Four Wheeler August 2015

I’m not a doomsday prepper with a stash of MREs buried in my yard. I don’t think zombies will one day spring up out of the ground and come for our brains. I don’t really believe the government will leverage a hostile takeover of American citizenry and send us all to live in FEMA death camps. I don’t wear tinfoil on my head to ward off space satellites reading my mind, and I don’t think my iPhone camera and microphone turn on at random intervals so the decedents of Steve Jobs can know how I like my eggs cooked. Maybe I’m wrong. Who knows. What I am, however, is a shooting enthusiast. There are some who would believe the simple fact I like plinking tin cans and old auto parts…

SIX-APPEAL I just received and read my latest issue of Four Wheeler. Attached you will find pictures of my ’80 F-350, which I have owned since new. It has a 300ci Six with a T-18 BorgWarner fourspeed, along with a Dana 70 rear axle. And yes, it is 2WD. It would be 1985 before 4WD would be available in this size truck. I do own a Super Duty F-350 4WD pickup. In regards to your article, my memories continue as my truck is still in use, from plowing snow to God only knows the thousands of tons of materials over the last 35 years it has hauled. The drivetrain is all original with a little over 120,000 on the odometer. And to the purist, I did upgrade from the original grille…

Does being married affect your vehicle insurance? You betcha. Insurancequotes.com did a study and learned that based on age, your marital situation, and gender, rates can vary more than 50 percent. For example, comparing a married and a single 20-yearold woman, the single pays 28 percent more, while the same scenario with males equates to 25 percent more for the spinsterman. Ralph Gilles has been named head of design for Fiat Chrysler and member of the FCA Group Executive Council. His previous work included president and CEO of SRT and CEO of Dodge. Ram 1500 Texas Ranger concept—a partnership between Ram Truck, Texas Rangers, and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. A nod to this venture can be found via the Lone Star Ranger badge, as well as special emblems…

EDELHEAD Edelbrock is excited to announce the release of its new cylinder head designed for ’87-’06 Jeeps with a 4.0L inline six-cylinder engine. The new Performer head is a bolt-on performance upgrade featuring better flowing intake and exhaust ports, a modern combustion chamber design with back-cut and swirl polished valves, and reinforced rocker bosses for strength. It retains stock valve angles, pushrod lengths, and valve cover bolt rail height for use with factory components. It’s machined to accept either distributor or coil pack ignition. Several applications are available to cover the various engine differences, but 50-state emission legality is pending for 4.0L engines when used with factory fuel injection components, as well as AMC 4.2L engines when used with a Mopar Fuel Injection Conversion Kit (E.O. Number D-265-21). INFO: Edelbrock, 310/781-2222,…

THE HALLOWEEN MUD BASH IS AN OCTOBER tradition at Barnyard All Terrain, which is located near Livermore, Maine. Saunter into the 120-acre facility during the Bash and you’ll see scores of 4x4s of all sizes and modification levels intermingled with a number of people in costume. What is Barnyard All Terrain? Well, it’s a mud-oriented facility nestled in the rolling countryside of rural Maine and is surrounded by farmland and woods. As a matter of fact, the property used to be farm, hence the name. Barnyard materialized in 2007 due to the popularity of mud racing in the area. Barnyard All Terrain President Dave Lovewell says that racing used to be held in the farm’s cornfield on Sunday afternoons. Incidentally, the farm has been in the Lovewell family since the late…

IF YOU’VE EVER WONDERED WHAT THE BEST lift kit for your 4x4 was, you’re not alone. One of the more common questions we receive involves choosing the best aftermarket suspension for a specific 4x4. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as easy as loading a silver bullet into a revolver. There are many things to consider when choosing a suspension lift, especially if it’s your very first. Always keep in mind that what may work for someone else, may not work for you. Driving style, personal preference, and the kind of off-roading you plan to do will dictate what lift kit will fit your needs best. There are usually two kinds of first-time lift kit buyers: those that want to spend as little as possible and those that jump in with both feet…