefy quality having 31" mud terrains under it. i was in love
it zoomed with the 351 and i loved how the tires vibrated the truck while coming to a stop, and i (well, my dad aka mr. credit) bought what would quickly become the muddybronco! it didnt take me long after that to find ORC, and from there on out it was all about dreaming of big tires, big engines, and how to turn a truck into a submarine.

here it is 3 years and 4 months later and the knowledge i've gained about trucks and 'froadin is unreal... the internet is a great thing!
sadly, none of the people that originally helped me get my start on this bbs are still around here
, but i'm sure they would be just as amazed as i am at the number of knowledgeable folks that have piled on here in 3 short years... wow!

as for the future, i dunno... i havent settled in as much as many of you old farts on here, so nothing is certain at this point. i think it'd be fun to work for an automaker after college, but more than likely i'll just go where the money is decent and there are some mountains to play on. i like the South, but some snow would be nice
currently i'm trying to get a Samurai so that i can have a dedicated wheeler to trailer around, because fixing things immediately is difficult in my apt parking lot. i'll probably exo-cage it and get crazy on boulders, but it'll have to see the swamps too... and the idea is to do everything to the sammi that i wouldnt do to a daily driver, such as tractor tires, insane gearing, headers going straight up, blown v6 on nitrous making ungodly hp for the mud, etc etc

i hope i didnt bore anybody, i've never told that story in full and thought it would be half-ass interesting... it makes me wonder what i'll be driving by the time another 20 years of my life has elapsed!


over and out!
 
#15 ·
dirt bikes and jumping vehicles that should have never been jumped. finaly getting into 4x4's for utillity purpose more than pleasure. love anything with a motor and at least 2 wheels up high or down low. can never leave well enough (is anything well enough) alone
 
#16 ·
Just like Muddy, im one of the 'youngins' of the board (im also 21). Started out driving a teeny little car, cause that was the arangement for my 1st year of drving. Then my buddy got a BII, and i (very) quickly found out how cool it was to have a 4wd vehicle! Soon after i followed suit with a '91 gmc S15, which i wheeled the he!! out of, until an opportunity came up that i could not pass up! We needed another vehicle, cause some chick totalled the previously mentioned 'teeny car' while my brother was driving it. I found a full-size bronco for sale, and with my parents/brothers agreement, i bought it, and gave the jimmy to my bro! Id loved these trucks forever, and MAN was it great to be riding around in a big 'ole 4wd truck, complete with a huge (351) V8, and big (31") tires! Well, soon i realized that it really wasnt that big, but its getting there!
My goal is to one day be able to turn it into a trailer-queen, so i can go completely and totally nuts with it!
But for now, its just your larger-than-life-daily-driver!
(Everyones like, 'well, youre not gonna have it forever'.....but i plan to!!
)
 
G
#17 ·
It seems I started out a little different from everyone else. I have 3 older brothers, a father that loves tractors (yea farm tractors), and 20 acres of land to tear up. We always ended up driving tractors where we shouldn't have, so my father decided to find us some "field cars".
Field Car: old car you aquire for free and attempt to destroy as quickly as possible
So at the age of 7 (my brothers were 9, 10 and 12) we got ourselves some VW Bugs. Of course we had no clue how to drive, so we took what we knew about tractors and used the same concept. 6 months later every car had it's fenders and doors ripped off, we stuck some springs that shouldn't have been used, into the car so they were lifted, and my one brother even concocted dual wheels for one of the VW's. The next year all the cars were dead... We went for dirt bikes next. Of course we blew up those multiple times, so we always aquired field cars as often as we could...they never lasted long. Except for a 76 Honda Civic...this car should have died many times. 6 bent rims, a welded frame, and head on into a few trees (and one a tractor...that hurt) later, the engine ran pretty good (for not being able to hold oil) but it just wasn't possible to drive anymore.
Lucky for us our Dad let us get away with all this. By the time my oldest brother turned 16 we all had a decent knack for fixing cars, or at least making them functional a little while longer. He got a 1978 Monte Carlo in mint condition, with a 350 waiting to be modified.
My brothers and I essentially went along these lines until after high school. Only serious injuries were two broken wrists...hence rubber side down dodge the trees...no I didn't hit a tree, but well it might as well have been.
After highschool my brothers got out of breaking stuff (not totally we still get field cars and go home to break them still), so for a few years nothing really happened. At the time I was driving a S10 Blazer with a 2.8, I hated and still hate that thing. So I beat it. Went off roading a few times, driving it at about 45mph in 2 foot ruts. I finally sent a rod through the oil pan, and spun a bearing.
In need of a car (preferably truck, because I wanted one
) I started looking around for a F-250 or 350 SFA, just because I loved my Dad's old one. Instead my brother came to me and told me about a 85 K-10...SFA. I hated it, wrong color (red), automatic (blah), with a 305 (baby V8). My bro then proceeded to point out the SFA, and the fact that we have a 350 we could drop in it, and the axles suck but we come across axles alot.
Now I have that K10 and love it damned if I know why
, but some people have a hole in the water into which they throw money...I have my truck.
 
#18 ·
My story mirrors others on dirtbikes,hunting,fishing camping and such.Always had an inward desire to travel the roads that saw the least amount of travel due to washouts,water crossings,etc. Started studying old topo maps of the northern area of my state and rewarding myself with old/lost forgotten about forest service roads.Been an addiction ever since.
 
#20 ·
Grew up on more acres than I could count in central tennessee . . . 1st motor toy - a 125cc 'Penton' dirtbike, when I was 'bout 13. Ol' Pops made me come up with half the $$ & he put in the other half. A few years later I got my next motor toy - a '66 Dodge 3/4 ton truck. Damn she was ugly - and w/o 4x4, I got her stuck more than once tearing through the cow pastures & woods. I kept that old truck for about 16 years, rebuilt the slant 6 once & never replaced the shocks!!
Now many years have passed, I havent done any wheeling in quite a while (other than the occaisional firewood round-up), but I picked up an ol' shortbed F150 a few months back & as of yesterday I've spent more in parts than I did for the truck!! A couple thousand more & I'll have a good tight truck to go beat the s**t out of in the woods.
When done (are they ever done??) I hope to have a fairly hot 351W to power my existing granny tranny (6 & change to 1 ratio in first!) The current 33's may grow to 35's - but doubtful I go any bigger . . . so the current 3" lift is all I'll need. My flimsy looking radius arms have me a little concerned - so maybe levelling coils & new arms (a long way off, I'd imagine). The 9" rear w/ Detroit Locker's on the way & I'll be going w/ limited slip up front. I'd love to chop a foot outta (shorten) the back of the bed & I'm kinda hopin' my wheels rub so I'll have an excuse to chop the fenders !! Oh, did I mention i wanna shoot the whole thing with bedliner?
So thats where I'm from and where I'm headed - it's just a shame I'm "financially challenged" & will have to learn patience. It's not one of my virtues.
Anybody want to sponsor my truck?? hehe
 
#21 ·
Well, I've been a city boy all my life, except for the two years in the Army. So I really didn't have the back country off roading opportunitites that others have had. However, I was in the Boy Scouts and we did a lot of camping and hiking. Spent 2 years in the US Army operating amphibious wheeled vehicles that we drove in off road situations,as well as M38A1 and M151A1 Jeeps.

About 2 years after I was married, my wife and I wanted to get back into camping. So for a while we just used our 1981 AMC concord wagon to go to drive in campgrounds. After a while, that got old and we wanted to do a little more. So 4 years and 2 kids later, we bought our 1986 XJ and we've been camping with it ever since.
 
G
#22 ·
I grew up in Southern WV on a farm. Originally atv's were for work not enjoyment. THen I got a yamaha 80 3-wheeler at age 6. I ran that thing till it just didn't have anything left. My dad used to ride trailbikes. So he bought me one when i was 8. I didn't enjoy it too much. Then he got into firing fourwheelers with some ppl and so did i. They mostly jsut rode around on trails all day. Just mellow rides. Then he got me a 90 300 fourtrax. I treated it like 250r. I eventually got a 94 blaster. Tehn i bought myown a Banshee. I've modified it and have a 2001 raptor and bought my daughter a 250ex. Looking to get a utility atv. I also do some muddin' in my 200 silverado. The truck is going up and getting new shoes. And a few engine mods. The atvs well i do a little to them as I go along.
 
#23 ·
I started out back in 76 when my friend got a 62 international scout. I loved that 4x4 and it could go anywhere. My other friend bought a brand new land cruiser and I knew I had to buy me a 73 jeep. We run them into the ground and on most of the hills and fire breaks here in PA. Lots of hills and mountains over here. I got married and had a few kids and all of the sudden there was no room for any 4x4s in my life. As my kids grew up I started to get the fever once again. I bought a new tracker but I wanted something I could beat and take a beating. I needed something for fun and cheap since I am financially challenged. I found a ZUK for 750.00 and I picked it up at once figured it would only last me about a year or two. I still have both 4x4s 5 years later and the ZUK is the most fun. I have over 178,000 miles on it and its runs as good as it ever did. MUD is my friend!
 
#24 ·
howdy,
it all started for me back when i was 12 in a back field of our farm in south carolina in a 73 ford bronco. my dad taught me to drive a stick in that truck. i learned speed and angles in that truck. i learned to watch the waves when entering water to find a good line in that truck. i learned to crawl up the side of trees in that truck. i learned the pain and loss of a roll over in that truck. i learned to cut sheet metal on that truck. i learned to weld cages up in that truck. then when i turned 16, i learned that the truck stayed at home and a daily driver was needed to get to school. i learned to drive a trailor with that truck on it. i learned to keep away from the yuppie at the 4x4 parks in that truck. then i parked it at my uncles when i bought my 87 s-10 baja. in this truck i learned it needed a front live axle. then i sold it after 6 monthes. i learned not to put a forsale sticker in the back window in that truck. then i got my sammi. i learned that people laugh at what they don't know. i learned that people read a 4x4 by it's size and not the size of the balls that drive the 4x4. and to this day with the sammi, i am still learning and wanting to learn more.
 
G
#25 ·
Well it all started for me when I was about five or six when my mom married my step dad. He had an '86 Yota on 31's and a Honda ATV. I got hooked and have been that way ever since. I guess I'm one of the young guys at age 19. I did have a '75 Blazer with a complete removable top, but I got lazy and sold it. There has been a hole in my heart ever since.
 
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