It’s always kind of sad to see a bunch of people totally destroy a perfectly serviceable ride just so they can have a goofy video to post on YouTube, especially when that ride had offroad capabilities as solid as this unfortunate Cherokee did. Oh well, at least it wasn’t an Eagle. And you gotta admit, some of the footage is pretty cool. Wait for the monster-truck jumps at the end!

I’m not sure if this is the best thing you could do with a PT Cruiser, but maybe it’s close. The body’s been mounted on a 1979 Blazer frame, given a 4" suspension lift, fully caged, and fitted with a 350 small block and 36" tires. At least the revised ride height could help address the PT’s visibility issues. Best of all, at press time, bidding’s only up to $2.25—probably best to get in on the ground floor with this one. Get it?

Here’s a monster car that uses parts from everything  but the kitchen sink: it’s a Valiant wagon built on a 4wd Land Rover chassis, powered by a Buick motor run through a GM automatic trans and dual cherrybombs. The dashboard, consisting of ornately hand-carved scenes of frolicking animals, is nearly as bizarre as this ride’s exterior. The rig is built primarily for serious off-road use, and the low gearing makes it rev too high for the freeway. Bid now before it slowly gets away!

I’m so glad that people are still using these cars for hardcore off-road use. But considering their durability, I guess it’s not all that surprising. Can you imagine a modern "crossover" standing up to this kind of abuse?

Here are some pics of damage on a 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sahara in Nevada. Apparently the guy had a flat at some point with the left front tire and put on his spare, which was a 30×9.50. Problem is, the rest of his tires were 32×10.50s. Everything would have been ok, except it started snowing and he figured why not throw it in four-wheel drive? So here is what happens to a Jeep transfer case while in 4wd and different size tires–it disappears! Note the hole in the floor and the bumps in the skid plate. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Why You Don't Run Different Size Tires on 4x4s" »

We all know that old-school Camries are rugged little cars. But wait’ll you get a load of this 4wd Camry ripping it up in the woods! What makes it even funnier is that the stock-looking Jeep Cherokee in the background looks totally tame by comparisson.

Can you guess what happens when this little 4wd goes for a dive? That shows what an intake snorkel is capable of, though you’d better hope your engine’s watertight everywhere else as well! All it’d take would be one stall to turn your ride into someone’s new boat-anchor.

After enjoying 85-degree weather in Daytona Beach last weekend, I have to say I’m glad that the Northwest winter is almost over. But a lot of you out there still have a couple of solid months of snow-wheelin’ ahead of you, and I kind of miss that as well. Ryan’s Subaru Baja gets around in all kinds of weather, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s actually going to be installing a snorkel intake on it, which is something you rarely see except on serious off-roading trucks and Jeeps! If Ryan keeps pouring on the mods at the rate he’s been going, this Baja will soon be unstoppable.