Every day we're getting more and more Readers' Rides entries from our friends out of the country. We're glad to know that we're reaching them as far off as Germany, Hungary, and Australia. Maybe one day we'll get our butts out of the U.S.A. to do an off-road trip in a far-off place. If you're an out-of-the-States reader, let us know about your off-road adventures. You can e-mail rides@4wheeloffroad.com. We'd love to see more of what 'wheelers outside of this country are doing.
Chilean Hardbody
VEHICLE: '93 Nissan Hardbody King Cab
OWNER: Juan Pablo Velasquez, Santiago, Chile
TIRES: 35x12.50-15 Goodyear Wranglers
WHEELS: 15x10 American Racing, 2-inch wheel spacers
SUSPENSION: Custom 10-inch leaves in rear with 5-inch blocks, custom spring-over axle front, Rancho 9000X shocks, traction bars
DRIVETRAIN: 3.2L V-6 Isuzu, Isuzu five-speed tranny, Isuzu 3.7:1 low range transfer case, front Toyota Hi-Lux front axle, rear Detroit Locker, 4.88 gears
PERFORMANCE MODS: K&N air filter
OTHER DOODADS: Blincar bumpers and front pushbar, Warn 4xflares, Warn 8,000-pound winch, custom nerf bars, DC tailgate net, Auto Meter gauges
BEST MOD: Engine swap and being forced to do a solid-axle swap due to wrong-side drop of the new transfer case
WORST MOD: Spending too much money on the old engine
Limey Land Rover
VEHICLE: Jeep CJ-6 (fiberglass body), '90 custom ladder chassis
OWNER: Peter Whitman, Hampshire, Great Britain
TIRES: Swamper Boggers
WHEELS: Matt Lee Alloy three-piece split rims with nylon internal bead locks
SUSPENSION: Custom coils, three-link front, four-link rear, Pro Comp shocks
DRIVETRAIN: 4.0L EFI Range Rover engine, Rover three-speed auto tranny, Rover 4:1 low range transfer case, 101 Land Rover axles with disc brake conversions, ARB front locker and Detroit Locker rear, 5.84 gears
PERFORMANCE MODS: Balanced crank and cam, Hedman headers
OTHER DOODADS: 8274 Warn front winch, Ramsey RE8000 rear winch, GPS
BEST MOD: Getting rid of Range Rover axles
WORST MOD: Redoing everything I originally did
British Battlewagon
VEHICLE: '95 Land Rover 130 Defender Wolf
OWNER: Ian and Beverley Daly, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, UK
TIRES: Goodyear G90s
WHEELS: 16-inch Wolf spec military HD
SUSPENSION: Coils with three-link, gusseted HD axle cases
DRIVETRAIN: 300Tdi engine, five-speed auto tranny, H/L 4WD transfer case with centre diff lock and Tera Low kit, front and rear lockers
OTHER DOODADS: Axle gussets, back box is fully equipped as camper--including bed, galley with stove, sink, shower and WC--pumped water, water heater, diesel burner heating, A/C, 24-volt/12-volt and 240-volt electrics, solar panel
FUNNIEST WHEELING INCIDENT: Toilet overflowed...you had to be there to see the funny side
BEST MOD: Building the back box
WORST MOD: So much equipment it needs three batteries, a solar panel, and a hookup
South African Dam Jumper
Vehicle: '98 Toyota Hi-Lux Double Cab
OWNER: Cris Ingram, Cape Town, South Africa
TIRES: 33x12.50-15 BFGoodrich M-Ts
WHEELS: Toyota alloys
SUSPENSION: 2-inch Old Man Emu springs and shocks
DRIVETRAIN: Five-speed manual tranny, Gearmax rear locker
PERFORMANCE MODS: Brospeed cam, Brospeed exhaust, K&N air filter
OTHER DOODADS: Warn 8,000-pound winch, ARB front bumper, ARB air compressor, R and D spare-tire mount
Best Mod: Tires
Submission Information
All submissions to Readers' Rides must include an address or telephone number so sender can be verified and include a complete list of all modifications made to the vehicle. Unfortunately, if we can make out faces of people in the photos, we cannot use them. Also, letters must be signed by the vehicle's owner. Due to the large volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot return photos. Digital photos must measure no less than 1600 x 1200 pixels (or two megapixels) and be saved as a TIFF, EPS, or a maximum-quality JPEG file.
Write to:
Readers' Rides 4-Wheel & Off-Road
6420 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048-5515
fax 323.782.2704
E-mail to:
rides@4wheeloffroad.com