Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2016 i Four Wheeler

RESTO TANK Is your ’73-’81 GM pickup’s fuel tank rusted, leaking, missing, or dented beyond use from hardcore off-roading? Classic Industries now offers high-quality replacement tanks manufactured from zinc-plated stamped steel with a factory fit. Just remove your old wasted tank and plug one of these Classic Industries units in its place for trouble-free fuel storage and delivery. INFO: Classic Industries, 855/357-2787, classicindustries.com BUDGETRIGHT If you want USA-made GenRight quality at import prices, then listen now and hear us later. GenRight introduces its new, no-frills Fusion Series line of performance parts, kicking off with JK Wrangler front and rear bumpers. Available in either steel or aluminum, these high-quality parts offer all the fit, finish, and strength advantages you expect from GenRight’s “SignatureSeries” line of highperformance products, but without all the…

DURANGOS AND DAKOTAS OF THE ’97-’03 ERA ARE GREAT 4X4 PLATFORMS TO START AN off-road build with. They’re easily affordable, and Dodge offered a V-8 powerplant in the midsize truck platform long before anyone else did. The frames are as wide as their fullsize counterparts (making it easier to swap on fullsize parts), and they’re big enough for large adults to sit in. However, like most vehicles we like to build, there are some weaknesses. Firstly, they have ’90s Dodge truck transmissions, which are loved by no one. And there was some ball joint recall on ’00-later Dakotas/Durangos back in the day, but who’s leaving the front suspension alone if you’re building one? There were two Magnum V-8s offered (technically, they are three if you count the later generation 4.7L…

THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING points in your distributor. There’s also nothing wrong with walking across country. There’s just more efficient ways to get both jobs done. We had a ’59 Willys CJ-6 we recently purchased sightunseen on Craigslist. The previous owner had converted the vehicle from 6 V to 12 V, and part of that conversion involved loading the stock Prestolite IAY-4401 distributor with all new points, condenser, cap, rotor, and even a coil and plug wires. The trouble was it still didn’t run quite right, no matter how much we mussed and fussed with the point gap, dwell, timing, and fuel system. Something was amiss (pun intended), so rather than mess any more with antiquated technology, we decided to upgrade the entire ignition system with some modern parts…

THE THIRD-GENERATION ’16 TOYOTA TACOMA is here! We recently had the opportunity to talk with some of the engineers responsible for the all-new Tacoma and get seat time in the truck both on- and offroad. What we learned was fascinating. The midsize pickup truck segment is hotter than the Arizona desert in August, so this is a great time for Toyota to trot out the new Tacoma. The segment is a hotbed, due in part to the arrival of the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks. For the new Tacoma (designed and engineered in Michigan, tested and tuned in Arizona, and assembled in Texas or Baja, Mexico), the Toyota team made it structurally stiffer, more aerodynamic, more efficient, and more tech savvy than the 11-year-old truck it replaces. But…

VINTAGE POWER WAGONS HAVE BECOME POPULAR IN RECENT YEARS, in no small part due to the stunning vehicles that Legacy Classic Trucks has been producing. Trucks like the sixwheel-drive Power Wagon on the cover of our Sept. ’15 issue have all of the conveniences of a modern vehicle with vintage looks and style. Hand-built trucks from Legacy Classic Trucks also come with a six-figure price tag, so when it came time to build the Power Wagon of his dreams, instead of cashing in his 401k, Richard Warf headed to the shop and got dirty. Richard started with a rough ’43 Dodge Power Wagon and also picked up an ’86 Ford F-350 that served as a donor for much of the drivetrain. The Power Wagon came from the Carson-Tahoe Fire District…

I LIKE TO JOKE WITH MY WIFE (WELL, SHE STILL THINKS I’M JOKING, BUT I’m serious as a heart attack) that if we ever come into a truckload of money we’re going to need a substantially bigger garage to house my bucket list of wheeled vehicles, a landing pad for the vintage, Vietnam-war-era Huey helicopter I’ll be acquiring, and our own fuel depot to ensure we never run out of go-go juice. As of late, however, I officially retract that statement. Instead, I’m substituting it with “If we ever come into a truckload of money, I’m buying a Ripsaw and setting the rest aside for bail money and attorney retainers.” Yep, it’s that much fun, and nope, there’s absolutely no way I could ever be trusted with one. We all…

MARMON-HERRINGTON (M-H) IS ONE OF the founding fathers of four-wheel drive, but it’s a name not often heard these days. The company was founded in 1931 when Walter Marmon and Arthur Herrington joined forces to produce all-wheel-drive trucks. Marmon was the founder of the Marmon Motor Car Company and Herrington was an Army engineer who had worked in the ’20s to help the U.S. Army design and build its own fleet of all-wheeldrive trucks. Along the way, he patented a steering knuckle design that provided the foundation for a device many four-wheelers use today: the double-cardan CV-joint used on driveshafts. The Marmon Motor Car Company went out of business in 1933 but Marmon-Herrington hung on and remains in business to this day. At first, Marmon-Herrington built its own truck designs…

WHEN IT COMES TO ALLterrain tire options, the choices are more plentiful than ever. Thankfully, the vast array of tires has kept rubber molders active. Case in point: Goodyear with its all-new Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar. Taking it a step further, Goodyear has developed a Pro-Grade LT version of the new all-terrain tire. The Pro-Grade is designed specifically for high-torque 3⁄4- and 1-ton truck applications and features an enhanced tread compound and additional Kevlar wrapping. With our ’12 Chevy 2500 Duramax tow rig’s original highway rubber well on the way out, we were looking for a suitable replacement. We found the stock tires were severely lacking in the off-road traction department, which had nearly sank us a few times when maneuvering around the back 40 in North Carolina. Given…

With the introduction of the ’15 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, the all-new ’16 Toyota Tacoma, talk of the Ford Ranger potentially boomeranging back on the scene for the 2018 model year, and rumors of a Jeep pickup, it’s clear the midsize pickup truck market is percolating. This made us think of the ’08 Dodge Dakota First Drive story we published in our Jan. ’08 issue. The big news for this model year included a new front end treatment and a new 4.7L V-8 engine. At a press event in North Carolina, we spent most of our time in a 4.7L-powered TRX4-equipped truck. The TRX4 package included an engine/transmission/transfer case skidplate, a fuel tank skidplate, dual front towhooks, 3.92:1 axle gears, an antispin rear differential, heavy-duty engine cooling, an auxiliary…

THAT’S INTERESTING The Jeep Wrangler will be staying in Toledo, Ohio, but it will move Cherokee production to another state, like Michigan. Mopar’s got a new tool. Heh, tool. It’s the Mopar Service Capacity Analyzer that allows the dealerships to do some kind of metrics hocus-pocus with this online tool to help them figure out whether they need to add more techs, more hours, more stalls, or more or less of anything to provide quicker/better service to customers based on projected service-lane traffic and such. Toyota is helping to provide $75,000 scholarships to 10 engineering and business college students. The Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Fellows Scholarship will focus on STEM and business academics. A survey done by Harris Poll for eDriving found that only one in three people would call…

IT ALL STARTED WITH A PHONE CALL FROM A buddy: “Hey, I just bought a ’14 Wrangler Rubicon and wanna totally build it up. What parts should I use?” Now, you never want to recommend stuff to your buddies that are sure to cause problems, require a ton of maintenance, or fail in the field. We decided right there we’d spec out only the very best components in the industry for this one. And when he showed up in our driveway and we saw the color was Anvil Grey, well, the project name was a slam dunk. So to recap the Anvil project, we took a completely stock ’14 JK Unlimited Wrangler Rubicon to our friends at Jeeps R Us in Laguna Niguel to have only the most durable, solid,…

TOYOTA BEGAN DEVELOPING ITS BJ MODEL PROTOTYPE IN JAPAN IN 1950. However, it would not be branded Land Cruiser for about four more years. Unlike the Willys Jeep of the era that ran on a fourcylinder engine, Toyota dropped an inline-six in their design. Early models were ordered by police and forestry departments wanting a vehicle with competent off-road ability. Land Cruiser, built in Toyota City, Japan, would make it to American shores for the ’58 model year, which was also the first year a hardtop was available. Then Toyota introduced pickup and wagon versions in Japan for the ’61 model year but not for the U.S market. Over the decades there have been many body configurations globally, with some types available only in some world regions. They have been…

FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY, THE FORD 9-INCH rearend has been the king of aftermarket axle upgrades. Few other axles enjoy the same amount of bolt-on and custom componentry. The Ford 9-inch is a great swap candidate for those looking for more axle beef. It can be built to easily handle up to 42-inch tires and 1,000 hp if you choose the right parts. If you are wrecking yard shopping, Ford 9-inch axles came in the rear of lots of different Ford vehicles over the years, including cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, and 4x4s. There are several different widths and lug patterns available out there. However, the more desirable versions are getting harder to find. One of our favorites is the ’74-’86 F-series and fullsize Bronco rear axle. These axles are…

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN BE SURE OF: death, taxes, Internet trolls, and winter road salt eating your vehicle. However, it’s not just road salt that causes automotive cancer. Vehicles subjected to heavy rains and monsoonal moisture, that live near the ocean, or are operated in extremely alkaline conditions may see unprotected areas of once-good metal converted into red, flaky, powdery, crumbling dust. Our ’01 Toyota Tacoma was a daily-driven vehicle that suffered from a triple-whammy cocktail of rust promoters. It spent its 325,000 miles of existence in Massachusetts parked in a driveway three doors down from the Atlantic Ocean, drove to and from work in frequent rain (which is most days in the summer… and spring…and winter…and fall), and was submerged in a saline cocktail of road salt…