It's been a running tradition here for the last 10 years at least, and this year is no different-if it's April, it's gotta be Top Truck Challenge Ballot month. And once again, we're proud to share the best of this year's entries sent in by you, our devoted readers.
Top Truck is unique among automotive competitions-at least the ones we know about-in that it's pretty much driven by the competitors and their supporters. Our readers send in their trucks for consideration, and you vote them in. After that, we don't do a heckuva lot but notify your picks, open up the gates at Hollister, and let 'em run at the appointed time. We do winnow down the list of entrants to the 50 you see here, but after having done this for so many years, we have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a Top Truck-ready rig and what doesn't. (Hint: If your photos or spec sheet don't tell us anything about a winch, or a rollcage, or bead locks, or any locking diffs, guess what happened?) Also, we disqualify entries that are turned in after our deadline has passed since, well, we gotta ship out the magazine to the printers eventually, and we typically receive TTC entry forms for many weeks after the magazine has gone to press.
This year's crop of hopefuls, at least at first glance, appears a bit less extreme than last year's, with more fellas running plain ol' Dana 60s and rubber in the 42- to 44- inch range, though there are, as always, a few "overbuilt" monsterrigs in the mix, too. We had more Jeeps enter this year than last, and a few more buggies too. Both of last year's alternates are among our field of 50, as are a couple of surprise entries. You can give 'em a look-over starting on page 36. Then cut out the ballot on page 50, fill it out with your top 10 picks (and no, if you vote for the same truck 10 times, it only counts as one vote), then mail it to us in time for us to count it. We'll showcase your finalists, along with two alternates, in the November issue, with full event coverage to follow in December. And of course, we'll have a Top Truck DVD in stores by the end of the year too. We should note that this year, as always, we don't accept photocopies, faxes, or electronic ballots-it's gotta be torn out of a copy of the magazine and filled out by hand. On the other hand, there's no limit on how many ballots you can send in- you'll just need to round up more magazines. Until then, let the balloting -and the debating-begin.
-Douglas McColloch