Girlfriend driving your TJ?

[Westtown Willy]

Generally no one drives my TJ except me & the occasional mechanic I give it over to for whatever job. I love taking my girlfriend wheeling with me & I’d really like to get her behind the wheel in the mountains so she can share in the real excitement of the whole thing. To date though she hasn’t driven it at all but in preparation for our next trip I wanted to be sure she was still competent with a manual, according to her it’s been many years.

So today we took it out for a short drive around town to keep the blood pumping & when we were passing this parking lot I figured it would be a good spot for a maiden voyage. You’ll see a split in the video less than 20 seconds in where I had to edit about 30 seconds out where I turned super dick following the e-brake incident. Really a minor thing I’ve done myself many times but man I went from zero to douchebag in no time, wondering if it’s still a good idea to unleash her off road



I'm leaning towards letting her have at it, what's the worst that could happen

 

[MaloStapalo]

If she had the e brake on and this was her first time driving a tj, she had to have thought this thing has zero power

 

[jazngab]

Ha! I thought she flipped it when she disappeared for awhile coming back haha

 

[tworley]

My wife has no desire to drive mine, she's done it before a number of years ago but she prefers an automatic and the many creature comforts that mine just doesn't have

 

[jazngab]

My wife doesn’t drive stick but even if she did I still wouldn’t trust her to drive it. It’s a different animal than most of these newer cars/suvs out here. It requires you to actually pay attention when behind the wheel the way it handles.

 

[pagrey]

wondering if it’s still a good idea to unleash her off road

Not a good idea, great idea.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

It requires you to actually pay attention when behind the wheel the way it handles.

That's not normal for a TJ when its suspension is properly set up and its steering is operating as designed. Mine has easy one finger steering with its 35's and 4" SL with 1" BL.

 

[Westtown Willy]

My wife doesn’t drive stick but even if she did I still wouldn’t trust her to drive it. It’s a different animal than most of these newer cars/suvs out here. It requires you to actually pay attention when behind the wheel the way it handles.

Definitely a different animal, & really I'd be more concerned with someone unfamiliar with it driving it on the street than off road. I'm thinking in 4-lo crawling at 1mph on the bunny trail would be a helluva lot better (for me anyway) than puckering through busy streets... There are plenty of trails where I think we'd both feel comfortable with her behind the wheel at low speeds then go from there. Not really sure she's even interested in doing anything more difficult anyway & certainly she's not interested in hearing me scream like a lunatic

Not a good idea, great idea.

I think you're right

That's not normal for a TJ when its suspension is properly set up and its steering is operating as designed.

the way I read that is the TJ doesn't handle like a, for example, small VW or Subaru through tight & twisty turns, which stock TJs in good condition don't even do.

 

[InfamousCanadian]

Last year I let a girl I was into drive my 4.0L manual to the local MacDonalds to get food (she insisted she could drive a manual). 100 feet down the road I made her pull over and I drove the rest of the way . She kept on dumping the clutch and shifting into neutral instead of second (didn't understand the throw despite me making her shift while I was driving.) Needlessly to say, she didn't drive it again

 

[jazngab]

That's not normal for a TJ when its suspension is properly set up and its steering is operating as designed. Mine has easy one finger steering with its 35's and 4" SL with 1" BL.

My TJ handles great! I remember when I first test drove it I was a little nervous as I was not used to the body roll of a Jeep. Now it’s easy and drives straight as an arrow. But for one who’s not familiar it may be a challenge

 

[Jerry Bransford]

the way I read that is the TJ doesn't handle like a, for example, small VW or Subaru through tight & twisty turns, which stock TJs in good condition don't even do.

Is that to say you wouldn't trust a female driver to be able to safely drive a standard car perhaps like a Ford Explorer, SUV, etc. through tight twisty roads? After all they're not small VW's or Subarus either. I regularly drive my TJ through tight twisty mountain roads while towing my tent trailer and it handles well enough that I keep up with traffic in front of me and I don't often have to pull over to let faster traffic pass me. In other words my TJ handles well enough that I'd happily let my 16 year old grandaughter drive it without reservations or warnings cautioning her about its handling.

My TJ handles great! I remember when I first test drove it I was a little nervous as I was not used to the body roll of a Jeep. Now it’s easy and drives straight as an arrow. But for one who’s not familiar it may be a challenge

Driving a stock or properly set up TJ shouldn't be a challenge at all for even a new driver, not even close. Plenty of females drive TJs, even my 16 year old granddaughter drives a TJ and my daughter learned to drive in my TJ. I think to say a TJ could be a "challenge" to drive is either 1) underestimating a woman's ability to drive or 2) has a TJ whose handling is screwed up from a problem(s) and doesn't realized it shouldn't handle like that.

 

[Jack72]

I think that if you decide to let her drive it then you really must learn and accept that things will go wrong, something may get broken and be ok with that. Otherwise, you may find yourself being super uptight, critical and sucking all the fun out of the moment. Allow her the freedom to make mistakes without negative repercussion from you.

If you can’t do that (and that’s ok) then I’d say don’t let her drive. Just be honest with yourself about the situation.


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[RWhite71]

I would let anyone drive my TJ, it is a jeep, it was made to take abuse. My lady had her own JK 2 door manual when I met her lol upgraded to a 4 door manual and now has a volvo xc 60 so only I have a jeep left my TJ.

 

[bromel]

I don't let anyone drive my TJ regardless of gender—not my girlfriend, not my 75-year-old father who's been driving far longer than I've been alive. They're both perfectly capable of driving it, I just don't want anyone else but me touching it I'm not so selfish in other areas of my life, but when it comes to that Jeep, I'm a total asshole.

 

[Westtown Willy]

Is that to say you wouldn't trust a female driver to be able to safely drive a standard car perhaps like a Ford Explorer, SUV, etc. through tight twisty roads? After all they're not small VW's or Subarus either. I regularly drive my TJ through tight twisty mountain roads while towing my tent trailer and it handles well enough that I keep up with traffic in front of me and I don't often have to pull over to let faster traffic pass me. In other words my TJ handles well enough that I'd happily let my 16 year old grandaughter drive it without reservations or warnings cautioning her about its handling.

What??? I said “the TJ doesn't handle like a, for example, small VW or Subaru through tight & twisty turns” and you interpret that to mean “I wouldn't trust a female driver to be able to safely drive a standard car perhaps like a Ford Explorer, SUV, etc. through tight twisty roads?”

That’s so out of left field I’m not even sure how to respond.

I meant exactly what I said, a TJ does not handle like a small road car in tight & twisty turns & I’ll add no matter who’s driving it. I stand by that.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

What??? I said “the TJ doesn't handle like a, for example, small VW or Subaru through tight & twisty turns” and you interpret that to mean “I wouldn't trust a female driver to be able to safely drive a standard car perhaps like a Ford Explorer, SUV, etc. through tight twisty roads?”

That’s so out of left field I’m not even sure how to respond.

I meant exactly what I said, a TJ does not handle like a small road car in tight & twisty turns & I’ll add no matter who’s driving it. I stand by that.

Re-read what I said a little more carefully. I never said a TJ handled like a small sports car. I compared the TJ's handling to a "standard car like a Ford Explorer, SUV, etc." which women drive and handle without problem. Why do you keep bring up that you're worried about females driving our Jeeps and comparing small cars to how Jeeps handle in a Jeep forum? OF COURSE a TJ doesn't handle like a small car and females are fully up to driving anything we are.

 

[Serbonze]

My wife has just started driving our Jeep off road and she loves it. I’m more than happy to give her as much seat time as necessary, just as my father did for me when I first started driving off-road in Maine. And I’m just as capable of breaking something as she is.

Side note...isn’t it weird to see your own Jeep drive off?

 

[bobthetj03]

My jeep is built with the intention that my wife, or my 2 daughters, can drive it without drama. My wife grew up driving a manual trans, and I taught both my kids to drive stick. Must be a generational thing.

 

[jazngab]

For the record, gender has nothing to do with driving skill. Hell, I already said I, a male, was nervous driving it at first, especially on the 3 hr freeway drive home with tractor trailers passing me. I was not accustomed to driving a lifted vehicle and one that wasn’t properly geared. At that time I didn’t even know 5th gear shouldn’t be used when severely undergeared.

As far as teaching manual, years ago when we were dating in college I tried to teach my wife manual. Didn’t go so well. I’d be open to teaching her again if she was interested in an open lot, as @Westtown Willy did. And I plan to teach both my younger daughters how to drive stick when they learn to drive in 10 years. I would hope to still have the TJ then to teach them too.

 

[juiced10]

Our family just got done building 99. The whole point of the build was to have a fun vehicle the whole family can take. 2 daughters and a wife ready when the weather gets nicer. As a matter of fact my 16 year old daughter hopefully gets her license in April and already told me she is taking it to prom! Teach to respect whatever they are driving,snowmobiles,ATV, golf cart. I don’t care what it is. They can drive it. Even this.

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