While we tend to feature crazy custom rigs in the pages of Four Wheeler, we know that you are out there building your own rigs too. They might be mild or wild, but we want to see what you have built. The concept is simple: Every month you send us photos of your rig and some information about it and we sift through what we get and pick out what we like. So this month we decided to expand our focus on these home-built trail rides to show you a more complete cross-section of the rigs that you folks out there are building and 'wheeling.
And while we're on the topic, how do you get your four-wheel-drive vehicle into our usual Readers' Rigs section in the back of the magazine? Well, it's actually quite simple. First, go out and take a quality, in-focus picture of it. Do not take that photo in your driveway or on pavement, because we won't run it.
After all, these are four-wheel-drive vehicles. So get some real dirt under your rig before snapping that photo. Once that step is accomplished, list in detail the modifications you have performed on your rig. Stuff all of that into an envelope and send it to Readers' Rigs, Four Wheeler, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Please remember: You won't get the photo back. But you might just see your rig in the next issue of Four Wheeler.
MILITARY MIGHT
This Hummer might not technically belong to Spc. Corey Jiras of the U.S. military, but he still drives it plenty. Corey says it blasts across the Kuwaiti desert, where he is stationed, without any problems. Modifications include a .50-caliber machine gun with armor-piercing incendiary ammunition that comes in handy. (There are days here on L.A.'s freeways that we wish we had that.) A Warn winch sits up front to set the Hummer free should it encounter a too-steep berm. Other mods include a couple of five-gallon fuel cans to haul extra diesel, and a long-range radio for those long patrols.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN JEEP
Todd Young owns this '97 Jeep TJ, which he uses hard on the trails around his hometown of Littleton, Colorado. A 4-inch Teraflex lift was installed for flex, while a 3-inch body lift was used to help clear the 35-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrains. Other mods include a Bulletproof bumper with a Warn 9,000-pound winch. A Detroit Locker in the rear helps keep both tires spinning, while onboard air is available to get them back to highway pressure. Helping to coax more power out of the TJ's stock 4.0L is an after-cat exhaust and an AiRaid intake.
EXTREME EXCURSION
Robert Mayhew of Rogers, Arkansas doesn't have any problem seeing out of his '00 Ford Excursion. It features an 8-inch Skyjacker lift that clears 38x15.50-inch Super Swampers on 16.5x12 Weld Racing Typhoon wheels. Two sets of 5.13 gears were then stuffed into the factory axles, along with front and rear ARB Air Lockers. The transmission is controlled by a TransGo shift kit. On the inside is a full set of Auto Meter gauges that relays critical info back to Robert.