Welcome to the first-ever Real Truck Challenge, presented by Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels! But, uh, just what the heck is the Real Truck Challenge? Well, over the years we have noticed that the vehicles in Four Wheeler's signature event, Top Truck Challenge, have become more radical and extreme. While we still require the vehicles to be registered and insured along with being street-legal, some of them definitely push the envelope way past what is realistically legal. Short of buying a vehicle-code book for every state and running the license plates and registrations to make sure they match the vehicles, there is not much we can do about this. Plus, we're not police officers. We'd rather have fun at Top Truck than spend time enforcing vehicle codes. Still, having less extreme vehicles engage in battle with wacky tube-frame creations did not seem fair. We needed to showcase the latest in four-wheeling technology, but we also saw a need for a competition for the guy with a real-world truck. So we came up with the Real Truck Challenge.
What is the difference between Real Truck Challenge and Top Truck Challenge? First, Real Truck Challenge competitors are limited by a specific set of rules. They must have a factory frame--no tube frames allowed--and in future editions can run a tire no bigger than 40 inches. A host of other rules also apply. Other major differences include the fact that RTC is held at the Badlands Offroad Park in Attica, Indiana and takes place over a weekend, instead of being held at California's Hollister SVRA over the course of an entire week. To see a more complete set or rules, and, even better, enter what next year will be known as Real Truck Club Challenge, an event designed for four-wheeling clubs, check out page 43.
In any case, RTC is an effort to feature competitive trucks that are real-world in nature, vehicles that you might actually see on the trail. This year we were under a massive time constraint, so we hand-selected our entrants. So kick back and enjoy while we bring you the highlights from RTC '03. If it looks like fun, enter Real Truck Club Challenge '04.