4-Wheel & Off-Road welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include an address or a telephone number so the sender can be verified. Once verified, your name may be withheld at your request. Letters published in this magazine reflect the opinions of the writers, and we reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, brevity, or other purposes. Due to the large volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot reply to unpublished letters or return photos. Digital photos must measure no less than 1600 x 1200 pixels (or two megapixels) and be saved as a TIFF, an EPS, or a maximum-quality JPEG file.
Write to:
Editor, 4-Wheel & Off-Road
6420 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
90048-5515
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4wheeloffroad@primedia.com
Reader: I've pretty much read every article you've ever written, and have enjoyed them all. I know you have a difficult job, but hopefully knowing you have fans out there and folks who really appreciate and look forward to your writing and the magazine in general will help you keep going. I hope you'll be in the business for a long time. I don't know who to ask so I'll ask you. When will Petersen's 4-Wheel & Off-Road offer the survey you mentioned in the editorial (Apr. '05)? I don't want to miss it, and I definitely want to have an input in which direction the mag goes.
Russell Poe
Hayden, AL
Editor: The first survey we took was Web-based at www.4wheeloffroad.com, and was a great success. However, we still haven't published that survey on the Web or here in the mag, but will soon. Eventually we'll have a survey in the book which you can send in or e-mail back to us. Bottom line results of our Web-survey? We're doing fine with only a few edges to tweak. Thanks for paying attention and reading the magazine.
Reader: I am a Dodge mechanic at Simi Valley Chrysler Jeep and Dodge. I noticed your comment in "The Dirt on Dodge IFS" (Sept. '05). You state, "There was a nationwide recall of all midsize Dodge truck ball joints produced from 2000 to 2003." Actually, there is a recall only on the 4x4 trucks, and the 2x4 trucks have a Technical Service Bulletin. The TSB number is 02-010-04, and changes the warranty from the standard, to 10 years, 100,000 miles. The recall number is D47, and states that both upper ball joints must be replaced. Just thought I'd add my two cents.
Mike Seth-Hunter
Simi Valley Chrysler Jeep and Dodge
Simi Valley, CA
Reader: I wholeheartedly agree with your choice of the 22R as the four-cylinder to have if you're a wheeler ("4, 6, 8, Engines We Appreciate," Oct. '05). But I do take exception with the statement that the swapping of a 20R head onto a 22R is urban legend. It is not legend, but fact. It's a bolt-on affair; all you need to do is retain the 20R intake manifold. The exhaust and rocker assembly will swap from the 22R. Of all the performance mods I did (cam, carb, exhaust), the head swap was the most effective performance gain of them all. (Remember, if the 22R you're dealing with is an '85 or later, the 20R head will have to be shaved to the same height.) It will yield a compression ratio of around 10.3:1, it's not prone to cracking as the 22R heads are, it flows better even with smaller valves, and ups the power considerably. This, combined with a header and a Weber carb and cam (I used a Clay Smith cam), means the little guy will be pushing 150 hp and dusting the 3.0 V-6s all day long, and you'll still have money in your wallet. Just look for a head with good cam journals. And yes, you should have known.
Mike Davies
Salt Lake City, UT
Editor: Thanks for the update, Mike. Since we hadn't personally swapped a head like this, we can't say more than "supposedly" and the like. We enjoy getting our hands dirty rather than watching a shop have all the fun, so we will look into that upgrade ourselves as soon as Clampy's head takes a turn for the worse, or it needs a tad more power for the tires it's turning now.