A Half-Century Of Four Wheeler

Aug. ’92

Trends
“One of the hottest hot-stove arguments currently being debated by four wheelers is the roll bar-safety belt question. We here at Four Wheeler are of the opinion that roll bars and quick opening safety belts are necessary and often vital equipment for any back country rig.”—June ’63, “A Case for Roll Bars”

“Unless it is a slip, future issues will not use the initials fwd but instead substitute the term “4wd.” This designation has already won much favor in the names of many clubs across the country and sounds good to us.”—Feb. ’65, “Editor’s Report”

“1965 will be the biggest single year of growth in four wheeling.”—Feb. ’65, “The Challenge of 1965”

“Last month in this column I discussed the explosion in dune buggies here in the far west.”—Nov./Dec. ’67, “Editor’s Report”

“Competition…competition…competition! That’s all I hear any more! For an old trail nut, it is hard to take but this is the word for 1969.” —Oct. ’68, “Editor’s Report”

“In recent months it seems our pages have been pre-occupied with competition. In this we are only reflecting the current interest of off-road driving—competition is today the most important segment as a newsworthy item. But look closely at this issue…we are starting to bring you the trips again!”—Dec. ’68, “Editor’s Report”

Sept. ’72, “Not Rain, Nor Fog, Nor Dark of Night…”

“Almost every four wheel drive club worth its salt holds some sort of off-road race over a marked course at least once a year.”—Mar. ’72, “Four Wheelin’”

“One of the latest trends to develop in the off-road field is the current interest in four wheel drive vans.”—Jan. ’73, “Technically Speaking”

“Engine swaps seem to be more popular than ever.”—Nov. ’73, “Technically Speaking”

“I intend to buy a 4WD type vehicle…I was wondering if there is any 4WD vehicle that can be bought with a diesel engine instead of gas.”—Dec. ’75, “Letters”

“Did you know that since 1966 truck sales have increased 89 percent, while car sales are up 17 percent?”—Nov. ’76, “Four Wheeler Profile: Ford’s Bill Benton”

“Some of the Japanese manufacturers are already looking at 4x4 mini trucks as a possible production item.”—Oct. ’77, “Four Wheelin’”

“Full Pull—The Sled—Weights and Weight Transfer—it is an all new vernacular of competition terms pertaining to the newest weekend exercise for your 4 x 4—pulling a weighted sled with your rig.”—Sept. ’78, “Grinding Goes West”

“We know from the Clements and similar studies that 70.8 percent of our readers are between the ages of 18 and 34, that 71.4 percent earn over $15,000 per year, and 45.8 percent earn over $20,000 per year.”—July ’79, “Ad Talk”

“We have seen and become a part of the changes in the recreational vehicle field, and witnessed the first full cycle of 4x4 vehicles—from the old small engines, manual transmissions and free wheeling hubs to the powerful V8s, automatic transmissions and full-time 4WD, and back again (in the name of progress?) to the small engines, manual transmissions and free wheeling hubs.”—Aug. ’80, “Four Wheelin’”

“A subtle touch of chrome here and there—hinge, door handle, grab bar—can make all the difference in the world…”—May ’82, “Shine On!”

May ’84, “Giving Birth to Bigfoot”

“There’s a population explosion in the land of monster trucks.”—May ’84, “Giving Birth to Bigfoot”

“Take a moment to appraise the aesthetic qualities of your rig. If it’s still in stock configuration, that probably means the interior is matched to the exterior and can be summed up simply as “conservative.’”—Dec. ’84, “Color Coordinating Cosmetics”

“The day of the muscle-trucks has arrived!”—July ’86, “Keep on Truckin’”

Dec. ’87, “Packpony”

“Specialists estimate that 10 percent of the early (1966-77) Broncos still on the road today are reincarnated rollovers.”—June ’88, “Trick Ponies”

“Today’s enthusiasts can watch an “off-road racing” circus, bogfest, or monster crush in the Astrodome, the Metrodome, the Silver dome, or whatever dome in air-conditioned comfort without getting dusty, bruised, or wet. There is no need to go to Baja for racing in this day and age.”—Feb. ’89, “Doing the Decade”

“We notice that new-for-1991 4x4s have bigger engines and more power than ever before.”—Jan. ’91, “Random Input”

July ’93, “Rear View”

“Alternating colors really grab attention. Especially when the colors are red and white.” —July ’93, “Paint Schemes”

“These days, pickup trucks are America’s largest automotive commodity.”—Jan. ’95, “Random Input”

“Having tested two pickups with third doors, we now know that soon it will be hard to sell a pickup without them.”—Jan. ’96, “Random Input”

“We’ve had extreme super-flex suspension coverage in almost every issue lately, and we’ll continue.”—July ’97, “Random Input”

“This month we’ve highlighted two areas we think will be commanding more and more attention: steering setups and diesel technology.”—Dec. ’99, “Limited Articulation”

““In the last few years, we’ve noticed that the popularity of rockcrawling seems to be growing at an exponential rate.”—Feb. ’00, “Competition ’Crawlin’”

“Make no mistake about it—if a manufacturer does not have an SUV in its fleet, it is losing big money.”—Dec. ’00, “Flogging the Acura MDX”

Mar. ’02, “The ARCA Finals”

“Nasty trails also make stout axles mandatory, so the introduction of high-clearance Dana 60s was a natural evolution of things.”—Sept. ’01, “High Clearance Dana 60s”

“Side-by-sides, UTVs—whatever you call them—have become one of the hottest tickets in four-wheeling in the past couple of years...” —Aug. ’08, “Limited Articulation”

“…you probably know about the grassroots movement associated with fueling diesel-powered vehicles with recycled vegetable oil.” —Nov. ’08, “The Lowdown on SVO Conversions”

“In recent years, we have seen more and more vehicles attempt to fit larger tires with little or no lift.” —Dec. ’08, “Top Trends for 2008”

July ’02, “The All American”

“Another subject that comes up all the time is tire size: specifically, the things you need to do to fit 40-, 44-, or even 49-inch tires beneath your truck.”—Aug. ’09, “Limited Articulation

“We often receive letters asking about converting a two-wheel-drive vehicle to four-wheel drive.”—Nov. ’09, “Willie’s Workbench”

“It probably goes without saying that this is not exactly the optimal time for any automaker to be unveiling a new fullsize pickup truck to consumers.”—Feb. ’10, “2010 Dodge Ram 3500 HD and 2500 Power Wagon”

“One of these trends, which we have been following closely for a couple years now, is the overland camping movement.”—Apr. ’10, “SEMA 2009”

“One thing you’ll surely be seeing more of in the coming months in these pages: the ‘driveway upgrades’ that are the subject of this month’s magazine.”—May ’10, “Limited Articulation”

“One thing we noticed at this year’s Safari—continuing a trend we first observed last year—was the proliferation of street-legal, daily-drivable Jeeps on the trail in place of the more heavily modified, built-from-the-ground up rock rigs.”—Aug. ’11, “Firing Order”

“Now that the pickup truck is a status symbol we don’t have to park in the back of the lot anymore.”
—July ’77, “Ford F-150 4x4 Longbed”