Ducks and Jeeps

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Around here I notice a lot of Jeep Wranglers with those tiny rubber ducks lining the base of the windshield. Not just a few of them. Apparently the objective is to line the dashboard from pillar to pillar. 
 

What’s up with that? No one was doing that when I had my TJ. I don’t get the joke or fashion statement. 
 

[sassnetguy50]

The way I heard it was a hippie heading back to Canada from Alabama who left a duck on a guy's wrangler at a gas station during covid.  Social media took it from there. 

 

Edit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_ducking

 

https://www.sleepyhollowauto.com/blog/2025/february/24/whats-up-with-jeep-ducks.htm

 

Edited February 14 by sassnetguy50

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

Nobody really seems to know where or how it started, but sassnetguy50's explanation is as good as any I've heard. The collections are generally from Jeep owners placing ducks on another Jeep they see. I've got a couple myself. Just come out of Walmart or the gym, and there's one sitting on my seat or side step. But yes, some of these guys seem to be taking it a little too far, or at least way further than I would.

[Chantry]

1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Around here I notice a lot of Jeep Wranglers with those tiny rubber ducks lining the base of the windshield. Not just a few of them. Apparently the objective is to line the dashboard from pillar to pillar. 
 

What’s up with that? No one was doing that when I had my TJ. I don’t get the joke or fashion statement. 
 

 

Weird people doing weird things.  Trying to understand is hazardous to your mental health.

[John Kloehr]

[Subdeacon Joe]

Oh...

 

Not WWII vehicles. 

 

 

 

[Calamity Kris]

The way we heard it out here is you have a duck for every time your Jeep goes off-road.  It's a status thing.  The more ducks you have, the more serious off-roader you are.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

1 hour ago, Calamity Kris said:

The way we heard it out here is you have a duck for every time your Jeep goes off-road.  It's a status thing.  The more ducks you have, the more serious off-roader you are.

I’m almost certain few, if any of the Jeeps I’ve seen have ever been off pavement. This is suburbia, where tricked out, very expensive Wranglers driven by young women are the current status symbol. 
 

My favorite Wranglers are the ones tricked out by men. They’re always as shiny and scratch-free as the day they left the dealer lot. And of course they have all the off-road mods money can buy, including the 4-foot jack stands and a snorkel or two that remain on the car for commuting to work. These rugged men use their Jeeps for adventurous drives to Starbucks and the golf course. 
 

 

Edited February 14 by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

[Chantry]

And the stupid little round badge that says the Jeep is "Trail Rated" .  So the ones without the badge aren't?  Stupid marketing department.

Edited February 14 by Chantry

[sassnetguy50]

7 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

I’m almost certain few, if any of the Jeeps I’ve seen have ever been off pavement. This is suburbia, where tricked out, very expensive Wranglers driven by young women are the current status symbol. 

Let's be fair, the Wrangler is bigger than most cars they've driven.  Many of them have hopped a curb and been off the road.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

10 minutes ago, Chantry said:

And the stupid little round badge that says the Jeep is "Trail Rated" .  So the ones without the badge aren't?  Stupid marketing department.

To be fair, that came about because many of the Cherokees and Grand Cherokees sold were rear-wheel drive only. And many of the smaller Jeeps like the Compass were front-wheel drive only. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

51 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

My favorite Wranglers are the ones tricked out by men.

 

I like my Wranglers tricked out by women. 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

You won't see'em in real Jeeps 

[Rip Snorter]

58 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

To be fair, that came about because many of the Cherokees and Grand Cherokees sold were rear-wheel drive only. And many of the smaller Jeeps like the Compass were front-wheel drive only. 

They weren't what they were quacked up to be?

[Eyesa Horg]

Now isn't that just ducky?

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

My Jeep:

Other Jeeps:

[Calamity Kris]

3 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

I’m almost certain few, if any of the Jeeps I’ve seen have ever been off pavement. 

 

The vast majority of the Jeeps I've seen around here are members of a local Jeep club.  They proudly display the name of the club at the top of their windshields.  https://www.spacecoastjeepclub.com/

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

I was given a spotty cow duck by a little boy with a broad grin and a missing tooth.

He jumped out of his Daddy's Jeep at Walmart and came scampering over to me holding it out like he was bearing me a great prize.

Gave him one of the only two yellow ducks I had left.

My other is a rainbow unicorn duck a giggling little girl gave me.

Her Daddy was proud as punch when she did ... I am six foot (used to be six two before I shrunk) and this fellow made me look like the tooth fairy -- built like a line backer, tats, honest to God engineer boots and I thought he was going to bust the buttons off his flannel shirt for pride as his little girl gave me a pretty glittery rainbow unicorn duck.

I went down on one knee and gave her my other little yellow duck in exchange.

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

It's a silly Jeep thing. I bought a Gladiator a few months ago which is sort of a Jeep pickup. I have ducked a few Jeeps some with the driver in and got busted a few times. Never failed to get a big smile, a few you made my day. I don't have a very big collection, not interested in filling my dash. My truck may be full of caca but I don't like crap on my dash or mirror

JHC

This is Wlly

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

1 minute ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

It's a silly Jeep thing. I bought a Gladiator a few months ago which is sort of a Jeep pickup. I have ducked a few Jeeps some with the driver in and got busted a few times. Never failed to get a big smile, a few you made my day. I don't have a very big collection, not interested in filling my dash. My truck may be full of caca but I don't like crap on my dash or mirror

JHC

This is Wlly

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

4 hours ago, Chantry said:

And the stupid little round badge that says the Jeep is "Trail Rated" .  So the ones without the badge aren't?  Stupid marketing department.

I don't know the criteria but I guess at least 4wd. They make a lot of wienie little cars definitely not designed for off road.Bought mine used, it has a couple of duck rated stickers I could live without but afraid to try to remove them and damage the paint 

JHC

Edited February 14 by Capt. James H. Callahan

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

4 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

You won't see'em in real Jeeps 

Sometimes you do 

JHC

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

28 minutes ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

It's a silly Jeep thing. I bought a Gladiator a few months ago which is sort of a Jeep pickup. I have ducked a few Jeeps some with the driver in and got busted a few times. Never failed to get a big smile, a few you made my day. I don't have a very big collection, not interested in filling my dash. My truck may be full of caca but I don't like crap on my dash or mirror

JHC

This is Wlly

If I wanted to own a pickup truck, and I don’t, this what I’d buy. It’s closer in size and bed capacity as the working Chevy pickup I drove in the early ’70s. It looks right-sized for its purpose. 
 

I was in a brand new GMC pickup truck the other day. It’s the size of a dump truck, but doesn’t do one thing that my 70’s truck couldn’t do. I’m 6’ tall and the hood on this monster is up to my shoulders. The tailgate is about belly button height to me, which people shorter than me have quite lift-over height. And it’s no picnic for me. And here’s the biggest knock against it in my mind: out the door it cost $100,000. For a pickup truck. Like the Jeeps I see, it’ll never be used for its supposed purpose. It’s just a status symbol I don’t understand. 

[Texas Maverick]

1 hour ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

I was given a spotty cow duck by a little boy with a broad grin and a missing tooth.

He jumped out of his Daddy's Jeep at Walmart and came scampering over to me holding it out like he was bearing me a great prize.

Gave him one of the only two yellow ducks I had left.

My other is a rainbow unicorn duck a giggling little girl gave me.

Her Daddy was proud as punch when she did ... I am six foot (used to be six two before I shrunk) and this fellow made me look like the tooth fairy -- built like a line backer, tats, honest to God engineer boots and I thought he was going to bust the buttons off his flannel shirt for pride as his little girl gave me a pretty glittery rainbow unicorn duck.

I went down on one knee and gave her my other little yellow duck in exchange.

You must be my twin. I was 6'2" until I got measured during my physical this past year and am now just barely 6'. Not sure where that 2 inches went and maybe that is why my spine is being compressed and needed to be operated on. 

 

TM

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Little jeep story. Shortly after I got mine my son and I were deer hunting at our little farm. I let him drive Willy and bounce around our field a bit. We came to a pretty nasty washout we have driven pickups around for decades. Jay was like I bet the Jeep can do it and drove right through it. 
JHC

[Texas Maverick]

10 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

If I wanted to own a pickup truck, and I don’t, this what I’d buy. It’s closer in size and bed capacity as the working Chevy pickup I drove in the early ’70s. It looks right-sized for its purpose. 
 

I was in a brand new GMC pickup truck the other day. It’s the size of a dump truck, but doesn’t do one thing that my 70’s truck couldn’t do. I’m 6’ tall and the hood on this monster is up to my shoulders. The tailgate is about belly button height to me, which people shorter than me have quite lift-over height. And it’s no picnic for me. And here’s the biggest knock against it in my mind: out the door it cost $100,000. For a pickup truck. Like the Jeeps I see, it’ll never be used for its supposed purpose. It’s just a status symbol I don’t understand. 

My 2017 Ford F250 Super Duty Crew Cab is a great truck. It hauls my boat, horse trailer and 41' 5th wheel. It does exactly what I bought it new for. Now that is it paid for my wife said I don't need a new one. LOL 

 

Someone last week left one of those tiny ducks on my windshield a few weeks ago. I put it in one of my cup holders on my console. Wasn't sure where it came from or why. I guess I need to find a Jeep to put it on. I bet my truck has been off road more than 90& of the Jeeps on the road today. My last Jeep was a 2004 that I bought new and paid for it. It was a great Jeep until my daughter decided to roll it one night on her way back to Round Rock from Waco during an ice storm. It cross the cement divided Interstate and rolled with it ending up on its roof with her hanging upside down until the police showed up and cut her down. The rollbar saved her life. I loved my Jeep but my wife gave it to our daughter to drive after she graduated from Baylor. I was never included in any conversations over this offer but I didn't say anything cuz I like my head without any lumps on it. LOL I bought it when I lived in Parker, CO and it was used a lot off-roading the hills and mountains in Colorado and Nevada. It was a great CJ7 Wrangler.

 

TM

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Mine was a ‘97 TJ purchased new. Other than oversized off-road tires, it was box stock with 5-speed manual. I was considering a mild lift kit, but I got t-boned in suburbia by a large Mercedes SUV that totaled it before that happened. 
 

I had a lot of fun with that car and did a lot of off roading. It was very capable without any mods, right off the dealer lot. Except for rock crawling and really severe gullies, I could keep up just fine with the heavily modified trailer queen boys. Sometimes better, because some of them thought having all the mods would compensate for their lack of driving skills. It didn’t. 
 

A divorce ended the ability to replace it. Besides, a Wrangler with a soft top is lousy everyday driver - especially on the interstate - if it’s the only car you own. By the time I could afford another, I discovered CAS. Can’t afford both, so the rest is history. 
 

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

48 minutes ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

Sometimes you do 

JHC

Respectfully, the last real Jeep was made in 1986 

Mine is a 1985....

[JD Lud]

Broncos are taking over the Jeep sales.  Those owners don’t get ducked…they get bucked….leaving little broncos or Sasquatches even.. 

 

For what it’s worth the Bronco seems much improved over the jeeps I have had.  The 2.7 ecoboost and a Sasquatch package and you are set….plus wide enough to sit in it and not feel cramped.

[Dapper Dave]

Only Jeep I ever had was a 2WD Patriot. Was a good car/station wagon, but it wasn't a Jeep.

I did know a guy with a WWII era Willys sitting in his front yard that hadn't been driven in years, tried to talk him out of it, but he wasn't havin' any. 

[Pat Riot]

Are ducks and Jeeps like black tee shirts and Harley’s?

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

54 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Respectfully, the last real Jeep was made in 1986 

Mine is a 1985....

The 1980s YJs were quantum leaps ahead of the CJs. The TJs that arrived in 1996 to replace them were much needed refinements. Same bulletproof 4.0 liter inline 6, with a shift into 4WD on the fly transfer case. The suspension on the TJs was worlds above the YJ and is what set them apart.
 

Mine was a ‘97 TJ bought new in 1996. Drove it for 10 trouble-free years until someone t-boned me. I still miss it. 
 

Respectfully, the last real Jeep was made in 2005. You might, and are entitled to disagree.  😊

[watab kid]

8 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

I like my Wranglers tricked out by women. 

im with you sir - thats my favorites as well , i do wear them all the time but im not getting the looks she gets 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

29 minutes ago, watab kid said:

im with you sir - thats my favorites as well , i do wear them all the time but im not getting the looks she gets 

We hope not! 🤣

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

2 hours ago, JD Lud said:

Broncos are taking over the Jeep sales.  Those owners don’t get ducked…they get bucked….leaving little broncos or Sasquatches even.. 

 

For what it’s worth the Bronco seems much improved over the jeeps I have had.  The 2.7 ecoboost and a Sasquatch package and you are set….plus wide enough to sit in it and not feel cramped.

Are you referring to the full-size Bronco or the Sport model? The Sports are closer to the Jeeps in size. The full size models are huge comparatively. My neighbor has one and I feel like I’m sitting in an H1 military Humvee. Ok, slight exaggeration, but you get my drift. 😊