With a huge National Forest right in our backyard, and multiple Off-Road Parks within a day’s drive (or haul,) this question isn’t asked often enough from our large off-roading community.
The answer isn’t that simple, as off-roading is just as extreme to the wallet as it is to the adrenyline, with some folks saying JEEP actually stands for “Just Empty Every Pocket.”
What Should You Do Yourself?
There is something to be said for your personal responsibility. Some Off-Road parks, like The Swamp, have volunteer wheelers who will turn you back over, or help you haul your wreck back on it’s trailer – taking some of the strain off of the driver, and if you’re a member of an off-road club, there is no shortage of knowledge, skills and abilities for a driver to ask for help… but this comradarie well quickly runs dry if you aren’t well versed in some basic things.
Most off-roaders welcome newer drivers and understand there is a learning process – you’re going to get better at patching up and limping something home, and in some cases – patching up and continuing to play. For general safety, however, you should know how to patch or change a tire, keep your vehicle maintained with the right fluids, and as much as you can, keep it in good repair before you head out.
Installing a radiator, some aftermarket fenders, stingers – most of the bolt on things – you can fire up a YouTube video on and grab some body to turn some wrenches. That’s pretty much the expected entry level ability for this type of hobby.
What Should You Let Others Do?
When it comes to upgrades, you’re often looking at instaling lift kits, the largest mud tires you can muster, and there’s always someone with some extra wheel bearings in their toolbox. The more experienced off-roaders will be more than happy to show you how to patch up what typically breaks on a trail, so the group can keep on going without much of a delay. This is pretty much expected for you to pay attention, if you’re going to continue this worthwhile adventure. You won’t learn everything – but there’s generally a good mix of knowledge around, and the longer you are in the groups, the more horse tradeing you can do with someone, although money talks, as well!
What Should You Bring to Your ASE Certified Mechanic?
While anything goes with a purely off-road, relatively flat trail riding vehicle, most vehicles do touch blacktop and it’s more important that things on your vehicle operate the way that keeps you between the lines and out of the ditches. There’s a huge difference between death wobble on a dirt trail where you bump a tree or three and death wobble on Crawfordville Highway on the way to a meet up – what you can wobble into could be a log truck.
To save money (in the long run) you should consider things like your re-gearing and lockers as something you’re mechanic should do – but reality is, the temptation for someone who will do it cheaper tends to be the default on those. You might end up stranded, or facing extensive damage if that fails, but it’s not as likely you’d suffer a loss of life with those things being done by your buddies.
Consider the things that you could lose your life if it’s not done correctly – like modifications to your steering and suspension. Those are commonly hacked together and are also common points of failure, expecially if you like to get crazy on the more difficult trails, rocks, or mud. The general rule of thumb I’ve seen, is when something breaks, replace it with a heavier duty aftermarket upgrade, which tweaks your vehicle a bit with each addition and can cause issues with how your vehicle responds in off-road adventures as well as on-the-road getting there.