Jeep clubs, what's your take?

Mumblewood

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Just curious on people’s take on Jeep clubs? I’ve been in and out of them, officially licensed and otherwise all my life
Lately I’ve been considering getting back into another official club but had a bad experience with my last one.
As of now I jeep with my core group that I’ve been wheeling with since I’ve started (we all left an official club WE started) but it’s getting harder and harder to get them motivated to go out.
 
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There are other clubs you can join too... Antifa, BLM, Proud Boys. Hell, you can even join Hair Club for Men ;)

Honestly, I understand having friends and people to go wheeling with, but I'm not sure why it needs to be called a "club".
 
They can be nice when sometimes it hard to find people to go off road with. Most require some amount of commitment about meeting and club runs. Also if you get in with a fun group you can have many fun times. Some are more family oriented than other so you have to pick one that fits your family needs or not
 
I don't like the drama and pack mentality that comes with a "club". Some are ok I guess, but the ones around seem to have some very toxic people leading them. I stick to a small group of friends, that occasionally expands due to mutual acquaintances. We help each other on the trail, and in the garage when needed. Its like a club, but without the dues, and the dickheads.
 
I stick to a small group of friends, that occasionally expands due to mutual acquaintances. We help each other on the trail, and in the garage when needed. Its like a club, but without the dues, and the dickheads.

This is my mentality as well. I wheel with a bunch of people I've known for a while and trust them to help out, if needed. It wasn't by design, but, with the exception of one other person, everyone I go out with regularly drives something besides a Jeep.
 
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I think it's all about finding the right fit. I was against clubs for all the reasons listed above, but found myself looking for people to wheel with that wanted to do more than just trot along FS roads. I came across a smaller group of local people that like going rock crawling (buggies, jeeps, trucks, etc). Most are on tons with v8's and 42's, but there are a few people who run smaller tires like myself (35's). I've been on a few rides with this group, and been an active member on the forum for about six months, and there are usually 5-10 rigs that show up for a ride. So far so good.
 
I think it honestly just depends on who is in the club / leadership, and what they and you want to get out of it.

I move every few years for work assignments so I don't have that core group of local friends or wheeling buddies. Local jeep clubs have introduced me to new people and allows me to 'never wheel alone'.

The current club I ride with does several things that I find value in.
-Hosts open Monthly rides for varying experience levels
-Hosts several trail clean ups each year
-Works with SFWDA to fight land use issues in the area we wheel. With grants, over 50k has been used to keep trails we run open via court battles.
-Promotes safe and responsible wheeling
-Maintains licensed club radio frequencies for HAM.

I get they're not for everyone but good ones are out there
 
I see clubs like championship sports teams. If you get the right mix and people and you fit right in, everything is a blast. Anything else and it's like being in school. You're there for a reason and getting something out of it but the people around you stink and you begin to question why. My neighbor for years kept trying to get me to join his running club. I finally did and very soon realized i'll never belong to the 'click' in the club. When they asked why i'm not re-joining I emailed them an article explaining there are two different kinds of runners: solo and social. I am a solo runner. They are a social running group. I refrained from calling anyone an asshole but sure wanted to.
 
I don't like the drama and pack mentality that comes with a "club". Some are ok I guess, but the ones around seem to have some very toxic people leading them. I stick to a small group of friends, that occasionally expands due to mutual acquaintances. We help each other on the trail, and in the garage when needed. Its like a club, but without the dues, and the dickheads.


I also am in this same boat. I have never joined a club but when I started looking at some of the local clubs, I had a few friends that had similar opinions. I guess most clubs in my area started out the same - a group that slowly expanded and then someone thought dues should be charged etc.

Some of the dues are understandable especially if you are joining bigger events but then it seems like it starts evolving into a business......so not what it's about. And then there are the "clicky" groups....nope
 
I have been in and around jeep clubs since 1960. I currently belong to one in Northern California. I am also part of an informal group of offroaders driving another brand 4x4 who get together several times each year and I sometimes participate Facebook group of local jeepers who have a semi organized run every month.

There are pros and cons to organized clubs. Good ones are great; bad ones suck. Just like everything else.



@Chris ,

You might be interested in the Central Arizona Jeepers, who appear to be a large but not overly organized/regimented family-friendly jeep club that draws people from all over Prescott Valley and the Phoenix area.


Central-Arizona-Jeepers-Logo.jpg


See: http://jeepsies.com/central-arizona-jeepers/
 
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I thought about looking into one, but after stumbling into some runs with guys from here the desire mostly faded as they’re a lot of fun to wheel with and be around/work with.
 
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I half ways joined the local club here. They're pretty cool folks but the meetings are RIDICULOUSLY BORING, I cannot take it. But im on their email list and have met people to wheel with because of them. I was in the position of started wheeling in my mid 30's and none of my friends wheel. I needed to meet people who actually like to rock crawl. It worked for that and we usually wheel now outside of group activities.

The problem with club runs is there's always at least one freaking unlocked Jk on road tires who wants to play.
 
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There are at least 3 local to me. Seem to be friendly folks - but I was warned about Jeep clubs in general. A "beginner's" trail is intermediate, and an intermediate is "OMFG!" I'm in no way yet ready to even try a trail as yet, it will be some months before I am. Then I might check 'em out. One has a rep of being more of the OMFG type, one apparently is more towards beginners like me. I'll need a "bunny trail" the first few times at least!
 
There are at least 3 local to me. Seem to be friendly folks - but I was warned about Jeep clubs in general. A "beginner's" trail is intermediate, and an intermediate is "OMFG!" I'm in no way yet ready to even try a trail as yet, it will be some months before I am. Then I might check 'em out. One has a rep of being more of the OMFG type, one apparently is more towards beginners like me. I'll need a "bunny trail" the first few times at least!
Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
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I half ways joined the local club here. They're pretty cool folks but the meetings are RIDICULOUSLY BORING, I cannot take it. But im on their email list and have met people to wheel with because of them. I was in the position of started wheeling in my mid 30's and none of my friends wheel. I needed to meet people who actually like to rock crawl. It worked for that and we usually wheel now outside of group activities.

The problem with club runs is there's always at least one freaking unlocked Jk on road tires who wants to play.
What club if you don’t mind me asking? There’s one up north I was thinking about since I’ve jeeped with a few members but it seems like most clubs in this state have gone racing or easier trailers
 
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Some are good some are full of dbags. Some are focused on service and some on fun for the members. Some are affiliated with an organization and some are not. Some have regular club meetings and some are internet only. The main club I belong to is full of good folks, is a registered 501C3, organizes runs, is affiliated with the PNW4WDA (https://www.pnw4wda.org/) and does good volunteer work and fun only stuff too.
 
I'm going to risk being seen by members of said clubs here. I belonged to a group years back. Family oriented, which was what I wanted as there were a few other offroad groups around here that were full of 'git 'em yuuuup' types. Some drink and trail, too.

Wasn't exactly a short drive for me as they would typically meet on the other side of the county from me monthly for a meet and greet dinner. (About 1.25-1.5 hour drive) I met some pretty cool cats there but I also felt alienated and always had to initiate conversation at meetings and events; especially from the 'higher ups'. What am I, a prospect? Lol

Eventually, the group split due to some stuff I had nothing to do with. I went to meet and greets for both clubs for a while and found nice folk in both groups. But, the distance was too much for me to go regularly. A few members live closer to me. One runs an offroad shop that I take my Jeep to from time to time. One i used to go out with regularly on short runs locally before he was transferred out of state. (Military)

I wish there was a club closer but to be honest, I don't trail as much as I used to. When I do get out I'm usually going with friends that don't live in the area.

I think one advantage is that you have someone to help you wrench. But I've not seen one club that didn't evolve clicks and bullshit politics. But, I also understand that running these clubs is a pain on the ass I wouldn't want. So people take stuff personally.

All in all, they can be beneficial and a wealth of knowledge. You get to trail, talk, and generally interact with them in person. That's something that you don't typically get from forums.
 
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