Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Four Wheeler

MUD GRABBING General Tire has introduced the new Grabber X3 into the mud-terrain tire segment. The Grabber X3 program included more than three years of development, 16 tread patterns, more than 500 hours of off-road testing, more than 1,000 tires built and tested, and more than 2,000,000 million miles of testing in a variety of extreme conditions. The new tire features a high-void pattern design, evacuation channels and alternating shoulder scoops for mud, block chamfers, traction notches and stone bumpers for dirt, and multi-angle gripping edges, deflection ribs and pads, and sidewall lugs for rock. The sidewall is a three-ply construction in all sizes. The siped tread is said to improve wet and winter performance. The Grabber X3 is available in 29 sizes up to 37 inches in diameter for…

INSTEAD OF MONEY, JON BARRICKLOW SAYS HE married into paint. His wife, Rhonda, grew up working in her family’s autobody collision repair business doing everything from disassembly to finish paint. Jon also marriedinto a family of staunch Bronco lovers. It’s all worked out really well over the ensuing years, too, resulting in he and his wife doing three frame-off custom early rebuilds, all of which are part of the family stable. A fourth has joined the ranks: an awesome Cumminspowered ’95 XL that is Jon’s daily driver. “I needed a reliable, fuel-efficient commuter rig and figured I could buy a cheap mid-’90s Bronco, drop in a Cummins 4BTA so it’dget 25-30 mpg, and have the perfect 4x4 that I could drive forever and ever,” Jon remarked. He achieved that goal…

JUST A FEW YEARS AFTER THE INCEPTION and huge success of the Ford Mustangin 1964, Ford created its first off-roadicon, the Ford Bronco. With the obviousand growing popularity of severalmodels of Jeep, International’s Scout, andToyota’s FJ40, Ford quickly realized its gapin an expanding vehicular niche. With that,Ford entered four-wheeling, where buyerslooked for nimble size, durability, capability,and power. The Bronco brought lots of newtechnology to the table in the form of radiusarm and coil-sprung front suspension (ascompared to all of the other competitor’s leafsprings), simple body work, flat glass and arigid boxed ladder frame. The Bronco madean impression early on with its torquey I-6and lightweight, yet powerful, optional 289ciand later 302ci V-8 engines. An off-road iconwas born. In 1978, the Bronco grew up to fullsizedimensions to better compete with the truckbasedChevy…

Coming into its own IT’S AN OFF-ROAD—ORIENTED vehicle. We’ve been keeping that in mind at every all-too-frequent trip to the fuel station. With front and rear lockers, electronic sway bar disconnect, 4.10 axle gears, and chunky 285/70R17 tires, the ’15 Ram Power Wagon isn’t designed to be a mileage master. Its 6.4L Hemi is thirsty, and the Goodyear DuraTrac tires are starting to howl a bit on the street as they wear, but it’s also got built-in features that help it survive long, sustained high-rpm slogs under heavy use. Things like piston oil squirters like a diesel, sodium-filled valves, specially designed exhaust manifolds, a torque-oriented camshaft grind, and other features that set it apart from just another 5.7L Hemi with more displacement. The 6.4L is a workhorse that just happens…

August ’92: Behind the Wheel of a Big-Block Suburban In the Aug. ’92 issue of Four Wheeler, we wrote about our first test of the thenall-new ’92 Chevy Suburban K2500 3⁄4-ton. The eighth-generation ’92 model year was another big year for the Suburban, and the GMT400-based Suburban was completely redesigned. One of the biggest changes to the Suburban was the switch from a front leaf-spring suspension with solid axle to torsion-bar IFS. We wrote, “For on-road and moderately difficult off-road operation, the new IFS is a vast improvement over the old design. The torsion bar springs are much more finely tuned than the leaf springs and give a much smoother ride. Also, the twin A-arms control wheel camber precisely throughout the range of suspension travel. This, along with improvements in…

JASON DEMELLO startedversion 1.0 of DeMelloOff-Road with just $500in his one-car garage. Hethen promptly got kicked outfor welding and chop-sawingsliders and bumpers. But we’regetting a little ahead of ourselveshere. To understand why DeMelloOff-Road products for Toyotatrucks and SUVs are so uniqueand in demand globally, youfirst have to understand thedrive of its founder, Jason. Asa kid, he was always takingthings apart to figure how theyworked. Ask his mom andshe’ll tell you several storiesabout young Jason and hisautopsies of the family fan,or how he would use old calculatorsas computers for hisG.I. Joe. As he got older, cars becamehis focus, as well as dirt bikesand dune buggies. “Anythingwith a motor, I had a passionfor,” Jason explained. A teacherin high school gave him oldcar magazines to read; he absorbedthem. “I could tell youevery car’s…

It doesn’t get much closer to the base Bronco DNA that this preproduction Bronco shot in February 1965. It’s one of many preproduction U15 Wagons and wears the number 524 on the front and rear glass. We don’t know how these numbers were issued or what they mean, but another development rig has been seen wearing “091.” There is nothing in particular to visually differentiate this rig from the production units, which started rolling out in the beginning of August. The prototype bodies were built by Budd, who also built the early production bodies into mid-October 1966. IT’S BEEN 50 YEARS SINCE FORD INTRODUCED the Bronco and 30 years since they last used the nameplate on a production 4x4. It’s nowhere close to being a forgotten model. Just the opposite!…

JUST NORTHEAST OF TUCSON, ARIZONA, LIE THE Santa Catalina Mountains in the Coronado National Forest. The mountains rise from the lower elevations of the Sonoran Desert and cast a prominent image on the skyline. It was here we would explore Charouleau Gap. Habitation of this area dates back about 1,700 years ago when Hohokam people came here to live and prosper for centuries. Later Spanish and French explorers would arrive. While some prospecting for precious metals was done in the area over 150 years ago, much of the range was placed under protection by Congress when the Santa Catalina Forest Reserve was created in 1902. Our trail destination on a pleasant fall day was that of following the Charouleau Gaptrail. Alternately known as Forest Service 736, it’s about a 14-mile…

BOYD JAYNES OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, IS TYPICALLY on the working end of a camera and lens. However, after the first new NORRA 1000 rally in Mexico was announced in 2009, he began the search for a classic Bronco. The ’68 specimen you see was found on Craigslist in San Diego. Jaynes immediately secured the California license plate “MEX 1K” and went to work on the early Bronco. The name Caballo Del Diablo quickly stuck, which is Spanish for horse of the devil. Jaynes says, “The Bronco had no previous race history, but it looked racy.” The previous owner was a course volunteer at local desert races. Jaynes soon found out that the faux rollcage was not properly constructed or connected to the frame, so it was replaced with…

AILING AUTOMATIC I have been reading Four Wheeler for many years and have come to the conclusion that you guys and gals are the upmost authority when it comes to offroading. That is why I’m writing to you with a few questions about modifying my truck. I have a ’84 Dodge Power Ram W150 with a 318 V-8. Other than the aftermarket exhaust and 33-inch tires, it is stock. I blew up the tranny on my last outing in the mud. I would like to convert it over to the best manual transmission and transfer case that they came with. I’m not sure what that would be. It currently has an A727 automatic transmission and an NP208 transfer case. I’m hoping you will be able to help point me in…

A TRUE ALL-WEATHER, ALL-TERRAIN TIRE A tire. To the untrained eye, it’s simply round rubber with ridges and lines. But to anyone headed to an off-road adventure, that rubber, those ridges and lines, and everything about that roundness matters. A lot. Falken Tires knows that, and has engineered each of its truck and SUV off-road tires for serious performance. The WILDPEAK A/T3W is no different. It has the technology needed to tackle rugged terrain without comprising driveability on pavement. With the A/T3W, you know you’re getting a great tire, and one with a focus on three key areas, or the “3Ws”: wear, winter, and wet performance. What’s notably impressive about the WILDPEAK A/T3W is how it has been designed for severe snow conditions, an achievement that allowed it to be…

YOU KNOW THAT FEELING YOU get when somethingreally outstanding happensin your life? Youknow what we’re talking about:things like a past-due promotion,inheriting your grandfather’scool old truck, or beingwitness to your newborn childcoming into the world? OK,well, we might be overstatingthis a tad, but that’s kind ofthe same type of “happy” weget when a manufacturer givesbirth to a new mud-terraintire. Maybe it’s the possibility thatthese new sneakers will be theend-all, no-compromise answerto our off-road-rubber needs,or maybe it’s that we just don’tcare. It’s another mud-terrainoption to choose from, andthat’s never a bad thing. As a direct result of ourmagnetized draw to the backcountry,we just happen tobe addicted to mud tires, andsoon after writing this, we’ll allhave a brand-new and highlylegitimate option to feed theaddiction with: the WildPeakM/T from Falken. A few yearsback, Falken…

THAT’S INTERESTING Take a gander at the Nissan Pathfinder—it looks different for 2017, including under the hood, wherein rests a new 3.5L V-6 that makes 284 horses. Towing capacity jumps to 6,000 pounds. What’s so 2015? Mazda and Ford. What’s so 2016? Mazda and Isuzu. It’ll likely result in a pickup for Mazda based on an Isuzu model. To be clear, the upcoming Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be their own vehicles, not trim levels of the Grand Cherokee. They will be built off the Grand platform, but not be Grands. The newest inductees into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame are a couple names you probably know and a couple you know more about from their work. They are racer Larry Ragland, off-road photographer Jim Ober, racerBud Feldkamp,…

BRONCO FANATICS DON’T NEED MUCH encouragement to celebrate their shared passion, but with 2016 being the 50th anniversary for that four-wheeling legend, they had extra incentive. There were celebratory events occurring all over the country, and one we were able to attend happened in Townsend, Tennessee. It was Bronco Driver’s Bronco Super Celebration, and not too surprisingly, this anniversary set an attendance record of 512 Broncos for the event, which has a decade-long history. They came from 40 states and Canada, the farthest from California. The breakdown included a very high percentage of early Broncos, ’66-’77, but every era was represented. Some very historic Broncos were there as well, including Bill Stroppe’s Balloon Chase Bronco and the earliest surviving Bronco, the 36th one built in August 1965. The record was…

IT’S ALWAYS FUN TO READ ABOUT LIFT KITS BEING INSTALLED ON BRAND new4x4s. But there’s a large number of readers who are startingout with rigs destined for weekend four-wheeling that are far lesspristine and way less expensive than iron that’s just rolled offthe showroom floor. We’re talking decades-old 4x4s with odometersthat are on their third lap and stock suspensions that haven’t seen amechanic’s wrench or grease gun in a quarter century. Rigs like these,which can be purchased for a couple thousand dollars, make excellenttrail projects. Mid-’80s through mid-’90s Ford F-150s and Broncos areperfect examples of such finds. The fullsize Broncos, which share the F-150’s platform and Twin-Traction Beam (TTB) suspension, are becoming especially popularbecause they are roomy and abundant, making them a very good candidatefor anyone who wants to build…

FIRST CAME THE OLD FALKENWildpeak A/T. It lookedlike something you’dsee on a factory pickuptruck on a dealership lot, but itcame in sizes up to 37 inchesin diameter and flat-out kickedass in the dirt. In our testing, itactually out-performed manymore-aggressive-lookingall-terrain tires and, in manyenvironments, mud-terrain tires. Clearly, Falken did its homework. Then came the much-anticipatedFalken WildpeakM/T. It had a high-void treaddesign and burly sidewalls, andpicked up the ball where theWildpeak A/T went to its muddyknees and ran it through thegoal posts. Now, there’s theWildpeak A/T3W. A tweenertread—if we’re honest—blurringthe lines between the A/T andM/T offerings. But the problemwith being a tweener is potentialfor being outshined on eitherend. So the Wildpeak A/T3Wenters the game with one siblingan all-star athlete and the otheran honor-roll genius. Can it walkthe walk, or is it all…

People build Jeeps for a varietyof reasons and purposes. Someare mall crawlers (ugh) andsome are overlanders (good), while stillothers are built for the trail (really good).When we met Gary and Karen Shafferand began really checking out their ’97 TJWrangler, we knew we had stumbled acrosssomething special. Don’t get us wrong,we love overlanding rigs and frankly don’tsee enough of them out there, but a riglike the Shaffer’s Jeep that’s built for trailuse—and having a good time while doingit—is right up our alley. Gary began customcrafting his TJ from almost the moment heacquired it. The retired industrial arts (auto/metal/CAD) teacher had the skills and thegumption, and it clearly shows in his 4x4nicknamed RokRide. Drivetrain The ’97 TJ retains the venerable 4.0LI-6 engine, and primarily for reliabilityreasons, its guts have been left stock.…