Jeep'n Then and Now

[BusaDave9]

Just a discussion of how off-roading has changed since the Jeeps first came out in the '40s.

The main changes I know of were in two areas:
1. Environmentalism
2. Safety
Of course technology has changed the Jeeps themselves. Let me know of any other changes you may know of.

Jeeps came out before the word environmentalism. Off-roading meant just that: driving anywhere you wanted without roads or trails. Check out this '73 CJ5 commercial where they advertise you don't even need a trail to drive a Jeep on.
1973 AMC Jeep CJ5 Dealer Commercial - YouTube

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Now, everyone must "stay the trail". It is illegal to really drive off-road. We say we are "off-roading" when we drive on the trails.
Back then if it was public land that meant the public owned it. Like any land you own you could do what you wanted on it. Take your jeep anywhere you wanted; road or no road.

Safety: the other major change in off-roading. Jeeps originally didn't even have seat belts. It was decades before roll bars were standard.
Can you imagine driving a CJ3b like this over rough terrain without a seat belt or roll bars.

At the end of the commercial above they talked about the Renegade having a roll bar. It was a thin walled tube that was mounted behind the driver on the rear wheel well. It was cool because it looked like what a racer might have. But by today's standards it was junk.

Now everyone wears seat belts. Here is a thread I did asking how many people wear their seat belts. No one said they didn't wear seat belts often.
http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f72/how-safety-conscious-you-12022/
This next pic was recently posted by mscottb.

Here's a cool video of how the jeeps got started in WWII
You may want to jump to 2:40 into the video.
In all it's about 10 minutes long.
Autobiography of a Jeep (Old Jeep Commercial) - YouTube

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[BusaDave9]

When were seat belts and roll bars mandatory?
I know you could get lap belts very early on. But when were they mandatory? My '79 CJ only came with a lap belt. I had a '82 CJ7 that had the shoulder belt.
In the '70s you could get a roll bar as an option. The CJs were sold up to '86 but a roll cage was never an option. Was it the TJ Wranglers that first had the bar that extended to the windshield?
Back in the early days there weren't many safety features.

 

[Petescj]

The lap belt change came between '81 and '82. The Yj wrangler used the bars that went to the windshield but Im not sure what year that started

 

[Old Dog]

I feel for you guys out west that have to stay on the trails.
Here where we run private land, we really do get to run "off road"
and make our own trails as long as the landowner doesn't care
and most of where we run they don't.
Real Jeep'n

 

[BusaDave9]

Hey Old Dog, your signature picture fits in to this thread. Got a bigger version of the same?
Jeep'n with the family in the '50s. No roll bar. No seat belts (maybe for the 2 in front but I doubt it) up on 2 wheels. Everyone is having fun. At least until someone dies.

 

[diddy2003]

Those videos are awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Old Dog]

Dave, here's the bigger pic. I don't remember were I found it but I thought it was cool. Even the dog is with.

 

[rocmoc]

One of the biggest changes for me has been the increase in the number of people. Use to go to the popular locations of today and be the only one or nearly the only one. We had non-street legal machines and could drive them anywhere from place to place on the paved highways. I was at Ocotillo Wells the weekend the Highway Patrol started enforcing no driving on Hwy78. Use to go to Glamis when there was just a few of us and didn't have to worry about someone running over me. Ha, the good old days!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

 

[BusaDave9]

I feel for you guys out west that have to stay on the trails.
Here where we run private land, we really do get to run "off road"
and make our own trails as long as the landowner doesn't care
and most of where we run they don't.
Real Jeep'n

But the off-road parks are new. They started in the late '80s. You never would have heard of such a thing in the '50s '60s or even '70's. Back then you could go off-road almost anywhere. Since then there have been more and more land closures. Only then was it worth while for land owners to convert their land into off-road parks.

One of the biggest changes for me has been the increase in the number of people.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

BINGO!
I think that's the real issue. Populations have increased exponentially. Plus it is now so easy to travel long distances on the interstate.
Here in SW Colorado we have the alpine loop where you can go deep into the mountains. It used to be remote and you wouldn't see anyone out there. Now the alpine loop is crowded. There are lots of people that come from Texas and other distant states, hauling their Jeeps, ATVs and motorcycles to ride the Loop.

Actually I think the population increase is the reason the conservationists (aka Tree Huggers) have increased. In the '50s if someone took thier jeep off-road and trampled over brush and dug up the wet lands out in the wilderness then no one would be back there to see the destruction. Now there is very little wilderness. Almost anywhere you drive off-road there is someone just over the next hill that will get upset seeing any trash or destruction you did.
When I am out on the mountain trails I get upset when I see some mud (and there isn't much out here) that someone went off the trail to tear up. It's the few that give us all a bad name. And any destruction done by off-roaders will not go unnoticed because there are so many people out in the woods, the mountains or anywhere else that used to be wilderness.

 

[KenB]

And what about the old, abandoned roads? My, for now, favorite place to go is Big Bend NP. On Google Earth you can see hundreds of miles of old roads, made by the early settlers to get to their homesteads, that the NPS prohibits travel on. "Preserving the land for future generations". It will be preserved, because only those who are fit enough to hike 20 miles through the desert will ever get to see it.
On the other hand, the Big Bend Ranch STATE park, promotes its "Roads To Nowhere" as old Jeep roads that take you into backcountry seldom seen. I think they have the right perspective.

 

[PaRenegade]

One thing that happened around here is the lack of trails. Back in the 70's and 80's you could go about anywhere. Now granted, just because there aren't any "no trespassing" signs doesn't mean you aren't trespassing or it's okay to be there, but slowly over time these roads got gated or had boulders pushed in front of the entrance. And I'm not saying there aren't legitimate reasons for this to happen but it just limits the places to go and it's a big reason why my Jeep hasn't seen much off-roading in the past decade and a half. That and the big holes developing in my frame!!
But in recent years there has become more "park" type places where you pay to play. Once the liability issue was overcome they have become more feasible.

I've also seen the aftermarket parts prices skyrocket. It's not a cheap proposition anymore to "customize" your offroad rig. Lift kits in the $1000-1500 range??? Steel hasn't increased that much!

 

[Saint0416]

AWESOME POST!!!! I love the old videos!

 

[Hedgehog]

I love the hubcaps on the '73 jeep. And just imagine the luxery of illuminated dials and electric rather than vacuum windshiels wipers. At about the 3 minute mark they show a different angle to the jumping and landing hard jeep that is shown several times. Watch it and you will see a hubcap go flying up in the air. Makes my back hurt just watching it.

 

[Texian]

Dave, here's the bigger pic. I don't remember were I found it but I thought it was cool. Even the dog is with.

Yeah,Family Jeepin' !
2 wheels off the ground,windshield down and the dog hanging on.

 

[Torxhead]

As I recall, these were put on the net a few years back. They were originally made with 7mm film and found in an attic search by one of the relatives of the original members: Yakima Ridge Runners Part 1 - YouTube
Yakima Ridge Runners Part 2 - YouTube
Yakima Ridge Runners - YouTube

 

[CJAKE7]

Cool thread. I made the family jeep pic my desktop backround. Betcha they didn't have $50,000 mall crawlers that were afraid to get scratched or muddy back then. If you bought a jeep you used it for what it was intended for. I'm sure it wasn't a competition to see who could have the most expensive mods and driver ability thrown out the window since your driving a tank. I bet most people kept them stock and had fun testing there driving ability. Oh, for the good old days! I think you CJ guys have a better handle on this than the "new" jeep crowd.

 

[Hedgehog]

I must point out, after the CJ there are no true Jeeps. The direct from WWII Jeep line died in 1986 when the very woman like Wrangler came out with it's plastic interior, soft seats, square head lights and door locks.

 

[johnnyreb]

and don't forget the A/C. Who would of thought on a soft top. My early off road experience was in the form of east coast 4 wheel drive assoc. races. Dad was a member of region B. They were probably the predecessor of the off road parks. Dirt drag races, hill climbs and head to head obstacle courses. Everything from DD to mild mods to full blown racers, but no mall crawlers.

 

[BajaEdition]

I want to comment

first, AH, Wranglers are real jeeps, the universal platform is still recognizable as is the heritage. Just because they change the front end.
sheesh look at a wwll jeep and the CJ5 CJ6 or CJ7 look a lot different
give that argument a break.

second, I think the difference we have today is Jeeping has become a sport
I remember 50 years ago jeeping was a lifestyle, you went jeeping because it was a extension of being an outdoorsman.
Fishing, hunting, camping or whatever, the jeeper was doing what he loved to do which was being outdoors. He was the environmentalist, not some guy who never goes in the wild writing checks to the sierra club because he sees pictures in a magizine.

we jeeped to go out into the wild. now most guys are measuring their penis rock crawling or such.
do not get mad at that statement, think on it. look how many guys who never had a interest in the outdoors bought jeeps because they see the fun in rock crawling, or hill climbing, or some other jeep sport.

and there it lies

as far as safety features, they are just evolution. One thing you can not deny is they save lives so why bitch

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

Wranglers are still jeans and thats that!
No really, just recently I have thought getting my daughter a wrangler. She doesn't fancy the cj as her parents do but nodded at the possibility of a modern jeep. Respect safety and live to bitch tomorrow. Ir man up and praise safety. My two cents if your using U.S.D.
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