Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i Four Wheeler

Fact: For most of us, camping and wheeling go together. It’s a safe bet that where there’s folks gathered to wheel for more than a day there’s probably camping involved. I’ve camped since I was a kid. Our family started with a tent, graduated to a 1960’s-era Apache camper (which was basically a tent on a trailer), and then in the 1970s to a Jayco camper (it had a hard roof that did a fairly admirable job of keeping the rain out). When I got out on my own and started wheeling, funds were tight and I found myself in a cheap tent for trailside sleeps. At that point, if there was a 1-10 rating system for functional campsites, my camps would’ve been a 1. The only reason they would’ve…

JERED.KORFHAGE@FOURWHEELER.COM Don’t let the square headlights fool you too much, this is a JL with some crafty throwbacks to the ’87-’95 Jeep Wrangler. It all started when Quadratec, a shining star in the Jeep aftermarket world, turned 30 years old. Ted Wentz II, the company’s founder, owned an ’89 Wrangler Sahara that inspired his vision for Quadratec, and that Jeep is represented in this build that mixes classic touches with modern technology. Quadratec partnered with vehicle builder Greg Henderson, owner of Unofficial Use Only, to bring the retro-inspired JL Wrangler to life, beginning with the one-off grille and period correct rear bumper with bumperettes. TeraFlex suspension components, Mickey Thompson 37-inch Baja Boss tires, Rock Slide Engineering fender flares, Corbeau seats, a redesigned dash from Alpine, and heated LED headlights from…

jered.korfhage@fourwheeler.com They drove over 17,000 collective miles from 14 different states to experience the Arizona backcountry. They came in vehicles new and old wearing badges from Ford, Jeep, Toyota, Ram, Lexus, Land Rover, and Chevrolet and left the pavement in the rearview glass. They journeyed across more than 200 miles of dirt; camped in rooftop tents, truck beds, and trailers; and enjoyed both scenic vistas and regional history in the company of like-minded travelers. If you’re just joining us, this is the second half of Four Wheeler’s 2020 Overland Adventure. One of a Kind Adventure It all began with a call to adventure pushed out across Four Wheeler’s website and social media outlets. From the stacks of applications submitted through fourwheeler.com, we selected 20 overland rigs of various sizes, makes,…

Toyota trucks are world-renowned for their capability and reliability. The fact is, they can be found traveling down the most remote backcountry roads and trails anywhere on the globe. The newest Tacoma is no exception, and it makes a great platform for a family exploration rig or the currently very popular overlander. Still, there is room for improvement, and the goal for our ’20 Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 was to take it down the path to being a truly useful backcountry adventure machine. One area that the Tacoma can use a little assistance with is the bed area. The Taco’s bed is advanced as far as truck beds go, but as with almost anything, there is room for improvement. We’ve added a Decked drawer system and are loving its utility…

It was June of 1988 and we had just spent some time in Lamborghini’s attempt to out-crazy its already-crazy Countach sports car. The beast was called the LM-002, it had an honest-to-goodness transfer case, and it was truly a wonder. Lamborghini took a couple of swings at military vehicles (LM stands for Lamborghini Militaria) before cranking out the LM-002, beginning with its Cheetah and LM-001 concepts. These concepts were plagued by less-than-stellar reviews and both were powered by rear-mounted V-8 mills. To that end, Lambo upped the cylinder count to 12 and mounted the 5.2L Countach-sourced powerplant to the front of the freshly redesigned chassis. Behind the absurd engine was none other than a dogleg five-speed manual transmission. Fun fact: This option was not fitting for legend Tina Turner, who…

Every year, with few exceptions, we’ve built a unique and capable themed vehicle for our flagship hard-core off-road event, the Ultimate Adventure. The 2020 Ultimate Adventure was no exception and we went back in history to pay homage to a vehicle that may have started the off-road craze, as well as helped the Allies win World War II. We call it the Ultimate Adventure Long Range Jeep (UALRJ). Our muse for UA2020 is a hodge-podge of Jeep parts assembled to mimic, with many improvements, the WWII Willys MB. Of course, a Willys MB is very similar to a Ford GPW, and this is no period correct restoration. We’ve covered the build on fourwheeler.com and in the past four issues of Four Wheeler. We couldn’t do this kind of build without…

JERED.KORFHAGE@FOURWHEELER.COM After winning Four Wheeler’s 2020 SUV of the Year (SUVOTY) award, we were elated to welcome a ’20 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon into our stable for a yearlong test. The Wrangler made history in North America with its VM Motori-built, 3.0L EcoDiesel V-6 engine that turns fuel from the green pump into smiles wherever it goes. Behind the oil-burning mill sits the TorqueFlite 8HP75 eight-speed automatic ready for each and every one of the 260 horses and 442 lb-ft of torque with beefed-up internals and optimized shift points. Underneath the Wrangler, you’ll find that the fuel tank has migrated to the driver side and it now shares undercarriage real estate with a 5.1-gallon diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) tank. Other points to note are the Rubicon’s 33-inch Falken Wildpeak M/T…

FULLSIZE BRONCO SAS I’ve been looking into solid axle swapping my fullsize ’92 Bronco for a while now. The TTB frontend is wearing out my tires in weird pattens and they aren’t lasting very long. I know the Dana 44 out of a ’70s F-150 is a popular swap and easy, but how easy? Is it like pull out the TTB and it’ll fit right up with the steering, driveline, coil springs, and radius arms easy, or minor fabrication easy? I currently have a 6-inch lift, but it should be the same concept as stock height because it’s only raised, if that made any sense. Also, are the crossmembers the same on both trucks so I could put the TTB under the F-150 with some measuring and hole drilling? Any…

DODGE W350 IN PROGRESS Attached are before and after photos of my ’84 Dodge W350 crew cab truck I purchased some years ago. It was to be a joint restoration project for my wife and I. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2015. The truck has all of 60,000 original miles. I bought it from the original owner. It has the same reliable 360ci engine, NP435 four-speed manual transmission, and NP205 transfer case. The tires are Cooper SSTs and the rockers and bed are all Line-X’d. Eventually, I would like to replace the 360 V-8 with a 408 stroker and the transmission with an NV4500 five-speed. Maybe a Getrag? The front seats are gray and plum leather, and the exterior is Plum Crazy and white. The only power options are the…

It’s that time of year again; time to crown our 2021 Four Wheeler SUV of the Year. The journey that embarks on the following pages is the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work that encompasses several months of pre-event planning. The days spent testing are long and the nights often seem longer. We are up before sunrise and work until the last light leaves us. Our team is tasked to work tirelessly, oftentimes in the harshest conditions Mother Nature can dish out. Nothing can weaken our resolve. Our judging panel is comprised of some of the most knowledgeable minds in the off-road industry. They come to us with backgrounds in off-road, diesel, lifted, new, and classic off-road vehicles. This ensures that our judging staff is just as diverse…

Ken Smith is no stranger to off-road travel. In fact, you may have seen him in Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s Ultimate Adventure a few (or more) times in various vehicles. He has rigs with meaty tires and big power for his rowdier trail exploits, but sometimes he just likes to slow it all down and bring a passenger along with a few creature comforts. That’s where his ’71 Chevy K20 comes in. Once you tear your eyes away from the ochre paintjob and patina, you might notice the K20 sits on newer bones. When Ken got the K20 from Utah, it was a rolling chassis. His plan going forward went a bit like this: “It’d be cool to have a Cummins truck,” so he worked some fabrication magic to mate…

When we last left off, we had introduced our new long-term ’20 F-250 Super Duty Limited. The truck sports a 6.7L Power Stroke diesel engine with 1,050 lb-ft of torque and 475 hp, and a 10-speed TorqShift automatic transmission. The truck arrived to us in top-of-the-line Limited trim with an $89,000 price tag. In that first report we logged just over 5,000 miles and had zero issues with the truck. We’re glad to report that for the second installment period, we’ve had largely the same result. With more than 12,000 miles on the odometer, we’ve had zero issues. For the first report, we spent the majority of our time cruising the highways of the western U.S. Since then, we’ve diversified our driving by both hitching up and towing a variety…