Four Wheeler July 2022

This month’s issue is packed with tech stories and that’s got me thinking about wrenching. I’ve been thinking about people I know who are excellent at wrenching on 4x4s. Four Wheeler has several staffers who are skilled wrenches, including Christian Hazel, Verne Simons, and Jason Gonderman. These three gents are well versed in everything from troubleshooting and rebuilding to fabrication. All have a history of building killer 4x4s that have worked exceptionally well. These guys are also worth their weight in gold on the trail when things go mechanically awry. More than once through the years I’ve seen each of these guys spring into action and problem solve, often resolving complex issues. And watching them work is amazing. The way they handle tools is like an extension of their hands, flowing,…

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and this company conveyed the majority of its storytelling by spraying ink onto dead trees and then selling the finished product as tangible periodicals to which you could dog ear a page, newsstand sales contributed substantially to our corporate bottom line. So much so, in fact, that during the early 2000s the company was always looking for another idea to turn into a title they could sell through their newsstand distribution. That’s how I wound up launching a new brand. It was 2003 and then-Publisher John Stewart (former editor of Four Wheeler) and Editorial Director Doug McColloch (also former editor of Four Wheeler) got the idea to create a 4x4-themed newsstand-only title. They invited me to John’s office overlooking Angel Stadium to share any ideas…

EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM HOMEBUILT Here is my ’84 Jeep Scrambler CJ-8 with matching camp trailer. I started with an Aqualu aluminum tub and Throttle Down Kustoms frame. It has a ’99 Dodge Magnum 360 and 46RH four-speed automatic transmission out of a ’95 Grand Cherokee. I built the entire wiring harness out of the donor vehicles. Other driveline parts are a Dana 300 with homemade twin-stick, Dana 44 with limited slip, and Dana 30 with limited slip from a Volvo station wagon. A full rollcage was built and installed. Onboard air is installed with both bumpers as air tanks. Air conditioning was installed from various pieces and heated seats are from an ’04 Durango, making it a “Fire and Ice” edition. The trailer was built out of spare parts from CJ-7s, including the axle built…

JERED.KORFHAGE@FOURWHEELER.COM 1 General Motors announced an investment of more than $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites, which is the single largest investment announcement in GM history. These investments are the latest step toward accelerating GM’s drive to become the EV market leader in North America by 2025. 2-3 Management of the Ultra4 Domestic Series has shifted from David Cole to Jason and Gayla Robinett. Hammerking Productions, including the King of the Hammers race, Ultra4 Europe, and Great American Shortcourse will still be owned by David Cole. This restructuring is said to bring with it improvements to the annual King of the Hammers race as well as new projects from Hammerking Productions. 4 Nissan plans to build its new electric vehicles in Canton, Mississippi, a state where 3 of every 10,000 people own…

Could the upcoming fully electric Ram 1500 feature a range-extending combustion engine? Could Toyota be planning a steering wheel that expands and contracts to notify the driver that lane-keeping inputs are necessary? Are Yamaha and Toyota collaborating on a hydrogen-fueled 5.0L V-8 internal combustion engine? Are carbon-fiber wheels the way of the future when it comes to electric vehicles? Weight savings that lead to quicker accelerations, improved braking, and less energy consumption might outweigh the wheels’ high cost. Will Jeep’s first 100-percent electric vehicle be a crossover?…

It’s too big to be small (nothing like the Chevy S-10 mini trucks of 20 years ago), but also too small to be big, lacking the stature of the Silverado. What would make GM’s midsize truck—the Chevy Colorado—more lovable? A V-8 under the hood with gobs of horsepower, of course, which is something we’ll likely never see again from the factory. Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE), a GM Specialty Vehicle Manufacturer that creates turnkey GM muscle cars and trucks, has committed to building the truck that GM won’t. The new SVE ’22 Chevy Colorado Xtreme Off Road is a trail-oriented truck based off the ’22 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab with ZR2 trim. With prominent bedside graphics, beefy fender flares, a custom sport bar topped with optional LED lights mounted in the…