Innehållsförteckning för July 2020 från Four Wheeler

That’s Interesting • The ’21 Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, and 4Runner Trail Special Editions are vehicles that, as the name clearly implies, focus on “extra storage and convenience.” • Mercedes-Benz is offering its first pop-up camper van for the U.S. It’s called Weekender. • 2020 Automotive Hall of Fame inductees include Jay Leno and Helene Rother, who was one of the first female car designers, including for GM. She launched her own design studio way back in 1947. • The ’20 Nissan Frontier has a new 3.8L V-6 and an also-new nine-speed automatic transmission. • If the ’20 Nissan Titan is more your thing, here’s the starting-at pricing for the 4x4 models: King Cab is $39,390, Crew Cab is $41,990, and XD Crew Cab is $44,580. The most spendy Titan would…

There was a time when upgrading or swapping axles under your 4x4 often meant scrounging junkyards for factory axles under a rig a size bigger than yours. After finding a heavy-duty diamond in the rough and dragging it home, you cleaned it up and then decided what further work was needed as far as modifications or mounting hardware. That’s still a sweat-equity option in some cases. However, there are now many alternatives for 4x4 owners to purchase custom-built axles with exactly the combination of parts desired. On top of that, the aftermarket has graced us with unique solutions to optimize suspension fit, ground clearance, and overall strength. Here we present a variety of those solutions. Boyce Equipment Big Axles The Data: Boyce Equipment can supply buyers with a variety of…

If ever there was a Jeep in dire need of rocker protection in the form of rock sliders from a company like Rock Hard 4x4, the ’20 Jeep Gladiator is it. The Jeep JT has a larger and more vulnerable rocker area than any enthusiast Jeep produced in decades. At a distance of nearly 94 inches from wheelwell to wheelwell, the Gladiator has more body rocker length than the wheelbase of a TJ Wrangler, and understandably so. The 137.3-inch wheelbase on the Gladiator rivals most modern ½-, ¾-, and 1-ton pickups. As with any 4x4 used off-road, one of the first modifications we recommend is rocker protection. The rocker area under the doors of a 4x4 is generally the first location to receive body damage when not protected with rock…

ARB has recently made several improvements to its Classic series of Fridge Freezer portable off-road overlanding refrigerators with the release of the Classic II. Most notably, the fridge now supports wireless display and monitoring from any smartphone via the ARB Fridge Connect app (iOS and Android). We outfitted the Ultimate International with one of ARB’s 50-quart Classic II Fridge Freezers and then lived out of the 4x4 for a week of off-roading and overlanding during Ultimate Adventure to check out the new features for ourselves. We were pleased with the added features and convenience of the ARB Classic II Fridge Freezer, and being able to check the status of the fridge without looking at it was a nice touch, especially since the power plug in the Scout can get knocked…

There are many different levels of Jeep dedication, from the guys that restore old flatfenders to those that build hard-core rockcrawlers with only a Jeep grille, and everything in between. There’s no question that the United States is full of Jeep enthusiasts, but almost none of us have the level of dedication to partially disassemble six Jeeps, stuff them in a single container, and ship them across the ocean to another country. But a couple of years ago a group of crazy guys from Norway did just that with five CJ-7s and a YJ. They called it The Impossible Jeep Tour (TIJT), and they have the distinction of being among the few Norwegians that have wheeled the Rubicon and Moab, in Jeeps they built at home. We caught up with…

FABRICATED 9-INCH Q I’m planning to fabricate front and rear Ford 9-inch axles for what will be my working weekend warrior, an ’80 Chevy LUV with 33- or 35-inch tires and a 190-horsepower Buick 215ci V-8. It seems the possibilities for sticking ends on a fabbed front Ford 9-inch are almost endless, but what would be the decent candidates? Also, would I need custom axles even with matching spline counts, such as a 35-spline 9-inch diff to 35-spline Dana 60 ends? The hope is a stout setup to build for high-steer ram-assist and disc brakes. Fabrication is no issue. MATT ST. LOUIS, MO A Sounds like a unique project. Though it’s a bit overkill for the tires and power level that you’re planning on, going with a set of Dana…

SLIM KCS The new KC Slimlite uses Cree XD series LEDs, which maximize lumen density. Each light contains 10 LEDs, producing 50 total watts and 7,260 raw lumens—claimed to be 60 percent more output than KC’s 100-watt halogen predecessor. Other features include a black housing with cooling fins and a treatment to protect from UV light, a breathable membrane barrier, and an impact-resistant polycarbonate lens. Optics combine a long-range spot with fill light for shorter distances. Dimensions are 6.21x6.71x2.70 inches. The Slimlites are backed by a 23-year warranty. INFO: KC Lights, 888/689-5955, kchilites.com TJ EXHAUST A new Hooker BlackHeart exhaust system is designed to work with LS, LT, or Gen 3 Hemi engine swaps. Using 3-inch-diameter tubing, this kit is engineered to tuck high, clearing stock and lifted suspensions systems…

You might be currently thinking one of these three questions: “What is that thing?” or “Where do you take that thing?” or “What’s in the back?” The short answers: “John Marshall’s ’05 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U500 expedition camper,” “everywhere,” and “everything.” The Unimog in general still manages to give many people a case of the verklempts, simply because the vehicle has remained a rare breed to find on the trail (and on the street). But as John pointed out, “The Unimog U500 is perhaps the most advanced and capable off-road vehicle ever made, with three locking differentials and three transfer-case ratios to select at the touch of a finger. First gear in low range is so low—at well over 4,000:1—it will move about 40 inches per minute at redline rpm.” With…

We recently got our hands on a new tire deflator gadget, named Indeflate (a mash-up of inflate and deflate), which challenges the typical air down ritual and even doubles as a tire inflation tool, too! Airing down is a common ritual at every trailhead: Lock the hubs, shift the transfer case into four-wheel drive, and kneel down at every tire to screw on your favorite type of tire deflation device. If you have been living under that rock you are about to crawl over and don’t know the benefits of airing down, decreasing tire pressure off-road will result in a smoother ride and better traction. Since airing down is something every off-roader should do, we’re always looking for ways to make it quicker or easier. We performed a few timed…

In 1959, Studebaker had been in business for 107 years, first building wagons and then automobiles. Studebaker became a pillar of the American auto industry in every sense of the word, but by the early ’50s, it was clear those days were over. Studebaker continued slugging it out and if a couple of things had broken the company’s way, we might have had it around much longer … if not until today. Studebaker had been building trucks in one form or another from its 1904 beginning in auto manufacturing. They ranged from light to medium-heavy, though by 1959 the only heavy trucks the company built were for military contracts. Studebaker trucks were value based and popular with those wanting a no-frills rig with a bottom-dollar price tag. It wouldn’t be…

Charlie Melchner wanted to build a real truck. By his definition, that meant relying on a bit more than a simple set of lift blocks to keep him riding high on his colossal tires. We visited Charlie in the October 1987 issue of Four Wheeler where he gave us a tour of his fully customized ’77 Chevy Silverado. The first step on the Silverado’s journey satisfied Charlie’s desire for wide rolling rubber—a set of 46x23-16 Firestone Turf and Field tires mounted to 16x20 custom-built chromed steel wheels. The wheels and tires sat at the ends of the truck’s stock 1-ton axles, which also kept their 4.11 gears and limited-slips. Charlie trussed the axles to keep them from folding in on themselves and the front axle was cut and turned 10…

ARCTIC CIRCLE TOWING I recently read an article of yours about towing trailers off road. I want to share this picture of my ’11 F-350 6.7L towing my 32-foot gooseneck with a newer F-150 on it and a 20-foot shipping container with an estimated 5,000 pounds of materials inside. The container is connected to the trailer with a tow bar. Both my trailer and container have sleds underneath them and the truck is on Mattracks and we are over the Arctic Ocean between Utqia˙gvik (formerly known as Barrow) and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I own and operate a small freight transportation business primarily moving vehicles between the two locations. There isn’t a road, but I make my own trail over the snow-covered ice following the coast for the majority of the…

“I’ve had this truck since high school,” Tom Major told us when we met him on a lakebed in the California desert. He drove the ’02 Dodge Dakota stock for quite some time, getting into whatever mud and rocks he could in central New Jersey, before significantly modifying the truck. After stockpiling parts and honing his fabrication skills, Tom was ready to give his rig the off-road chops it deserved. Tom chopped the truck’s frame from the firewall forward and rebuilt it using 4x3-inch, 3⁄16-inch-thick box tube. This allowed him to get rid of the Dakota’s wide framehorns and also gave him space to mount the steering box he gleaned from a Ford Bronco, replacing the factory rack-and-pinion setup. Out back, Tom rebuilt the frame from the cab to the…

For years, we ran sway bar disconnects on our ’06 Wrangler LJ with 35-inch-tall tires. The disconnects provided stock handling on the street with uninhibited articulation on the trail. At times, they were a chore to get aligned, but that was considered a small price to pay. It wasn’t until we moved up to 37-inch-tall tires that they rubbed the sway bar at full lock before we started to look for a better alternative. That better alternative we found is Skyjacker’s RockLock selectable front sway bar. The RockLock is a torsion bar-style sway bar with flat endlinks that provide more tire clearance than the factory sway bar. Unlike other torsion bar-style sway bars, Skyjacker’s RockLock uses a splined hub on one end that allows it to be disengaged with a…

Years ago, if you wanted a tire larger than 35-inches tall you had to accept some pretty serious compromises in terms of street manners and tire life. Sure, they looked great and would churn through the deepest mud, but they would also turn your rig into a paint shaker going down the interstate. Fortunately, tires have come a long way since the dark ages, and you can now get a 40-inch-tall tire that will tear through mud pits and stick to the rocks while remaining smooth on the pavement with respectable tread life. Mickey Thompsons’s new Baja Boss M/T is just such a tire. Nowadays, 40s aren’t uncommon on four-door Wranglers that are used for everything from rockcrawling to daily driving. Of course, Mickey Thompson offers the Baja Boss in…

We see many Jeeps on the trail. Many. Therefore, to stand out in a sea of awesome, modified specimens, a vehicle requires equal parts ingenuity and eye-catch. Maciej Michalecki’s ’04 Jeep Grand Cherokee was on Four Wheeler’s 2019 TireRack.com Overland Adventure East and our peepers were all over it. Although his WJ was assembled for overlanding and long-distance travels, it also seamlessly handles his favorite type of ground: “Mud-covered rock sections, as they require skill and a properly built rig to get through them.” What you ought to know in advance: 1. Maciej is just 20 years old. 2. He has a twin brother, Darek. 3. He built this Grand himself and paid for everything himself. (For some reason, people seem to have a hard time believing that.) “I chose…

After 12 months of living with our ’19 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 2019 Four Wheeler SUV of the Year winner we’ve got only a couple of gripes. And given that the Ocean Blue test vehicle we’ve been driving is the exact same vehicle that competed in the ’19 SUV of the Year test, was previously an FCA press fleet vehicle, and was driven hard off-road on Jp Magazine’s 2019 Dirt n Drive event, this particular Wrangler had a ton of hard miles on it even before it joined our test fleet as a “new” vehicle. So, what went wrong with our test model during our 12-month in-depth review? Not a heckuva lot, really. For one, the driver-side sunvisor swivel broke. However, it wasn’t bad enough to warrant a visit to…