It all started when Tony Lorenzo of Grass Valley, California, bought a GMC Suburban 2500 from a friend for his wife to drive. For two years it was a stock, reliable grocery-getter. Eventually it was replaced by a new car and it was at this point Lorenzo had an epiphany. He decided to build the “ultimate family wheeler” using the Suburban as his foundation.

Everyone knows the story of how Willys-Overland successfully capitalized on a World War II military design in the post-war civilian world. Fewer know that Dodge did the same thing. In 1939, Dodge developed a military ½-ton 4x4 that evolved into the legendary model WC ¾-ton design that continued in production thru the war, to the tune of more than 250,000 units. The Dodge WCs, along with the jeep and Jimmy deuce-and-a-half, were the vehicular heroes of WWII and are fondly remembered by those who served.

Have you ever dreamed about jumping into a fully modified extreme 4x4 camper and making it your home on wheels for … as long as you feel like it? How about exploring both sides of the world and meeting people on almost every continent on Earth while having that fully outfitted 4x4 camper to keep you comfortable, no matter if you are deep into Mexico or driving across Siberia? For the past 40 years, Gary and Monika Wescott have been living that dream while building a fleet of ever-improving ultimate camping vehicles to transport them all over the globe.

Wheelers love to debate about what works and what doesn’t. Verbal punches thrown around a campfire or work bench often revolve around topics like lockers and tires as well as which vehicle brand is the King of the Hill. But another topic that really fires people up is Jeep versus fullsize.

The Four Wheeler Top Truck Champions’ Challenge (TTCC) is only a few months away and this means that past Top Truck Challenge Grand Champions will soon be converging en masse for this unprecedented event.

Fifty is old, unless you’re age 50 and a homo sapien, then it still seems young. But in the publishing world? That’s truly an eternity, and few magazines ever reach that age. In celebration of Four Wheeler hitting the quinquagenarian milestone, we’re taking an in-depth look back at the world of four-wheeling and how it evolved from a casual sport to a way of life, right within the pages of this magazine.

In 2011, the International Harvester Scout celebrated 50 years and that makes this a good time to talk about its place in four-wheeling history. When it debuted in November of 1960, the Scout was a step forward in the growing market segment eventually called sport utility. Four-wheeling had moved beyond the “captive audiences” of the strictly commercial or military market into recreational use and people demanded more in the way of comfort and convenience.

Aspontaneous decision to ride with a friend on the Rubicon Trail was the catalyst for the creation of this incredible ’88 GMC Jimmy. You see, Reno, Nevada, resident Dee Wade had never been on the Rubicon up to that point and what he experienced had a huge impact. “It changed my life,” he says of the two-day experience.

’91-’01 Cherokee
It’s the precursor to the four-door JK Wrangler, only the Cherokee is a lot less expensive. Almost any ’91-up Cherokee is a good buy unless it’s been poorly maintained or beat to death by a pack of freshly licensed teenage kids. But even then these Jeeps still insist on not dying. The cream of the crop is the later ’97-’01 Cherokees with swoopier styling and a more reinforced Unitbody. The 4.0L inline-six is commonly mated to the AW4 four-speed automatic. When maintained it’s a 250,000-mile-plus drivetrain combo. Manual-trannied versions exist but they are few and far between. Aftermarket support for the Cherokee is unmatched. Most ’91-up Cherokees have a Chrysler 8.25 rearend which is good for tires up to 33-35 inches. Up front you’ll find the high-pinion non-disconnect Dana 30 which is also a decent axle. As high-pinion axle supplies dwindled, some of the last Cherokees received a low-pinion TJ Wrangler Dana 30 front axle. All of these Cherokees came with the durable NV231 T-case, however not all Cherokees are 4x4s. In the later years many were two-wheel-drive. The good news is that the 2WD Cherokees can be converted to 4WD with bolt-on junkyard parts.

There’s no disputing the fact that military vehicles are cool. They are the very definition of stripped-down ruggedness and they’re designed to function in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. If you’re drooling to drive some of them, the fastest way would obviously be to join the armed forces. Yes, this will probably get you in the military’s newest stuff. But is there another way? Turns out, there is. You see, over the years the U.S. government has auctioned decommissioned vehicles (as well as a whole bunch of other stuff) to the general public. This is often referred to as “surplus,” though the reality is that it’s more like “stuff we don’t need anymore.” Be aware though that any vehicle or thing deemed unsafe for public use (or unsafe for public roads) is rendered inoperable. Many types of vehicles that make us wheelers olive drab with envy have been sold, and they range from SUVs to pickups to even larger vehicles.

Local Motors is a young and innovative vehicle company. It was started a few years ago with the idea that a collaborative community of car designers, engineers, and enthusiasts could come together to create unique new-car designs. The concept would challenge the idea that cars and trucks are designed within a private company, and then presented to a detached buying public.

Few vehicles designed in the ’30s saw much combat time in WWII, but one that did was the M3A1 Scout Car by the White Motor Company. In 1937, after trolling three years for an elusive contract for armored scout cars, the Army accepted White’s third prototype, the M3. White built 64 M3s for operational tests in 1938, and based on field reports the improved M3A1 model was developed. High-volume production of M3A1s began in June of 1939 and continued into 1944.

Mike Aros of Henderson, Nevada, always wanted a ’72 Chevy Blazer, so when he had the chance to purchase one in 2005, he jumped on the opportunity. And so began a three-year wrenchfest that transformed the classic rig into this capable, trail-savvy machine.

Chris Dickerson had a dilemma that plagues many of us: He loves Jeeps and exploring the backcountry. No, his problem wasn’t sunburns or flat tires. His trouble wasn’t even an empty bank account due to Just Emptying Every Pocket. Chris’ issue was finding a way to fit all of his camping gear in his Jeep TJ Wrangler and still have room for his lovely wife and two growing children on the myriad trails around his home in Gardnerville, Nevada. Instead of complaining about his woes, Chris looked to his forefathers for inspiration and devised a solution to solve his problem. And not just his forefathers, but his paternal father, who had a Bantam trailer that he pulled behind the family’s CJ-5.

If you are even a casual reader of Four Wheeler, you likely recognized that Top Truck Challenge (TTC) has been bringing together some of the most capable vehicles and the off-road best drivers the world has to offer for nearly two decades. If you’re a longtime reader, you may recall the name Robb Rutledge. Robb campaigned his very unique FJ45 Land Cruiser at TTC back in 2004. With a Chevy turbodiesel engine, Unimog portal axles, and 42-inch Super Swampers, the Land Cruiser pickup was hard to top. So when it was time to create a new wheeling rig, Robb knew that he had his work cut out for him.

Would it surprise you to learn that this impeccablyrestored ’83 Toyota pickup has run the Rubicon Trail and the Dusy-Ershim Trail? Well, it has, but the surprises don’t end there. During the thorough restoration, retired auto body technician Bob Davidson of Atascadero, California, injected the classic rig with a number of cool mods designed to improve its performance both on- and off-highway. “My goal was for an original-looking, reliable, capable rig for my daily driving and a rig that would go most anywhere,” Davidson says.

Each year the staff of Four Wheeler picks our 10 Best Buys in Four-Wheel Drive, typically the ten best new 4x4s you can buy for your money. This year we decided to change things a bit and split our ten best into two categories: New 4x4s and Aftermarket Parts. The staff was asked to provide a list of their top three favorite parts in each of five categories (Winch, Tires, Shocks, Lockers, and Lights) with an emphasis on value. With each staffer’s list turned in, we added up the points to arrive at the products we have below. We also included one favorite item that each of us wouldn’t want to go without on the trail.

If your name is Mopar and you’re going to trot out a JK-based mega-rig and give it the aggressive name of “Blue Crush,” it had better be good. Well, they are, they did, and it is.

Old Broncos are cool. We met the owner of this ’66 Ford Bronco, firefighter John Sullivan, at this year’s King of the Hammers race in Johnson Valley, California, and he told us how his bright red Bronco came to be in its current form.

Twenty eight years is a long run, and Ford’s Ranger marks that anniversary this year as it bows out of the North American truck market. Almost from Day 1 through the late ’90s, it was the best-selling compact pickup in the U.S., and there is still very strong owner appreciation. Now it’s time for the Ranger to give us a final wave of the Stetson, so return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear and we’ll look back at its history and some of the things that made it a best-seller.

Andrew Walcker of Riverside, California, finally found his ’97 Land Rover Defender 90 in 2005 after a long search for the perfect one. With side impact and airbag regulations coming to play in 1998, the Defender platform could no longer meet U.S. regulations, and as Walcker saw the last of the North American Specification (NAS) Defenders leaving the dealership, he knew he would have to find one to own some day.

One of the most common gripes we hear among grizzled old-timers involves late-model IFS rigs: “You can’t lift ’em, they’re too damn complicated, and nobody makes parts for them anyway.” Enter Russ Livingston, a veteran wheeler with decades of experience on the fabled high-altitude trails of Colorado’s San Juan range, and his 2008 Grand Cherokee Overland, dubbed the “Black Bear Edition” in honor of the legendary Ouray-to-Telluride shelf road that served as the inspiration for his buildup. Livingston, who’s been wrenching and torching on Jeeps since his youth, parlayed his fabrication skills a few years ago into founding his own company: 4xGuard, a manufacturer of trick body-armor components for late-model Jeep WKs and Commander XKs. Livingston’s Grand is a tastefully rendered yet super-functional example of a late-model IFS four-wheel drive that’s been treated to many trick modifications that improve traction, elevation, and overall trailability without having to bust the budget on a lot of complex customizing.

As has become tradition at the Easter Jeep Safari, the folks at Jeep/Mopar invited a select group of journalists to a semi-secret location south of Moab, where they trotted out some of their latest creations. And as usual, they let us lead-footed throttle jockeys put the vehicles through their paces. Here’s what they brought out this year.

When James Fonnesbeck points his ’07 Toyota Tundra into the backcountry, he has just about everything he needs for a reliable and comfortable outdoor experience.

Jeff Miller, of Lake Elsinore, California, had never been off-road before he purchased his 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser brand-new in December of ’07. Now he says, “I can’t imagine my life without it. He goes on to say, “I still can’t figure out what the heck happened. If you would have told me then that I was going to take a completely good, brand-new vehicle and spend twice as much as it originally cost rebuilding it, I would’ve said you’re crazy.”