Good & Bad
After a day of showing friends some trails we came upon the last water crossing. I had never gone to the right and tried to “test the waters.” It took a CJ and a JK with winches to pull me out.

This Side Up
I decided to take a city service trail that happened to connect to a dirt road less than a quarter mile from my house, which ultimately would avoid the rush hour traffic from work. This is about halfway down the trail, and what started out as about a foot deep got a lot deeper quickly. Had I known it was this deep I would have just flipped the Jeep over and floated across this! Later a friend came to pull me out.
Sgt. Justus Perry
Via email

All of preparation in the world won’t do you an ounce of good if you don’t wear your seatbelt on the trail. Conversely, that seatbelt won’t help you much if a bag of tools smacks you in the head. In order to stay safe in a rollover you have to plan ahead, stay calm during the roll, and perform a safe recovery and some basic inspections to assess the damage. One part won’t work without the other. You need to be prepared before, during, and after to ensure that you drive away safely.

Have you ever met someone who claims to have never been stuck? Notice that you only hear about their exploits at the safety of home or from behind a keyboard, never while out on the trail around a campfire? Real wheelers get stuck. It isn’t a big deal because, as we illustrate in this issue, real wheelers also know how to take care of themselves and have the tools and ingenuity to get out of darn near any situation.

If you are a mountain man or a Boy Scout you might know how to capture rainwater on fern leaves or start a fire with a stick and a shoestring. But almost any four-wheeler just carries water jugs and a lighter and knows how to use them. The same goes for recovery equipment. We all get stuck, break down, and even roll over on the trail. When you are pushing the limits of your skills and your vehicle, these things are bound to happen, and you have to push to improve. But if you were never a Scout and are new to wheeling then you may not know what do you do once you are knee-deep in your own whoops! After safety considerations, the first step is to document the situation with a photo. Then you can break out the necessary recovery equipment and get yourself out of the predicament.

Put to the Test
We take our 4x4 of the Year testing seriously! Here you can see Editor Péwé’s, uh, good side as he hooks up the Bubba Rope to the front of a new Jeep Wrangler Moab Edition in Azusa Canyon.

Lucky
Wrong line, no cage, lucky to be alive.
Iron Loki
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Unexpected
We decided to take the kids out for one of their first muddin’ experiences, and as luck would have it, everything was frozen! No problem!

Independence Roll
We decided to go to the mountaintop to celebrate the Fourth of July. A misjudgment of the hole–to–tire-size ratio sent my rig on its lid in a hurry! Once the truck was on the roof it actually started sliding down the hill. Thankfully, my friend wasn’t too far behind in his Jeep, which ended up acting like a parking brake for my wrong-side-up truck. Talk about one heck of a Fourth of July!
Jaydee Hubbard
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

First Timer
This was my friend’s first build and rollover. No one was injured, and he was up and wheeling in no time.
Mike Farley
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Jay’s Bluff
After wheeling for two days and managing not to break, we were ready to head home. Just before we left we ran across the park owner’s son, who told us about a bluff that no one had made it up. He then proceeded to tell us that the first person to make it up gets to name it. We took the challenge and ended up making it up! Unfortunately, the trip back down the bluff didn’t turn out as planned. And that, boys and girls, is the story of how it came to be known as Jay’s Bluff!
Jay
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

The Lineup
My friend had just driven out of the pit with his Grand Cherokee and told me, “You can drive right through the middle, no problem!” Apparently I was a little offcenter. A year later I am still cleaning mud out of the interior.
Mattew Craig
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Details
I was on the way to get my Jeep detailed when I got a call from my buddy saying that he needed me to come winch him out. Not long after arriving I found myself in this predicament. While the hardtop is toast, the rest of the damage turned out to be relatively minor.
Spc. Vincent Larsen
3rd Brigade 82nd Airborne Division
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Cold Tub
With a light coating of ice lining Mickey’s Hot Tub in Moab, I knew it was going to be a challenge. My ’87 Toyota ended up flipping forward onto its lid. Luckily, I wasn’t injured and we were able to drag it out. I even drove it off of the trail. It is currently being fitted with a new cage and has been lowered 2 inches.
James Sorrels
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Oh Buddy!
While driving on a trail in Ocala, Florida, we came across what we thought was a good spot to test the Jeep’s new suspension. As soon as we dropped in, the CJ nearly rolled over. Luckily, my buddies were able to save it from taking a flop!
Robert Wasilewski
Via whoops@ 4wheeloffroad.com

Civil War
Remember to pick your off-road battles wisely. Even with an LS1 under the hood and 40-inch Swampers, my Jeep was no match for this mud pit.
Name withheld
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Sierra Drifter
The one thing that we didn’t plan on using the 4Runner for was a snow gauge!
Squirrel & Squirrelie
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Double Parked
I was going so slowly some other guys tried to crawl over me.
Las Cruces trails, 1993
Rick Péwé

Front and rear lockers, long-travel suspensions, and the most powerful engines in the history of man are sometimes no match for what Mother Nature has to offer. While mud is generally the great equalizer for almost every rig, there are plenty of unique ways to get stuck off road. While we know these lapses in judgment and general off-road goofs might not be your proudest moments, they are very entertaining for others!

This happened on my last deployment to Northern Afghanistan. One of my vehicles called an M-ATV (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle) led a movement down a small path and across a land bridge that spanned a 15-foot gap. Overnight, Taliban forces flooded the gap and washed out the base of the land bridge. When we drove across that morning, the bridge gave out and caused the vehicle to drop into the gap. Once the dust cleared, the commander of the truck, Staff Sgt. Ben Fletcher, came across the radio saying, “Punisher 1-2 is stuck.” Everybody inside of the vehicle was able to climb out of the gunner’s hatch.

Mountain Explorer
My buddies and I were out wheeling at the local ORV park when we found a mud hole that easily swallowed my 381⁄2-inch Boggers. After multiple attempts of snatching the rig out of the mud with ropes, we couldn’t get it to budge. Fortunately the good folks from the Mountain Explorers Off Road Club came by and used a few of their winches to pull us right out.
Mike Stokes
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

Here is where all the day’s fun ran out. I was driving along the edge of the pond when I hit a very deep drop-off. After we pulled the Jeep out we found that one of the valve stems had broken off, my front alignment was out, and the power steering no longer worked. I can look back and laugh now, as it’s all about the fun you have Jeepin’ !
Randy Sanderlin
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

The First 24
After owning my new-to-me Jeep Cherokee for less than 24 hours my boyfriend and I decided to go test it out off-road. We ended up driving on a trail that was a little too narrow and the next thing we knew we were rolling down the hill. Thankfully we both had our seatbelts on and came out uninjured. Since we were wheeling with a few other friends we were able to get the Jeep out pretty quickly. The Jeep fired right up and we were able to drive it home. Talk about a crazy first outing!
Amanda Beckett
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

In the Groove
Even with 35-inch Boggers and locked axles, my truck was no match for the monster ruts hidden beneath the swamp’s surface.
Josh White
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com

On the Hunt
While elk hunting in Idaho we hit a slick spot on the trail and took a little tumble. Luckily my little brother Austin did a great job of building the cage and we all walked away unharmed.
A.J. Buttars
Via whoops@4wheeloffroad.com