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 Due to the large volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot reply to unpublished letters or return photos.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
Fax 323.782.2704
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4wheeloffroad@primedia.com
Reader: To Jordan White ("Should I buy this Jeep," In Box, Feb. '06), I disagree, my Willys-restorer friend. The original six-bangers are great engines and would definitely make a restored Willys worth more bucks to purists. What you have to decide is what you want to do with the vehicle and what you want the vehicle to do when you're done. The V-8 conversion has been successfully done to literally thousands of the old wagons, including mine. The reason I did it was to make it more roadable for highway use getting to the four-wheeling. My wagon is driven on- and off-road. The real issues are: Do you have the money, time, skills and motivation to do what you envision with the vehicle? My Willys project has been ongoing for more than 12 years and still shows no signs of completion. You can look at it at www.gotwillys.com. I love my old Willys, but buyer beware: The parts for them are not plentiful. NOS, remanufactured, or even used parts are costly. You can make them capable fun off-roaders but it will take time, patience, and money. Oh yeah, did I say money? The weakest links in the old wagons are the brakes and steering. I have done substantial modifications to mine to make it what I feel is road-worthy and reliable.
Tom Lawson, via 4wheeloffroad.com
Reader: My name is Codyjo and my biggest passion is big trucks, 4x4 of course. People say it's strange because I'm a girl but that's how I was raised and it's what I love. I devote most of my time, with my dad, to restoring our '78 and '67 Broncos. If I'm not in the garage with those trucks I'm testing their ability in the great ol' outdoors. I'm always seeing these really cool events in the magazine and my question to you is, how can I find out about these events prior so I can go? I've been to truck pulls and done the Rubicon but there is so much more I want to see and experience for myself.
Codyjo
via 4wheeloffroad.com
Editor: The best way is to read our Calendar in the Drivelines section to find out what's going on in the wheeling world. However, some of the newer events we attend happen too close to the event date and never make it into our Calendar. For information on these events we attend, check out the story where we always list a contact number or Web site so you can join in the fun next time. And don't forget, if you have an event you'd like us to check out or put on our Calendar, make sure we get it at least three months prior so it hits the readers before the edition goes on sale.
Reader: As a previous owner of an '00 Suzuki Grand Vitara and current owner of a manual trans XL-7 (steel front diff housing, you diff crackers), I am very disappointed with the direction of Suzuki's SUV evolution. Is it just me, or does the GV look a lot like a Chevrolet Equinox from the side? Maybe the next XL-7 will be based on the Saturn Vue?
Leo Stone, Moderately Old Guy
Clarksburg, MO
Editor: We've cracked more than one Suzuki diff on our testing over the years. Were you there?
Reader: I'm not sure if it should be taken as a parting gift or a typo. But in the Feb. '06 issue on the page for the winner of the 2006 4x4 of the Year there is a typo. In the second paragraph where he's talking about Dodge's great idea of cutting out four cylinders when the truck doesn't need them, he forgot to add in the word he was thinking in his head-Save!-"...that's supposed to save fuel by running the engine as a four-cylinder." Just thought I'd rattle your cage. If you get a chance pitch one of those Peterson 4-Wheel plates in the mail for me.
Travis Whiting
Chetek, WI
Editor: Nice catch, but no plate since we are Petersen's, not Peterson. Keep trying!
Reader: I would like to point out that in your "E-Z Axle Info" story (Feb. '06) on page 74 you made a common mistake under Reverse Rotation vs. Standard Rotation. The fact is that reverse rotation is not the correct term here. Nothing about the axle or gear setup rotates in reverse. The gears are reverse cut, but they still turn the same direction. I see way too much misuse of this term in the aftermarket, from magazines to parts houses to even manufacturers. From an engineering standpoint, I see nothing about this axle design that is rotating in reverse.
William Fate
via 4wheeloffroad.com
Editor: Being right doesn't mean you get a license plate either. And sway bars are actually antisway bars, and locking hubs are really selective hubs, and a 12,000-pound Warn winch doesn't weigh 12,000 pounds. But our particular vernacular in this industry uses many seemingly incorrect or outright wrong info, like the guy with the Ranchero shocks on his rig. Check our March issue for the tell-all wheeling world encyclopedia of terms, and see what other goodies you can find!