Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i Four Wheeler

GRIP STOP Dynatrac now offers the ProGrip II Performance Brake System for the ’07-current Jeep Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. ProGrip II is a complete, four-corner system that includes new high-performance rotors, calipers, brake pads, brake lines, and hardware. The system is said to provide about double the brake torque compared to stock brake output, improve pedal feel and reduce pedal travel. Each kit includes 131⁄2-inch two-piece lightweight front rotors, 141⁄4-inch onepiece rear rotors that retain the integral parking brake system, six-piston front and four-piston rear hard anodized and painted brake calipers with forged bodies, and ProGrip front and rear brake pads. The kit is designed to be a direct-fit bolt-on system for the Jeep JK with stock or aftermarket Dana 44 axles that retain the factory wheel ends. It is…

ALTHOUGH THE PROMINENT COLOR AT MUD EVENTS IS BROWN, A COLORful lifestyle has evolved around people who like to play dirty. While the goal in the desert or on the rocks is to avoid getting stuck, recreational mudders like to get into deep predicaments. The more heavy equipment required to extract the stuck truck, the more fun is had by all. Most states have local mud holes. On any given weekend, the big-mudder crowd is slinging chunks and breaking parts. Instead of listing all these spots, we compiled select mud spectacles that are possibly vacation-worthy. Some are frequent stops for the Trucks Gone Wild video series, which lists other big-time mud events at trucksgonewild.com. Some hadn’t finalized their 2016 schedules at press time, so visit their websites for the most…

CAMPING AND 4X4S GO TOGETHER LIKE COPS AND ROBBERS. WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR COOL and useful gear to simplify our lives when thriving outdoors. To find it, sometimes you have to think a little outside the box. In this case, we didn’t have to look far. We headed to the 2016 SHOT (Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade) show in Las Vegas, Nevada, held every January. The SHOT show is full of new firearms, knives, tactical gear, and more. Unfortunately, the show is not open to the public, so we flashed our media credentials (which usually can’t even get us a cup of soup) to get inside and take a look at the latest outdoor offerings. Here are some of the gems that we found. BED TENTED 1 Nissan introduced a…

IF YOU UNKNOWINGLY HAPPENED UPON THE 2016 King of the Hammers (KOH) race held in Johnson Valley, California, you might think you stumbled through a wormhole time port and landed in a postapocalyptic desert world. Every February, a circus-like tent village is erected in Means Dry Lake and is surrounded by RVs, trailers, 4x4s, and diehard off-road enthusiasts. It’s affectionately known as Hammertown. In the early years, the KOH race was dominated by competitors who run what they brung. Today, the race is filled with purpose-built race vehicles, some costing as much as $400,000. Even the Everyman Challenge and Legends classes have become too competitive for the average off-road enthusiast to do anything more than dream of standing on the podium. With this year’s attrition rate of about 70 percent…

ONE OF THE OLDEST AND MOST ENJOYABLE WAYS TO SPEND TIME OFF-ROAD is wheeling at your local mud pit. Sure, mud isn’t for everyone, but it’s something that all off-road enthusiasts encounter to some degree. For the hardcore, it’s as competitive and serious as it gets. While the recreational side of the off-road hobby see’s the most mud grins, the slick dirt is also something many workers deal with as part of their daily commutes. From farms and work sites across the nation, getting bogged down can cost you more than a little time. Here we’ve compiled some sure-fire ways to keep your vehicle moving and, more importantly, surviving in the wet dirt. Some of these items are better suited for competition-only vehicles, but most apply to any one who…

WHEN IT COMES TO BUILDING A SERIOUS MUD TRUCK, THERE’S NO one-size-fits-all formula. However, there are some trends that seem to be very popular in certain areas of the South. The three features here all come from the Southeast and have the height and horsepower needed to survive in some of the deepest bogs. While a Ford F-150, Chevy pickup, and Suzuki Samurai might not sound like they have a lot in common, this trio all have proven mud-conquering formulas. BUILT TO BOG In just under two years, Cody Swalls transformed his ’90 Chevy Silverado 454 SS pickup into the monster mudder you see here today. While the regular cab shortbed 454 SS trucks are hard to find in stock form, the 1500 here is a great example of starting…

SAVING TIME. THAT’S A BIG FACTOR FOR THOSE OF US WHO LOVE FOURwheeling and installing our own parts. If we can save time during the installation of a product that also saves time out on the trail, that’s a win. If the same product makes our rig look good and handles the rigors of off-road use, that’s another win. Warn’s new Ascent winch bumper, paired up with its equally new Zeon 12-S Platinum winch, would be one of those win-win combos. We first saw these two products at the 2015 SEMA Show and couldn’t wait to install one of the winch/bumper combos on a truck to check out the claims of easy installation and time-saving features. We got our hands on one of the very first Ascent bumpers for a…

EVERYONE LOVES BIG TIRES AND COILOVER shocks. These are like the bulging biceps and six-pack abs of the off-road world. Wiring, while not as glamorous, is the nervous system that keeps your whole vehicle running. Without proper wiring, your functional 4x4 turns into a really cramped mobile home because it isn’t going anywhere. Recently, we tackled the wiring portion of a large project where 1-ton axles and coilover shocks had already been added and the bodywork was complete. It was time to make the flatfender buggy run, so we made a call to Painless Performance. Painless had everything we needed to get our small-block Chevy-powered Jeep running. From big-ticket items like its Off Road Harness and TBI engine harness to ground straps, battery cables, and PowerBraid wire loom, Painless has…

SOUTH BERLIN MUD RANCH SITS A FEW MILES FROM THE town of Moultrie, Georgia, and a smallish sign across from a driveway-like dirt road was the only clue that this awesome playground lay deep in the Georgia backcountry, unseen from the main road. We pointed our rental car down the dirt road, which wound through cropland before dropping us smack dab in the middle of a massive, muddy, off-road paradise punctuated by the sounds of engines big and small. The Ranch is four years old in 2016, and like a four-year-old, it’s full of energy and growing. There are four events per year on the 300-acre property, and Ranch features include the “Main Hole,” the “Back 40,” and the “Side 20” mud holes. In addition, there’s also a horseshoeshaped racetrack,…

IT MIGHT HAVE SEEMED A BIT UNUSUAL AT first for Floridians to head north for the winter, but this was a four-wheeling adventure, and it was time for something a bit different. Members from the Florida Adventure Rigs had decided their 2016 expedition run would take them to Kentucky during the winter in hopes of treading through some snowy, white trails. When the group travels, each rig is selfsufficient and often moves from location to location laden with full trip gear, using stops along the way to replenish gas and groceries. They typically tent camp as they travel, but for this chilly trip, cabins and lodges would serve for overnight accommodations. We zigzagged across Kentucky for five days with 10 different vehicles in search of adventure. Little guidance was given…

THE YEAR WAS 1960, AND CHEVY WENT mainstream with four-wheel drive. The company had been offering 4x4s since 1957, but the four-wheel-drive hardware was sourced from NAPCO (Northwestern Auto Parts Company) in kit form. For the ’60 trucks, GM sourced the parts on its own and eliminated the middleman. At the same time, it got rid of the brooding curves of the 1950s trucks and debuted an angular look more appropriate for the hip 1960s. Along with the new look were options and features that moved the Chevy truck and utility lines closer into step with a growing mainstream market. As part of the expansion, the now-familiar “C” (for 4x2) and “K” (for 4x4) designations were instituted. Unlike later years, the ’60-’66 Suburban Carryalls were offered only in the K10…

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR 4x4 and the family dog? If you’re a real off-road enthusiast, the answer is, not much. No matter how old, tired, or sick your dog gets you’re still gonna feed it the best chow and treat it to the best medicine possible. It’s the same for our 4x4s. Just because they may get rusty, dented, and worn it doesn’t mean we’re gonna pour crap parts into them. After more than 326,000 miles, the factory muffler in our 2.7L-powered ’01 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 rotted out around the tailpipe. Sure, we could have just grabbed a crappy overseas replacement at our local parts store, but come on—that’s be like feeding your beloved pooch contaminated Chinese dog food full of diseased monkey brains and sawdust. Not for our…

One of the most common natural obstacles to wheeled travel is mud. Mud is funny stuff. Not haha funny, but funny in that even in its simplest form—thin and greasy—it can play havoc with even wellequipped 4x4s. For example, in 2000 we tagged along on the 17-day, 2,170-mile Isuzu Challenge, which took place in Patagonia. “Considered to be one of the earth’s most magnificent destinations, Patagonia offers incredibly diverse landscapes, from the arid steppe in the east to the high peaks of the Andes to beautiful glaciers and forests that extend to the icy edge of the Pacific Ocean,” we wrote. The collection of 4x4s included 13 Isuzu pickups and 3 Troopers, all powered by turbodiesel engines. The vehicles were modified with skidplates and additional lighting, and a couple of…