byAgustin Jimenez Associate Online Editor www.fourwheeler.com
How do you build the ultimate off road rig? Well, that depends on the rig of choice and what terrain you’ll be headed through and how fast you want to go through it all. This question does get a little more confusing when you don’t know exactly where you’ll be wheeling and what terrain you’ll encounter. Normally this isn’t what the average shade tree mechanic encounters but if you’re going to be a part of our Annual Ultimate Adventure, you’re going to want to expect the unexpected. As our fearless sandal-wielding leader puts it, “Think of the other side of the world!” With a hint like that, it’s anyone’s guess so you better be sure to build the ultimate off road rig that can withstand any harsh terrain for hours on end. Oh yeah, it also better allow you to be self-sufficient otherwise you’ll be in for a rude trail awakening.
On this episode of Dirt Every Day, Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road Tech Editor, Fred Williams, walks us through some of the build of this year’s Ultimate Adventure project truck. This year’s truck is a brand spanking new 2013 Ford F250 Super Duty pickup. Project Super Dirty rolled off the assembly line as a 4x4 diesel model with long box and… that’s pretty much it. Who needs a high zoot truck when you’re building the ultimate wheeling rig, right?
The sparks started flying pretty quickly to hack off part of the frame in order to shorten it up for the short bed conversion which would significantly improve Project Super Dirty’s off road prowess. To give our Ultimate Adventure rig some much needed ground clearance, a set of Axle Tech Portal boxes were added at each corner. This also resulted in a much lower gear ratio which significantly improves our crawling ability in the rocks. The rear suspension was hacked off in favor of a coil sprung linked suspension design. The build also called for some much needed larger tires so a call was placed to Nitto Tire for a set of their 40x13.5R17 Trail Grappler M/T tires. Remember, this rig was going to be subjected to harsh environments so a set of 17-inch GT Cepek Beadlock wheels were entrusted to keep the beads on our Nitto’s seated when dropping the air pressure in the tires.
Check out the video of Fred and the guys at Shaffer’s Offroad hammering away on Project Super Dirty to get it ready for Ultimate Adventure 2013!
The sparks started flying pretty quickly to hack off part of the frame in order to shorten it up for the short bed conversion which would significantly improve Project Super Dirty’s off road prowess. To give our Ultimate Adventure rig some much needed ground clearance, a set of Axle Tech Portal boxes were added at each corner. This also resulted in a much lower gear ratio which significantly improves our crawling ability in the rocks. The rear suspension was hacked off in favor of a coil sprung linked suspension design. The build also called for some much needed larger tires so a call was placed to Nitto Tire for a set of their 40x13.5R17 Trail Grappler M/T tires. Remember, this rig was going to be subjected to harsh environments so a set of 17-inch GT Cepek Beadlock wheels were entrusted to keep the beads on our Nitto’s seated when dropping the air pressure in the tires.
Check out the video of Fred and the guys at Shaffer’s Offroad hammering away on Project Super Dirty to get it ready for Ultimate Adventure 2013!
