Four Wheeler May 2022

A three-day weekend was coming up and I was stoked. My work was sorta caught up and my location was about an hour from a 41,000-acre state forest that was crisscrossed by trails. My plan was simple: Load the cooler with sandwiches and drinks and wheel me some forest roads. But first was the Power Wagon’s pre-trip inspection. Now I gotta pause here a sec and admit that I learned about the importance of a pre-trip inspection the hard way. Way back in my early days of wheeling, I jumped into my old Scout and pointed it west toward Colorado. The issues I had along the way with tires and exhaust could’ve been dealt with prior to the trip, which would’ve been way easier, but the young me apparently didn’t have…

My wife called it “the invisible car.” We bought it in 2002 after the third or fourth unsuccessful attempt at getting Ford to honor warranty work on her ’00 Focus ZTS. We finally gave up and traded it in on a super-low-mileage ’99 Toyota Camry. The Camry was roomier, quieter, more comfortable, and about as economical as the smaller Focus. The only drawback, as we came to discover, was the bronzey-metallic “Sable Pearl” color. My wife started commuting to work in the Camry and I in my ’85 4Runner, Jeeps, and other 4x4s. But about every other month she’d come home white as a sheet talking about nearly getting run off the road or having somebody almost sideswipe her. This went on until one day in mid-2004 as we were driving…

M37 MEMORIES Just wanted to let you know I have been reading and enjoying Four Wheeler since the late ’60s, love off-road racing, and everything outdoors. I have had many subscriptions in the past, now I read it taking advantage of my son’s subscription. He has been four-wheelin’ with me since he was less than a year old and was also bitten by the 4x4 bug. He has an ’89 Comanche and also loves off-road racing and everything outdoors. I still have many older copies, some even double from subscription overlaps. I was introduced to 4x4s at about 5 years old when a friend of my father brought his M37 ex-Army truck to the ranch where I grew up. The ranch had some nice dunes spanning about 50 square miles, and at…

In The News Is It True? SUPERTRUCK CORNER Roush Bronco So, you purchased a ’21 Ford Bronco and you want to take it to another level? The Roush Bronco R Series Kit is here, and it includes Roush Performance Air Induction and Axle-Back Exhaust systems as well as five Roush-designed 17-inch wheels, and plenty more. The upgraded intake is said to deliver more airflow than the factory system and the kit includes an off-road prefilter. The 3-inch, axle-back, stainless-steel exhaust system improves ground clearance and departure angle, and adds a signature Roush exhaust note. Also included is a Roush graphics package, decals, Roush “R” hitch cover, and more. Roush treats the interior to full-depth floor liners and includes an off-road recovery kit, and more goodies. The kit can be ordered for your two- and…

THE ALL-TERRAIN BOSS Does your SUV, truck, or pickup need all-terrain capability, bold looks, and the cold-weather performance denoted by the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake rating? Mickey Thompson has introduced 15 new P-metric sizes to its Baja Boss all-terrain tire lineup. New sizes are: 235/75R15, 265/70R16, 265/75R16, 245/65R17, 265/70R17, 285/70R17, 265/60R18, 265/65R18, 275/65R18, 265/50R20, 275/55R20, 305/50R20, 275/60R20, 285/45R22, and 305/45R22. INFO: Mickey Thompson, 330/928-9092, mickeythompsontires.com BREATHE EASIER The Mishimoto Borne Off-Road Snorkel and Performance Air Intake can help protect your vehicle’s air intake from dust and water. Starting at the top, Mishimoto’s intake packages provide a fresh air inlet over 24 inches above the stock location, letting your engine breathe cleaner air. The snorkel tube is constructed from precision rotational-molded cross-linked polyethylene, which resists degradation from UV rays and can withstand off-road abuse. Atop…

It’s finally here—time to crown our 2022 Four Wheeler Pickup Truck of the Year. Following closely on the heels of our 2022 Four Wheeler SUV of the Year test, the program that you will see on the following pages is the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work and several months of planning and preparing. The days spent testing are long. We are up before the sun rises and we work until nightfall, and beyond. Our 2022 judging panel was comprised of some of the most knowledgeable minds in the off-road industry, with backgrounds in off-road, diesel, lifted, new, and classic off-road vehicles. This year, in celebration of our 60th anniversary, we’ve also brought back some familiar faces from Four Wheeler’s history, which gave our panel more than 100 years…