Summertime is wheeling, cruising, and fairground time in the Midwest, and the first Truck & Jeep Fest in Canfield, Ohio, brought out the best festers in the region. Produced by Family Events, the show was sponsored by 4Wheel Parts Wholesalers and 4Wheel Drive Hardware, the biggest Jeep and truck suppliers in the nation. The draw was huge for not only the parts and goodies you could buy at vendors row, but also the rock-pile crawl, mud-bog slog, tough-truck competition, and the show-n-shine event. Topping it off was the jumping, bumping, and crashing of the monster trucks as they soared and skittered around the Canfield fairgrounds.
Of course, we mingled with the crowd and checked out the incredible variety of tech, shine, and talent that typifies these events. We even got the chance to meet some wheelers involved with saving Midwest trails and promoting responsible land use. We need more of that type of work, as well as the development of more private wheeling parks for our sport to survive. For more information on next year's event contact Family Events at 317.236.6515 or on the Web at www.familyevents.com.
Even in the rain there's nothing more impressive than an old Chevy flinging sloppy mud. Massive roosters were the rule of the day in this short, but deep, mud bog at the Canfield, Ohio, fairgrounds. | 
Monster-truck jumping packed the grandstands, and the participants ate it up. Monster-truck originator Bob Chandler was present with the latest Bigfoot, and all the big trucks raced and played and jumped and smashed cars for the appreciative audience. | 
While walking the grounds we heard a familiar rattle, but it was a 4BT Cummins in a CJ-7, instead of our 5.9 Cummins in the RubiWagon. Bruce Johnson of Pennsylvania slipped the engine into the engine bay for a near stock look, and we wished we could have driven it home. |
Tough-truck thrashing was at its finest, and these rides are built much better than in the old days. When this sport first started, jumps like this would rip a front end off or sky the rear bumper as the rusted bolts let loose. Trucks like Plum Crazy nowadays zip around the course without a hitch, or the loss of one. | 
Bob Russ of Olean, New York, brought out his super-clean Datsun for the show, and we were quite amazed at the level of detail. It's a family affair where Bob's wife and son help with all of the polishing of the many nooks and crannies. still, we just wish he'd slam it through the mud bog to see how well it would work! | |