Why do you like to go off-road?

  • From all of us at Scout Motors, welcome to the Scout Community! We created this community to provide Scout owners, enthusiasts, and curiosity seekers with a place to engage in discussion, suggestions, stories, and connections. Supportive communities are sometimes hard to find, but we're determined to turn this into one.

    Additionally, Scout Motors wants to hear your feedback and speak directly to the rabid community of owners as unique as America. We'll use the Scout Community to deliver news and information on events and launch updates directly to the group. Although the start of production is anticipated in 2026, many new developments and milestones will occur in the interim. We plan to share them with you on this site and look for your feedback and suggestions.

    How will the Scout Community be run? Think of it this way: this place is your favorite local hangout. We want you to enjoy the atmosphere, talk to people who share similar interests, request and receive advice, and generally have an enjoyable time. The Scout Community should be a highlight of your day. We want you to tell stories, share photos, spread your knowledge, and tell us how Scout can deliver great products and experiences. Along the way, Scout Motors will share our journey to production with you.

    Scout is all about respect. We respect our heritage. We respect the land and outdoors. We respect each other. Every person should feel safe, included, and welcomed in the Scout Community. Being kind and courteous to the other forum members is non-negotiable. Friendly debate is welcomed and often produces great outcomes, but we don't want things to get too rowdy. Please take a moment to consider what you post, especially if you think it may insult others. We'll do our best to encourage friendly discourse and to keep the discussions flowing.

    So, welcome to the Scout Community! We encourage you to check back regularly as we plan to engage our members, share teasers, and participate in discussions. The world needs Scouts. Let's get going.


    We are Scout Motors.

JohnBills

Active member
1st Year Member
Apr 21, 2023
143
188
Utah
What is it about taking a vehicle down a bumpy dirt road that you love? Why do you want to do it? What keeps you going back? Aside from all this discussion about removable tops, wheels, colors, buttons, and screens, can you distill down to the basics why you love an off-road adventure? I just want to read some good people gushing about something they love.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IdahoJOAT
I'll chime in first! The first off-road adventures I remember were the whole family bouncing down the back roads of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah in a 1987 Ford LTD station wagon. It was definitely not outfitted for such a place but somehow my dad willed it through ravines and over rocks. I just love going someplace fewer people choose to travel. When I get away from the crowds and find a unique corner of this planet, I'm filled with wonder. That sense of exploration is exhilarating. Can't wait to make those kind of memories with my wife and son in our Scout.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IdahoJOAT
What is it about taking a vehicle down a bumpy dirt road that you love? Why do you want to do it? What keeps you going back? Aside from all this discussion about removable tops, wheels, colors, buttons, and screens, can you distill down to the basics why you love an off-road adventure? I just want to read some good people gushing about something they love.
I'm not exactly sure what started me on it, but I'm going back through my memories trying to figure it out.

I did a lot of trail-riding on horseback as a kid, whipping through the Idaho pines.

Then my parents bought the '98 Yamaha Grizzly I'm trying to keep alive to this day- yup. That was it for me. I'd regularly talk my mother into driving me and the Grizzly down to OHV park so I could ride it around. Crazy now that I think about it, a 13 year old on a 600 pound ATV, but man did I have fun on that thing. Practically grew up on it. Flying down backroads out my Arco, pegged out at 57 MPH... there was no where out there you couldn't go on dirt.

Then I got my 89 Ramcharger, and I beat the shit out of it. Always had plans to cut the top off...

But then while I was in Iraq, stationed in Washington, everyone was buying their toys. Bulldawg got a '98 TJ. Engdawg a '98 2 door manual XJ. Mandawg an LJ. Shep his Chevy reg cab short box pickup. Andy his YJ on 35s... But I had a 2 year old. I had a wife and we enjoyed light to medium trails and camping. I needed cargo space, 4wd, and really wanted a removable top.

Enter the Scout II. I bought Old Betty sight unseen, and against my wife's wishes, from Iraq and to this day she's the biggest mistake of my life. The Scout, not my wife :D

But several months later, I found Maggie on craigslist, and the rest is history. I adored that '71 Scout II. But several years later we were going to Hawaii, resources were limited, and rather than watch her die(I knew much less then), I sold her. Huge regret.

Now I've had 3 Jeeps, 2 of them JLURs, and while I wheel HARD on the ATVs, we still trail run the Jeeps.

There's- just something about doors off, top off drives through the trees. Makes life worth living.
 
I'll chime in first! The first off-road adventures I remember were the whole family bouncing down the back roads of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah in a 1987 Ford LTD station wagon. It was definitely not outfitted for such a place but somehow my dad willed it through ravines and over rocks. I just love going someplace fewer people choose to travel. When I get away from the crowds and find a unique corner of this planet, I'm filled with wonder. That sense of exploration is exhilarating. Can't wait to make those kind of memories with my wife and son in our Scout.
What have you been riding in since then?
 
Rocked a '93 Ramcharger for a long time. For the past handful of years I've been without a good off-road rig but the plan is to change that come 2026 with the new Scout!
So this is where my ATVs come in. A mentor of mine told me that ATVs were nice because if you fucked one up on Sunday afternoon it didn't affect your commute Monday morning. And while Maggie was built, I'd like my dream '76 Traveler to be a daily on 33 KO2s.

Might look at used ATVs for the next 3 years of fun :)
 
There's- just something about doors off, top off drives through the trees. Makes life worth living. As quoted by @IdahoJOAT. This sums it up.
I’ve loved my convertible of the past and loved my first driver of a Scout but until you can leave the pavement and enjoy the open air in a beautiful spot where a standard convertible can’t go, you just haven’t truly escaped from the daily grind.
 
There's- just something about doors off, top off drives through the trees. Makes life worth living. As quoted by @IdahoJOAT. This sums it up.
I’ve loved my convertible of the past and loved my first driver of a Scout but until you can leave the pavement and enjoy the open air in a beautiful spot where a standard convertible can’t go, you just haven’t truly escaped from the daily grind.
Spot on. I love it!
 
Growing up, I always wanted a Scout. About 8 years ago (45 years later) I bought a barn-find 67 Scout. I rebuilt it and loved it. The "Donkey's" main purpose was to take my wife and me to small markets and beer gardens in surrounding towns. That turned into mountain biking trips and weekend getaways. The trips got too long for the Donkey to make it reliably so I sold her for a J@@p. I cry almost every time I see a scout going down the road.
To me, going off road gets me to where I bike from. It gets me to where I fish from. It gets me to parts of the beach your car won't take you. Going off road takes me to where my adventure begins.
 
Growing up, I always wanted a Scout. About 8 years ago (45 years later) I bought a barn-find 67 Scout. I rebuilt it and loved it. The "Donkey's" main purpose was to take my wife and me to small markets and beer gardens in surrounding towns. That turned into mountain biking trips and weekend getaways. The trips got too long for the Donkey to make it reliably so I sold her for a J@@p. I cry almost every time I see a scout going down the road.
To me, going off road gets me to where I bike from. It gets me to where I fish from. It gets me to parts of the beach your car won't take you. Going off road takes me to where my adventure begins.
I love this. Thanks for sharing it.
 
What is it about taking a vehicle down a bumpy dirt road that you love? Why do you want to do it? What keeps you going back? Aside from all this discussion about removable tops, wheels, colors, buttons, and screens, can you distill down to the basics why you love an off-road adventure? I just want to read some good people gushing about something they love.
When I was a kid, I grew up in my dad's 9 scouts on the trails, hill climbing, etc. We were in a local club, and everyone had scouts. Part of what made that fun was my dad was building scouts for off-roading, with no other purpose. It was about adding lockers, limited slips, re-gearing, adding lifts, cutting fenders for bigger tires, building bumpers, swapping axles on the 800s to D44's, etc. It was about building the best, most-capable Scout he could on the very limited budget he had. Then he would go out one weekend, break it, and back to the drawing board. The community was also something that he enjoyed. Everyone being able to problem-solve using their vast knowledge of scouts, supporting each other, and a shared appreciation for a long-lost icon.

What I loved about it as a kid was the simple things. Getting muddy in the car, being at such an angle down a ravine I could reach out the window and poke the ground, being out in the garage with him while he worked on them, even getting to sit in the front while he drove.

Now as an adult, off-roading no longer is an activity in itself, it is a necessity for my lifestyle. I am an avid hunter, which requires access to remote locations. My grandfather-in-law has a cattle-farm, where maintenance is sometimes required up on his hillside. Both of these things could be accomplished with a jeep grand cherokee, or something less extreme, but having a truly off-road capable machine is confidence-inspiring and maybe I am more apt to go places I normally wouldn't in a less capable vehicle.

I know for my dad and his 2023 2-door sasquatch, it is about being able to trail-ride with my mom again, like they did 15 years ago before they got caught up in mine and my sister's interests. They have already been back to the local trails we used to ride around here, they have been to Moab, and when we went camping this summer he had already been scouting on OnX offroad for trails to ride while we were in the mountains. Because he is older, he is happy his bronco came with Dana 44, front and rear lockers, 35's, etc. so he does not have to add that all himself. For him it used to be more of a self-challenge, how can he make the scout do everything he wants on the trails. Now it is more about just getting outdoors, and going most places that others cannot with my mom, and reliving the days where his favorite activity was taking the family out to try his new and improved scouts. With his first grandchild on the way early next year, I can see my wife, daughter and I in our SM Scout, and him and my mom in his bronco, as we ride the same trails we did in his Scouts 20 years ago when I was my daughters age.

Essentially, there are many reasons to love off-roading. Whether it is a challenge to see what you and your vehicle are capable of, a necessity for a lifestyle, the opportunity to be a part of a community, or a way to bond with family and relive the past, it is a relatively cheap hobby that always provides new experiences that you will never forget.
 
Last edited:
I grew up around cars, I think it's imbedded in our families DNA. My father was a mechanic, had a GTO Judge which is now etched on his thombstone,. My Brother orginally got me into cars, mainly Mustangs. My first car was a Honda Prelude, I totaled that graduation night (yes sober). During highschool, I had the attractive car in the Prelude while my hillbilly friends would go to a local logging road have some fun. When I totaled the Prelude I was devestated but it was the best thing at the time, next I bought a Jeep Cheerokee and joined my buddies on thay logging trail and I was hooked. One of the first times I went, I hit a large boulder and bent my tie road, I had to keep my steering wheel turned 60 degrees left just to keep the jeep straight.
Every evening on my way home from high school , I'd hit up that logging trail, I still go back at times to this day. I still chuckle when I think about one of my friends taking his station wagon there, of course he got stuck-another story. For me off roading is about the sense of adventure and the memories created. Now having a son, I hope that this will be apart of new memories in years to come.
 
I grew up around cars, I think it's imbedded in our families DNA. My father was a mechanic, had a GTO Judge which is now etched on his thombstone,. My Brother orginally got me into cars, mainly Mustangs. My first car was a Honda Prelude, I totaled that graduation night (yes sober). During highschool, I had the attractive car in the Prelude while my hillbilly friends would go to a local logging road have some fun. When I totaled the Prelude I was devestated but it was the best thing at the time, next I bought a Jeep Cheerokee and joined my buddies on thay logging trail and I was hooked. One of the first times I went, I hit a large boulder and bent my tie road, I had to keep my steering wheel turned 60 degrees left just to keep the jeep straight.
Every evening on my way home from high school , I'd hit up that logging trail, I still go back at times to this day. I still chuckle when I think about one of my friends taking his station wagon there, of course he got stuck-another story. For me off roading is about the sense of adventure and the memories created. Now having a son, I hope that this will be apart of new memories in years to come.
My daughters coach has a judge if you are looking to buy another. Won’t be cheap. It’s phenomenal shape and is a very early edition with some extras most don’t have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnBills
Essentially, there are many reasons to love off-roading. Whether it is a challenge to see what you and your vehicle are capable of, a necessity for a lifestyle, the opportunity to be a part of a community, or a way to bond with family and relive the past, it is a relatively cheap hobby that always provides new experiences that you will never forget.
I love this! Thanks for sharing.
 
I've been off-roading since 2000 when I bought my first Xterra and honed my skills keeping up with a local Xterra club when I was the only one there who didn't have 4WD. Since then I've owned a second Xterra (2004 with 4WD) and now an 08 Hummer H3, but I've driven dozens of different vehicles off-road in over 20 different states, mostly as automotive media. I greatly enjoy the ability to get anywhere and everywhere and see unique landscapes without having to hike to bike to get there. That is especially true when I want to bring the camping gear and dog with me. I agree with the comments relating to open-air, and I love to wheel as open-air as possible. However, one thing I'm really looking forward to with the new Scout is being able to do that without the engine noise. Sure the tires will still make noise on the trail, but from my experience with EVs, you have a much better chance of spotting wildlife on the trail when driving a whisper-quiet EV compared to a V8 from the 70s.
 
Welcome to the Scout Community!

Knowing the direction we are headed with the new Scout, I think you will be impressed with its capabilities. We haven't announced our technical platform yet (getting close) but the vehicle is a clean sheet of paper design with a body on ladder frame chassis. Looking forward to being able to talk about it more. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnBills
I've been off-roading since 2000 when I bought my first Xterra and honed my skills keeping up with a local Xterra club when I was the only one there who didn't have 4WD. Since then I've owned a second Xterra (2004 with 4WD) and now an 08 Hummer H3, but I've driven dozens of different vehicles off-road in over 20 different states, mostly as automotive media. I greatly enjoy the ability to get anywhere and everywhere and see unique landscapes without having to hike to bike to get there. That is especially true when I want to bring the camping gear and dog with me. I agree with the comments relating to open-air, and I love to wheel as open-air as possible. However, one thing I'm really looking forward to with the new Scout is being able to do that without the engine noise. Sure the tires will still make noise on the trail, but from my experience with EVs, you have a much better chance of spotting wildlife on the trail when driving a whisper-quiet EV compared to a V8 from the 70s.
The Xterra was legendary! Love this.
 
Ah well, my off-roading story is different. When I purchased my Scout in 1964 I don't think the concept of "off-roading" was much more than a derivative pleasure of doing work in rough terrain. When the going got real tough foresters, geologists, linemen, prospectors and game wardens used ToteGoats (a cross between a Vespa scooter and a mountain bike). Leftover military Jeeps were around but had their limits. I was in grad school becoming a geologist, and my research project was to map a quadrangle of farmlands and mountains some 50 miles away. We were freshly married and thankfully my wife had a good paying job. I read the reviews in Popular Mechanics and I was impressed with the Scout's capabilities, so we ordered a new Scout equipped with the Warn overdrive and traded in my Rambler. The overdrive got me back and forth quickly on the 4-lane, and then the 4WD got me to explore for outcrops in the fields, stream bottoms, talus slopes, forests, etc. Days varied between farmlands - driving muddy tractor lanes along farm fields, jumping ditches, dodging nosey cattle, and driving streams and abandoned logging and quarry roads up into the mountain. Beyond it's toughness the Scout's advantage over the competition was that under that hard TravelTop it had room for hammers, rock picks, compass, and other tools, plus space for maps and to haul back samples. Plus there was room for food and a Coleman stove and a tent. It continued to find occasional field work use once I was working, but I often had an agency vehicle - which sometimes was a Scout.

There were fairly common avocational interests amongst field geologists in those days, our eyes were typically on the ground, and our ears listened to nature (long before iPods or even the Walkman). Those bright colored things between us and the rocks called flowers were pretty and sometimes even useful geological indicators, so we became amateur botanists. And the birds got our attention, so many of us became birdwatchers. So as work became less demanding of our Scout's talents we found ourselves creeping along country or forest roads in low low to spot wildflowers or wildlife, driving to sandbars in the river to use the Scout as a blind to count waterfowl, and scaling mountains to reach outcrops to man hawk watches. It was also helpful in some gemstone prospecting in the Southern Appalachians and in New Hampshire. On a trip to the Everglades I learned the value of the sturdy bumper and solid hood. I was setting a camera on a tripod to photographs some bird when an alligator decided I was in his territory -- it is only two steps from the pavement to be sitting on the TravelTop. That Scout bogged thru the sands of Sapelo Is. Georgia for a coastal study and the northernmost logging roads of Québec to investigate work in the copper & gold mines.

That first Scout went into semi-retirement becoming my wife's commuter car as I moved into a Travelall. For several years the Travelall flat towed the Scout around the mountains and rivers of PA, NY, and VT as they tag-teamed our canoes and kayaks on long stream and river trips. Not much off-road followed, although it hauled materials to finish a house and build a barn plus lots of firewood, but mostly it hauled kids, animals, parade floats, and went camping with Cub Scouts. We had moved and a new home was in New York's Taconic Mountains with a 1200 foot driveway up the mountainside. It needed plowing, so a new '72 Scout II became our snowplow -- again, not off-roading by today's meaning, but certainly a real workout.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Alynn