Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Four Wheeler

REMOTE FREEZE ARB has given its current Classic Fridge Freezer an update and now offers the Classic Fridge Freezer Series II, which incorporates a new color scheme along with added features. The Classic Fridge Freezer Series II has a dimmable, backlit touchpad for nighttime operation and a 12V power input readout for voltage monitoring on the display. The included transmitter allows remote display and control via a new app, which is available for download onto smart devices or ARB’s LINX unit. The application allows the fridge to be switched between Celsius or Fahrenheit, offers battery protection notifications (high, medium, or low), and allows adjustment of the fridge display’s brightness (high or low) in the settings. The user can also allocate preset temperatures to assign specific temperatures to a particular item…

A WORD YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE reading this story: lumen. Our faux-technical definition is: It’s a unit of measurement regarding the light you see. The higher the lumen number, the more light output. You probably already know LED stands for light-emitting diode, and this type of light has grown in popularity due to being long lasting and energy efficient. What else do you need to know before reading? Just that there are a lot of lighting products on the market now, with loads of flexibility in how you use them. Magnetic? Check. Portable? Check. Colored? Check. Underbody, built into accessories, capable of charging your phone? Triple check. And that’s just for starters. Read on. LED BRAKE LIGHT RING Tech: Available for the ’18-and-up Jeep Wrangler JL, it mounts behind the…

BUILDING OFF-ROAD VEHICLES IS OFTEN ABOUT sacrifice. We trade paychecks and fuel economy for bigger tires, weight at the scales for winches and armor, and we might even give up highway privileges just to run that sought-after engine swap. When crafting our plans to turn a beaten ’17 Wrangler into an adventure-worthy steed, we had choices to make. The overarching goal for this Jeep was simple—give it enough gear and suspension for overland travel, provide enough armor and traction to keep it safe while bouncing off the hard obstacles, and have it operate within the confines of a close-to-factory tire size to ensure that acceptable highway mileage would not be compromised. In previous issues, we documented the Jeep’s transition out of its battered stock suspension and into new wheels, tires,…

TECHNICALLY Q I’m 42 and all I’ve ever been into is cars. I moved to Pennsylvania about 12 years ago, 30 minutes from Paragon before they closed it. I never ever heard of a front axle being called a “front rear” before moving here. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Also, isn’t it true that although we all use the term LJ for the TJ Wrangler Unlimited, that term was made up and it’s still a TJ? SEAN HIGGZ VIA FACEBOOK.COM/JOHNCAPPA4X4 A Interesting, I have never heard of a front axle being called a “front rear.” However, I have heard of axle components being called very strange things, such as the centersection of an axle being called a “hog’s head.” It’s understandable, because the assembly looks like the…

SAFFRON YELLOW SKI SCOUT I enjoyed reading the Trail’s End article at the end of the May 2019 issue of Four Wheeler. I decided I should write to you about my family’s Scout, a trusty companion of 38 years. It started one cold and wet day in 1981 when at the age of 10 I flew up to Portland, Oregon, with my Dad to pick up this cool family ski vehicle he had researched and found. Later that morning we found ourselves at Bisio Motors, the dealership of the IH legend Ernie Bisio. My dad had tracked down the two remaining brand-new ’80 Scout II Traveler turbodiesels on the West Coast. We had our choice between a white one and a yellow one. Off we drove from Ernie’s lot in…

THOUGH MANY EYES OF THE OFF-ROAD COMMUNITY WERE FOCUSED ON THE seven-slotted inhabitants of Moab, Utah, during the 2019 Easter Jeep Safari, it was hard to avoid the fullsize machines chugging through the trails. What started eight years ago as a close-knit gathering of friends has grown into a weeklong blowout of big rocks, bigger iron, and lots of excitement. We joined the 2019 Fullsize Invasion and watched as 4x4 fanatics conquered trails like Moab Rim, Behind the Rocks, and Pritchett Canyon, to name just a few. The sense of camaraderie grew throughout the week as winch lines were pulled, drivers put faith in spotters, and trailside welds were burned in. By the end of the week, a party was well overdue, and Fullsize Invasion participants flocked to be part…

A HARSH REALITY WE KNEW COMING INTO OUR ’01 CHEVY S-10 BUILD WAS THAT MOST OF THE upgrades we would perform would essentially rob the vehicle of power in some way. While gearing our Dana 60 front and 14-bolt rear axleset with 5.38 Nitro Gears helped compensate for the 40-inch-tall Nitto Mud Grapplers, the fact remained that we’d done little to help reclaim or increase the power output of the stock 4.6L engine. Sure, we’ve been very tempted to rip out the original block in favor of a V-8. However, with only 120,000 miles on the odometer, it seemed like a waste of a perfectly good (and notably reliable) engine. So, what’s the solution? Gear reduction. Given that we’ve already maxed out the numerical ratio possibility in the differentials, the…

THE JEEP STORY HAS BEEN TOLD A THOUSAND times. If you included every detail in a book, it would be as long as Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Fortunately, it can be divided into chapters, and we’ll call this one: “When Willys Overland Got the Brass Ring.” We’ll let our time machine take you back to July 31, 1941, when Willys-Overland was awarded a contract for 16,000 standardized 1⁄4-ton 4x4s. Willys-Overland’s bid was $748.75 per vehicle and 149 days to complete the contract. The nearest rival, Ford Motor Company, was $782.59 and 171 days, and the number-three bidder was Bantam at $788.32 and 152 days. The story is often told as a three-way duel to the death between the three prototypes, but the reality was that it came down to dollars…

October 3-6 What: Mud Bog 2019 Where: Palatka, Florida Hosted by: Hog Waller Mud Bog & ATV Info: hogwallermudbog.com October 5 What: Sand Drags Where: Lisbon, Ohio Hosted by: Tri County 4 Wheelers Info: tricounty4wheelers.com October 8-11 What: Trucks Gone Wild @ Plant Bamboo Where: Okeechobee, Florida Hosted by: Trucks Gone Wild Info: trucksgonewild.com October 10-12 What: 5th Uwharrie Jeep Jamboree Where: Troy, North Carolina Hosted by: Jeep Jamboree USA Info: jeepjamboreeusa.com October 10-13 What: Bayou Mudfest Where: Sarepta, Louisiana Hosted by: Muddy Bottoms ATV & Recreation Park Info: muddybottomsatv.com October 10-13 What: Method Race Wheels Laughlin Desert Classic Where: Laughlin, Nevada Hosted by: Jimco Info: bitd.com October 11-13 What: Trucks Gone Wild Where: Poplar Bluff, Missouri Hosted by: Bricks Offroad Park Info: trucksgonewild.com October 13 What: Mud Bog Where:…

New Ford F-150 RTR You might already know the performance Ford Mustang RTR, and now there’s an F-150 RTR with off-road aggressiveness built into its looks. It has Fox Performance Series 2.0 suspension components, custom 20-inch RTR Tech 6 off-road wheels with Nitto Ridge Grappler rubber, a tactical skidplate, and RTR floor liners and fender flares. The RTR grille has LED lighting, and there’s a Ford Performance after-cat exhaust. As you’d expect, RTR badges abound, and there’s also a serialized dash plaque signed by Vaughn Gittin Jr. You’ll be looking at a starting price of $12,750 for the package. Learn more at rtrvehicles.com or look for it at select Ford dealerships. Range Rover Astronaut Edition Look at today’s date. Not April 1, right? Therefore, don’t question this—it’s for real. Land…

SCOTT NORBRYHN HAD WHEELED THE TRAILS around Big Bear, California, with various rigs, including an ’88 Toyota pickup and a Jeep Cherokee on 37s, but he wanted something different. His search led him to a warehouse in Long Beach, California, where he was introduced to the ’59 Willys Pickup. The previous owner had used it for traveling and outfitted the rig with a camper shell, big-block Chevy 454, TH400 transmission, Dana 27 frontend, Ford 9-inch rearend, coilovers in the back, and non-functioning air conditioning. Scott spent a few soggy weeks in his driveway boxing the truck’s frame, installing 63-inch leaf springs, and building a crossmember for his new Rubicon Express shocks. After replacing the carburetor and reintroducing the truck to commuter duties, Scott realized the 454 was only good for…

THEY CAME FROM ACROSS the United States with unique and well-equipped machines—these are the friends and four-bys of the first-ever Four Wheeler Overland Adventure. Our exciting, first-ever, three-day overlanding trip began with registration in Wickenburg, Arizona, and the route continued through the Arizona backcountry with camping each evening. The event culminated in Flagstaff with a festive banquet—but that was not all. All Overland Adventure participants got free access to the massive 2019 Overland Expo West trade show, the Official Event Partner of the 2019 Four Wheeler Overland Adventure. The 2019 Four Wheeler Overland Adventure was also sponsored by BDS Suspension, Bubba Rope, Canyon Coolers, Conqueror North America, Dick Cepek Tires, KC HiLites, Offroad Power Products, Power Stop Brakes, Rugged Radios, Superwinch, and VTX Wheels. We were amazed and inspired by…

WE CAN’T RECALL A TIME when we had more of a love/hate relationship with a long-term test vehicle. Let’s address the elephant in the room. This particular ’18 Land Rover Discovery was not without problems. In fact, it spent several weeks of our evaluation time at the dealership for various issues. But when it was working, it was working well. The Land Rover Discovery combined luxury amenities like comfortable front seats with built-in heat/air/massage, a very well-tuned sound system, and a panoramic roof, which brings the outdoor feeling inside, with zippy engine acceleration and superb off-road handling that was in direct contradiction to the on-road handling, which could at times feel wallowy and cumbersome. But put it on a dirt road, and it just stuck like glue, providing a level…

Just before writing this story, we had recently been in Moab, Utah, where we wheeled with Tiger LeBrun. Tiger’s 4x4 ’65 Chevy van graced Trail’s End earlier in the year, and he was piloting yet another lifted Chevy van through the Moab trails. Shortly after, we journeyed across Arizona on Four Wheeler’s Overland Adventure, arriving at the 2019 Overland Expo West, where lifted 4x4 vans seemed to swarm the show like cicadas after a 17-year hibernation. That’s right, we have 4x4 vans on the brain—which explains why when we flipped through the December 1990 issue of Four Wheeler, the pages mysteriously fell open to Eggert Sveinbjornsson’s van. Eggert hails from Reykjavik, Iceland, and when he wasn’t distributing Zebco fishing equipment, he was pursuing his passion for playing outside—in style. Eggert’s…