Young 80 drivers (1 Viewer)

[Brian Macgyver]

My nearly 8 year-old daughter drove my truck home from the jobsite tonight. It was all of two blocks, but she was proud!
She sat on my lap and steered the truck at idle down the street. It took her most of a block to learn how to keep from weaving in the road. Once she had that down ok, I let her park it in front of the gas meter in its normal spot. She parked it straight and I stopped it with the brake. (She can steer, but she can't reach the brake pedal.) Then she asked me if I would let her have a license and buy her a car. I said no!
This says something about the LC80. It is a bit less than 6,000 lbs of steel, and a child of a bit less than 8 years old can drive it! (with a bit of help) I love this truck.

 

[SF80]

Er, what's next? Rock crawling?

 

[jvazquez53]

My daughter's first car is a 92 FJ80, she loves it!

 

[sdnative]

My dad did the same for me. What a great experience.

 

[jonheld]

LOL. Do the same for both of mine as oftes as I can, but only in the woods. Too many other vehicles on the street. I let Josh drive for the first time by himself while I was spotting him at CMCC this year. Good stuff.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

LOL. Do the same for both of mine as oftes as I can, but only in the woods. Too many other vehicles on the street. I let Josh drive for the first time by himself while I was spotting him at CMCC this year. Good stuff.

Too cool. My son Jeff has been driving on the Rubicon since he was 12. He's turning 18 in a few days stylin' his FJ62.

 

[ThePookieBear]

My dad was like that. I was 11, and he would fly gliders at this abandoned air force base. 8,000 foot runways, fields, good off road stuff (read: VERY mild). He gave me a talk about being careful and responsible, taught me how to drive, and turned me loose in the '91 80. Put the fear of god in me of course which kept me afraid of putting a scratch on it. Probably some form of measuring if I would be responsible or not. But that summer, I went out there with him every chance I got and drove that thing all over the place. Good times. Now I have a '92 80 that is the same color as our old one. Well... the bottom half is. : ). If I ever have a little gremlin, I plan on teaching it to drive in mine.

 

[LUV24BY]

I often take my 5yr old and 6 yr old out to key spots offroad and let them drive our 93 80. Sometimes, we lock the rear diff and climb some hills with them behind the wheel! Both of them love it. I only work the petals for them and they drive to their hearts content. Both are girls, so I feel it's important to have them learn the proper driving skills before hitting the pavement, 10 years down the road.

The biggest thing is this - they will remember these little offroad driving escapades well into their adult lives. I'm 37 and STILL remember sitting on my fathers lap driving our 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix. It's something that only costs in gas and your time, to me it's WELL worth the effort.

John

 

[Cj80cruiser]

Well my underage driving lessons weren't as pleasant as ya'lls. I drove my dads truck down dirt roads here in Alabam while he drank beer.

 

[murf]

I'vw been doing the same with my girls over the years. I remember doing that with my dad too . I also believe if you start early, you develop a better driver when they turn 16. My oldest duaghter just turned 13 and we go over to an industrial area on Sundays (read: little to no traffic) and I let her drive. We practice stopping, turning, the feel of the gas, brake pedals and of course all the safe practices of mirrors, seat belt, looking both ways, etc, etc. It also does something for a young lady's confidence an self esteem. Good stuff and good topic Brian! I know up north you have better opportunities for for low traffic vs down here in the valley. Good stuff!

 

[george_tlc]

Yep - let the young ones drive when possible - a hoot for them and for you. They'll never forget the experience!

Couple of years back, let our nearly 9yr old drive our 80 on his own (6 1/2 yr old in the back) and then the 6 1/2yr old got to drive on my lap. They now want to drive whenever we're on trails & away from traffic etc.

http://www.taskled.com/temp/phase1.wmv (about 19mbytes)

The payback is huge, both are now pressuring mum to make sure we move back to oz soon - since they know the bush is wide open for them to drive They are my salesmen for moving back there.

cheers,
george.

 

[alia176]

I wonder if my 80 will last another 14 years so that I can give it to my daughter as first car!!

 

[Lka1988]

Sweet. I learned to drive in my 80. It's been in the family for almost 15 years, and mine since early '06.

I remember when I figured out that steering a truck is NOT the same as steering a little go-kart. Dad almost had a heart attack...

 

[ThePookieBear]

Alas, although I learned to drive first by myself in our 80, the first thing I ever drove was our 1987 VW Vanagon. Not the cool factor of the 80, but also not your run of the mill deal. Its all good. : ).

 

[GAS-A-LOT!]

VERRY INSPIRING AND Making me . I will definitely make it happen! 5 years huh? Ok.. I got just under 2 years left.

 

[NorCalDoug]

my oldest girl drove my 80 on the beach a couple years ago -- she had a blast.
same situation as you described - her in my lap steering, me working the pedals.

 

[slvrbck]

Well my underage driving lessons weren't as pleasant as ya'lls. I drove my dads truck down dirt roads here in Alabam while he drank beer.

I stop thru the 80 forum and look what I find....the same thing for me, and in Alabama. I'd drive him everywhere where we lived at on the Warrior River.

 

[truevil]

I let my sons drive my 80 anytime they want(and it is safe). I live out in the country and I have a 500 yard gravel driveway, so they have fun. My 10 year old can reach the pedals so I sit in the passenger seat with him driving, and now he wants my 91 80 as his first car. My 9 year old doesnt have the finesse to work the pedals yet, so he does all of the steering, and i do the rest. This is how I learned to drive when I was there age, and now that I am 36 years old, i am proud to say i have never been in an accident that I caused. Both wrecks I have been in, I was rearended and could not have done a thing about them. Just glad it wasnt my 80 that got plowed.
Let them drive, and teach them what you can, and they will be better drivers in the future.

 

[Fly Rod]

/pc correct on/You are going to go to hell! Don't you know that is illegal! Child protective services has been notified. You should expect a knock on the door momentarally!/pc correct off/




































Right on! I remember those days well. Daddy drinking vodka and me driving the scout. Pretty much the same today minus the vodka. I take my twins out in the orchard and let them steer the 80 around in low range. Raising responsible children requires teaching them properly. These lessons remove the mystery and glamor behind the act. By the time they are 16 and getting thier licences it will be just another day. There will be no need to find out what they can do with thier new licence resulting in accidents, tickets and worse.

Just a safety/tech tip: If you are driving with them in your lap turn on the cdl. An airbag deployment could ruin your day in a big way.

 

[ba450]

My Dad got me a 40 for my first car and still have it. Sounds like a cool experience! Can't wait to have a few of my own to have the joy of wheeling with the family.