Vintage 4wd Talk

[special-K]

Who remembers the early days of the off road craze and the names associated with it? How about accessories that were popular you no longer see? I realize the word early can mean different things to different people. But,I'm talking about early-80s back. To me things were rolling along by the early-80s even,but many companies are good and equipment has changed. Old racers of the Baja 1000,tire companies,off road shops,trends...here we go...

I guess what made me include the early 80s was thinking about Fly-N-Hi in Arizona. They kind of diluted themselves as a 4wd icon when they go into the mini truck fad. But,they made some stuff...mostly for style,but sold the equipment of the day and most of all BIGASS TARS!!

[coops714x4]

WOW your really trying to rack my brain now. I had a 55 3/4 ton 4wd in 79, I don't remember any brand names but I do remember there wasn't much available (here in Oklahoma) for it. Wish I had it now

[Oilbrnr]

Vic Hickey.

And being a native 'Zonie, I remember well those Fly-n-Hi mall cruisers. Funny thing is, I never remember seeing any of those rigs off road, at least in Northern AZ where Dad and I were usually hunting with our trusty stock K10 Suburban, or gathering firewood in our C20 company delivery truck.

[trapperjack]

Tilt gauges and cup holders, that bolted to the dash. Dual cb antennas on the side mirrors. And don't forget the new upgraded adjustable plastic gun racks. They fit in the window rubber, no drilling required.

[odog]

That was when I was a kid, so I dont remeber a whole lot, but I remember my dad always had mud tires, either Buckshots, or Dendman Ground Hawgs. We would go everywhere in his old ramcharger. We had the dual cb antanas as well. Seems to me like that was a lot simpler, better, time. MAybe cause I was 8 or 9, but seemed like dad didnt have the worries like I do now. Maybe that was why he was always driving offroad, to relieve stress. Hmmm...

[Zoomad75]

Shoot I remember seeing Fly-n-Hi stickers on trucks up in Denver back in the 80's when I was a kid. How about a zillion Rancho shocks per axle and 4 or more steering stabilizers on the front. Double or triple tube light bars in the bed with a bunch of KC Daylighters on top.

In Denver we had our own 4wd shop like Fly-n-hi called Four to GO that sold a lot of the 80's mall crawling gear. That shop's still in business about 6 miles from my Parents house. Back then I was more into Hot Rods and '57 Chevy's so I really wasn't into the 4x4 scene back then. I didn't get into the 4x4 stuff until High School. That was late 80's, early 90's. Lifting Toyota's was all the rage along with lowering them and whacking the roof off. We did a IFS 6" lift kit on a fellow student's 88 Toy. I remember all the goofy lowering brackets being bright orange. I want to say it was a skyjacker kit but the memory is fuzzy. We ended up putting 35" BFG's that at the time on a Toy were huge. We mounted them on the tire equipment in the shop and played like hell getting the stupid beads to seat.

The big thing I remember about the time was it was more about how it looked and a lot less on how it worked. That toy had the absolute roughest ride ever. Sure it looked cool but it was slow as a dog (didn't regear for the axles).

['63GENIII]

Haha. I remember having the tripple tripple rollbar in a long bed with 44s on it. The CB, antennas, bunches of Cibie lights in front. Heck I think the mullet was even part of the package. That was when California Concepts was turning out curbhoppers as fast as people could scoop them up.
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[Spruckalufagus]

Originally Posted by Zoomad75

Shoot I remember seeing Fly-n-Hi stickers on trucks up in Denver back in the 80's when I was a kid. How about a zillion Rancho shocks per axle and 4 or more steering stabilizers on the front. Double or triple tube light bars in the bed with a bunch of KC Daylighters on top.

In Denver we had our own 4wd shop like Fly-n-hi called Four to GO that sold a lot of the 80's mall crawling gear. That shop's still in business about 6 miles from my Parents house. Back then I was more into Hot Rods and '57 Chevy's so I really wasn't into the 4x4 scene back then. I didn't get into the 4x4 stuff until High School. That was late 80's, early 90's. Lifting Toyota's was all the rage along with lowering them and whacking the roof off. We did a IFS 6" lift kit on a fellow student's 88 Toy. I remember all the goofy lowering brackets being bright orange. I want to say it was a skyjacker kit but the memory is fuzzy. We ended up putting 35" BFG's that at the time on a Toy were huge. We mounted them on the tire equipment in the shop and played like hell getting the stupid beads to seat.

The big thing I remember about the time was it was more about how it looked and a lot less on how it worked. That toy had the absolute roughest ride ever. Sure it looked cool but it was slow as a dog (didn't regear for the axles).

haha funny you say that, my truck was like that when i bought it. just thought it was some dumba** who couldnt get enough... this explains so much now.

Dual front shocks


and 6 more on the rear! truck came with a 4 inch suspension lift and 10 shocks all around haha


the frame looks so bad before paint

OH! and two stabilizers on the front


really makes me wonder where this truck has been and what they guy did with it way back when

[vectorit]

I remember when the burb was running Heco shocks, Eagle headers, and Armstrongs. It didn't get Rancho's, BFG's until the early 90's.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by vectorit

I remember when the burb was running Heco shocks, Eagle headers, and Armstrongs. It didn't get Rancho's, BFG's until the early 90's.

Yep,Heckothorns all the way!! Desert Dynamics,Go-Rhino,tri-phase air filters...

[special-K]

Yeah,I remember hitting Denver in the '70s and seeing a the chromed out Jeeps cruisin'. I got out to the Eureka,CA area and it was the NW logger influence with much more functional 4wds...and cool vintage ones everywhere. I lived in Flagstaff and there were some chromed out rigs mixed with functional no BS 4wds,as well as throughout the Rockie Mt states. I lived in Florida a while and it was all about swamp rigs. Here in MD the rage was mostly lookers or not we thought out accessories piled on. Roll bars and KCs you can never use was big.
Remember Desert Dogs,Gates Commandos,Armstrong Rhinos and Tru-Tracs,Cepek Off Roaders or how about Quiet Giants?

[special-K]

Here are some ads I scanned when I had a scanner a few years ago from old magazines. I was given a new scanner for Christmas I need to hook up,then I'll see what other ads I can scan.

[rustyframe]

Man, I remember drooling over that chick in the tire ad in special-K's post#9, prolly in PUCKUP VAN AND 4WD mag. remember that one? I remember Conn-Ferr from back then but don't remember what it was.

[BLAZERMAN]

Originally Posted by rustyframe

Man, I remember drooling over that chick in the tire ad in special-K's post#9, prolly in PUCKUP VAN AND 4WD mag. remember that one? I remember Conn-Ferr from back then but don't remember what it was.

Con-Ferr was a manufacturing company out of Burbank CA. , they were most known for there "port hole" style roof racks but they made all kinds of stuff like bumpers, swing away tire/can carriers, shackles, dual shock mounts, consoles and you name it! They were real popular with the Jeep and Land Cruiser crowd but also made items for Blazers and Broncos.

[blue70k5]

Hey Special-K, I have Selectro hubs on my blazer... They're awesome! I like reading the old ads because they remind me that some of the things that annoy me about my Blazer have been happening since the truck was new, especially the tailgate anti squeak kit!

[willett]

its long before my time, but what about big chrome roll bars with about 800 kc daylighters on top?

[Dunenutt]

The first time I saw Big Oly, I was hooked on off road. This Bronco was awesome! It really was the first trophy truck.

[Dunenutt]

Thanks for the memories...


I started with a Jeep CJ 5, 304, tremec trans, and no money! I remember saving every dime to get a set of Summers brothers axles, springs from Dunbar, RS 5000's and an awesome set of 33" Ridge runner tires.

Spent every night working on friends trucks in my driveway. Shops were Desert fox, Fly-N-hi, Off Road Unlimited, Super Shops, Lopers, ect.

Smittybilt tube bumpers, KC Daylighters, Dick Cepec fun country's, 44" Thornbirds, bolt on axle trusses, tripple roll bars with snap on vinyl covers over the seams, fiberglass sun visors...

Spend all day washing and waxing the trucks, only to head out to the Deer Valley Mud Bogs in the evening.

[benwah]

My friend had a 78 chevy 1 ton 4x4. He put stacks and a sleeper on it. twin cb antennas and some big ol bias ply tires. thats all you could do back then. Wish I had a picture of the truck.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by benwah

My friend had a 78 chevy 1 ton 4x4. He put stacks and a sleeper on it. twin cb antennas and some big ol bias ply tires. thats all you could do back then. Wish I had a picture of the truck.

Or,you could do this...Detroit Locker rear/Tru-Trac front,exhaust up inside frame,tube bumpers (rear bumper and brush guard not made yet),built 440,springs arched on an anvil,never got that winch I wanted so bad:

[str8axle55]

I remember having an old Dick Cepek catalog, I think they had a shop in Albuquerque. I drove out there with dad, in the winter , in a 76 CJ-5 w/soft top. We also had an 80 CJ -5 w/Armstrong Norseman`s on it. I remember a lot of that stuff rom reading the 4wd mags back then. I hav a few to scan as well.

[special-K]

Warn,Selectro,Dualmatic,and other hub companies I can't recall:

[special-K]

...

[DirtyLarry]

Cool thread! I'll have to fish through my stash of old 4x4 rags that date back to the early 70's as well. My oldest brother who is 13 years older than me got tired of me stealing his magazines so he bought me my own subscriptions. Mine personal stash goes back to about 1984 but I have his stash too that goes back to around 1975. That is a lot of mags that take up a lot of room and are heavy to move! These days, I just throw them away. I almost hate FOUR WHEELER and Peterson's. They suck these days!

[BLAZERMAN]

I love these old ads! brings back lots of memories. I have a stack of old Hickey, Con-Ferr, Dick Cepek and 4wd Parts Wholesaler catalogs from the 70s and 80s. I'll try and scan some if I can keep my scanner going.