The JK-Jamboree is going on at Superlift this coming weekend.

4 wheeler magazine will be on site covering the event for an article
in the magazine.

 

Wow, glad you guys are ok, and thx for sharing the pics/experience. Glad to see you quickly got back on the horse (taking the same trail again)!

So for noobies like me:
1) to avoid this, what would have done differently? Different line (and why), different action, etc...?
2) when i do have an offroad mishap, how exactly should i phrase the accident to the insurance company? :P

the fixes and upcoming mods look/sound great!

 

I'm sure they'll devote a corner of one page to it...and the rest will be filled with garbage.

 

I still can't picture exactly how this accident happened, but I would say to avoid it - should be pretty simple - Drive slower? He stated he was going 10-15mph, which is actually pretty fast for offroad driving, especially when decending a 45 degree angle hill or something. I offroad at Rausch Creek Offroad Park here in PA often and rarely do I see 10-15mph, even on some of the completely flat, non-rutted access roads.

Probably should have done more 'crawling down' the decline. 4LO, maybe gear 1 or gear 2, and just let it engine brake its way down the hill. That's at least how I descend the steep ones. I'm guessing maybe he hit the brakes once he slid into the ruts? Combined with going 15mph down an incline?

Maybe this one wasn't that steep to warrant 4LO and 1, but still probably steep and dangerous enough that 10-15mph, then braking after sliding was a bad idea.

As far as working with your insurance, hopefully you just have a good, understandable insurance agent. I mean, they know the Jeep wrangler is an offroad vehicle (it even has tips on how to drive offroad in the owners manual!) and probably have the rates increased slightly due to the nature of the vehicle, so I would hope they would pay up in event of a crash, even if an offroad one? If not, I would fight them pretty hard...

 

Everything happens for a reason and it happens to the best of us.

Glad to see that you came out alive and nobody was injured. I guess thinking it could have been a lot worse, makes it a better/learning situation. It's only money. And i'm glad, again, that you were being looked out for, from a little someone from above.

 

I agree with you.

 

Glad there was no injury. That sucks though!

 

Glad you ok as well, but how about that plastic grill!? To all the haters...suck it! It and the passengers all survived!

 

For #1, in this case, a small amount of reaction time would have made a lot of difference, as would having faith in my Jeep and getting in the ruts instead of trying to stay on top, but every situation is different. You might see if you can scrounge for a list of what to do in XYZ situation. example here, when the back end slipped sideways, I should have turned the wheel to bring the front the same direction.

For #2, my real recommendation is to ask your insurance company about off-road coverage and how they handle it, as all insurance companies are a bit different. I got lucky with mine, and the rep I spoke with had me spare the details of the particular dirt road I was upside down on, and they filed it essentially as a comprehensive claim, just like if a tree fell on it in a storm or what have you.

 

What insurance company do you have?