• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

Just What Is "Trail Ready"

Chief

Chief

CAFCNA FOUNDER
Charter Member
SM 2008
SM 2007
SM 2006
SM 2005
SM 2004
SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
12,693
Location
Edmonds, WA
Jeep is making a big deal in their ads about their vehicles being "trail ready."

Now first off as a marketing weasel I see this and go, "90% plus of your products are never taken off-road, so this isn't appealing to your buyers," but then I'm also left wondering - what the heck is trail ready? What trail? I mean come on you're not going to take a stock Jeep Liberty over the Rubicon and you'd need balls of steel to take a Grand Cherokee out of the box down Lion's Back.

I can't find anything that defines - trail ready - and who made the definition.

Anyone?
 
another thought to ponder.... Jeep ads.....

Ever see them rock crawling, going full throttle through a swamp, in deep mud over the hood.

Now if you did this in a stock jeep.... how long would it last.... would they warrenty any breakage that occured due to what the vehicle was put through... if they show it doing it in an ad, it should mean that it is 100% capable of doing these activites....

Grey
 
The rent these here in AZ, of course custom stretch job, but very practicle.. wonder if they are rated "trail ready" >:D


06190ee0.gif
 
Any wrangler can go where we can't. That is the only trail ready vehicle I see in their fleet.
 
I personally think their "Trail Rated" marketing is a pretty good strategy. We all know that a buyer of a Grand Cherokee probably never see anything rougher than a road shoulder if they aren't paying attention and run off the road for a few seconds, or maybe a gravel driveway. However, it causes a potential buyer to think, "if its tough enough to go into the woods, you know it's reliable and well built", and reliability is not one of Jeep's strong points, so it makes sense to me to attempt to play this angle.
 
OK, so they don't spell out exactly what the requirements were/are to be "Trail Ready." It is this created standard but they don't publish the standard, and I think I might know why.

Hmmmmmmmmm, time to do some digging.
 
Ok, I love my Avalanche, but I also love my Jeep Wrangler. And I can tell you first hand that Wranglers can go places that AV's can't. On one of our GTG's, we attempted a part of a trail and quickly found out that we just couldn't do it. A week later, I took my Wrangler up the same part of the trail and had no problems. It had alot to do with weight and turning radius. But I also have to admit that there are numerous things that my AV can do that my Wrangler cant. Like, tow my '69 El Camino on my 18 foot flat bed. So, like I said earlier, I love the both, it's just different kinds of love.
 
i have not had any experience with there Jeeps. i have had some with the Cherokee though. they are not high on my list right now. i know of a couple that have some problems. two have had the carrier bearings in the rear end go bad. one i worked on. it is not fun. once i had the experience i knew what it entailed. :8: :7: :E: when the second person came to me i diagnosed it with the same/ similiar problem. i told her to take it to the dealer, and let them do it for $1200. i have a friend who is a tech for this vehicle. he warned me the first time, but i did not listen. :6: i know better now. i don't know where to begin with all the other problems she has. both these vehicles had less than 60k miles on them.
i would say they are more like "Service Ready/ Rated". or whatever the h@ll their slogan is.
 
Has anyone read the ?little disclaimer notice? that is at the bottom of the screen in fine print and washed into the bcakground?

It basically states that one should not attempt this act.
WONDER WHY THEY SHOW WHAT THE VEHICLE IS CAPABLE OF, but tell you not to do it?
 
chevydan said:
Has anyone read the ?little disclaimer notice? that is at the bottom of the screen in fine print and washed into the bcakground?

It basically states that one should not attempt this act.
WONDER WHY THEY SHOW WHAT THE VEHICLE IS CAPABLE OF, but tell you not to do it?
Click to expand...
Would that be anything like the current Chevy adds that show their vehicles driving straight on to a car transporter at high speed - one of them backwards? :rolleyes:
Come on people, grow up a little.... :p
The Avalanche isn't the only off-road capable vehicle in the world! Or even particularly good at it! It's not bad (and very comfortable) on mild trails. It just doesn't do moderate or higher...

What you are doing is called 'Jeep Envy' :rolleyes:
 
030918-jeep-traded-4x4.jpg

What does it mean?
"The Jeep? brand today announced Jeep Trail Rated?, a new way to communicate to consumers the extensive level of off-road requirements that all Jeep 4x4 vehicles must meet..."

Marketing gimick or does anyone else sponsor/support it?
"Jeep Trail Rated is supported by the Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC), which has 45 years of off-road vehicle testing experience, including the creation of standards for the U.S. military."

Does being "Trail Rated" actually mean anything?
"The new Jeep "Trail Rated" badge indicates that every Jeep 4x4 has been designed to perform in a variety of challenging off-road conditions identified by five key consumer-oriented performance categories, including Traction, Ground Clearance, Maneuverability, Articulation and Water Fording.

?Through a combination of natural and controlled field tests, as well as computer-simulated environments, Jeep Trail Rated provides a repeatable and consistent measurement of off-road performance for all Jeep vehicles,? said Bell. ?As the Jeep brand expands, Trail Rated will help us ensure that our legendary 4x4 capability remains a cornerstone of the Jeep brand.?

 
chevydan said:
It basically states that one should not attempt this act.
WONDER WHY THEY SHOW WHAT THE VEHICLE IS CAPABLE OF, but tell you not to do it?
Click to expand...

Because there are idiots out there who would get injured trying to copy the commercial and then try to sue Jeep... I think just about every vehicle commercial showing a moving vehicle states somewhere that it is a professional driver on a closed track and not to try it your self. Basic CYA
 
MrandMrsBurton said:
Ok, I love my Avalanche, but I also love my Jeep Wrangler. And I can tell you first hand that Wranglers can go places that AV's can't. On one of our GTG's, we attempted a part of a trail and quickly found out that we just couldn't do it. A week later, I took my Wrangler up the same part of the trail and had no problems. It had alot to do with weight and turning radius. But I also have to admit that there are numerous things that my AV can do that my Wrangler cant. Like, tow my '69 El Camino on my 18 foot flat bed. So, like I said earlier, I love the both, it's just different kinds of love.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you on that one. I too have a Wrangler and I love it for off-roading.

But for traveling and hauling, the Avalanche is the best
 
I was introduced to the "trail ratred' or "trail ready" Jeep slogan last summer, about four months befor the TV ad program. My son and I did the Rubicon Trail in July. We drove my AV from Indiana to the gate of the Rubucon Trail, but did not take it on the Trail. I hired a guide and outfitter who supplied his jeeps and we did the Trail in three days and then went back in for four days for the jeepers jamboree. Just by chance the guide was a professional driver who does test driving for Jeep and told me about the Jeep pledge that no Jeep will be sold unless its model can travel the Rubicon Trail. Since then Jeep has started its Ad program. The guide told me that he is hired by Jeep to test drive new models and make sure they will make the Rubicopn Trail. He drives them in, gets their pictures, and drives them out. He assured me that all Jeep models (even the Liberty) have in fact traveled the Rubicon. But with highly professional drivers and with a high degree of factory maintenance and resupply.

I can tell you that of the seven days I spent on the Rubicon Trail , I did not see one Avalanche. First reason is that the turning radius of the Avalanche will not allow the easy navigation of the tight spots. Second rason is that no Avalanche owner would subject his beautiful vehicle to damaging abuse. Perhaps 10 0r 15 years from now a 02 or 03 AV will be seen on the trail.

I did see several Rubicon model jeeps on the trail. They were in various states of breakdown. One still had the dealer plates and it had a bent steering rod, a leaking front dif and a broken rear spring. Only three days old and $2500 of damage,
 
Jeeps are very capable off-road vehicles. But, you have to give up comfort to own one. I love the Wrangler, and I plan to own one some day. Like it has been said before, they are different kinds of vehicles. Jeeps can do some things that AV's cant and AV's can do some things that Jeeps cant.

Now with that said, I took the AV off-roadng this weekend and I would not have traded for a Jeep. I love the ride of it.
 
I love the AV.
best thing for me and the family. I do go off road in the drit But I hope to get my old Army jeep and fix it up and make it my off road muder in Fl.

the small size is cool for that stuff.
 
I could be wrong here, but what I've noticed with the jeep commercials of late, they are trying very hard to differentiate themselves from GM's H2 Hummer. Unless you've been living in your garage modding your Avs for the last year or so you've noticed that GM has sold alot of them, and the folks at daimler crapsler must feel that this is cutting into their market somewhat. Don't get me wrong, an H2 Hummer and a jeep are two very different vehicles, but I think they are the two closest rivals of one another. As far as the true capabilities of either vehicle off road, I'm not sure as I've never driven either one, but I did drive the REAL Hummers for almost eight years in the Army and having driven through some of the stuff that I had to, I'd take that one any day over an H2 or a jeep......BUT heated seats and a cd player would sure make the drive that much more fun ;) :B:
 
GreyAvalanche said:
another thought to ponder.... Jeep ads.....

Ever see them rock crawling, going full throttle through a swamp, in deep mud over the hood.

Now if you did this in a stock jeep.... how long would it last.... would they warrenty any breakage that occured due to what the vehicle was put through... if they show it doing it in an ad, it should mean that it is 100% capable of doing these activites....

Grey
Click to expand...

20 bucks says they don't warranty it. I had a 2000 Chevy Blazer ZR-2, yeah I paid the extra $2,000 for the "offroad suspension and HD rear end." Well my rear end failed, they didn't want to fix it because of "offroad abuse." So what am I paying $2,000 for, a cosmetic add on. When questioning them while showing numerous advertisements of a ZR-2 up to the doors in mud they had nothing to say. I am giving Chevy one more shot with my new Avalanche. Hope this round is a good one. :B: -Mat-
 
FreshPowder said:
Everytime I see that commercial I laugh becasue its just a bunch of advertising / marketing campaign BS.

Freshy
Click to expand...

The word "Hemi" comes to mind with that statement. -Mat-
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top