KarlVP
Love that TOYOTA
Yeti, on the ALLWHEELERS forum brought this up and I think it's a damn good topic to discuss.
Are automakers ruining the image of wheeling? Everytime you see a "4x4" commercial, it portrays the vehicles blasting through mud. While spectacular on camera, this isn't what the majority of the wheeling populus does.
When I was 16, and had just first recieved my liscence. I had a crappy 1986 S-10 4x4 Pickup. The thing to do was find mud and blast through it. I simply didn't know any better. I was doing what I saw on TV, and thought it was the right thing to do. I had no idea what organized, responsible wheeling was, and no idea that there were other things to do besides lawn jobs and mud running. It was simply a lack of education.
Even the Jeep corporation, who has links to treal lightly on thier websites and vehilce pamphlets, shows thier rigs blasting through mud in thier commercials. When I went to the Jeep 101 events, which are clinics across the country to teach people about four wheeling, and doing it responsibly, the instructors there didn't say anything about mudding, but they were more geared towards trail riding. They are trying, but I don't think hard enough.
Why can't the automakers show thier rigs playing on the rocks, or on trails? I know this may not be as spectacular as mud / snow flying all around the vechcle is, but come on, times are changing, maybe if they displayed thier vehicles tackling some trails, more people would use the trails.
Are automakers ruining the image of wheeling? Everytime you see a "4x4" commercial, it portrays the vehicles blasting through mud. While spectacular on camera, this isn't what the majority of the wheeling populus does.
When I was 16, and had just first recieved my liscence. I had a crappy 1986 S-10 4x4 Pickup. The thing to do was find mud and blast through it. I simply didn't know any better. I was doing what I saw on TV, and thought it was the right thing to do. I had no idea what organized, responsible wheeling was, and no idea that there were other things to do besides lawn jobs and mud running. It was simply a lack of education.
Even the Jeep corporation, who has links to treal lightly on thier websites and vehilce pamphlets, shows thier rigs blasting through mud in thier commercials. When I went to the Jeep 101 events, which are clinics across the country to teach people about four wheeling, and doing it responsibly, the instructors there didn't say anything about mudding, but they were more geared towards trail riding. They are trying, but I don't think hard enough.
Why can't the automakers show thier rigs playing on the rocks, or on trails? I know this may not be as spectacular as mud / snow flying all around the vechcle is, but come on, times are changing, maybe if they displayed thier vehicles tackling some trails, more people would use the trails.
