Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Four Wheeler

SECONDARY SUSPENSION ICON Vehicle Dynamics introduces the S2 Secondary Shock System for the ’16-current Toyota Tacoma. The system allows the installation of a secondary shock to an existing ICON coilover setup. The additional shock can be a 2.5 Series remote-reservoir shock, 2.5 Series CDC Valve shock, or 2.5 Omega Series bypass shock. The ICON S2 System is a bolt-on upgrade with a modular design that gives Tacoma owners the ability to upgrade in steps or all at once. These secondary shocks are said to not only double the damping ability of the vehicle’s front suspension but the remote-reservoir shock configuration and increased oil volume allow the vehicle to be used harder for longer durations of time without experiencing shock fade that could lead to degraded performance. INFO: ICON Vehicle Dynamics,…

FOR YEARS, FANS OF THE OFF-ROAD LIFESTYLE have flocked to Pomona, California, to attend the annual Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo. The 2016 event was the biggest yet, with more than 70,000 spectators coming through the gates to check out nearly 400 exhibiting vendors. The show expanded over 10 acres of the Pomona Fairplex with both indoor and outdoor displays and show vehicles. Hundreds of trucks, Jeeps, and UTVs were spread everywhere the eye could see. Vendors had displays loaded up with hot products so potential buyers could touch and feel them as well as get product information from the companies directly. Throughout the expansive show, there were many demo areas that had fans glued to the action. Pro 2, Pro Lite and Kart racing was a constant showstopper, filling the…

Final report YES, WE FINALLY EXPERIenced a problem with our long-term Cherokee Trailhawk. No, the problem had nothing to do with Jeep’s design or manufacturing. It was caused solely by an illfated visit to the dealer for routine service. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first, let’s talk about how the Cherokee held up during one year and almost 20,000 miles of hard use. We added 4,283 miles to our Jeep this quarter, which included a trip to the 50th annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. That trip included some four-wheeling on famous slickrock trails of the area, as well as blizzard conditions on I-70 in Utah during the return trip home to Southern California. The fact that the Cherokee’s all-wheel-drive chassis on allterrain tires is so confidence…

IN THE WORLD OF OFF-ROAD TIRES, the most competitive new tire category is the aggressive all-terrain tire. The concept is simple: build an all-terrain tire that doesn’t suck in the mud (or off-road in general for that matter). While many companies have tried to create the ultimate do-it-all-terrain tire, few have perfected the formula. We absolutely understand the need for this tire category. Vehicles such as the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Ford F-150 Raptor have proven that you can have an extremely capable off-road machine with incredibly good road manners. So, it only stands to reason that we should have a tire than can offer the best of both worlds. The latest company to throw its hat into the hybrid all-terrain ring is Nitto Tire with its all-new Ridge Grappler…

WHEN GENERAL TIRE SET OUT to create the new Grabber X3 tire, the company had three major terrain types in mind. One was rock, one was mud, and one was dirt. From an off-roader’s point of view, this is a very good thing. The development of the tire included 3 years, 16 patterns, 1,000 tires, and 500-plus hours. Additionally, the General team took an entirely different approach to developing the tire, including the use of competition drivers during testing and OE development people that actually create off-road vehicles. Did the investment pay off? That’s what we wanted to know when General brought us to the hills of Pennsylvania for a day of wheeling. The “wheeling” was on a course at a posh resort. There was nothing posh about the course,…

EVEN BEFORE WORLD WAR II BROKE OUT, Dodge was the primary supplier of light tactical vehicles to the United States military. The company’s military connection went back to the 1916 Punitive Expedition, the U.S. Army’s first motorized campaign organized to counter the borderraiding Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. Dodge Brothers touring cars were used as staff and reconnaissance vehicles, and three of them have the historical distinction of being in America’s first motorized firefight on May 14, 1916, under the command of a young cavalry lieutenant named George S. Patton. Dodge cars and light trucks were bought in large numbers for World War I, though Dodge didn’t get into four-wheel drive until 1934. It developed a military 11⁄2-ton 4x4 and built 796 K-39-X-4USA (yes, that was the designation) trucks for the…

The long goodbye AND JUST LIKE THAT, OUR YEAR with the ’15 Ram Power Wagon, Four Wheeler’s 2015 Pickup Truck of the Year, is over. Man, that went fast. But time always flies when you’re having fun. Overall, we had very few gripes and mostly praise for our test unit. Granted, our astested mileage for the year was about 9,000 less than what we normally try to hit, but exorbitant fuel costs and other factors conspired to keep us just a tick more than 21,000 total miles driven for the year. The vehicle has held together fairly well thus far, but if we had a few more months with our Ram Power Wagon, the memories may not be quite so rosy. Indeed, the leather on the driver seat had begun…

New and Returning Ram Packages There’s a new Ram package for the ’17 1500: Rebel Mojave Sand. It’s a color available only to the Rebel, and the first time for any Ram. It starts at $45,590, and for those bucks you get a black interior and special hood, plus that one-of-a-kind skin. And the Ignition Orange Sport is back for the 1500, with a performance hood, black badging, body-colored grille, a monochrome appearance, and an MSRP of $45,140. It’s for crew cab V-8s. IS IT TRUE? The current Ram light-duty will continue to be built even after the redesigned ’18 comes? Atlas is the new SUV from VW? And will seat seven? And will have a diesel? And there’s an eight-part video series about this vehicle called Origins on YouTube?…

ONCE YOU HAVE KIDS, LIFE CHANGES. FOR SOME, THIS MEANS SELLING THEIR wheeling rig to spend weekends at Little League games and dance recitals. For Lance Morgan, it just meant upgrading his rig. “I had a Toyota pickup,” Lance explains. “I got this S-15 Jimmy from my mother-in-law, Ronda, with the plan to swap the 4.3L engine into the Toyota. Then we found out that my wife, Ashley, was pregnant, so I decided to sell the Toyota and build the Jimmy.” Lance works as a mechanic at Independent Specialists in Reno, Nevada, so he knows how to turn a wrench and operate a welder. These skills came in handy considering how little aftermarket support there is for the S-15 platform. “IT WAS TIME TO UPGRADE TO FOUR DOORS.”—LANCE MORGAN The…

IT’S BEEN THREE DECADES SINCE AMERICANS HAVE HAD A DIESEL OPTION to choose from in each pickup truck category. For 2017, we’re happy to report that compression ignition is making a comeback and that times have changed. These aren’t the sputtering, smelly rattleboxes of yesteryear. Rather, they’re some of the most technologically advanced oil burners the world has ever known. High-pressure common-rail injection, variable geometry turbocharging, and cuttingedge emissions control systems have made modern diesel mills both clean as a whistle and powerful as all get-out. While diesel options are still few in the compact and 1⁄2-ton markets, progress is progress, and three choices now exist: the fuel-sipping Chevy Colorado, the versatile 1⁄2-ton Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, and Nissan’s Titan XD (a heavy 1⁄2-ton with a 3⁄4-ton attitude). Beyond these newbies…

FORD FRONT In your opinion, what’s the best way to build a front Ford 9-inch axle? I don’t need anything super fancy. I was thinking about using Dana 44 ball joint outers. I want a 5-on-5.5 bolt pattern. I want to hit the junkyard for a parts donor axle for the outers. Any suggestions? I originally built Spidertrax axles for my project, but I want to save them for a buggy now. I feel they’d be way overkill for what the Jeep will actually see on the trail. RICHARD A MORGAN VIA FACEBOOK.COM/JOHNCAPPA4X4 A Since you have the experience of having already built a pair of heavy-duty 9-inch axles, assembling the Dana 44 versions should be a no brainer. There are several applications where you can get the 1⁄2-ton 5-on-5.5…