Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2015 i Four Wheeler

FUN FUEL FILL Drake Off Road has released their new Billet Fuel Doors finished in all black for ’07-’14 Jeep Wranglers. These new fuel door assemblies feature precision CNC-machined closures with a smooth hinge mechanism and a strong magnetic retainer for easy opening and closing. The stylized surround is equipped with stainless steel hardware adding to the rugged look of the door assembly. The exterior of the door is decorated with a black and grey carbon-fiber pattern “Fuel” badge to finish the look. Each unit includes an OE-style plastic inner housing to mate with the fuel fill system. INFO: Drake Off Road, 800/999-0289, drakeoffroad.com. CLEAR GEAR If you’re running a Flaming River Tilt Keyed Column in your vehicle, now you can add its new LED Shift Indicator to quickly and…

editor@fourwheeler.com EARLIER THIS YEAR, GM INTRODUCED ITS NEW CHEVY COLORADO ZR2 Concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and it’s definitely turning some heads in the truck world. One look at it and you’ll be convinced that it’s an actual off-road beast chock full of off-road performance parts and accessories. The Chevy Colorado ZR2 Concept even features real-deal King remote-reservoir shocks and all-new lower control arms that are wider by 2 inches per side, which give it an aggressive stance and a 4-inch wider track width for more stability while wheeling in various types of terrain. Chevy claims this is a vision of how it could take the all-new midsize truck’s off-road capability to the next level. What really caught our eye is that this Colorado ZR2 Concept also features…

IN THE LAST INSTALLMENT, WE INTRODUCED our ’81 Toyota Trekker 4x4 and tore into the axles (“Import Upgrades,” Mar. ’15). Our truck had many of the common popular aftermarket Toyota solid-axle improvements. For the most part, our truck worked great as a trail crawler. But we were getting bored with going slow and wanted to steer the truck into high-speed terrain without decreasing capability in the rocks. To do this, we needed to rethink our suspension. In this installment, we’ll cover the rear suspension. Next installment we’ll move on up to the front suspension and get it out on the trail. In most cases, a well-thought-out leafspring suspension can be built to control theaxles in many different off-road situations. Some race-inspired leaf-sprung suspensions offer up to 18 inches of vertical…

We just returned from the colossal 2014 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, and out of the scores of 4x4s on display, there were a couple of rigs that smacked people right between the eyes. There was “THE LEGEND,” a Jeep Wrangler-based rig, and a Ram 3500 with a Jeep Wrangler ridin’ piggyback. Both were very unique, and they definitely had people talking. Creating a rig that becomes the talk of the town at SEMA is not an easy thing to do because most often exhibitors and truck builders trot out their best ideas to show off, which results in a mind-blowing collection of 4x4s. Like many others, we wanted to know more about these two rigs, and we wondered what it would be like to drive…

editor@fourwheel THIS IS THE MOMENT you’ve been waiting for! It’s the time when you get to vote on who competes in Top Truck Challenge 2015 in Hollister, California! Over the course of several months, we used our magazine, website, and social media to invite Four Wheeler readers to send in their entry forms for the incredible 23rd annual Top Truck Challenge. This weeklong event, also known as TTC, is one of the most unique and challenging off-road competitions in the world. It’s held at the Hollister Hills SVRA, a massive off-road park known for its varied terrain and intense obstacles. We tweak and twist those obstacles to create the one of-a-kind, seven-event portfolio of events. The event list consists of the Tow Test, Frame Twister, Mud Pit, Obstacle Course, Hill…

editor@fourwheeler.com WE’VE BEEN WHEELING WITH ROB Jenkins of Encinitas, California, for nearly two decades. During that time, our vehicles and the kind of off-roading we did has evolved to meet the challenge and abuses. As necessity and trail failures surfaced, Rob slowly transformed a near-stock Toyota FJ40 into an extreme rockcrawling rig and proceeded to destroy it from behind the wheel over several years’ time. The FJ40 eventually became a trailer queen because there wasn’t much left of the body. When Rob’s wheeling needs made a right turn and his family grew, he decided that he wanted a mellower machine with more seating. Rather than selling his thrashed FJ-40 for almost nothing and losing all of the expensive components he already bought, he removed many of the parts from the…

IF YOU OWN A ’03-’07 RAM 2500/3500 4X4 OR 1500 Mega Cab 4x4, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time pulling a trailer or hauling heavy stuff in the bed. And even if you don’t, you do occasionally drive it, don’t you? And during any of these outings, you’ve probably noticed something while trying to keep your 3-ton behemoth between the refectors on the highway: They steer like a lazy pig on a greased roller rink. It’s a gradual progression that you don’t really notice overnight. They handle pretty well straight off the dealer lot, but after a few months, the frontend starts going wherever it wants to and after a couple years your hands look like a WWII aircraft carrier landing signal officer as you frenetically saw the…

TAPPITY INLINE-SIX Q A co-worker is interested in buying a ’00 TJ with a 4.0L inline-six. He says it has a tappet tick when starting it and driving for a little bit, but then the tick goes away. If you turn off the Jeep and restart it, the tick starts up again until driving down the road. The oil level and pressure are good. Any concerns? CASEY KAY VIA FACEBOOK.COM/JOHNCAPPA4X4 A The Jeep 4.0L has sort of become the 5.9L Cummins of the Jeep world because of its durability and reliability. It’s been my experience that pretty much all of the Jeep inline-six engines make some sort of noise. The early and later Jeep I-6 engines are very similar in design, and in most cases, they are bulletproof in stock…

EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM THAT’S INTERESTING - Ford Asia Pacific took to youtube.com to show off the new Ford Ranger, but is it? It’s probably the model we won’t get in the U.S. Probably.- While you’re over at the tubey site, search for “Nissan Titan Truckumentary” series and watch videos with talking heads, who will give you the scoop on the next-generation Titan.- Ford is touting its new F-150’s fuel economy. If you were to get a 4x2 with the 2.7L EcoBoost, you’d be looking at an estimated 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway.- Hey, Blue Oval, more you: Kelley Blue Book named its winners of 2015 Best Buy Awards, and the Ford F-150 was the overall winner. The acceptance speech, if there were one, would have likely credited the aluminum body…

SAY “STUDEBAKER” IN A GROUP OF MODERN four-wheelers and everyone will know the name. A few can name some of the better-known Studebaker cars and most will recall that Studebaker built trucks. Fewer will know they had a four-wheel-drive option. Studebaker entered the motor vehicle business in 1902, after 50 years building horsedrawn wagons and tack. Horse-drawn equipment would remain the core of the Studebaker Company until after World War I when the motor age became the focus and it became an auto-industry “Big Deal.” Studebaker built allwheel-drive military trucks for World War II, along with the legendary M-29C Weasel. By the late ’50s, Studebaker was fading fast but was still marketing a full line of car and truck models. Always looking toward increasing market, Studebaker partnered with NAPCO (Northwestern…

THE TRIO OF SUVS IN THIS YEAR’S FOUR Wheeler of the Year competition are a fascinating bunch. Nowadays, it seems that many nameplates are getting tacked onto SUVs that seem to be designed only for inclement weather. These three vehicles are designed to be capable off-road, and they have specific features to make that happen. Each year we test the latest and greatest SUVs during our annual Four Wheeler of the Year event. To qualify for 2015, an SUV had to be all-new or substantially revised, have a twospeed transfer case (or equivalent), a production run of 1,500 vehicles in the U.S., and be on sale by March 15, 2015. This year, we had three vehicles in our super SUV showdown: the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, Jeep Renegade Trailhawk, and Toyota…

THE FORD BRONCO (PRODUCED IN THE WAYNE, MICHIGAN, FORD TRUCK PLANT) WAS INTRODUCED WITH the ’66 model and lived a long 31-year production life. It was designed to be an all-purpose vehicle, drawing many of its design cues from the F-100 and F-150 pickup trucks of the same era. The last year of production for the United States was marked by the ’96 model and was then replaced by the four-door Ford Expedition. The Bronco evolved into a fullsize SUV with capable 4WD axle systems, V-8 engines, and roomy interiors. As with the popular Ford pickups, the aftermarket offered plenty of upgrades for the Bronco, and crossover OEM parts were plentiful. 1st Generation (1966-1977) The earliest ’66-’77 Broncos looked unlike the F-series pickups of the day and the original body…