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With fall upon us once more, we packed up our cameras and backpacks to head to the 2017 Off-Road Expo. Filling up most of the Pomona Fairgrounds in Pomona, California, the show was another great event to remember.
We saw our fill of incredible new parts and products coming out for the market. We covered these in-depth for our Top Tech article. Now, it’s time to peruse the best of the vehicular bunch.
#5 BC Broncos’ 1966 Ford Bronco
Part of the Lokar display, this gunmetal gray Bronco was a beautiful piece of work. It was built by Jason Atkinson of BC Broncos in Kerrville, Texas. We spoke with Jason to get more information on the vehicle.
“This has an all-original body, sold to a fellow in Kerrville in 1965,” said Jason. “We got it and restored it all from the ground up. Every single thing you could think of has been addressed.”
The Bronco took two years and multiple phases to complete.
Up front, the Coyote V8 is powerful and bolted to a 6R80 transmission. Windows and mirrors are electronically controlled, with regulators and switches designed completely from scratch. Procar elite seats have baseball-mitt-tan and black leather, and the armrest pad and headliner are flipped in complementary fashion. To say that this Bronco was refreshed is a severe understatement.
#4 Mark Fechner’s “Money Pit” Crawler
Large and in charge, the “Money Pit” crawler was the work of Mark Fechner. A veteran of off-roading, Mark wanted to make his own stamp on the world, and he did it with this build.
“I went for a KOH-style rockcrawler with four seats,” said Mark. “I gave it 18 inches of wheel travel, so it does really well in the whoop sections and rocks. It wheels like crazy!”
Mark built his rockcrawler over the course of three years, starting in 2012. He started laying the groundwork and designing a full year before starting the project.
Designing it at home by himself, Mark made sure he got everything right and on his own. “Every bit of it is custom,” he said. “It’s got custom-machined wheels, custom-trussed Rockwell axles – everything is hand-built.”
Powering the Money Pit is a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and a T400 transmission. The transfer case is an Atlas race unit. Driveshafts were supplied by Tom Woods. Each of the Rockwells has Ouverson axle shafts. With all of that beefed up power, braking has to be stout, too; hence the F-650 16-inch rotors and F-350 brake calipers. Cooling is handled by a Griffin radiator back-to-back against a Fluidyne transmission cooler.
King 2.5 coilovers and triple-bypass shocks give all the cushioning needed on the crawler.
#3 Riley Casey’s 1969 Jeep Wagoneer
Baring its patina for all to see, this Wagoneer was an interesting 4×4 to see at the Off-Road Expo. We talked with the builder, Riley Casey of Trail Tested, and the driver, Courtney Latter, to find out more.
“The Wagoneer started with a full sand-blast to the frame,” said Riley. “We three-linked the front, and four-linked and cantilevered the rear. It’s got a 6.0-liter V8 out of a 2010 Chevy Suburban, along with the six-speed automatic. We did Raceline beadlocks and Nitto tires. It’s been a really fun project and a great vehicle for expeditions.”
The Wagoneer was built to handle the Rebelle Rally, a women's navigation rally raid stretching 1,200 miles – Lake Tahoe to San Diego, California.
The start of the build was – where else? – a Craigslist search. After locating the vehicle less than five minutes from the shop, Riley bought it for $400 and brought it back. Riley explained, “The whole goal of this project was to have a vehicle that we could hop in and drive hundreds of miles and go exploring. We wanted a rig we could drive in confidence.”
For Courtney, she was glad to have a 4×4 that could take on harsher off-road trails. The reason for this was because she was on her way to the 2017 Rebelle Rally. The rally stretches out over a week, and over 1,200 miles from Lake Tahoe to San Diego. “It’s all off-road, with only a map and compass, no GPS,” she said.
Caged and LS'd, the Wagoneer has the goods to make the arduous journey ahead.
Now that the Wagoneer has reached the end of its construction, Riley and Courtney are relieved yet excited. “Doing the cantilever setup was new and challenging,” said Riley. “Doing an LS swap with such a new motor and wiring, that was a hurdle, too,” said Courtney.
#2 Jeremiah Proffitt’s 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser
For a showcase vehicle, Bilstein brought out a beautiful beast. This lovely seafoam-green Toyota Land Cruiser was built by Jeremiah Proffitt of Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers in Austin, Colorado.
“This Land Cruiser is going for a ‘retro’ theme,” said Jeremiah. “We wanted to keep it as old-feeling as possible. We’d never done anything that was dedicated to off-road and still all Toyota.”
Jeremiah said he wanted to keep the Land Cruiser as authentic as possible. To that end, he installed a 4.0-liter 3FE inline-six from a 1988 model. "It's a little bit smaller than the 4.2-liter that it originally came with," he commented. "However, it has more horsepower."
Jeremiah’s idea was fun at first – take the existing 15-inch stock Land Cruiser wheel, and make it into a 17-inch beadlock – and quickly grew. He made his idea happen, and did it all on off-hours. Truly, this Land Cruiser was a labor of love.
Some of the Toyota’s highlights are its 4.0-liter 3FE straight-six, an A440F transmission, a split transfer case with 4:1 gearing, FJ62 front and rear axles (with ARB lockers and chromoly axle shafts), and a lengthened chassis (13.75 inches). “This vehicle does get used off-road, so we thought the added length would make it a good fit for places like Moab.”
Suspension is obviously from Bilstein. 14 inches of travel on all corners give the vehicle plenty of articulation. The interior has genuine Toyota bucket seats covered in leather. It also has a decent stereo system from Retro Manufacturing.
#1 Rob Lindsay’s 1989 Ford Ranger
Things took a turn for the best when we got to this Ranger. The truck sported all the hallmarks of attention to detail, artistic expression, and impressive construction. Truth be told, only the cab is from a Ranger. The rest was all hand-built and designed by Rob and his crew at RJ Fabrication.
Beginning in October 2012, Rob was going full-bore to get his prerunner done the way he wanted it. “I spent hours and hours on the table, building suspension stuff for the first few months,” he said. “We worked on it on evenings and weekends and finally got it done.”
RJ got the truck from his ex-brother-in-law. "I told him I might one day buy a Ranger and turn it into a prerunner," said RJ. "He gave it to me. I then bought an old Camburg unequal length beam kit, cut the billet beam ends off, and just started from there."
The relief that comes with finishing a project gives way to the awe of onlookers. We were certainly dying to know the Ranger’s features and highlights. Under the hood, a 460 cubic-inch (7.5-liter) Gen IV big-block Chevy V8 is the beating heart of the beast.
A Straub Technologies camshaft, Morel lifters, Manley connecting rods and crankshaft, Edelbrock intake manifold, and FAST fuel injection all keep it running strong and swift. Mated to the V8 is a T400 transmission and an RJ-designed rearend with a spool using 5.14:1 gearing.
Though we couldn’t get the hood taken off, Rob was proud of the 700-horsepower big-block Chevy V8 under it.
Suspension-wise, the Ranger has quintuple-bypass Fox shocks in the rear, and quadruple-bypass Fox shocks up front. “We get 28 inches of travel in the rear and 20 inches of travel in the front,” said Rob.
Wilwood brakes, Walker Evans wheels, 39-inch BFGs, KC HiLiTES lights, and other top-notch components made this Ranger one for the history books. And given Rob’s intentions for the Ranger, we were glad we got to see it before it received some Arizona pinstripes. “We got it up and on a trailer on its first start, so we haven’t gotten to shake it down yet,” he said. “But once we’re ready, we’re going to hammer down on this thing!”
Powder coating was done by Extreme Powder Coating in Hesperia, California. The vibrant gold was a great contrast with the black body.
That wraps up our top five picks from the 2017 Off-Road Expo. Which one was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
