Kids wheeling dd/crawler

I have a 11yr old son that has been wheeling with me for nearly 10yrs (will be 12 in Feb). I have a dd tj with cage 36s and locked both ends. We ride lots of lvl 3-4 and occasional lvl 5 trails. Do you feel safe if the 11yr is driving and you coaching/spotting? Last couple times out he has been driving more and more and I'm letting him do more harder trails with me being out of the rig just spotting. Im comfortable with him as long as everyone else leaves him alone to concentrate on what he is doing and me. Is it wrong of me to ask them to leave him alone? How do you handle other when trying to teach the younger bunch how to be safe and not just "wreck/break" stuff.

Hell no, no one else should be telling him how to drive anyway.


When I was 11 I ran all kinds of farm equipment and drove between farms by myself, so yeah when my kid is that age he'll be driving too

both my kids started driving on the trail early on , i would have to check some pictures, but 10 and 11 im sure they were driving, and doing some tuff trails, but when it came to a part of the trail were some extra gas or some quick thinking/driving was in order i got in and drove, as long as as it was just crawling they could do what ever the rig was capable of, but i was the only one they listened to, and i did have to tell some people to please be quiet while they could hear me ,
but on that note,, one is 21 with a rock bouncer and the other is 18 and a toyota crawler truggy , and both can do some really good wheelin,,,, so all turned out good, and we always look forward to family get away on wheelin trips.

I think it's awesome to start them early. Never too young to start driving anyway. A headstart to when they get 16.

And you shouldn't feel bad about telling people to leave him alone. It's your vehicle, you pay insurance on it, you fix it if he breaks it and so on. Nobody else. And if he does break it, you are the only one that was spotting him so nobody else to blame.

My oldest daughter loves to drive. She's been driving our rig for about 3 years now. I set up a booster seat and a set pedals so she could safely drive early on.

To answer some questions, I feel strongly that as much seat time as they can get is beneficial. Before they hit the road at 16, chompin at the bit to haul their friends around. The more experience they have the better.

I think some adrenaline pump wheeling situations prepare them to handle stress behind the wheel without endangering themselves and others on the road.

We have been out wheeling before with me spotting and groups of people watching. I haven't had anyone try to talk over me so I'm not sure what to say about others spotting my child.

Cool memories made though. I remember her carrying a front tire about a foot off the ground one time, she didn't panic. She just throttled through nice and slow. Scared the crap out of me but I told her I was proud of her. Lol

Take lots pictures. Soon as they hit the teens, priorities change fast. You wonder where the time went

Married with 2 boys here. Oldest son started driving at about 11 or so, when he started running out of legroom in the back of a YJ I decided to build a buggy. He is 15 now and drive almost a good a me on the trails.
I told both of my boys, "You want to rev the engine, spin tires, donuts, hills etc? Do it in the dirt NOT your daily driver" I hope giving them a safe outlet works out, time will tell. May save some coin and heartache in the process.
I fully agree with letting them get a little stressed on the trail build character, experience.

Cory drove mine around the yard, yet to let him drive it on the trail yet. RJ is ready to rock out as soon as he can reach pedal. :****:

I would say be as stern as you need to be with others telling your child how to drive. That and try and go to less packed trail systems. RBD would not be a good choice for letting him drive, but on that same day, Choccolocco would offer a great chance away from the crowds.


I will instill a policy when my little ones drive that goes something like this. Pay attention to me and anything you break, I will pay for. Pay attention to anyone else, you will lose driving privileges and will be forced to work off the debt until it is fixed. This gives them the confidence to know that you support them and they also know the consequences up front.

I just got a new project mainly for my son. He's been asking for his own truck that he can reach the pedals on so I found this basket case Toyota and gave it to him for Christmas. Some may think it's a little early, but so far he handles it well in the yard. Not a lot of power and a manual transmission I feel is a good start to learning some driver skill. It will be getting a cage and harnesses to make it safe and he can learn from there.