Old Crony
Painted Patina
1949-2004 Willys Jeep TJ Wrangler
Driver: Chris Durham
Co-Driver: Anyone brave enough to hop in
Stomping Grounds: Sea to shining sea

Chris Durham hails from a small town in South Carolina, and this year he showed up in his custom Willys TJ. Built for hardcore wheeling on 42-inch rubber, Durham’s truck also makes a pretty good road machine. Rather than tow it, he opted to swap in a slightly higher set of ring-and-pinion gears, throw a duffle bag in the bed beside his spare tire and tent, and road-trip across America to the start of the event in Oregon. In Redmond he swapped the gears to a lower crawler ratio and wheeled hard all week. Durham is our go-to guy when we need a cameraman shuttled ahead, but he is also always willing to jump in should someone need a spotter, or a hand wrenching. As we go to press he is still on the road, because he decided to take a few weeks off from his own shop, Chris Durham Motorsports, and do some sightseeing and wheeling on the long drive home.

Drivetrain
Engine: 2000 RT 360 Mopar V-8
Transmission: 904 automatic
Transfer Case: Atlas
Front Axle: Ford Dana 60, 5.38 gears, Detroit Locker
Rear Axle: Corp. 14-bolt, 5.38 gears, Detroit Locker
Steering: AGR hydraulic ram assist

Suspension
Springs & Such: Zone 3-inch coils and shocks, custom long-arm suspension.
Tires & Wheels: 42x17 Goodyear MTRs on 17x9 Walker Evans beadlocks
Other: MasterCraft seats, Premier Power Welder, custom truck conversion with faux rusty paint, Warn 9.0RC winch

Sponsor
Off-Road Power Products: Official Retailer
2009 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
Driver: Cooper Ramussen
Co-Driver: Jeff Garland
Stomping Grounds: Pacific Northwest

Off-Road Power Products showcased its wares with a well-built four-door Jeep JK hiding in plain site under a wrap of urban camo, with a torquey Cummins 4BT four-cylinder diesel rattling under the hood. Erik “Cooper” Rasmussen looks like the type of guy who would fit better in the backseat of the Jeep so he could stretch out, or better yet, wheeling a fullsize dump truck, but don’t let his stature fool you. He is still a little baby when it comes to wheeling experience, having attended only a few trail rides before coming on our trip. But although a rookie behind the wheel in the dirt, Cooper is no crybaby. Not only can he lift heavy things, but he learns fast too, such that by the end of the week his little JK was scrambling over obstacles with the best of them. Carnage was suffered once or twice (a destroyed rear locker, for example), but a welder had him and co-pilot Jeff Garland back on the trail and ready for more.

Drivetrain
Engine: 3.9L Cummins 4BT with BorgWarner EFR turbo
Transmission: 4L60E with Compushift
Transfer Case: Rubicon Roc Trac
Front Axle: JK Dana 44 with 4.56 gears and Rubicon locker
Rear Axle: JK Dana 44 with 4.56 gears and Ox locker
Steering: Hydraulic ram assist

Suspension
Springs & Such: Synergy long arm with 31⁄2-inch progressive-rate coils, Bilstein shocks
Tires & Wheels: 37-inch Nitto Trail Grapplers on orange powdercoated stock JK steel spare wheels with Inner Air beadlocks
Other: Synergy bumpers and rollcage, Warn 9.5XP winch

Chile Willy
1942 Willys MB
Driver: Sebastian Varas
Co-Driver: Gonzalo Bravo

Stomping Grounds: All over Chile, from the dunes of the Atacama Desert to the rocky lands and forests of the south The coolest jeep on the trip also traveled the longest distance to get to the Ultimate Adventure in both space and time. We’re talking about Sebastian Varas and his ’42 Willys MB, which came all the way from Santiago, Chile. We can’t say it drove the farthest, because it spent a good portion of the journey on a seagoing ship, but this is still a record in travel time heading to the UA. Varas knows his little jeep like the back of his hand and is willing and able to slip, slide, and launch it through obstacles as needed. Co-driver Gonzalo Bravo is also a renowned off-roader, having broken the world record for the highest altitude in a four-wheeled vehicle (22,000 feet) in his Samurai. Having traveled so far to bring the coolest jeep on the trip, these two nonetheless shied away from no obstacle. They attempted everything and surmounted most.

Drivetrain
Engine: ’07 Chevy LY6 6.0L V-8
Transmission: TH350
Transfer Case: Dana 300
Front Axle: Dana 44, ARB Air Locker, 4.11 gears
Rear Axle: Dana 44, Detroit Locker, 4.11 gears
Steering: AGR steering box

Suspension
Springs & Such: Spring-over with Wagoneer springs and Fox shocks in front, 4-link with FOA coilovers in rear
Tires & Wheels: 36x13.50 Super Swamper Irok Radials on 15-inch Allied 32-bolt beadlocks
Other: ARB dual-motor onboard air, full rollcage, custom frame, MasterCraft military seats, Warn 9.5 Ti winch

Sponsor
Synergy Suspension: Official Armor
2007 Jeep JK Wrangler
Driver: Dave Schlossberg
Co-Driver: Rob Peterson
Stomping Grounds: Johnson Valley, Rubicon, Pismo Beach, Moab

This was the first year for Synergy as a UA sponsor, and they proved their mettle when things went bad. David Schlossberg and Rob Peterson arrived with their stretched two-door ’07 Jeep Wrangler outfitted with a wide variety of Synergy parts, and they weren’t afraid to let it stretch its legs. This Jeep has wheeled all over California and as far back east as Moab, and it raced in the notorious King of the Hammers race a few years back, but the UA would prove its undoing. Let’s just say disaster struck (sorry, you’ll have to read about it next month in part 2). Luckily, Team Synergy rose to the occasion and persevered.

Drivetrain
Engine: 3.8L V-6
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Transfer case: Atlas
Front Axle: Currie Rock Jock 60, Yukon 5.38 gears, Detroit Locker
Rear Axle: Same
Steering: PSC hydraulic ram assist

Suspension
Springs & Such: Synergy front and rear long-arm suspension, 12-inch Fox 2.0 coilover shocks, Fox 2.0 airbumps
Tires & Wheels: 40x13.50 MTRs on 17-inch TrailReady beadlocks
Other: Synergy skidplates, Synergy hood louvers, Synergy cage, Synergy Baja basket, Synergy bumpers, Synergy rocker panels, custom bodywork