Forget the Liberty, I'd rather be dead

[PASmokeater]

Just got back from one of the most frustrating off road trips I've ever been on. So as you read this, please bear in mind that I'm venting and am not usually this strong in relaying my feeleings.



Yesterday, I took my daughter and a friend off roading for the first time. We set off from our house at 5:30 in the morning for the two and a half hour ride to Paragon Adventure Park in Hazleton, PA (park is great !!! Check it out at ParagonAP.com). We arrived happy and excited about our adventures to come. I have a stock wrangler, so we decided to take the STOCK trail tour. This trail consisted of rocky, muddy,wet rut filled climbs, decents, acents, and tight pathways. It was a set up for a perfect day of fun (tours run from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm). The trails were out of this world and some of the drivers were out of there minds. First of all, if you go to an off road park, expect to go OFF ROAD. I can't tell you how many times I heard the complaint "This isn't what I expected". There were about 20 vehicles in our group. After about 30 minutes, we came to a stop and found that half our group was missing. After making contact with them, we found out that a Liberty in our group(you know the type complete with factory running boards and light pods.......what are those things any way?) was stopping every 5 minutes to check for damage on his vehicle !!! We waited about another half hour for them to catch up, and resumed our fun. About an hour later, we came to a small gully, and the guide pulled over to instruct the group on the proper way to navigate the challenge, once again, the Liberty was nowhere to be found. The guide and myself hiked back along the trail, to find the fellow and his girlfriend (it was her Liberty) standing in shock as both running boards had been pushed back and gotten jamed in the rear wheels. The gentleman at that point refused to go on, and asked how he could get off the trail and back onto pavement. While the guide tried to explain that the only way to go was on, a fellow Jeepster and myself set to work on removing the running boards, laying on our backs in the mud, wondering if we'd be sued if we put a scratch on the precious Liberty's mustard yellew-greenish ? paint job. That took about another hour and half. Finally we got on our way again, and got down to the access road, only to find (can you guess ?) no Liberty. At that point, my passengers and the rest of the group were completely frustrated. The got lost, and took the rest of the group with them. Oh, by the way did I mention the lack of cb radio. By the time we found them, and sent them on thier way, it was another hour. In summery, we lost a total of 3 hours stopped on the trail waiting for this chuckle head yuppie who had no idea why he was there, or how to handle himself in an off road driving venue.



In short, to all of you people out there buying the grocery getters (whatever make they might be), if you don't want scratches, dings, dents, or the chance of something getting damaged, STAY ON THE ROAD. Off road means OFF ROAD. My suggestion to all of you people, pull your Liberty up onto your front lawn and take some pictures there, leave the four wheelin' to those of us who actually want to enjoy the sport.[addsig]

[yjdan]

Have a friend who just bought a new Liberty and I ask them if they want to go wheelin some time and they said yea! Man I can not waite to see them do just as you said the chuckle head yuppie did. I will keep you posted on the trip as it comes to be. [addsig]

[BobJ]

KJ owners are a diverse group... some really don't understand the difference between going off-road and rock crawling (which is mostly what PAP is [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]) and some love the veristility...



I love them and want to get one as a daily driver/camp rig, and so you don't lose complete hope in them here's a real Libby while @ Paragon....











The one he didn't want to dent was the Renegade edition... in Canada they have a Rubicon edition KJ with air lockers, an extreme low t-case, and steeper gearing.[addsig]

[MrBill]

People who don't follow the rule of keeping the guy behind you in site at all times get what they deserve... a walk back to help them catch up... [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]



Not that this excuses the pansy libby driver you were stuck with... [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] [addsig]

[drack]

Alot of people leave Paragon shell shocked after their first trip there. I know I did, but that didn't stop me from learning how to wheel alot better and go back for more [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] ! It's not just KJ owners though, anyone that goes up there expecting to run some dust covered roads and a couple puddles of mud are in for the shock of their life. Even the "stock" trails are challenging and if you throw wet weather into the mix, their difficulty is raised a notch. Hardest I've run so far has been Whompum so far, but I'm looking at doing Rattler or Pick your Poison next time out [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] . Sorry you got stuck with a bad group, but as you go back, you'll see that these people are quickly weeded out and normally aren't seen again. Hook up with a good group to wheel with like the Rock Dawgs or BMJA, you'll have a much better time............and maybe see a KJ doing what it was supposed to do [img]modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] ....

[addsig]