Driver: Tommy Galbreath, Courtland, VAEngine: 350 Chevy punched 0.040 over, 64cc GM iron heads with Manley 2.02/1.60 valves, screw-in studs, guideplates, chromoly pushrods, Lunati bracket cam, Holley intake, Truck Avenger carb, K&N filterTransmission: Jeep T-176 four-speedTransfer Case: NP208 connected to an NP203 from a '76 F-250 via a very short shaft Suspension: 4-inch Skyjacker front, custom stock springs rearFront Axle: Dana 44 with a spool, Moser inner and Warn outer shafts, 4.10 gears, homebuilt highsteer knucklesRear Axle: Dana 60, Detroit Locker, 4.10 gearsTires: 38.5 Interco TSLsWheels: Homebuilt bead locksSpecial Features: 40-series Flowmasters, homebuilt hydraulic steering, Warn 8274 winch
'82 Toyota/'02 TacomaBack in 1998 Nick Cappa bought an early '80s Toyota longbed with 160,000 miles to build into a fun little trail rig. Since then he has lost 90 percent of the original truck and found 350 feet of welded seam tubing. After riding and rolling in this little rig we can honestly say that he has done a great job. Nick usually spends his time beating on our advertisers to get them to buy even larger ads in 4-Wheel & Off-Road, but during Ultimate Adventure he spent the week beating on his little tubular Toy, and his list of busted stuff included a Dana 44 U-joint and stub shaft, a bent tie rod, busted rod ends, and a pair of shoes melted to floorboard. The best part, though, was when he snapped his steering-box sector shaft and had to get a huge four-wheel-drive tractor to drag him back to camp.
Driver: Nick Cappa, Los Angeles, CAEngine: LC Engineering 2.7L stroker Toyota with 38mm Redline WeberTransmission: Stock five-speedTransfer Case: AA dual transfer caseSuspension: Four-link rear (21 inches of travel), three-link front (15 inches of travel), Bilstein coilovers and airbumps all the way aroundFront Axle: Dana 44, 5.38 West Coast Differentials gears, Ox lockerRear Axle: Dana 44, spoolTires: 35-inch BFGoodrich KrawlersWheels: 15-inch aluminum Special Features: Full homebuilt welded-seam tube chassis, PRP seats with RCI harnesses, Ramsey 9000 winch, 16-gallon fuel cell, Oceanside Driveline driveshafts
'02 Jeep LibertyTrailready has the coolest Jeep Liberty ever, and we're not exactly fans of Libertys. We bet not many of you expected to see one in the Ultimate Adventure lineup this year. Neither did we. Actually, it almost didn't make it. At the last second, a call for a driver was made to Chris Corbett who piloted out Trailready's Liberty with friend Jim Epoch and coworker Jerry Sandeno. Trailready had outfitted its Liberty well, but lack of a few shakedown runs got the better of it in Tellico, North Carolina, and the little Liberty had to miss a day of trails. The rod end on the rear upper triangulated link snapped off, sending the rear axle forward, therefore also stressing the front axle and snapping a shaft inside of it. Chris, Jim, and Jerry joined back up with us the next day and finished the rest of Ultimate Adventure after a little help from Jake Peck and Scott Caudell of Murphy, North Carolina. They worked furiously to help get the li'l Liberty back on the road.
Drivers: Chris Corbett, Jerry Sandeno, and Jim Epoch, Everett, WAEngine: 3.7L V-6 with K&N Filtercharger and Borla exhaustTransmission: Stock automatic four-speedTransfer Case: NP231 with 4:1 low range kitSuspension: 6-inch custom Trailready custom long-arm suspension with triangulated rear, ZJ coils with custom spring buckets, Rubicon Express track bar, Rancho RS 9000sFront Axle: Axis Design hybrid reverse-rotation Dana 44 with Dana 60 outers, Yukon 4.56 gears, Detroit ElectracRear Axle: Chrysler 811/44 rear, Yukon 4.56 gears, chromoly shafts, Detroit LockerTires: 35x13.50-15 BFGoodrich KrawlersWheels: 15x8 Trailready II bead locksSpecial Features: Trailready front and rear bumpers, solid front axle swap