W
hen Andrew from Ardent Off-Road asked if I would be interested in joining him on a weekends green-laning trip with a couple of other Jeep Renegade owners around Yorkshire, my obvious answer was yes, and within moments of that I was on the phone to Jeep UK for a Renegade Trailhawk to borrow. Meeting up in a carpark in Leyburn I was greeted by Libby and Andrew from Ardent Off-Road in their Defender 110. They would’ve been in their new JL Wrangler but it was loaned out to a couple who wanted to tour the Balkans. Next I was introduced to Paul in his red Renegade that’s been heavily breathed on Storm Jeeps (check out our Reader’s Rides for more details), and another Paul with his JK Wrangler, again breathed on by Storm. On the subject of Storm Jeeps, that’s who arrived next, Mike and wife Linda in their green customised Renegade and Andy in one of their heavily modified JKs, in fact it’s quite a rare Recon model that you can find for sale on their website. Looking at the collection of Jeeps that had been breathed on by Mike and Andy I couldn’t help but think the Trailhawk, albeit modified over the standard version, looked a little out of place!
Renegade Masters Lane 1 With Andrew and Libby in the lead we left Leyburn and made our way towards our first lane, TrailWise2 reference, SD9383-03 just on the south side of Semerwater. It’s an easy lane to drive with a solid stone base that takes you over to the B6160, however, we weren’t on it for long as within a couple of hundred yards we took a sharp right onto our second lane, SD9185-05, Bob Lane.
Lane 2 Although it’s quite easy going at the top, Bob Lane has a few rocky sections with steep steps around the middle. I say steep, Deux Smurf would’ve straddled them with ease, but the Renegade Trailhawk and I required expert guidance from Andrew who had jumped out of the 110 to keep a watchful eye on everyone. Careful on the braking and watching his hand signals I traversed the steps with ease. There was the odd crunch from underneath the Renegade as I couldn’t avoid some of the larger rocks that were strewn across the lane, but nothing too bad, besides, they always sounds worse that they actually are, don’t they? It’s at this point that I’m going to admit to a schoolboy error. Because Deux Smurf is a 1996 Toyota Surf she doesn’t have any of the fancy electrics that modern 4x4s have - like Hill Descent Control. In the Renegade I engaged low box, selected 1st and wondered why there was no engine braking, yeah, I’d forget to engage Hill Descent Control! 68
THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
