Hey all, I gotta lil dellema here :( . My mom threatened to take my Ex away If I ever go muddin or offroadin in it :eek: . But it's something I've been looking forward to doing every since I've got my Ex! I've actually already been on a couple muddy trails and did a lil offroadin, but nothing very major. She's even known about one time, and she didn't care for it much, but she pretty much let me know that she don't want me doin it again. I need some facts or excuses to win her approval of it.. I know I can change her mind if I just re-assure that it won't hurt anything. Cuz there's not any real dangerous trails around here, and I have some buddies in other trucks that'l be with me if I need help. I dunno what to do/say..any suggestions..?

That's an easy question:

BUY THE TRUCK YOURSELF!

haha :p , Yeah, like that's even possible..I'm 16 and just now gettin my 1st job this summer. It's pretty much mine anyway, my grandparents baught it for me. But my parents pay insurence. And as long as I live in this house, no matter if it's fully mine or not, they still wouldn't let me do anything I want to it..

Well then sell it and buy an econobox. It's way too much of a pain in the ass to try to modify a truck that's not even yours. Maybe if you worked enough this summer then you could afford to buy an old jeep or something.

trust me, if you beg them enough they will let you! it took me 8 months of begging befor emy parents would let me lift mine.

But then once you break something (yes you will, it's inevitable), then your parents will be pissed at you and take it from you (or worse). Beleive me, It's alot more fun to wheel a vehicle you know that you own.

There's no way in hell I'm sellin this thing ! I love it too much. And I plan to mod it slighly this summer, and I will be paying insurence by the end of the year since I'm gettin a job. So it will be mine completely then.

I know I'll prolly break something..but it's sooo irresistable :bounce:! heh, It's like the funnest thing I could ever do around here, there's sooo many diff trails and stuff.

Then here is my advice:

Do a mild lift, and put 31x10.50's in (get a mud terrain). Now, save up and buy a powertrax no-slip locker (for the rear) and install it yourself. Oh yeah and buy a trailer hitch for the rear and install tow hooks for the front. Also, a tranny cooler would be nice. Lastly, ditch the autohubs. Your explorer will be very capable now and your parents will find that not much on your truck has really changed.

lmao..ok..:confused:

Well that was my 2 cents :D

If you really want to keep the truck and wheel it, those are the best things you can do for it besides basic maintenance.

I was just thinkin about puttin a K&N filter on it this summer..that good enough..? lol :p

Well, IMO, a stock explorer is good for most things. What I just suggested will make your truck infinitely better offroad for about half a summer's salary.

Are you serious?! I thought it'd take at least like $5000 or sumthin to do all that crap..that's about what I paid for the whole truck! heh..how much would it cost to do all that..? By the way, I only get $6/hr and work 48 hrs a week at my job.

If you try to get good deals and do the work yourself, all that will cost ya about $900. It's pretty easy stuff too, just takes time. That's alot of work time. You could save up for all that in just a few months.

Is the title in your name? Well tell your parents its yours and the if you break it you will fix it. LOL

My parents have always been supportive of my habbit. At least when I was living at home. That might be because my dad had the same habbit... LOL

My mom did think it was weird that I trashed a perfectly good truck just to have fun. But she never said no... LOL

In either case I don't live with em anymore and the new woman (Maranda) has just as much fun with it as I do! :D In fact she didn't even come running out in a panic when I took the sazall to it again this weekend.

I know where you're coming from Forder, my parents were exactly the same way: absolutely no mods or off-roading, no matter what. So, speaking from experience, this is what I'd do:
(By the way, before I start, this happened to work for me AND I was lucky enough not to break anything or ever get stuck. However, you might not have the same luck. With the disclaimer out of the way, these are my suggestions :D )
1. If you really want to mod the Ex, do engine and performance mods. It won't turn the Ex into a four-wheeling machine, but it will hold over your modding appetite, and assuming your parents don't pay too much attention, they probably won't notice.
2. The stereo in my Ex only had a tape player, but I got my dad to say that I could upgrade the sound system. He assumed I was just going to put in a CD player of come sort. But, since I had permission, the Ex has now got a new head unit, new speakers, new sub waiting to be put in, and it's going to need 2 more amps before I'm done with the sound system.
3. If you do go off-roading, only do really easy stuff that any car can do. It's really annoying, but that's the best choice because there's a far lesser chance of breaking something or getting stuck. Don't do anything that might get you stuck unless you know you can get out without the parents somehow finding out. I had gone out to a trail like 4 times and just done the easy stuff before I found an F-150 on the fifth trip that could tow me out if I needed it.
4. After off-roading, wash the Ex immediately. Don't let your parents see it. Destroy all evidence.
5. Do maintenance, like changing the oil, by yourself. It'll help to convince your parents 1) you can actually work on the Ex without messing it up and 2) you know what you're doing.
6. And also from experience, don't do anything stupid. Don't rearend a Saab in rush hour traffic. Don't overheat the engine. Don't forget to wash the Ex after off-roading. Don't screw up a speaker install and short-circuit the window motors thus leaving the drivers window down for a week in January in the snow. (All suggestions that come from experience.)

Oh well, those are my suggestions for you. They worked for me; my dad's even allowing me to get a brush guard for the Ex now, so I think he's warming up to the idea of four-wheeling/modifying :) Anyway, good luck with the parents!

Well gee, nobodies said it yet, so I'll be the voice of reason:

If your parents do not want you to go off-roading, and it's not your truck, then there's not much you can do. Obey your parents and be a good child. Wash the dishes and take out the trash. Blah blah blah blah blah :D

I've got an idea, trade in your old parents for a new set including the "off-road" package :D

I think Jason was on the right track. Do things that don't change the outside of the truck and don't threaten the stability/safety of the truck. And don't go sneaking around off-roading and muddin. You may think nothing bad will come of it....then you'll get stuck. Or break something important. Believe me, the parents will be more pissed after that happens then if you just sit down and try and convince them it's not as bad as they think. Also, if they let you, might wanna stay off the tough trails till the truck is yours. Body damage doesn't sit well in most mother's eyes.

Just my .02

dont sneak? awww, I was gonna suggsted a quick run and then a sparkle carwash lol

seriously tho, I'm sure they have legitimate reasons for it.. give it time they'll give you more room.. my parents were real tight for the 1st 2 years or so after I had my mounty

Try getting a job and working to pay off the truck or something. Show them that you have responsibility for the truck even when something breaks. When you earn their trust, then it should be easy. But sometimes it can be hard to earn the trust.

Sheesh, how many times do we have to say it... :rolleyes:

Join a group run with us, bring your parents, let them see how great a hobby this is, and get them hooked! :bounce:

What a great family sport. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif Getting to areas in nature not attainable by others, experiencing God's show at night. We enjoy the experience of nature as God reveals it to us in places that others will never have the capability to see. What a contrast that is to other pasttimes involving typical illegal substance abuse amongst teenagers.

I hope to meet you and your family someday on the trail. :)

My first automobile when I was 16 was a suzuki samauri (don't laugh too loud, I put a 231 Buick in it and all new suspension and lifts). To tell the truth, I never broke a single thing on it after off-roadin' for 1 1/2 years. My parents were just like yours, I owned it, but they payed insurance. The only time I got busted was when my dad saw a brand new tow strap in the back seat (I had to replace one for a friend who broke it pulling me out), and then he took a good look under the truck. Not good. When talking to your parents about anything you are doing to the truck, always mention safety about 6 times in the conversation. Every mod you do is improving the safety of the truck. If you ever conveince them that you have done enough safety mods, maybe they will change their minds a little.

Other than that, listen to your parents anyway. One day you will realize that they really knew what the hell they were talking about!

Originally posted by GJarrett
Sheesh, how many times do we have to say it... :rolleyes:

Join a group run with us, bring your parents, let them see how great a hobby this is, and get them hooked! :bounce:

What a great family sport. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif Getting to areas in nature not attainable by others, experiencing God's show at night. We enjoy the experience of nature as God reveals it to us in places that others will never have the capability to see. What a contrast that is to other pasttimes involving typical illegal substance abuse amongst teenagers.

I hope to meet you and your family someday on the trail. :)

Perry's folks come 4 wheeling with us a lot. They did Moab last year and plan on doing Moab this year. It is a lot of fun!!! I also agree with getting together with a group....the group we get together with in Denver is a great group, and your folks would have no problem with you running with them. And they can see that we are not all insane, and do fairly doable runs!!!!!!!!
Good luck!!!

Well thanx guys..but I still have a lil reason for argument :p. There are some very easy trails aournd here. Some of them I wouldn't even need 4x4 to go on safely. And I LOVE to go offroadin out in the forest around here (which I am very familiar of). I been ridin fourwheelers out in the forest all my life up til now. I just sold my fourwheeler for money to mod my Ex with (ironic?)! lol. And if I ever do go on trails that my Ex might not be able to handle (which I would only do if I had serious mods on my truck) I would only do it with my other 4x4 buddies. And I have commen sence enough to be able to determine wheather or not my truck would be able to handle an obstacle well (plus I'll have friends to go 1st to test it out, haha). I know I'm being really persistant, but what can I say?? I got a passion for wheelin :D!!

Originally posted by Forder
And I have commen sence

I'm sorry, common sense? What is that? :D

I think common sense and off-roading should often not go together in a sentence :D :D

get a quad and tow it to the trails with the ex and try to get them to go with you and with time you may get to ues the ex (tow the quad in a little deeper each time)

lol, your right to a certain extent :p. Rephrase: "I can think logically.." Hmm..I dunno, does that sound better..?

Originally posted by TwoToneX


I'm sorry, common sense? What is that? :D

I think common sense and off-roading should often not go together in a sentence :D :D

And you are the one that is putting your "X" higher in the air with bigger tires and you don't use common sence???
I can see the picture of your undercarriage coming up and you saying I don't know what happened, I just wanted to get higher on that rock!!!! :confused:

Don't got the money to get another quad, at least a decent one anyway. I'm gonna put most of my money in my Ex this summer anyway. But I might be able to go quading with some buddies and borrow their fourwheelers.. but it's just not the same...:(

what i am saying is break them into it slowly

Im only 16 too but unlike you my parents dont care because I own the car and pay for everything myself. They dont really care about off-roading but just a fair warning..... THE COPS DO!! This is expirence talking so watch where you go muddin.

Well out here in the middle of nowhere of KY, there are tons of trails on land that nobody ever acknowledges. Police know where all the trails are cuz there's a lot of them that just branch off the main highway around here, lol. All my buddies in school go wheelin all the time out there and never get in trouble. Also sometimes the police station right outside the exit of the trails to set up speed traps. They see offroaders come out of the trails all the time and don't ever acknowledge them, heh. Our town is so small too, we only got 4 cop cars in the town, heh. Plus my dad went to highschool with the sherrif here and they'r decent friends, so I'm sure even if they did ever say sumthin to me, they'd let me off the first time at least (I know I'm prolly stupid for assuming that, but it's possible, heh).

tell them its and off road truck or a motorcycle!

I was 20 when I brought home my first bike and my mom didn't talk to me for a week! Two weeks when I brought home the second on two months later!:D


BTW - just kidding, If I would have said that when I was 16 it would have been neither!

Geez, it's so different to hear this kind of thing. When I first got my '91 after totalling a '79 MBz (btw, completely not my fault), my father was almost annoyed that I hadn't taken it mudding. He thought I was being too careful with it. LOL. However, he won't let me raise the '94. That's my mission this summer (come on, 2 1/2 inches ain't nothin') :)

Look man, the only reason she doesn't want you to go offroading with it is because she knows you'll end up breaking something, it always happens.......then guess who gets to buy the replacement parts? probably your parents, because you aren't working yet...so yea i'd stick away from the trails until you can buy it yourself and or afford to fix all the little problems you'll have with it.

Tell them that is what the hell they were built for not to be a yuppy pavement queen. Nothing pisses me off more than to see some driving any four wheel drive and dodging a water pudle or pothole. Again theis is what they were built for.

if you are going to have a transfer case use it.

Well, EliteConcept, that's not completely true. She makes ME pay for everything that goes wrong with that truck, or needs to be replaced. There has only been one exception where she has paid for something that needed to be fixed, and that was that the a/c needed a new condenser and needed to be recharged. Everything else that has needed fix or replaced I have paid for out of my own pocket. I've paid/installed new shocks on it and replaced the EGR valve w/ the hoses that connect to it. I'm also paying for the set of tires that are going on it here in a month or so with my own money. So I got a lil bit of back-up cash to spend on it, just in case anything else needs to be fixed/replaced. But hopefully everything will hold together now for a while. Cuz if something major does go wrong with it..well I won't have that much cash to cover for it :(. It's got 152k miles on it, so I'm startin to worry bout the tranny, but it hasn't been actin up at all so far *knock on wood*. But in the unlikely event that the tranny gives..then unfortunitly, I'll be without a truck until I can pay for it, or at least most of it. But the point is, that if even if I do go out and tear something up, it's me that's payin for it. Cuz they wouldn't pay for something that's my fault for tearing up or even let me drive anymore if I did something like that wheelin, heh. So they definitely wouldn't pay for it in any way.

Guess What? its her explorer not yours...guess who gets to make that decision?

Well it's really more mine than anyones. My grandparents baught it for me and payed for the whole truck. On my insurence, it's listed in MY name, but she's payed the 1st payment on it. But from now on I have to pay for insurence and everything else that goes into it (Except for gas, heh). But really, it doesn't matter if it's mine or not. She's my mom and she has complete authority over me, I know this. But what I am trying to do is to convince her that I will be alright if I go do at least some light offroading. And whatever damages, if anything, I will pay for anyway. Because I don't wanna go offroading unless it's ok with her. I just need some valid reasons to go.

That sucks man...My parents pay for EVERYTHING. Still mine is 2WD so not much wheeling for me, especially with my rims, etc... Just go off-roading with your friends...works for me...got 3 friends w/ broncos on 35s and 3 friends w/ 2-door tahoes on 35s...It is their cars that get screwed up and you just sit there and try not to laugh...Seriously though your parents own the car so you really don't have much say...Mine could take it away from me as fast as they gave it to me and I couldn't do a single damn thing about it....Seems the way to go is slowly try to convince them and show them you are responsible via working, taking care of X yourself with maintenance and not bitching at them, among other things..BTW i am 17.

In 13 months you will be 18 and you can do what you want. Is your name on the title or your mom's. If your name is the only one on the title and you turn 18 there is nothing she can do.

wow...you cant "own" a car here unless you are 18

just have some money in the bank..... for back up. trail breaks get expensive... do a 3" body lift and 31's thas the best way to maintain factory handeling

You could always explain to your mom how offroading is a much better hobby than say doing drugs, getting drunk, etc...

Well, it worked for me when I was 16 anyways:rolleyes:

Originally posted by Dan Whitaker
In 13 months you will be 18 and you can do what you want. Is your name on the title or your mom's. If your name is the only one on the title and you turn 18 there is nothing she can do.

She can throw his a$$ out on the street.
My son tried using that line once "I'm 18 I can do whatever I want" I told him he can do whatever he wants somewhere else. I don't know what rent is out in KY, but here in the Bay Area Cali a one room apartment goes for over $1000, and you'd be lucky to find a room for rent for less than $800.00. :nono:

Look you may not like the things parents do or say, but sneeking around their back or being defient is not the way to do it. That just makes you the bad guy, and gives them more reason to stand by their decision. As parents we all want to see our childern be responsible people, and responsible don't do things behind other peoples backs. I think you should invite your parents out on a easy 4wheeling trip so they can see for themselves how responsible you are when you go 4wheeling. Talk to them about things you learned from this site about 4wheeling. The idea is to expose them to what you are doing. Once they see that this isn't what they thought is was about, they will change their minds. I'm also sure that the don't think that your Explore is really made for off-roading, "only Jeeps do that stuff" You have to show them little by little. They'll get the idea soon enough.
:)

Amen Mr. Lobato, AMEN!

Had the same situation, he's now living "on his own". No car, no $$, crappy job, and always whining about being broke - guess he showed us - lol.

It's your parents house & their rules. You can try to convince them but don't sneak around you might get more than you bargained for. Sounds like you already have a bit of responsibility (that's a good thing) & I'd be willing to bet that if you keep it up for a year or so they might just relax the rules a bit. Also, remember this - every time you ask them for money or to help get you out of a situation you are undermining your credibility You seem aware of this - the X will sit until I have the $$$ = sign of willingness to live with the consequences of your actions (parent thought "damn, he broke it & he's been walking to work until he can fix it, I'm impressed").

One last point, 3 weeks does not "see how responsible I am" make. I know it's hard for kid to understand but in the adult world "has a good track record" is measured in years not days/weeks/months.

It hasn't been too long ago for me, but I am old enough now to understand what my parents (and those above)where thinking. My dad and I where always best friends, but our tempers colided very often, and most of the time I was wrong. I realize now my parents said no so much since my ideas where not usually thought through and I changed my mind and hobbies more often than I changed my underwear (not realy). So if you are really interested and keep with it maybe they will see you are serious after a while.
Besides our off road trips in high school where not what you would call exlemplery(sp?).

I was fortunate that my parents were a lot cooler and less restrictive. I feel if you can be shot defending the good old USA at 18 your parents should lay off. When I was 19 my dad help me put a hotter cam in a 1965 Mustang I had and I still lived at home.
Cut the kid some slack!

I just bought a '93 sploder a few weeks ago. Plan on doing mods this summer. Before I bought my Sploder I had been driving an '87 Toyota pickup for the past 2 and a half years. That truck was great. I could never convince my folks to let me lift it, but I did bug them enough to let me get a tire/wheel upgrade. I bought some stock rims off a '99 Tacoma (guy was lifting it and got new rims) and some new 31'' Goodyears, they looked awesome on my older body pickup. I did put in a K&N and custom cat-back exhaust, but that was the extent of it. My dad was lenient on my off-roading, which really helped out. He was always worried when I went to Hatteras, NC for surf trips and drove on the beach, but when he saw I didn't break anything and kept the 'Yota clean he really lightened up. I recommend buying the truck from your parents and doing light mods to let them know you are responsible and know what you are doing. Good luck!

Check your insurance policy and see if it covers offroading accidents, that might help convince her

Sorry if someone already said this, I didn't read all the posts..heh

Originally posted by theoutlawtorn14
Check your insurance policy and see if it covers offroading accidents, that might help convince her

Insurance'll cover those?

Don't wheel with it until it is Yours! meaning, your name is on the title, You pay insurance, You pay for gas and repairs. My friend wanted me to put fog lights on "his" Avalon, nothing doing, parent's gave him that car. It is possible to own your own vehicle at 16. I had my bronco when I was 15, but my mother gave it to me. I had to rebuild the engine, replace the clutch, replace the brakelines, and the heads were cracked. A year later, I bought myself the Ranger, cash. I do what I want to my truck, because it is MINE! sorry, but when people say their parents are taking away cars they give to their kids, I think they have evrey right to.

Hey Forder,
You and your parents should join us up here in Michigan when i bring groups up to Silver Lake dunes. I don;t know how far you live from Michigan, but the dunes are a lot of fun and they are not hard on the truck (unless you do crazy stuff.) I've been there 5 times with my 1995 XLT that has 120,000 on it and (knock on wood) have not broken one part to this day. i do crazy stuff and still haven;lt broken anything. (I have had the truck airborne several times) My parents didn;t want me to go offroading either, but I told them (in a nice civilized way) it was my truck, I paid for it, and i would pay for any damages. They were just glad I went to a designated off road park so that I had no chance of getting busted by the cops. Personally I would NEVER offorad unless it was a designated place, but thats just me. Last time i was there I saw an early 90's Chevy Cavalier driving around in the dunes, so if it can make it anyone can! Our next trip to the dunes is Fridat April 26 and saturday April 27th

Wash your car off before you go HOME