Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2018 i Four Wheeler

Thanks to our sponsors you can see more Moab coverage and videos at fourwheeler.com/moab-experience THE ANNUAL MOAB EASTER JEEP SAFARI IS A certainty for us at Four Wheeler. It’s a fuel-injected week of off-road obsession we cement into our calendars 364 days in advance. The event draws Jeep and 4x4 enthusiasts to Moab, Utah, from across the globe. The hours of sleep are few, the miles of dusty trails are many, and the stories are endless. Rather than write a novel extolling the virtues of this fabled slickrock utopia known as Moab, we’ll take you on a photographic tour of our week at the 2018 Easter Jeep Safari. Read on to see some of the highlights of this incredible week.…

FACTORY GO-FAST FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE TRUCKS ARE ALL THE RAGE THESE DAYS, AND WITH THE NEWEST entrantto the segment—the exceptional Colorado ZR2 (Four Wheeler’s 2018 Pickup Truck of the Year)—Chevrolet is not about to be left in the dust anytime soon. In fact, the Bow Tie doubled down on its commitment to the Colorado with a couple of Colorado ZR2 variants displayed at the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and we got exclusive access to one of the trucks prior to its debut. Developed in tandem, the ZR2 Race Development Truck and the Hall Racing ZR2 are the result of Chevrolet Performance teaming up with Hall Racing to develop and test OE-engineered parts that could be added to make the ZR2 even more dominating in the dirt. Both trucks started…

EVERY MILITARY ENTITY HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE battlefield to fight upon. Thecore task is to protect the homeland. Countries in Europe have very homeland-oriented battle plans, and their vehicles are designed and built with that mission in mind. In a country like Austria, which is dominated by the Alps mountain range, a major portion of the battle plan involves mountain fighting and results in equipment many find unique. The Alps run roughly 750 miles west to east across eight countries: Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Monaco, and Liechtenstein. The highest peak is 15,781 feet, so this range of mountains gives the Rockies a good run for their money! The Alps are steep, rocky, and jagged, making roadbuilding a chore. Many roads are narrow, tight, and densely forested, so from…

Thanks to our sponsors you can see more Moab coverage and videos at fourwheeler.com/moab-experience IT WAS 1967 WHEN THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE of Moab, Utah, was looking for a way to attract people to come visit. Moab was an absolutely magnificent little town that was beautiful, but far away from any large population. It survived largely on money tied to uranium mining—someday that money would dry up. The Chamber looked at the resources available and came up with a plan: It would hold a jeeping event that would invite 4x4 enthusiasts and off-road beatniks of all kinds to the lovely town. After 52 straight years, we’re comfortable calling the plan a success. In the early 1980s, the Moab Chamber of Commerce saw this as too big of an animal to…

IF YOU HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO REPLACE A FACTORY COMPONENT ON YOUR TRUCK that failed prematurely, would you opt for an OEM replacement that’s likely to meet the same, untimely fate, or would you spring for a more reliable aftermarket alternative? How about if a guaranteed performance gain was on the table and the “forced” upgrade could essentially be had for the same cost? After experiencing a turbocharger failure at just 114,000 miles, the owner of this 6.7L Cummins-powered ’14 Ram 2500 wanted no part of giving another OEM unit a try. Instead, BD Diesel’s Rumble B Turbo Kit piqued his interest. The BD system replaces the failure-prone factory variable-geometry turbo with a proven fixed-geometry unit, comes with a high-flow exhaust manifold, and even includes a cold-air intake assembly.…

“HUH, WHADDYA MEAN YOU’RE COMing to pick up our Trailhawk on Monday? It’s only been a couple weeks, right? A year? Already? Rats.” It seems like only yesterday our bright red Grand Cherokee was getting delivered to our doorstep, and in the blink of an eye it was torn from our clutches. A full 12 months passed quickly with our 2017 SUV of the Year winner, and maybe that’s because the vehicle gave us virtually no cause for disliking it. There were no recurring mechanical issues, no off-road drawbacks, no on-road compromises, and no reason to leave it in the driveway for another vehicle in the fleet. Gotta pick the kids up at school? Take the Trailhawk. Gotta pick up Grandma at the airport? Take the Trailhawk. Gotta go shoot…

The ’77 AMC Pacer was nothing short of quirky. The spaceship-esque car was 2 feet wider than it was tall, had a passenger door 4 inches longer than its driver-side companion, and had absurdly large windows, earning it the name “The Flying Fishbowl.” Don Ashworth’s Pacer was vanilla-colored, lacking of factory comfort options, and ready for a new life. He imagined the car as a drab caterpillar as he sent it off to Carl Green Enterprises for its transformation. Thus began the process that is known to the insect community as metamorphosis. Just like caterpillars cocoon themselves in silk as they morph into a butterfly, Carl Green took the Pacer into his shop where he planned to turn the wonky wagon into a 4x4 pickup. The most drastic changes to…

True story: We’ve been waiting and waiting for the day to come when we could reference a “sagging fuel tank.” Dreams do come true, people. Sadly (sagly?), this day ended up being because of a recall of around 300,000 ’09-’12 Ram 1500s located in mostly cold-weather states, due to road salt. Nissan’s Canton Assembly Plant produced its 4 millionth vehicle. If you’re not modernized yet, good news: Ford is giving those of you with ’10-’17 vehicles access to FordPass SmartLink to upgrade connectivity to a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, and it also allows key fob smartphone capabilities. Just stick the device into your OBD-II port and you’ll be part of this century. There are some things that turn 70 years old in 2018, but we have no idea what, so…

Thanks to our sponsors you can see more Moab coverage and videos at fourwheeler.com/moab-experience IT’S BECOME A TRADITION THAT Jeep and Moparinvade the town of Moab, Utah, with a collection of incredible concept vehicles during the annual Easter Jeep Safari event. Jeep and Mopar have trotted out some amazing concepts over the years. Who can forget 2012 and the Mighty FC, which was a nod to the Jeep Forward Control? In 2010, fans were wowed by the gritty Nukizer 715 that paid homage to the Kaiser M715. In 2011, one of the standouts was the Pork Chop, which had 850 pounds chopped from its weight. And in 2009, a concept debuted that is still talked about today—the Lower Forty Wrangler, which was shod with 40-inch tires and no suspension lift.…

SHOCKING TACO Q I have a ’18 Tacoma 4x4. Would you do an Icon, King, or Fox suspension upgrade kit? I’m doing wheels and tires too. @RUBENDAWG VIA INSTAGRAM @CAPPAWORKS A The suspension kits you are looking at are all very similar and they will likely perform similarly as well. However, I’d recommend opting for upgraded shocks. Look for shocks with compression adjusters. This will give you the ability to help tune the ride yourself without disassembling the shocks. If you don’t like the idea of messing with knobs and tuning the suspension, any of these kits should be fine. ONBOARD AIR OPTIONS Q I am working on putting onboard air on my ’77 Ford F-150. It’s a daily driver/weekend wheeler. I have everything except I am having trouble finding…