Friday

On Friday we got started early in the morning and we were the first ones to roll into the fairgrounds. Expecting a hot and humid day, we started setting up the 4 Wheel Parts Showroom on wheels. Our entire crew figured we should get our spot all set up before it got too hot. The 4 Wheel Parts crew consisted of Tim Chase, the driver of the showroom on wheels truck; Bob Thilman, from our Compton, CA headquarters; Nick Blackburn from Atlanta, GA; and me. We thought we could knock out the setup in no time at all. We were actually making good progress so around 11am we headed out to grab lunch and get some other errands done.

However, we didn’t anticipate that “crack snap and pop” Bob (Thilman) would fall down and pop his ankle like popcorn. It didn’t look good at all. We had to run him to the nearest hospital. We were hanging out at the St Mary’s Mayo hospital for a few hours before the doctor announced that Bob’s ankle was busted and he was going to need to stay the night to have surgery. Several pins and 2 plates later, Bob came out of recovery around 11pm that night. In the meantime, the rest of the crew had to finish setting up the showroom for the 4 Wheel Jamboree. The only two good things that came out of Friday were that we had the showroom ready to open to the public and my luggage finally came in from Rochester, New York (where the airline had lost it!).

Saturday

On Saturday we got another early start knowing that we were going to be minus one person. Also, we knew the show was going to be busy so we turned up the volume and got all the final touches done. We had tires, wheels, and lots of products set out for sale. The show opened at 9am and we were more than ready to begin our day! Nick, Tim, and I fielded questions, sold some products, and made some friends. Still, it was not as busy as we thought it was going to be. There were over 300 folks pre-registered for the Show and Shine and we figured that the monster trucks and mud racing would bring in the crowds. Unfortunately, attendance was down. Each time the monster trucks came out, the stands would fill up but it wasn’t anywhere near the attendance that we were expecting. It turns out that the Minnesota State Fair was going on during that same weekend. Still, we thought people probably would come to the 4 Wheel Jamboree on their way back from the fair and maybe Sunday’s turnout would be better.

On a brighter note, Bob was finally released from the hospital that night.

Conclusion

In the end, we didn’t make as much money as we hoped but we made some good friends in Rochester, Minnesota. I’d like to give a special shout-out to Dan McGowan and his off-road club buddies. They were great to us! They probably attend all the local events so if you’re in the area, look for Mr. Dan.

The next event that the 4 Wheel Jamboree Nationals will be at is the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Check out the dates and see if you can make it!

Sept. 17: 10am – 5:00pm
Sept. 18: 9am – 6:00pm
Sept. 19: 9am – 3:30pm

By the way, 4 Wheel Parts is offering $100 mail-in Visa gift card with a purchase of any set of 4 General Tire Grabber Tires.

Be sure to check back next week for more photos from the General Tires Grabber Launch Event!

I had to remove the sound deadening material from my car, which can be quite a daunting task if you don’t know the right technique. Fortunately for me, I had the help and advice of several other people who had previously performed the same task. When it comes to removing the sound deadening material, dry ice is absolutely the best way to go. You place pieces of dry ice on the floor of the vehicle and let it sit. You’ll hear crackling and popping as the sound deadening material contracts (due to the extreme cold). Once it has sat for around 5-10 minutes, you can simply remove the dry ice, take a hammer, and hit the floorboards. This will crack the now brittle sound deadening material, which will allow you to remove it in large chunks and leave very little tar residue behind. For vertical or heavily corrugated areas, I found that an oscillating multi-purpose tool with a scraper attachment can be very helpful.

Once all of my sound deadening material was removed, it was time to get rid of all the seam sealer used by the factory. The seam sealer is flammable and can cause blowouts when you are trying to seam weld. This basically requires a good drill or angle grinder equipped with a wire wheel. You want to make sure that all the material gets removed and that the two halves of the seams are ground to bare metal. Once all of this work is complete, then you are ready to start your seam welding.

My next blog post will highlight the initiation of seam welding and the continuation of the cage build. Stay tuned!

C1 Course

This course started out with a hill climb up through gate 1. Everyone ahead of us had to really use their throttle to make it up this hill, so my plan was to do the same. I wish I had better luck. We tried for 9 minutes to make it up this hill and almost rolled the rig twice. For whatever reason, we could not make this hill. We didn’t even make it through the first cones. Score on C1 course: 40. And just like that, we are now in 4^th place.

C2 Course

This was the course that had the larger than life rocks that swallow rigs whole! We started on a rocky hill climb up through gate 1. We had to back up once and use the gas to bump the front end up and over. Once we were through, it lined the rig up perfectly for the bonus line of gate 2. We also heard air leaking and saw we bent a rim. It wasn’t bad enough to stop running the course, so we went with it. This line had huge holes so we had to make sure we were lined up perfectly for this. Halfway through this set of cones, we were so far on our passenger side that I could’ve reached out and grabbed the cone. How the rig didn’t tip over, I have no idea. We just stayed with it and once the driver’s side tire cleared the tip of a rock, the rig settled back on all 4 and we were through gate 2. We had to go straight for the banner tape and then burn the front end around to line us up. Gate 3 was a 2-foot drop off a rock and then we pulled back down on flat ground, driving the Jeep in reverse through the finish gates. Score on C2 course: -6.

C3 Course

For this course, there were 2 ways to go through gate 1. You could go to the left for the regular line or go to the right to go through a bonus. We chose the bonus. It took us some time to get up the bonus line but with some gas we made it up, although we wasted a lot of time. Once we got to the top, we had to make a sharp right turn so we could get the right line to go down through gate 2. Once we were through gate 2, we were running out of time and didn’t get a chance to try gate 3. Score on C3 course: 38.

C4 Course

It was our last course for the weekend. By this point, our radios had completely quit working so we had to do this old school – yelling. The first set of cones was on the side of an off camber rock. We had to gas it up and over to make it through. Once we were through, we had to burn the front end to the passenger side to get us in line for gate 2. This gate was on top of a rock ledge that we had to go down and immediately start cutting the wheels to the driver’s side. Once we cleared gate 2, we had to pull down but not completely off the course. Once we thought we had enough room, we decided to back through gate 3. We were literally inches away from hitting gate 3. I kept the wheels locked to the driver’s side and waited for the cue from Aaron to gas it in reverse to miss the cone. Mission accomplished. Score on C4 course: 3.

For the weekend, we finished in 4^th place. Nothing major is broken and we have 4 weeks until the next rock crawling competition. I also ordered new radios, so we’ll be set for next time.

The truck suspension system features:    

• Laser cut brackets
• Drop pitman arms
• Specific rate coils
• On Stage 1 Systems – Radius arm drop down brackets
• On Stage 2 Systems – Replacement radius arms (made from 4130 chromoly tubing and 3/16″ thick steel plate)

These components work together to provide a number of benefits, including:

• Sustaining proper suspension geometry
• Increasing ride height
• Enhancing overall ride quality
• Providing a more aggressive appearance
• Maintaining factory ride quality, or improving performance
• 6” Systems clear 37” tires
• 8” Systems clear 38” tires

Whether you install the stage 1 or stage 2 Pro Comp suspension system, you’ll be able to choose between the following stock options: 

• ES9000 Shocks
• Fox Reservoir Shocks
• Fox Non-Reservoir Shocks
• MX6 Adjustable Shocks
• MX6R Adjustable Reservoir Shocks

Call 4 Wheel Parts at 877-474-4821 today to get a 6″ Pro Comp suspension system for your 2011 Ford Super Duty F-250 or F-350.

The massive 1600 CFM Filter featured in this intake system has the capacity to hold more dirt than stock filters, which gives you more time between service. Our intake also sports a One-Piece Roto-Molded Cold Air Box with massive air inlets and Modular Intake Tube. The result is an intake system that lowers intake air temperatures, increases air volume and improves overall performance.

This system installs in minutes with ordinary hand tools and comes with AIRAID®’s exclusive “No-Hassle” Warranty. For more information, visit 4WheelParts.com.

2010 Dodge Cummins Diesel 6.7L MXP Series Cold Air Intake

Saturday we arrived at the comp site and picked up our running order. We were 2nd on the list but they tend to leap frog the running order, so we started second on our first course and 1st on the next one. It was very hot in Missouri this weekend. Temperatures were in the mid 90s but the heat index was 115. Add having to wear a fire suit to the mix and it made for a hot, sweaty weekend.

C1 Course

This course had us go over a rock section to the left and then, once you were through, you had to cut your wheels hard to the passenger side to clear all cones and line up for the second gate. Gate 2 was on top of the hill so we had the entire top side to position the rig for the right line. This was great – it meant we didn’t lose reverse points. We made it through the second set of cones with no problem and then had to get the Jeep as close to this tree as possible so it could pivot us around for the line through gate 3. The rocks to get to gate 3 were huge. My spotter, Aaron, had to make sure the rig didn’t fall into any of those holes and hang us up. Once on top of the rock for gate 3, our plan was to gas the rig over it so we didn’t get held up on our Full Traction control arms. The drop off on this rock was 5’. We were done and clear of all cones with 4.5 minutes to spare. Score on C1 course: -3.

C2 Course

This course had huge rocks that could swallow my rig hole! We started out by going up a very rocky section. Once on top, we had to burn the front end around to go back down to the left of these cones. At the bottom, we had to go all the way back to the left of the course to line up for gate 2. Then we had to go up another rocky section and burn the front end around to the passenger side to get us the right line through gate 2. With a few reverses, we were clear to make our descent to gate 3, which was on top of another big rock. Once we had the rear end clear we had to do another burn to get the front end turned around and aimed for the exit gate. Score on C2 course: 2.

C3 Course

To start on this course we had to hug the rig against a huge rock so we would clear the first set of cones. I also had to gas it through the first gate because we were getting hung up. Once on the summit, we had the whole top area to turn around and line us up to go through gate 2. This was about a 5’ drop down onto more huge rocks. We cleared gate 2 with no problems. After we got off the top of those rocks, we had the Jeep back down on level ground. I locked our cutting brakes and burned the front end around to the driver’s side to save us a reverse point. Once we were lined up to go through gate 3, I knew it was going to require some throttle. We cleared the cones and were able to finish this course. Score on C2 course: -1.

C4 Course

The last course of the day had us making our way to the top of the course and then burning the front end around to line up to go through the first set of cones. As I brought the front end around, I didn’t hear Aaron tell me to stop and the passenger side front tire slid into the cone. We had problems with our radios all weekend, so this didn’t help. Once we were through gate 1, we were down on the ground with time to burn the front end around to line up for gate 2. We had an off camber side hill through gate 2 to get back to the top. Once on top, I drove the Jeep as far into the banner as I was allowed and then we burned the front end to the passenger side to get the right line for our 3rd and final gate. Our last gate was down a 3-foot ledge and then out to the finish. Score on C4 course: 9.

At the end of the day on Saturday, our total score was 7 and we were in 3rd place. This is a personal best for us at this venue. We never seem to catch a break at Hannibal. No, I take that back – we always break at Hannibal.

Check out my next blog for a recap of the events on Sunday and how we finished overall in our third WeRock rock crawling competition of 2010.

Dear Fellow Off-Road Enthusiasts,

On behalf of everyone at Transamerican Auto Parts and 4Wheel Parts, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families of the off-road racing accident at the California 200. 4Wheel Parts has donated $10,000 toward the victims of this terrible tragedy through Fast-Aid, a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of injured racers and their families. This organization has already pulled together over $100,000 worth of donations from the off-road and racing communities and I urge you to contribute to this important fund.  Any contribution, large or small, will help.  To donate, visit our website at www.4WheelParts.com or join the cause on Facebook by going to our page at www.facebook.com/4wheelparts.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those so deeply affected by this tragic event.

Greg Adler
President
4 Wheel Parts/Transamerican Auto Parts

“My sincere condolences go out to those who have lost family and friends in this tragedy. My heart goes out to you all!”- Kelly Young

“My deepest sympathies for all those affected.”- Tom Yash

“My sincere condolences to those families that have lost loved ones.” – Brandon Hood

“My thoughts and condolences go out to all the families affected by this tragic accident.” – Louie Minette

“God speed to those who lost their lives and to their families.” – JiD Childers

“I, Sean Lockwood, would like to take a moment to share my thoughts on the California 200 accident. I am saddened and sympathetic for those who were involved. From me and the family of 4 Wheel Parts, our prayers go out to you. Please visit 4WheelParts.com or Fast-Aid.com to donate.” From Denver 4 Wheel Parts and Sean Lockwood