Don’t worry Dirt Heads…if you are looking for the episode of the Mad Maxxis Off-Road Runner in action; stay tuned to the Motor Trend You Tube Channel! We are going to go really big with that one so it will take a bit more time…look for it in the next month or so!Until then
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00:00 This week on Dirt Every Day, we built the ultimate summer camp Jeep.
00:05 [Music]
00:33 Before we get into the ultimate adventure buildup, I want to tell you to go check out
00:36 our brand new site, Motortrendondemand.com.
00:39 If you go there, there's racing series, there's car documentaries, there's adventures.
00:43 All the stuff that you see on our YouTube channel will be there, plus even more stuff.
00:47 It's going to be awesome.
00:48 Motortrendondemand.com.
00:49 Everybody remembers our Alabama Army truck.
00:55 We had that little transmission issue.
00:57 We pulled the transmission out to get fixed.
00:59 Then we stole the tires for the orange Jeep that we took to Moab.
01:03 Well, now we got another problem.
01:06 We stole the engine out of the Alabama Army truck for the ultimate adventure project.
01:09 What are we doing?
01:12 I told you this truck would come back and do burnouts.
01:15 The engine will do burnouts.
01:16 I'm not sure where the rest of the truck's going to end up at this point, but we're going
01:20 to show you where that engine is going and what we're building for ultimate adventure.
01:30 This is where we are building the ultimate adventure project, right here.
01:34 We're down at Synergy Manufacturing.
01:36 You guys probably remember Rob.
01:37 Rob was on Cheap Truck Challenge.
01:38 He helped us build the orange Jeep for Moab.
01:41 Rob is the head engineer over here at Synergy Manufacturing.
01:44 These guys signed up to build our ultimate adventure project.
01:50 Ultimate adventure is like summer camp.
01:52 We go out four-wheeling and on this crazy road trip and camping for a week.
01:57 It's a big, dirty, fun mess of four-wheeling.
02:00 We're building what we're calling the summer camp Jeep.
02:03 It's kind of this crazy thing.
02:04 The cool part is Rob's drawing the whole thing on his computer before we even get started.
02:08 Rob, tell us what you did.
02:10 Basically, when Fred came up with the idea to build this Willys Jeep, he sent a Microsoft
02:15 paint drawing.
02:16 It's better than just a napkin sketch.
02:18 We went back and forth and decided on a Jeep JK, modern Wrangler frame.
02:24 Let's put a badass motor in it and make the coolest Jeep ever.
02:27 Let's go see what they're working on out here.
02:33 Here's the Jeep.
02:34 It doesn't really look like a Jeep yet, but it is one.
02:37 We actually started with a four-door JK frame that we shortened down to get a wheelbase
02:40 of 109.
02:42 Under the hood, supercharged LSA engine, 550 horsepower.
02:46 That runs to a 4L80 GearStar transmission.
02:48 This is going to give us a four-speed automatic with an overdrive and a Magnum 205 from Offroad
02:54 Design.
02:55 We have a gear reduction box right in front of the 205.
02:58 It's essentially a four-speed transfer case system.
03:01 That splits the power out to our front and rear axles.
03:04 Our axles are Spydertrax nine-inch dropout style axles.
03:08 We're using Gearworks high pinion 10-inch differentials front and rear.
03:13 We're going to stuff some big 38-inch Falcons on here.
03:16 What's this thing you got your arm resting on?
03:17 This is our shock mount, coilover bypass.
03:19 It's got a big tilled-in oil pan, full belly skid plate.
03:24 We got a lot of work to do.
03:26 When do we leave with this trip?
03:27 Like a month and a half from now?
03:30 Not soon enough.
03:32 All right.
03:34 Back to work.
03:41 What we have is an aluminum Jeep tub.
03:43 Aqualoo built this prototype, but it does have some Willys Jeep features, such as this
03:49 Willys tailgate.
03:50 This is from Onyx ADA.
03:52 We stretched it, we lowered it to fit the opening in the back of the Jeep.
03:55 The Jeep is also wider back here to fit a larger tire.
03:58 This one will be able to fit a 38-inch Falcon.
04:01 The wheelbase is longer.
04:02 It's now 109 inches.
04:04 It's going to have a link suspension with coilover shocks, bypass shocks, and air bumps.
04:10 Full chromoly roll cage, full chromoly rock sliders.
04:14 This is another Onyx ADA reproduction windshield frame.
04:17 We actually lowered it two inches.
04:19 This is Onyx ADA MB grill.
04:22 When you get these grills from Onyx, they have all of the inner cowl and the inner air
04:26 ducting.
04:27 We cut all of that stuff off to fit a big Ron Davis radiator to cool that big engine.
04:31 Mike's putting in the transmission tunnel so that the 4L85 and the Magnum 205 is all
04:48 covered up.
04:49 Front drive shaft will be right here underneath my driver's leg.
04:52 We just put the HydroBoost mount on the firewall.
04:56 And now we're going to get the seats and get the seats mounted to figure out where the
04:58 steering column is going to be.
05:00 But we're hoping that the steering column doesn't want to go through the firewall right
05:05 where the HydroBoost is going through the firewall.
05:08 In all likelihood, everything will want to be in one little tiny spot.
05:11 That's the way it always is when you build custom vehicles.
05:15 So luckily the throttle pedal is easy to move around because it's drive by wire so you can
05:21 mount that wherever we want it.
05:22 The brake pedal, the steering column all have to fit right in here.
05:32 We're at the point now where the front suspension is kind of done.
05:35 We bolted the fenders onto the tub.
05:37 That was a bit of a fight to get everything lined up and pretty square again.
05:41 Mounting the grill, I made some little mounts that's going to bolt on and suck it down and
05:45 get it pretty level.
05:46 I'm going to start mounting shocks and probably going to have to cut up a lot of the fender
05:50 to get the tube work through here and mount the shock and then all that is going to get
05:54 tied into the roll cage of the vehicle as well to make it a lot more rigid throughout
06:00 the chassis and it'll drive a lot nicer.
06:02 I don't know, we probably have a full day of two guys welding, like just cranking away
06:06 welding.
06:07 A lot of hours.
06:08 A lot of builds like this will take years and we're doing it in about three months so
06:13 pretty good.
06:14 We're at the stage that you get to every year at this point where you just don't care.
06:20 You're like, "Ugh, I don't even want to go.
06:26 Stupid."
06:29 I'm at San Luis Auto Body in Atascadero, California and this is my buddy Bob's truck.
06:34 Now Bob is a Toyota fan.
06:36 He's also a perfectionist when it comes to paint and body.
06:39 Bob and his son Russ are helping me paint the Ultimate Adventure Jeep.
06:42 We've got a bunch of paint from Eastwood Products and they are over there masking it off, getting
06:47 it painted, getting it sanded so that we can take it into the paint booth today.
06:50 The idea behind this Jeep is that it has kind of lived a long life.
06:55 It was a military vehicle, then it became a summer camp vehicle and over all those years
06:59 it got a lot of different paint jobs sprayed on it and it kind of has a worn in look.
07:04 We're going to try and get just the right color scheme to give it something crazy and
07:08 unique looking, not really worn out but not brand new either.
07:12 A friend of mine, Kyle, has a design studio.
07:15 He used to be a designer for Jeep and I took my idea to him and he kind of laid out the
07:21 color scheme here.
07:22 So there's green, green, yellow and then just a little bit of red out on the front grill.
07:27 This is the idea is get a lot of colors, kind of lay them over like Jeeps are where they
07:32 kind of accrue all these colors over the years.
07:36 Here's our design, now we'll see what we can lay down on the actual body.
08:06 You guys remember Frank, he came as a consultant when we built that go-kart.
08:12 So how do you like our new go-kart?
08:14 I like it a lot but you told me we were driving today.
08:18 I think we're behind.
08:19 We have roughly 12 days until we leave.
08:23 What are you going to do with the extra 10 days?
08:25 Did you see our seats over here?
08:28 We've got these seats from PRP.
08:29 They're subtle.
08:30 I'm going to see if I can get you a full matching three piece suit to wear.
08:34 I'm down.
08:35 I'm going to get back to putting the rear brakes on the Spyder tracks rear end together.
08:38 I do love that rear end.
08:39 I mean for a 10 inch rear end it's very small.
08:42 You can take pictures when it's still assembled and straight.
08:46 It'll be fine.
08:54 Trying to plumb the fuel system.
08:58 This is a Aeromotive in tank.
09:02 It's their Phantom kit.
09:04 It's designed to put electric fuel pumps inside the tank.
09:08 There's actually two pumps in here.
09:10 You can run both of them if you're running really high horsepower.
09:13 For our Jeep we're just going to run one at a time, have the other one as a backup.
09:19 There's a fuel regulator that'll go up near the engine.
09:22 It has a return line.
09:24 We're going to run hard line all the way back.
09:27 The guys at Tilden Motorsports make a fuel line kit.
09:31 We're using their hard line that you'll route up to the engine to run the fuel rails and
09:37 to run the return.
09:38 We'll have two fuel filters right here and they'll lie together into the main line going
09:44 to the engine.
09:51 We're trying to get all the plumbing taken care of, all the things that go onto the chassis
09:56 so that then we can start dropping the body on.
09:58 We'll set the body up so that we can pull it on and off, double check where things go
10:03 and start getting into the plumbing that gets to the body such as the brake lines.
10:09 Then we'll get into wiring.
10:11 Three days to go.
10:12 About.
10:13 [Music] [Music]
10:33 This is going to be the first time we put the Jeep body on the chassis with 99% of the
10:53 drivetrain installed.
10:54 Rob's going to come in here with the forklift, lift up the body, roll the chassis underneath
11:00 it, set it all down.
11:01 We'll have some blocks of wood in here facing it off and then we'll slowly pull the blocks
11:06 out and set it down.
11:07 The tires sit right about where we wanted everything.
11:11 It may come down a little bit once we start adding fuel and spare tires and coolers and
11:16 all that stuff.
11:17 Now we're going to go through, bolt the body to the frame and it'll actually be all these
11:22 fasteners that come right through the roll cage through the body, sandwich the body in
11:27 between the roll cage and the frame.
11:31 I think once the thing settles in and we get the hood on, it's going to be awesome.
11:43 So what we're going to do here real quick is Rob's going to bring the forklift in, pick
11:47 up the right rear tire and flex out the suspension to see how it articulates and we can also
11:52 double check and see what type of things are getting really, really close under full articulation.
11:57 Hold up.
11:58 Some of our shocks in the back are really close.
12:00 Our bump stops are getting close to some brake lines up front.
12:03 Easy stuff to move around and adjust.
12:05 It also shows how stable the vehicle is.
12:08 I don't think it's going to go anywhere, but this is the type of thing that you're going
12:12 to do on the trail.
12:13 It's actually going to get a lot more aggressive when you're on the trail because you'll think
12:17 it'll be under power.
12:20 You'll flex it up.
12:21 You'll be hanging the tire off the ground through ditches, rock crawling.
12:24 We can see we're having a kind of a slight issue.
12:26 It's getting real close to the air bump there, which isn't a big deal right now.
12:29 It's flex of the forklift, but if we do that going with momentum, it'll just blow the brakes
12:34 off.
12:35 It looks pretty good.
12:36 The thing really seems like it's going to work really well.
12:40 Everything's really close, but it's clearing enough.
12:43 Still have a lot to do.
12:45 I'd like to order some pizzas.
13:06 I need enough pizzas for nine guys.
13:17 Monday night.
13:19 This Saturday, we have to be on the other side of the country.
13:22 Tuesday, tomorrow, we have to take the Jeep to another shop to get it dynoed and tune
13:26 the engine and the transmission.
13:29 It's 9.20 at night.
13:31 It's already dark outside.
13:33 We've been here almost every night until midnight or one or two in the morning for the past
13:38 three or four days.
13:39 The guys are going full steam, wiring, plumbing, get our hood on, and buttoning up all the
13:47 last few things.
13:48 We're going to start this Jeep within the next hour-ish and make sure the thing runs
13:54 and load it up on the trailer so tomorrow we can go tune it.
13:58 Wednesday, we'll leave and drive across America.
14:01 Ready?
14:02 It's really loud.
14:26 We are back at Pacific Fabrication.
14:30 We are here to dyno tune the engine, make sure everything's running right, and make
14:34 sure our transmission is happy.
14:37 I want to run through my sponsors real quick for Ultimate Adventure because these guys
14:40 really help us make this event happen.
14:42 Warn, they make the awesome winches that we put on every year, Voodoo recovery ropes,
14:47 Spydertrax axles, Allfro Power Products, Lifetime LEDs, BDS suspension, Falcon tires,
14:53 high lift jacks, Synergy Manufacturing where we built the whole Jeep, Eastwood Products,
14:57 and Allfro Design with their big Magnum 205 transfer case that's in there.
15:02 You guys remember Jason, he's going to hook this thing up to the dyno.
15:04 We're going to see what it'll do.
15:05 We're going to get it tuned, make sure the transmission's happy, put it back on the trailer,
15:09 and head to Ultimate Adventure.
15:15 All right, first pull, 341 horsepower at the wheels, 360 foot pounds of torque.
15:34 Max torque at 4480, max horsepower at 5190.
15:38 It's pretty good.
15:45 It is not tied down.
16:08 All right, we're done with the little Jeep.
16:10 We're heading cross country for Ultimate Adventure.
16:13 We're going to Ultimate Adventure.
16:27 We are back from Ultimate Adventure.
16:30 It was an awesome adventure.
16:31 The little summer camp Jeep did great.
16:36 We started in Ohio.
16:38 We ended it in Tennessee, but it was not a straight line between those two states.
16:46 We were setting up camp in the dark.
16:48 We were four-wheeling in dirt hills, mud, V-notches, rocks, in between trees, in deep
16:58 water, every type of terrain you could imagine we did this year.
17:05 It rained on us every single day of the trip.
17:08 We slept in the rain.
17:09 We drove in the rain.
17:10 We went four-wheeling in the mud and the rain.
17:13 The rocks that we rock crawled were wet from the rain.
17:17 Summer camp Jeep has no doors.
17:19 It has no back.
17:21 It has no windshield wipers, so we were pretty much wet and cold and kind of miserable and
17:25 tired.
17:26 I've been eating food out of a gas station for a week straight.
17:29 It was awesome, and I can't wait to go next year.
17:34 If you want to go next year, go to 4WOR-UA.com and fill out an application.
17:40 We need your applications in by March 30, 2016.
17:44 If you want to see everything we did on Ultimate Adventure, go to the Motor Trend channel on
17:48 YouTube from the week of November 16 to 20.
17:51 That is Ultimate Adventure week, and we will have a different video up every day about
17:56 Ultimate Adventure.
18:01 That is it for Dirt Every Day.
18:03 Come back and watch UA, but for right now, I'm going to go four-wheeling in my little
18:06 Jeep.
18:07 I'm going to go four-wheel drive.
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