The Dying Jeep Thing, RIP On the road today there are many type of vehicles that are being driven, but among the many cars the Jeeps are still seen. Even though, the amount of Jeeps are still of a high population of vehicles being driven today; the lack of tradition is at risk. For those who don’t know about owning a Jeep, and I don't mean a Cherokee or a Grand Cherokee or a Patriot, I mean a traditional Jeep Wrangler, with such models as the CJ, YJ, TJ and JK; it opens the owner up to being into the group of Jeep owners. The Jeep wave is the acknowledgment of seeing another passing Jeep on the road. Now with the amount of new coming Jeep owners the tradition is dying. Ever since the 1940s the Jeep has been part of the American history. Some would say without the Jeep, winning WW2 would've been impossible. This is just one example why Jeeps should still be acknowledged on the road. Although the many types of wranglers have been manufactured; when passing them on the road the wave is still the same. The wave is just a simple three finger wave above the steering wheel, but there are some rules to the wave. Rule 1 the Jeep wave is to those who drive wranglers CJ, YJ, TJ and JK; rule 2 the newer jeep waves first, out of respect to the older generation; rule 3 there is no discrimination against other wranglers. I personally drive a Jeep on a daily basis, whether my 2010 Jk wrangler, or my 1993 Yj wrangler, the waves that I do receive are normally the same no matter which Jeep that I was driving that day. There has been some controversy about whether or not the Jeep wrangler Yj should actually be considered a wrangler, do to the square headlights. Although, the square headlight are sometimes hated on, I find it to be historical. During the 75 years of making the Jeep only 7 of those years were Jeeps produced with square headlight. Myself being a younger Jeep driver even I have noticed the decrease of drivers doing the Jeep wave, it might be the uneducated ways of the Jeep family, or maybe just the feeling that Jeeps are just another SUV being driven. With my dad owning Jeeps in my childhood I was no stranger when driving my first Jeep, at least 7 out of 10 times when doing the Jeep wave the wave is unacknowledged. It doesn’t take much to get the routine down to wave to one another. I've noticed there are certain places that are more open to doing the Jeep wave, such as small towns, or places with high population of lakes, such as up north. The dealerships play a role in this also, with a large Jeep dealership in the area, such as the Chelsea Jeep dealership. The amount of people driving Jeeps wave back more commonly. Places such as big cities like Detroit, Ann Arbor, or Lansing, the Jeep wave is almost nonexistent; with drivers just rushing past not caring about the Jeep brotherhood. With all the bullshit going around the simple Jeep wave could be that part of your day that improves your mood. When researching this it seems most of our problems are from larger cities, this author from the Jeep Nation says that He hate to be the bearer of bad news. But in case you hadn’t noticed, the Jeep wave is becoming a thing of the past. No longer can you count on a passing Wrangler driver to acknowledge your bond with one of those friendly waves, which were once held so sacred among owners of the Jeep”. He is based in the Detroit area, with most of the population of Jeeps are newer four door 2 wheel drive Jeep wranglers. Another problem are the people that do a bunch of upgrades, or turn their Jeeps into mudding Jeeps, or rock crawlers; now thinking they are better than others who drive stock Jeeps. This is breaking the Jeep rules of discriminating against other Jeeps. Breaking the Jeep rules means that person doesn't deserve to drive a Jeep and be part of the Jeep family. A cool part of owning a Jeep, is that it opens conversations with other Jeep owners. Yes, of course they are sizing each others jeeps up, but the Jeepers are friendly about it and are always there to help when trouble arises. Just a couple weeks ago I got into a tough place while drive my Jeep. I was out hauling up firewood, out of the woods. Just then my Jeep got stuck. With the help of my neighbor with his four door wrangler he was able to pull me out. Being there for each other in this big world means a lot, it’s important to know that we still have that in this society. More and more Jeep sites, and Jeep magazines have something to say about the dying Jeep wave. This article from the The Fun Times Jeep Guide gives their point of view that most of all of our true Jeepers see going around, “ the recent influx of new Jeep types and owners who either don’t know or don’t care about the Jeep lifestyle, and; selective waving to only those Jeeps that appear to get used for what a Jeep was meant. Which incidentally is a direct result of D/C Daimler-Chrysler expanding on non-traditional Jeep designs aimed more at the street than the trail … I Find that in general the wave has been dying a slow death.”(Detroit Steel). For any of the new Jeep drivers or for those who want to buy a Jeep, for the sake of the Jeep tradition keep the wave going. If you can’t handle that then maybe driving a Jeep is’t for you, maybe a Toyota Prius is a better fit for you. Work cited Jeep guide. 2015, jeeps.thefuntimesguide.com/jeep_wave/. "Could the Popularity of the Jeep Wave be Fading?" Detroit steal, Sept. 2015, www.jk-forum.com/articles/popularity-jeep-wave-fading/. "“Do You YJ Owners Really like Square Headlights?” Jeep Wrangler Forum, 2014, www.wranglerforum.com/f290/ do-you-yj-owners-really-like-square-headlights-1167601.html." Wrangler forum, June 2014, “Do You YJ Owners Really like Square Headlights?” Jeep Wrangler Forum, 2014, www.wranglerforum.com/f290/ do-you-yj-owners-really-like-square-headlights-1167601.html. Google doc.
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