One after another, a procession of Jeeps drove north on Route 47 in Woodstock Sunday. Judging by the mud splattered on the vehicles, this was a post-event parade of celebrants for folks who took their Jeeps off road. It seemed there were as many as 20 of them, all splattered with mud. One other similarity is that everyone in the Jeeps appeared to have a broad, satisfied smile on their face.

Where was the off-road trail where they attracted the mud, and the smiles? For those watching them go by, it was a mystery. But, there was no mystery that each and every one of them has a passion for their Jeeps and for the off-road adventures they experience together and, certainly, alone.

Some people like to garden. Some people join bowling leagues, collect stamps or hunt for Pokemon Go. But, a lot of other clubs are pretty tame by comparison to a club that gathers to drive their vehicles hell-bent-for-leather over rough hills and through valleys, rivers and pits.

Of course, it takes a special kind of vehicle to go off road that way. For instance, you probably wouldn’t want to drive your KIA Optima off the showroom floor and onto an off-road adventure with the Jeep club that drove through Woodstock Sunday. For that matter, though an Aston Martin Vanquish is a serious piece of automotive machinery, you wouldn’t want to take that off road either.

What does it take to take your Jeep off road?

Few vehicles are manufactured to handle the kind of rugged treatment those Jeeps surely battled last weekend. Even those cars, trucks and Jeeps that are built for the off road will require maintenance and repairs more frequently. There’s just no avoiding it – off-road vehicles experience the kind of abuse that would demolish most street cars in a matter of minutes. So, even though they’re built for it, the abuse takes its toll.

It’s likely that more than a few of the Jeep drivers in Woodstock Sunday haven’t settled for the factory version of their Jeep’s mechanical parts and systems. They’ve probably incorporated a modification or two that will help their Jeep negotiate the off-road environment better while providing greater handling when bounding over hills and through swales.

One advantage of a Jeep over a street car, when it comes to going off road, is that the Jeep has more ground clearance. This is important when going off road where branches and rocks could rip off an oil pan or steering box, twist an axle or break off a control arm.

To really master the off-road environment, some off roaders will modify the suspension with a lift kit so the Jeep, or whatever vehicle they’re driving, will sit higher. The lift kit often increases the durability of the suspension and can reduce the abuse that transfers from the rocks, branches and other terrain to the rest of the Jeep.

Wear the mud on your Jeep like a badge of honor

Once a vehicle is ready to go off road, once a good place is found to go off road, the driver needs to prepare for the experience. Off-road drivers are quick to point out that it’s not like driving on the street; if you’re not prepared to handle a steering wheel that wants to yank out of your hands when you hit a boulder with your right-front tire, you’re not ready to drive off road. And, if you’re not ready for your Jeep, or whatever you’re driving, to get good and dirty, you’re not ready for the off-road experience.

In fact, judging by the amount of mud splattered on the Jeeps in Woodstock Sunday, and the accompanying smiling faces, it’s not a matter of accepting a little mud on your Jeep; you have to really relish putting it there.