If you’re a Jeep Wrangler owner, you’ve done at least one of the things on this list.
Many automotive enthusiast groups are made up of a wide variety of people with different racial, social, economic, religious, and political backgrounds. The common bond of vehicles can be a beautiful force. However, as unalike as the members of a gearhead group may be, there’s a good chance their uniting characteristic – such as a love of the Jeep Wrangler – causes them to exhibit some of the same behaviors.
According to JK Gear and Gadgets, JK Wrangler owners tend to do many of the same things. For starters, they, of course, buy a Jeep Wrangler in the first place (kind of an important part of being a Wrangler owner). Next, they name their rig something that’s “near and dear” to their hearts, usually putting that name on the sides of their Wrangler’s hood. To make the world aware of just how awesome their JK is, owners then create an Instagram page for it and encourage everyone they know (and don’t know) to follow it.
The Jeep Wave is a sacred thing. In JK Gear and Gadgets’s opinion, Wrangler drivers take it way too seriously. Those with bone-stock JKs also believe their factory-fresh model is ready to conquer the legendary Rubicon trail without any modifications and that driving on a dirt road counts as “wheeling.” At a certain point in their ownership, many Jeep owners end up begging for parts sponsorships because mods are eventually necessary to make the Wrangler perform at its best.
There are plenty more outlandish so-called habits of JK owners in the video. The internet can be a blindly hateful place (especially the Youtube comments section), but it’s nice to know this good-natured ribbing of Jeep owners is done by actual Jeep owners themselves…who may or may not have done several of the things the video highlights.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
