Here’s mud in your window
Drenched in layers of mud and grime, Troy McDaniel’s 1986 modified off-road Jeep Cherokee resembles an ancient metal artifact from an archeological dig.
Parked along a residential street in Los Alamitos, McDaniel’s mud-caked chariot draws cheers from students at nearby Los Alamitos High School and grimaces from motorists who probably pride themselves on keeping their expensive sport utility vehicles spotless.
But McDaniel is among a small group of off-road purists who view a muddy vehicle as a badge of honor.
“It lets people know that I didn’t build a poseur vehicle to go get groceries,” says McDaniel, a car mechanic who lives in Lakewood.
Extreme off-road trailblazers have always relished getting down and dirty in their trucks and 4x4s. But “mud chic” seems to be the latest rugged look for enthusiasts of extreme off-road adventure.
The muddy look is featured on billboards and television ads for rugged vehicles. Automotive magazines such as Four Wheeler and Truck World, published by Primedia, based in Los Angeles, invite off-roaders to send in photos of their vehicles crusted with dirt or stuck in oozing mud pits.
Don’t think mud; think fashion statement.
After a recent outing at Lake Elsinore, McDaniel came home with windows, doors, even the undercarriage of the modified vehicle caked in mud. A 2-inch-thick glob of hard mud completely covered the side-view mirror. Even rain couldn’t wash it off.
“I’ve had as much as 3 inches of mud caked on the roof,” McDaniel says. “I leave the mud on for a few days to show it off.” (Any longer and it will ruin the vehicle’s paint.)
McDaniel admits it can be difficult to see through the dirt. But to navigate the vehicle on city streets, he wiped clean a small area on the driver’s side windshield -- just enough to see out.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Marshall says it is obvious that driving with lots of mud on your windows could obscure your vision. “I’d be concerned about how you could safely make lane changes.”
McDaniel says he’s never been ticketed for driving with muddy windows. That’s surprising considering police cite drivers for having heavily tinted windows.
Despite the explosive popularity and marketing of giant SUVs, Hummers and macho trucks, data show many of these testosterone-fueled vehicles never venture out into the wilderness.
That’s what bugs McDaniel and other hard-core off-roaders. “People drive around in these expensive Hummers like they are kings of off-roading. Yet there’s no dust or dirt” on the vehicle, he says. “Why not buy a [Chevy] Tahoe? It’d be a lot cheaper.”
Sarah Fulka, an off-road enthusiast and Web designer from Apple Valley, says leaving the dust and dirt on her modified 1999 Jeep Wrangler is part of the rough-and-tumble cachet of extreme off-roading. It’s the hallmark of a true off-roader.
Fulka, 27, and her boyfriend, Rick Jacobs, operate www .myjeeprocks.com, a website devoted to the sport of off-roading.
Like many fans of the sport, Fulka and McDaniel have altered their original jeeps. McDaniel used a lift kit to raise his vehicle 8 inches above stock height and added 37-inch tires.
One of his favorite spots to go off-roading is Asuza Canyon, a popular location in Los Angeles for the sport. (Environmentalists contend off-roading damages public lands, causing soil erosion, noise, and air and water pollution, as well as disturbing wildlife. But designated areas of Azusa Canyon are legally open.)
Fulka added 33-inch tires to her Wrangler and lifted the vehicle 2 1/4 inches. She and her pals enjoy riding in the desert area of Calico near Barstow or stream crossing in Big Bear.
As long as marketers continue to glamorize the rugged look, we’re likely to see more mud-splattered vehicles cruising around city streets.
The latest issue of Four Wheeler features photographic highlights of the competition in last year’s “mud course” of the 2004 Real Truck Club Challenge in Indiana.
The magazine describes the course as a “350-foot U-shaped pit of tire-gulping miser, created by sick staffers, jovial judges and ... hundreds of gallons of Indiana water.”
Jeanne Wright can be reached at jeanrite@aol.com.
