Claps For Clunkers
I was quite pleasantly surprised with your tech article on the "Long Range Clunker" (Aug. '10) and wondered when the next installment will be forthcoming. That is just the kind of article my friends and I enjoy. I have an '88 GMC Suburban that currently has over 352,000 miles on the clock. I've never changed the engine, but the previous owner may have. I bought it from the original owner (a retired Air Force pilot), with 98,000 miles on the clock. He was a fanatic about maintenance as am I.
Wheeler
San Antonio, TX
Glad you liked our newest project rig. The Clunker will return in next month's issue.
They're Still Waiting for Real Truck Challenge
We are still looking forward to this event having a possibility of a return. We (as a group) would make the trip every year to spectate. I know there is still a demand for this event, especially since all your events tend to be held in California, or some other place out west. Believe it or not, there is a demand to hold competitions here in the Midwest. The Top Truck is great and all, but what about a "realistic" competition? As I recall, one of the Top Trucks attempted Real Truck Challenge. He failed miserably.
There are a great many people who support a "run what you brung" event. The problem with the past attendance was this: The only way people could find out when it was held was with deep digging. I am a firm believer in the fact that you buried RTCC long ago. There were no advertisements, mentions, or posts on your website about Real Truck Club Challenge when it was running. By contrast, you promote the Top Truck for several months before it takes place. The RTCC had a whopping half-page article to promote it, in the August issue. Remind you, it was held in August, so Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Wheeler never had a chance to make it.
I have this letter posted in an online forum, as well via email. I look forward to a definitive answer.
The members of the Full Throttle Off Road Club
Oak Harbor, OH
Off the top of our pointy little heads, we don't recall a TTC competitor ever running at Real Truck, but we'll concede most of your other points. We didn't do the best job of promoting RTCC since we had no prior experience at organizing publicly-attended events. We didn't really have the know-how or the budget for much advertising in local (Indiana) newspapers, radio, or TV. We also didn't do enough homework to research possible scheduling conflicts (the last year we held it, there was a big Busch-Series Supertruck race in Indy on the same weekend). And back then our website was a kind of "unfunded mandate" that had no editors and which none of our magazine staff could access. But we did learn a thing or two from the process, and if we can rustle up sufficient sponsorship to cover our costs (which are a lot higher than TTC in every regard), we're certainly open to running Real Truck at Attica (or another Midwest venue) again. And we'll certainly do a much better job of promotion next time either way.
Where To Write
Address your correspondence to: Four Wheeler, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. All letters become the property of Four Wheeler, and we reserve the right to edit them for length, accuracy, and clarity. The editorial department can also be reached through the website at www.fourwheeler.com. Due to the volume of mail, electronic and otherwise, we cannot respond to every reader, but we do read everything.