Reader: In response to a letter in your December issue about "4x2s on the Trail," I have to say every one of us should Tread Lightly, regardless of how many driven wheels we have. I've seen quite passable trails for stock 4x4s destroyed because of 'wheelers with attitudes of going as fast as you can and flinging as much mud as you can is the way to go. Now, those trails are the exclusive property of tall rigs with huge tires, not to mention how the trail has gotten wider in places over the years. I have seen the same thing happen where ATV riders go. Instead of turning around or finding a better way across, ignorant people power through or go around the obstacle, ruining nature and the trails for everyone else. It's not a type of vehicle or a particular group that's responsible, it's ignorance and attitude.
And in response to "Tips & Tricks to Better Fuel Economy" in the same issue, one other thing should be added: synthetic fluids. I used to run an '83 Toyota pickup, and I put synthetics in the transmission, transfer case, and both differentials to get another couple mpg.
Sorry about the rant, but it needs to be said!
Rob Groeger
via fourwheeler.com
Editor: Always feel free to rant around here when it comes to Treading Lightly.
About synthetic lubes: After all these years, we thought their friction-reducing and mileage-enhancing abilities were pretty much self-evident to everyone but for those who haven't heard the news yet, yep, synthetics can definitely get you a few more miles out of each tank. Thanks for the reminder.
Reader: First of all, thanks for having the coolest magazine ever. If it wasn't for you guys, I would probably be driving a Honda Civic.
What I do have is an '82 Chevy 11/42-ton 4x4. The biggest problem is its way-underpowered 6.2L diesel. I also have a '90 Chevy 1-ton dualie with a 454 and a 465 four-speed, but it's a two-wheel drive. I want to either swap the drivetrain out of the '90 and drop it into the '82, or turn the '90 into a 4x4. How hard would it be to drop the 454 into the '82, and how hard would it be to make the 1-ton a 4x4?
Andre
via fourwheeler.com
Editor: If we were you, we'd sell the '82 and use the money to buy the parts to turn your dualie into a four-wheel drive. Since that truck also came in a 4x4 version, all the parts you'd need for the conversion-front drive components, transfer case, driveshafts, and so on-should all be more or less direct bolt-ins. We recently converted a '92 Chevy 11/42-ton C-truck to four-wheel drive in a two-part series. Check out "The Lowdown on Four-Wheel-Drive Conversions" (May and June '06) to find examples of what you'll need, what it'll cost, and how much work it will entail.
Reader: Whatever happened to your Project "Superburb" Suburban? The last I remember, there was an article on the transfer case, and then I'm pretty sure nothing else happened. Did it get finished? Am I just a moron that missed the finished article?
Clint T. Bishop
via fourwheeler.com
Editor: Project Superburb was a personal project rig that belonged to an editor who left Four Wheeler a couple of years ago to work for a competing publication. The last we heard, it was still sitting in his garage awaiting some new seats and interior trim. So no, you didn't miss anything-and sorry to say, the 'Burb is likely gone for good, at least from our pages.
Reader: In your December '06 "Readers' Rigs," you say that Wayne Quinnell owns a Chevy Silverado, yet his "33-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts help Wayne pilot the Ford to just about anywhere." I thought he owned a Chevy!
Dennis Kast
Atlanta, GA
Editor: Yeah, guess we kinda missed that one. Thanks to all of you who caught the error-as penance, the offending party was forced to spend a night sleeping in our new Dodge Tundra. Or was it a Nissan Super-Duty?