Vintage 4wd Talk

[farmall]

In Dallas it was Mike Burkhart's Auxillary Gas Tanks, Bud Ogle's Dallas West Four Wheel Drive, and Larry Ladue's Mini Truck Specialtys in the mid 70s. They were all drag or road racers. I worked for two of them. We ran Desert Dogs., then RTs, XTs, and Monster Mudders starting with the 33s.

I ran RTs then XTs, progressing to 38s and finally 40 Mudders on my Blazer. I had a tan Kayline top, Smittybuilt Tubes, Rancho dual shocks, Hickey trusses and diff covers.

Flash Gordon Mineo opened a shop in the far NE Dallas area latter, also a drag racer.

There was Wolverine, doing 4x4 conversions on Datsuns in the SW or Denver.

We went four wheeling in the creek along Preston Rd and FM544, Pipeline in the Trinity River bottoms, and the Spillway at the Lake Dallas Dam.

A typical Sunday would involve detailing our trucks and then going out and getting stuck in TX black gumbo clay and braking things. The rest of the week would be replacing axles and U joints. Your tire dia. could grow by 6 inches with that stickey mud and the extra weight took its toll.

As Dallas grew north, farmland became subdivisions so there were always new places to go wheeling.

I still run XTs on my Jeeps.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

That 4x4 VW bus is crazy!!!

Who needs 4x4 when your bus has reduction boxes in the rear and some decent tires?

That's what I used to say. I took my "Baja Bus" over mountain passes in deep snow, on the beach, and through deep mud. It seemed pretty unstoppable!

[mud.man.rj]

I like the baja bus, cool old ride. Bet you miss it.

[WhiteWhale]

that velvet baja is BAD ASS!!!

[special-K]

I thought I'd bring this one back because it was fun back then. I never showed my '71 Blazer done in the early-80s. It had the first Super Swampers on it, bias-ply 37/13 x 15s. Rancho 4" lift with 3" body lift. That's how I bought freshly done (poorly). It had Detroit Locker Rr/TruTrac fr with Transdapt finned aluminum extra capacity differential covers and axle trusses front and rear. Dual shocks on front and a push bar including KC Daylighters. The top was a Bestop, Hurst His n Hers floor shifter with t-handle. Diamond-pleat side panels and shag carpet in the back (came with that). Sun tach on the column to keep tabs on the build-up 350 that belonged in a 1/4 mile car... Torker intake for example. Blackjack Alumna-Coat headers running exhaust through Thrush Hush mufflers. Oh yeah, a Moroso 6qt oil pan and double-stacked K&N air filters. I had the TH350 built for the purpose. Remember Nyla-Braid hose covering? I had yellow on the extended axle vent lines and blue under the hood. It was a fun truck and pretty stylin' considering no chrome to speak of. That thing was quite a bog hog!

[RINC]

[JPBrecheisen]

Can't forget the old decal kits from that era they put on all the trucks too.

1972 blazer with looks to be eagle feathers

[HO455]

Growing up as a son of a Gypo logger in North Idaho the family had a pretty dim view of the 4x4 fad at the time. Most of it had to do with showing up at the landing and finding equipment damaged or some truck stuck in the middle of a skid trail requiring it to be drug out of the way so work could begin. Then some time later would be the confrontation when the owner showed up to rescue their truck and found it not where they left it. Loggers generally don't take a lot of care to remove a vehicle that's blocking them from making money.

I was living in Virginia in the 80's and the mall crawler fad was big. Then about 1985 Virginia outlawed lifting or lowering vehicles. Back then the law enforcement agencies in the state took enforcement to heart. I got stopped at least 10 times in my GTO because the rear bumper looked to be too high. The limit was 20 inches and mine was 19 1/4". I always carried a tape measure because Johnny Law would set his 16" Mag light under the bumper and say my bumper was too high. Then I'd whip my tape out and say "Let's see for sure." Of course that usually would lead to further scrutiny of the car with mixed results.

Soon afterwards mall crawlers were dirt cheap. Last time I was back there in 1990 I saw several sitting next to houses most with 2 or 3 flat 44 inch tires, looking abandoned and forlorn.

Okay that's enough of my blathering.

[special-K]

I remember in the '80s when the laws cracked down on the 4wds. And I know there were the original purpose 4wd owners, such as a logger, then there were the kids coming around tearing things up. I guess that was me. But I tried to be responsible about it. I went through all the crackdowns around here, same as Virginia. It seems when laws are first passed enforcement is tight, then it slacks off. I can't believe how slack things are now with about anything you want to do with a vehicle. I got pulled over so much when younger I look over my shoulder. I'd get pulled over the first day for what I see running around today

[57taskforce]

Even into the late 90’s and early 2000’s VA was still enforcing those laws hard. My K2500 has been pulled over a few times there for being “too high”. At the time It sat about 3/4” under the bumper height limit. I couldn’t tell you what that limit is anymore, it’s been a long time since I worried or cared.

[special-K]

I forget the measurement, too. I think it was 29". I'd see a cop grab his yardstick out of the trunk before walking up and when he got to the trucks I'd say, "28 3/4", and they'd say, 'What was that?". I'd say, "The bumper measures 28 3/4" if that's what you want to measure". Yep, barely legal but le-gal . They came up with that law once I had my blazer the way I wanted it, I believe that was 1984


Let's see. Per the topic of this thread, you are looking at the first Super Swampers made, 37/13 bias, rancho 4" lift, Desert Dynamics roll bar, House of Steel brush guard. KC Daylighters, Blackjack Alumna-coated headers, Walker Redline Z mufflers, Detroit Locker/TruTrac, rancho shocks and ddl steering stabilizer, Trans-Dapt aluminum differential covers and transmission pan, Moroso 6qt oil pan, Hurst his & hers shifter, Bestop, "Bushwacker" above the spring traction bars, Con-Fer axle trusses (IIRC), Warn Premiums, and the engine stuff as I recall