Got to Know the Right Questions
Reader: I just bought a GMC 1500 4x4 and I wanted to put on a 6-inch suspension lift with 35-inch tires. I am looking at two places to do the work. My question is, what kind of questions should I be asking them?
Alex
San Antonio, Texas
Editor: Here's our suggestion: Ask them for the names and phone numbers of customers who have had similar work done. Call those folks and ask them if they were happy with the shop's work. Also ask them what they might have done differently, now that they've lived with their lifted trucks for a while.
Another Woman Tunes In
Reader: I'm writing in response to the letters from Kelly Howard, of Texas, and Kahea Wolfe, of Hawaii. I subscribe to Four Wheeler and I own three Chevy pickups. Don't think for a second that women aren't into trucks. I passed by mere vehicular obsession years ago. My latest project is a Suburban with 40-inch Boggers and custom everything. I've named it the U.S.S. And Then Some. I even have a tattoo of a 4x4 on my shoulder.
Remember, women aren't supposed to like trucks like men aren't supposed to like dolls-uh, I mean, "action figures." So there probably are more women who are into trucks than we actually see, but it isn't cool, so we don't hear from them often enough, which is a shame.
Jennifer Berthold
Los Banos, California
Editor: Good for you, Jennifer. There are others like you out there. To see a few of them, check out our coverage of the Women's Rock Crawling Championship (March '01).
Scouters Heard From Again
Reader: Thanks for the cool stories you guys do on Scouts. I know it's probably hard for a lot of our 4x4 brethren to understand why anyone would want a rig that looks like a jet-puffed early Bronco, but it's no mystery to us certified Scout nuts. A Scout is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's no wonder thousands of them are still going the distance. It's what they were built to do.
Larry Jex
Holliday, Utah
Editor: A jet-puffed early Bronco? We can't say that in print. The Bronco guys would be furious with us.
It Chaps His A**
Reader: This letter is in response to all the bed-wetters whose letters I find extremely enraging. I apologize to the Four Wheeler staff for having to take flack from a bunch of ignorant hillbillies. If this letter is too spiteful to be published, I made my point.
C. Klassen
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Editor: Right! Uh, do you by any chance know our pal Ted Reese? Or are you maybe Ted Reese?
What a Great Idea-Or Maybe Not!
Reader: I and about a thousand other Hummer drivers (and if you include the military Humvee guys it would be multi thousand drivers) would like to ask if you would consider a Hummer section in Four Wheeler.
Why a special section for Hummers, but not a special section for Ford or Chevy? Well, when you do a generic article about a shock, differential, or engine modification you can just add the line "this will also work for your Ford, Chevy, etc." But these things usually will not work for a Hummer. I think a section like that would add interesting info for your readers. What would it hurt?
Ron
Via the Internet
Editor: We'll have to think about that one, especially since in the 12 years Hummers have been available to the public, just 8,000 of them have been sold. If we did as you suggest, we'd also have to do a special section for Suzukis. Why? Because mods for Chevys, Fords, and Dodges won't work for them, either. Actually, we do indeed see the odd Hummer being 'wheeled from time to time, but much more frequently we see them in the hands of gentle folks who are using the considerable prowess of these very capable vehicles to 'wheel the wilds of Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard or negotiate the obstacles of the much more treacherous and challenging Melrose Avenue, in search of, uh, whatever. If we did a story on that, people would write to us complaining about our bias toward 'wheeling stories that take place in the western U.S., and that would never do.
Right, and We Get The Blame!
Reader: Every month I get your magazine and every month I read the letters. It seems to me that people are writing you to blame you for their problems. I, for one, think all of us should be thanking you for putting out such an informative magazine. The articles you write on how to go four-wheelin' have saved my brother's Jeep more times than I can count. My dad, my brother, and I all have 4x4s and love to use them. We can't wait to send our pictures to you hoping we can get in Readers' Rigs. Thank you for making 'wheeling fun for the family.
Jonathan Child
Provo, Utah
Editor: We'll be happy to take the blame for making four-wheeling fun-that's our job. As to anything else anyone wants to blame us for, we didn't do it, and we'll never do it again.
Win!
Reader: Four Wheeler's "Letter of the Month" is the most interesting or informative letter we receive each month. The letter's author will be sent one of Four Wheeler's highly prized Four Wheeler license plates. So be sure to include your full name and address when you write Four Wheeler.
Letter Of The Month
Tire Test Trauma
Dear Mr. Put-My-Letter-in-the-Mag-and-Send-My-Tag,
I just finished the January issue of Four Wheeler, which contained tests of six new tires. When I saw the cover article lines and picture promising those tests, I thought "Hey, they're gonna include testing in the mud this time." Wrong! Yes, you do live in We-Never-Get-Rain, California, but those of us who live in areas that receive more than 0.03 inches of precipitation per century would like to see a real test.
A real test. Hmmmm. Mark off 150 feet of clayish dirt. Rent, steal, or borrow backhoe. Dig. Dig. Dig some more. Get fire hose. Put fire hose on hydrant. Turn on hydrant. Watch water fill up trench. Put clay back in hole (very important: water + clay = mud). Drink 12-pack of favorite spirits and drive truck through mud. Have sober person write test results. Shazzam! That's a real mud test! And yes, truck will go farther if you're hammered on cheap beer.
My final gripe-'o-today is that you should test tires that are similar. Putting a Bogger against some mud-terrain wanna-be is a sad idea. It's kinda like dynamite fishing in the aquarium. How about:
Bogger vs. Ground Hawg vs. a big ol' Firestone tractor tire. Super Swamper TSL vs. Gumbo Mudder. Xterrain vs. Claw vs. Geolandar. Pro Comp MT vs. BFG M-T KM. Other than that, the mag rules, as usual. Thanks for your time, and remind your readers to build something besides a damn Jeep. As far as I'm concerned, Toyota rules!
Carl Nunley
Via the Internet
Editor: Dear Mr.-Smarty-Pants,
We can't very well Put-Your-Letter-in-the-Mag-and-Send-You-Your-Tag without you first doing something important. Like, for instance, provide us with your mailing address. E-mail is a wonderful thing, but if you want a mailed response-required, since we've not yet perfected the process of sending an actual Four Wheeler license plate via e-mail-you've got to provide us with an actual mailing address. Right?
Furthermore, Carl, old pal, common sense suggests that it's appropriate to keep beer and vehicles in different compartments of our experience. You suck down some suds, or you drive. You sure as hell do not do both. So that's the first thing. Second, a 12-pack? There isn't anyone here who could drink even six brewskies, much less sit up straight afterward. Third, your idea about comparing similar tires is an idea we like. We might just steal it. Fourth, we will forward your comments about testing in mud to the chief of our Midwest Bureau, whose mailing address we actually possess, and who assures us that he drives daily in mud so deep that one could lose one's pet elephant in it. Then, when no mud tests ensue, it'll be his fault.