Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Four Wheeler

Did You Hear? Shortly before the release of the ’22 Ford F-150 Lightning, President Biden toured the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. After his speech, the President could be heard joking with Ford executives, “I wonder whether I can lose the Secret Service and go out on the track. You think I’m kidding? I’m not.” In an unplanned feat, the President was ushered into the F-150 Lightning, onto a test track, and given the order to “just mash it.” After silently zipping up to 60 mph in what he estimated to be 4.4 seconds, Biden exclaimed from behind his aviator sunglasses, “this sucker’s quick!” Will the Electric Lime Metallic ’22 Toyota Tacoma be the retina-searing reason you visit a dealership this year? The new Tacoma sits 1.5…

Dixie 4 Wheel Drive hosted the first-ever Dixie Offroad Expo for two days during the 2021 Moab Easter Jeep Safari and packed the show with over 75 vendors and more than 3,500 attendees. There was no admission charge, and four-wheel fanatics were free to mingle with industry leaders, browse and shop for new off-road wares, and get up close with 4x4s of all kinds—including the new Ford Bronco. We took a break from the trails to comb through the show and were met with a trove of new and exciting products. Here’s some of what we found. FLEXY LED LIGHT KC Lights showed off its newest LED light that features four Cree LEDs and can be had in either spot or combo beam patterns. The Flex Era 4 throws down…

When our buddy Derik got a new-to-him ’14 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 and complained that it looked like a grandpa’s truck, we knew just what to do. We talked to our friends at Skyjacker Suspensions for the perfect setup to make the truck look way better and increase clearance for a larger-than-stock all-terrain tire. Derik uses his truck on the weekends to go hunting. That means he uses it on rough backroads, sometimes towing a toy hauler, a UTV, or a camper. First, we suggested a leveling kit, but Derik really wanted a full lift kit and some 33-inch tires. With that info, Skyjacker suggested a 3.5-inch upper control arm lift kit with Black MAX rear shocks for trucks with cast-steel control arms. Up front, the lift kit spaces the…

“EVEN THOUGH WE’RE ON 33S, WE’RE ALWAYS PASSING PEOPLE ON ROUGH BITS OF TRAIL.”-TYLER MOBRATEN To the Mobraten family, the Land Rover Discovery is the best compromise of on-road comfort and off-road capability. In fact, their ’04 Disco is used almost exclusively for 1,000-mile expeditions that bring the whole family together over many days of dirt between segments of highway—and it never needs to ride on a trailer. Ask Tyler how he got started with four-wheel-drive rigs and he’ll tell you how his parents, Charles and Linda, would often take him exploring in Death Valley, California, searching out mines and other historical sites. By about the age of 10, Tyler had been taught how to drive on a Discovery, and a short three years later he had already piloted one…

Frank Millard might’ve been the only person in the United States at the time to own a Volvo L3314 Laplander, and his was for sale. After visiting Sweden and laying eyes on the Volvo 4x4, the owner of Frank Millard Sport Cars in Encino, California, knew he needed one. It was December 1966 and we were invited to have a peek at Frank’s latest purchase. The Laplander was developed as a utility vehicle for the Swedish army in the late ’50s to replace a fleet of older and less-efficient vehicles. Though Frank’s new 4x4 appeared massive, its forward-control nature created a better weight distribution between the axles, kept the overall length down (wheelbase was 83 inches), and gave the driver a commanding view of the trail ahead. The 1.8L B18…

FOLDABLE KAYAK Anyone who has packed a 4x4 for a long trip knows space is limited. If you frequent destinations that have bodies of water worth paddling, the Inlet by Oru Kayak is for you. The 10-foot kayak is 31 inches wide, weighs 20 pounds, and folds down into a box about the size of a guitar case in just around three minutes. INFO: Oru Kayak, 510/518-3119, orukayak.com GLADIATOR ARMOR ICON Off-Road Armor has what you need to defend the rear end of your Jeep Gladiator with the Pro Series II Rear Bumper. The new piece of armor features a multi-faceted, high-clearance design that allows you to sneak through and glide over the toughest obstacles. Ground clearance and departure angles have been maximized with this design and the tow hitch…

The age-old convention when selecting a winch with the proper pull rating for your off-road vehicle was 1.5 times the vehicle weight. In other words, if your Jeep, truck, SUV, buggy, or what have you, weighed 4,000 pounds, then, ideally, you’d select a 6,000-pound winch. But if you browse any winch company’s website these days and look at the winch offerings, you’re not really going to find many options that are less than 8,000 pounds, with 9,500- and 10,000-pound winches almost the industry standard. So, did vehicle weights suddenly all porpoise up to 7,000 pounds, leaving winch manufacturers scrambling to meet the demands with higher-rated winches? Kind of, yes, but not really. LOAD RATINGS OF MODERN WINCHES VS. OLDER WINCHES Here’s the thing about modern winches and why their load…

Kraig Mackett’s plans were interrupted—in a good way—when he was selected to beta-test the Cummins R2.8 engine. His ’91 Land Rover Defender 90 would be one of the first vehicles to put the new Cummins powerplant to work in the field, but that’s not where his fascination with Rovers began. Despite previously owning many makes and models of vehicles, after Kraig traveled to North Africa and spent time driving around in a Defender 110, he knew he was drawn to Land Rovers. “I’ve owned nearly 50 of them over the years and currently have more than 20 Land Rovers in various states of being,” Kraig explained. But the ’91 Defender 90 you see here is special. It was originally sold in Italy as an uncommon left-hand-drive vehicle with the sought-after…

DODGE CAD DANA 60: BUILD IT OR NOT? Q Do you have any articles on Dodge CAD Dana 60 axles? Is this axle worth trying to use as an upgrade? Are there any special mods it takes to make it work? KOSH VIA EMAIL A Great question, but the answer leads to other questions that might change any decisions you might make about the axle. First, we’d say that if you already have a Dodge CAD (center axle disconnect) Dana 60 or are planning to build a solid axle ’94-’02 Dodge truck you should consider this axle as a starting point. If not, we’d opt for a junkyard-sourced Super Duty Dana 60. We have a ’98 Dodge 2500 4x4 that has the CAD axle and may one day spend some…

EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM DAVE’S COLORADO TRIO This is my ’83 AMC Eagle that I have owned since new. It has 300,000 miles on it. I ripped out the independent front suspension and stuffed in YJ suspension leaf springs. The engine has my original 258 carbureted I-6 crankshaft and I did the 4.7L stroker setup on a 4.0L block with fuel injection from a Jeep Cherokee. The Eagle has a Jeep Cherokee NP242 T-case, AW4 tranny, Dana 35 in the front, and a Dana 44 in the back (both equipped with ARB Air Lockers). It also has custom-made tube bumpers. As you can see, this is now my plow vehicle, and it kicks butt at plowing. The 32x9.50 Super Swampers do really good in deep snow. I actually had to pull my neighbor’s…

While 2020 left us at home reliving memories of Jeep Safaris past, the event returned in 2021 and brought thousands of Jeep fans to Moab for a week of trail riding, exciting new products, and fun in the sand and rocks. Originally run by Moab’s Chamber of Commerce, the Jeep Safari has been around since 1967 and is now coordinated by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers, a local off-road club. Jeepers were invited to sign up in advance for various daily guided trail rides designed to challenge everything from stock Jeeps to dedicated rock buggies. For those not participating in organized runs, Moab was packed with 4x4 enthusiasts and the red rock trails were the place to be. We were on the scene with cameras at the ready, to bring you…

It’s one of the better off-road tires we’ve tested that you probably haven’t heard about. But while Delium from TireGet lacks the huge name recognition enjoyed by some in the off-road tire arena, it makes up for it in terms of durability and performance. We installed a set of 37x12.50R17LT Terra Raider M/T KU-255 tires on our ’12 Jeep JK Wrangler and put them through their paces in a variety of off-road situations. Since the Jeep sits atop a set of burly Ultimate Dana 60 axles, we ordered a set of black Pro Comp Xtreme Rock Crawler Series 51 steel wheels from Summit Racing. Summit Racing is almost always our go-to when we need stuff fast and at a great price. Summit was able to get us five of these…

Our ’17 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 had humble beginnings, but it’s come a long way. We started with a bone stock, extremely clean truck and called upon some of the best in the business to transform it with a short list of exactly the right parts. We started with a 6.5-inch lift kit from BDS Suspension, which we upgraded with Fox 2.0 performance shocks, and the Recoil adjustable traction bar system, installed at Powerhouse Performance. We also mounted up a set of polished Guardian 20-inch wheels from American Force and wrapped them with 37-inch Cooper Discoverer SST Pro tires. We loved the look of the wheel and tire combo with the otherwise stock truck, but there was one more area we wanted to touch upon before calling this one done.…