Muscle Truck vs. Baja Bug! - Roadkill Ep. 28
Remember the drag racing 74 Chevy Muscle Truck from Roadkill Episode 18? Its back
Transcript
00:00 On this episode of Roadkill, we trade a 600 horsepower Chevy truck for a Volkswagen with
00:05 a busted door.
00:06 I think he's enjoying that too much now.
00:07 [00:01:00] [music]
00:08 [00:01:10]
00:08 The muscle truck is a 1970 Chevy.
00:37 It's a 1974 Chevy that you first saw in episode 18 of Roadkill.
00:42 It's powered by an all aluminum LS6.
00:44 It has a turbo 400 automatic transmission, a gear vendors overdrive, and a Ford 9-inch
00:49 rear end with 513 gears.
00:57 The thing that changed about the muscle truck since the last time you saw it, that's right,
01:03 EFI.
01:04 This is MSD Atomic Self-Learning EFI.
01:07 It's supposed to be a real simple deal, and so far it's running good.
01:10 We're impressed so far.
01:12 Here's the plan.
01:13 We've already been drag racing with this truck, but Freiburger and I think it could also work
01:17 off road.
01:18 It could be the ultimate dual sport vehicle with just a little bit of modification.
01:24 So we know we can take the rear fenders off and put giant rubber on it, but the problem's
01:28 up at the front end.
01:29 It's got drop spindles and air bags, and I've aired the bags all the way up, so we're trying
01:33 to decide if we're either going to cut the fenders out or remove the whole front clip
01:36 so we can fit maybe a 33 or something taller.
01:42 That's a big tire for the front of this.
01:44 Yeah, that hits everything.
01:46 You'd have to trim the front of the fender, maybe a little bit of the back of the fender,
01:50 the top of the fender.
01:52 Yeah, to make it steer.
01:54 It's also all the way down right now.
01:56 That'd help, but...
02:00 It would look rad, though.
02:01 Yeah.
02:02 So the question is, you want to make it work?
02:04 Yeah, I was going to say, does it look good enough to warrant getting out the saws off?
02:10 That's what you've got to ask yourself.
02:15 But we have to decide.
02:16 I can't believe I'm saying this.
02:18 I vote that tire on the front and just hack the fender.
02:25 I like my fender.
02:30 Okay.
02:32 Go get them mounted.
02:36 We got our boggers mounted up, threw them in the back of the truck, and it was time
02:39 to hit the road because you know what?
02:41 We're not even going to test fit these things until we hit the sand dunes.
02:46 Wow, this thing's loud.
02:58 How bad are the brakes on this truck?
02:59 Oh, can they be cut?
03:00 Oh, can they be considered bad when they don't exist?
03:05 So really, the muscle truck could be surf, sand, and sea.
03:11 It could be drag strip, off-roading, and handling.
03:18 Yeah, the handling thing.
03:23 Not really?
03:24 Not so much.
03:25 I don't know if these are the right tires to go to the sand dunes, but it's what they
03:37 had in stock that would fit our truck.
03:39 So we're going to try them.
03:52 Salton City, California is a beautiful resort town.
04:00 They've got roads that resemble waves.
04:02 I was ready to surf this thing.
04:06 Check that out.
04:14 We are about five hours from Los Angeles in Imperial County, home of the Imperial Sand
04:20 Dunes, which are better known as Glamis.
04:23 So what we have here is a 37 by 13.0 Super Swamper Bogger.
04:30 And on the front, we have a 31 by 11.50.
04:33 Step number one is there's about eight half-inch bolts holding the top and the step side to
04:40 the bed.
04:41 She's free?
04:42 She's free.
04:43 Okay, next step is going to be to raise the front of the truck with airbags.
04:52 It's no secret that Freiburger is a little bit delusional with regards to automobiles
04:56 and time and money.
04:57 He thinks we're going to be able to stick those 31s under this truck and go off-roading
05:04 without them hitting the fenders.
05:05 No, I don't think that.
05:07 I hope that.
05:08 Next thing that we're going to do is remove the inner fender wells out of this thing,
05:12 because I continue to believe that I don't want to trash all the sheet metal on the truck.
05:17 Look at that pristine inner fender well.
05:20 Clearance, clearance.
05:22 One of the things I did to prep before we even got here is put this pre-filter on the
05:25 cone air filter, because if you have one of those regular, like, you know, K&N or Airaid
05:30 type filters on it, it'll get sand packed in it on the dunes.
05:33 Normally, I'd zip tie this wiring harness to the fender, but we only have three whole
05:38 zip ties on this truck.
05:40 The world's worst duct tape is going to hold that up there.
05:44 Oh, don't you hate that?
05:47 Don't you hate it when you're dealing with one of those ratchet type jack stands and
05:50 you go to move it and the thing slams down and pinches you right in the web of your thumb?
05:55 A lot of people believe that you want an all-terrain tire, a nice, smooth tread for flotation on
06:00 the top of the sand.
06:01 When I was the editor of 4 Wheel and Off-Road, we did a test and actually proved that a typical
06:05 mud terrain is better than a typical all-terrain for blasting around in the dunes.
06:09 But I'm sure plenty of you will disagree with that.
06:12 And you'll probably be right when we go out there and sink this thing right to China.
06:16 Ready?
06:17 God, this jack is fast.
06:21 That is a look.
06:23 That's instant transformation.
06:25 This is the sand muscle truck.
06:26 This is a dual sport muscle truck.
06:28 This is Brutus.
06:29 I don't care if we don't make it 10 feet.
06:32 This is a good look.
06:33 This is the best this truck's ever looked.
06:35 Look how pissed off it is.
06:38 This gives it purpose too, doesn't it?
06:40 Ridiculous.
06:41 I love it.
06:42 I think we've only spent about half an hour transforming it up to this point, maybe 45
06:46 minutes.
06:47 But now we get into the really bloodthirsty part.
06:49 It's going to make me cry.
06:53 Well here's the thing.
06:54 You can either just nip that corner there.
06:56 And then just put a half moon.
06:57 And put a half moon, which looks weird.
06:59 Or we can continue this cut and then bring it back down into here.
07:03 Why don't we just do that?
07:07 I am ruining Fryburger's day by plotting out how much sheet metal I think we're going
07:14 to have to hack off of this thing to keep it from crunching the fenders.
07:22 Somehow it doesn't have that roadkill hacked but still cool thing going on.
07:28 But I don't know what else we're going to do.
07:33 Wow.
07:35 I don't know.
07:41 Maybe I should just look the other way.
07:42 The audience is going to hate this as much as I do.
07:44 So I think we should just cut away from it so nobody has to look at the gore.
07:48 Then come back.
07:49 We'll look and see how good it is.
07:51 We'll go home.
07:52 We'll save this piece.
07:53 Flange it.
07:54 Zeus it back on there.
07:55 Then it truly is dual sport.
07:58 Like it?
08:00 Sure.
08:02 By here Fryburger will be in tears.
08:06 By here he'll be throwing tools.
08:10 And then it's "brrrr".
08:12 Let's ride.
08:13 Visualize the cut.
08:14 I can't look.
08:15 Let's go.
08:16 Why is this fun for me right now?
08:20 It's not often you can actually get a photo of the moment of a loss of a loved one.
08:32 Too late now.
08:33 Hello.
08:34 Did it just come out or break?
08:39 Broke the blade.
08:41 Okay.
08:42 I'll just get you another one.
08:44 It'll be fine.
08:51 Wow.
08:55 Okay.
09:01 Where were you on this one, this one, and that one?
09:05 Well, as I was indicating before, the center is not the center.
09:11 See?
09:13 Wow.
09:15 That is bad.
09:20 Yeah.
09:22 He's just going to make a flange and Zeus it right back on.
09:27 He'll be mint.
09:28 Look how much clearance you have now.
09:35 I'm going to go cry.
09:40 I think we just took about $2,500 off the value of it, but then again, we bolted on
10:06 two grand worth of boggers.
10:08 So it all evens out.
10:09 The thing that's going to make it all great is the moment we're out there in the sand
10:13 dunes blasting around.
10:14 Now you're talking.
10:15 Oh, I'm thinking it's pretty good.
10:16 It works awesome.
10:17 Oh, I'm thinking it's pretty good.
10:39 Oh, it's beautiful.
10:59 Yes.
11:05 This is great.
11:24, Oh yeah.
11:52 Oh my God.
11:58 Okay.
12:01 We're done.
12:05 Don't get stuck.
12:11 What are you doing?
12:19 Oh, that's awesome.
12:27 That's not good at all, dude.
12:52 We're going to have to get creative here, fixing that.
13:11 And we can't get towed because we are nowhere near a highway.
13:14 See those lights a couple of miles that way.
13:17 That's not the highway either.
13:18 So we're going to have to be MacGyver and fix this by ourselves.
13:31 We won't be defeated.
13:32 Good God, no.
13:34 We're back in the shop and we're going to fix this thing.
13:36 We decided that we needed to have a little bit more action out of the truck since we
13:39 mangled it so badly.
13:41 So we're going to head up to Pismo this afternoon and do a shootout with Fred Williams from
13:45 Dirt Every Day.
13:46 But we have a couple of things to fix, like are you on the airline?
13:49 Yeah, we'll get the airline replaced.
13:51 We'll get rid of the duct tape holding the wiring.
13:54 And the exhaust fell off of this thing in the middle of the night on the road when we
13:59 were on our way home from Glamis, the last deal.
14:02 And it literally made for my worst night on roadkill ever.
14:06 It was freezing.
14:08 It was like ear piercing loud.
14:10 That was a crappy ride.
14:12 And believe it or not, as much as I hacked the fender out, it still needs more because
14:17 it rubs.
14:18 You're right.
14:19 Oh, were you going to tune that up?
14:20 Yeah.
14:21 Yeah.
14:22 It'll zeus right back in.
14:23 Let's get out of here.
14:31 That's pretty good.
14:32 So we fixed the muscle truck, headed up PCH and drove right through Malibu.
14:37 Ultimately we ended up in Pismo, California, and the next day we were heading to the dunes.
14:44 We woke up the next morning and had kind of a Mythbusters moment where we had to find
14:49 out could we smoke a set of 37 inch boggers with the muscle truck?
14:53 The answer?
15:04 I'm standing in the middle of nowhere waiting on Fry Burger and Finnegan right on schedule.
15:09 Be here at 9am they said.
15:12 Sorry we're early.
15:15 9am, 12pm, whatever.
15:18 It's all the same.
15:20 We made it.
15:21 How are you?
15:22 How's it going?
15:23 Pretty good.
15:24 Is this your muscle truck?
15:25 The car has paint on it.
15:26 I haven't seen the bug.
15:27 Oh, it's pretty good.
15:29 That door doesn't shut.
15:30 I like the wagon wheels.
15:32 I like the boggers.
15:33 Those are shovels.
15:35 You've got lightweight going for you and we've got horsepower and boggers.
15:39 I know.
15:40 I think we're pretty even.
15:41 Pretty even?
15:42 Considering.
15:43 I don't want to stand around anymore.
15:44 Alright, let's go play in the sand.
15:45 Well, what's the plan?
15:46 Race to the top of that dune.
15:47 That's the plan.
15:48 Oh, a drag race.
15:49 A drag race?
15:50 Uphill?
15:51 Yes.
15:52 Starting downhill.
15:53 Oh, here's the other thing.
15:54 It's on the other side.
15:55 Whenever you get somewhere, don't stop pointing uphill.
15:56 You'll get stuck again.
15:57 We do have a shovel.
15:58 So here's what's happening.
15:59 We've got the rental truck stuck, the bug's stuck, the muscle truck's stuck, and this
16:00 guy's going to yank us out right now.
16:01 Yay!
16:02 Fred is stuck again.
16:03 We'd be nothing without the video truck on this trip.
16:04 I really thought hooking up with the host from Dirt Every Day would up our dirt game.
16:05 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:06 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:07 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:08 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:09 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:10 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:11 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:12 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:13 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:14 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:15 I'm not sure if that's true.
16:40 If you get stuck and dig dirt from China, you lose.
16:43 If you both get stuck, you have to get out and run to the top of the hill.
16:47 Okay?
16:48 What?
16:49 When you hear me yell the word "yoga pants," start your car and go.
16:53 Yogurt pants?
16:54 Yoga pants.
16:55 Everybody got their safety gear on.
16:56 All right, fellas.
16:57 What?
16:58 Yoga pants!
16:59, we win.
17:18 So clearly, there is an advantage for you in acceleration and all that crap and horsepower.
17:24 So this time...
17:25 I can't hear anything you're saying.
17:27 You're fine.
17:28 Don't worry.
17:29 Go to the top, and you have to go all the way to the flat part, turn around, and come
17:34 back down.
17:35 So you're a little more maneuverable.
17:36 This may equalize things a little bit here.
17:39 First, second, third, neutral, reverse, park.
17:44 All right.
17:46 We good?
17:47 Chuck Norris!
17:49 Fred's being a little timid.
18:06 Volkswagen's already making the turn.
18:08 Uh-oh.
18:09 Fred went way over the top.
18:10 Way over the top.
18:11 Just like that bad movie with Sylvester Stallone.
18:14 Volkswagen's almost halfway here.
18:19 Fred's not scared, though.
18:21 He's getting after it.
18:24 That's f***ing awesome.
18:27 All right.
18:30 So I got to ask you, who's having more fun?
18:34 That's what I want to know.
18:35 I think we're both having a riot.
18:36 Okay.
18:37 I had fun.
18:38 I want to try it.
18:39 If anyone's busy right now, here's what I need you to do.
18:43 The challenge is going to be highest carve on this bowl.
18:46 All right.
18:47 It's the nearly vertical bowl, I might add.
18:49 I'm going to flip a coin, and you're going to decide which car you're driving first.
18:52 Okay.
18:53 Heads is going to be muscle truck, okay?
18:54 Okay.
18:55 Ah!
18:56 Ready?
18:57 Into sand.
18:58 Heads!
18:59 All right, muscle truck.
19:00 Let's do this.
19:01 It's pretty miserable.
19:10 Sand in my eyes, grit in my teeth.
19:12 My truck getting ruined by other people.
19:20 Turn the wheel to your right.
19:23 Who needs four-wheel drive?
19:36 Oh, boy.
19:41 Oh, boy.
19:46 Oh, boy.
19:51 Oh, boy.
19:56 Oh, boy.
20:01 Oh, boy.
20:06 Oh, check this out.
20:11 Final challenge, hill climb jump.
20:18 Yeah!
20:22 It's a toss-up?
20:42 I think it is a tie.
20:43 Really?
20:44 Wow.
20:45 I am leaning towards the bug just for...
20:47 Well, it got more air.
20:48 It got more air.
20:49 It carved higher on the bowl.
20:51 It rides smoother, but it definitely isn't just as fun to rip around it.
20:56 I would say if you want the bug, I will take the muscle truck.
21:00 I like the bug.
21:01 It's pretty.
21:02 The bug's good.
21:06 So in the end, we found ourselves driving home in this '69 Volkswagen Baja bug.
21:11 It was actually pretty cool, and you know what?
21:13 I think the reason we did it is at this point, Finnegan and I were not ready for another long night in the loud old muscle truck.
21:20 So maybe call us soft, and we'll leave it for you to decide.
21:24 Did we really trade a 600-horsepower pickup truck for a VW?
21:29 Maybe you'll find out in a future episode of Roadkill.
21:34 So here's some stuff you didn't get to see last time.
21:37 First and foremost, the ultimate cup holder/ratchet shifter mount.
21:43 I'm pretty proud of this thing.
21:44 It's made out of fence decorative hardware.
21:47 This thing is, in fact, genius.
21:50 I'm chewing sand. How about you?
21:51 Yeah.
21:52 Yeah.
21:53 It's hurting my teeth.
21:54 Better than floss.
21:56 Better than fluoride.
21:57 Better than brushing every day.
22:00 We'll just flange it and zeus it.
22:02 Oh, yeah.
22:03 Zeus it right back.
22:04 We'll go right back.
22:05 No one will notice.
22:07 Like it never happened.