4x4 Garage: Ultimate Adventure Chevy Colorado Build, Part 3

MotorTrend

Christian returns to Ian's shop to finish up the Real Truck Colorado build for this years Ultimate Adventure trip.  Swapping a new cab onto the custom chassis and building a custom roll cage to keep everyone safe during this years epic trip through four states

Transcript

00:00 This time on 4x4 Garage, it's crunch time.

00:02 We have to finish the Colorado, get it out of Ian's shop, and head out to Ultimate Adventure.

00:07 Last time on our Colorado build, Christian put the Off-Road Designs Magnum on our NP205.

00:29 Then we slung the engine and transmission under the truck with our re-geared axles and custom suspension.

00:34 So the original '05 Colorado body that we were using was just hammered. It was rotted,

00:44 rusty, had a lot of issues. We're gonna junk it, but we are gonna use some of the stuff out of it.

00:49 So I'm pulling the seats out. I'll leave all the dead squirrels and rabbits and whatever else is in there.

00:56 It's actually cheaper to just go get a new junkyard cab than to replace body panels.

01:01 So that's what we're doing. We have the old cab off the lift. It's gonna get kicked to the curb.

01:06 I'm gonna bring the new cab in and start cleaning it up.

01:09 We got the rust-free cab in the shop. This one's actually been in a front-end collision.

01:22 So both airbags have popped and someone actually bent the steering wheel.

01:27 I'm gonna get the steering column out of here. I'll replace it with the column from the old cab.

01:32 We're also gonna gut the dash in here because we don't need the AC or any of the wiring or any of that stuff.

01:37 And we're running brand new Stuart Warner gauges. So once I get this all gutted,

01:43 I will put the seats from the old cab in there and then we can start measuring for the roll cage.

01:47 [Music]

02:05 Ultimate Adventure is one of those trips that you never know what's coming at you.

02:09 It truly is a mystery because they keep it very secretive. Even I don't know where I'm going,

02:14 even though I'm building a truck that has to be there for the title sponsor for the first day of the trip.

02:19 But every year I go, I kind of just miss the mark a little bit.

02:24 A couple years ago I went to Montana and I literally took an Ultra 4 car and we did 1,300 road miles.

02:31 And it was the wrong decision to make. So last year when I was putting the Javelanch together,

02:35 I wasn't really concentrating on building a hardcore rock crawler. I thought, you know what,

02:39 I'm going to build a middle of the road type of vehicle and that way it will be comfortable to camp in

02:44 and good for long highway miles. And we only did 300 miles and a whole bunch of some of the nastiest

02:50 rock crawling trails that anyone could throw at. I'm actually surprised that the Jeep made it

02:54 through the entire trip. I look back to all the way back in 2018 when I went for the very first time

03:01 I took my Jeep YJ pickup truck. It has coil springs in the front, leaf springs in the back.

03:07 Super simple suspension and I had the most fun I'd ever had. Has one ton axles front and rear,

03:12 but no fancy trick coil overs and bypasses, no race car parts. Just good well-designed suspension.

03:19 So that's my plan. I'm going to do that with the Colorado, but then at the same time I'm going to

03:23 throw some of those overlanding tricks in there to make camping a lot easier that I learned with

03:28 the Javelanch. So I think I finally got it figured out for this truck. Suspension that works, but it's

03:33 relatively simple and then at the same time comfortable to camp in.

03:38 Well the interior is gutted now. I got the dash out, all the wirings ripped out,

03:46 the AC system's over there in the corner. We don't need any of that stuff.

03:49 Steering column's in and the seats are in. We're going to get the doors on and then start building

03:54 the cage. It seems counterproductive to do that with the doors on, but that way we're

03:57 sure we have access to all the door handles and everything. Going to take some measurements,

04:02 start bending and notching some tube and get to work.

04:04 We're building this cage for Ultimate Adventure, which you know does have a pretty high chance of

04:15 rollover. So we like to see people err on the side of extra safety. To that end, we've really

04:21 designed a well-built cage here. We're using one and three quarter 120 wall DOM that's drawn over

04:27 mandrel tubing. So unlike hot rolled electric welded, there's no seam that can split.

04:55 It's a very strong cage. It's got a lot of crossbars and it's solidly tied into the chassis.

05:00 Should the worst happen, we're pretty confident no one's going to get hurt.

05:04 I work in a lot of shops, but this one's got kind of the newest and best of everything. It's really

05:15 a treat. I mean from designing the cage with the Bentec Pro to the fancy new bender that I've never

05:21 used before to even having the plasmid table. I mean whatever you need is at your fingertips here.

05:25 It's a really cool environment to work in because even if you don't have it on the

05:29 shelf you can just go over to the corner, grab some steel and make it.

05:32 The best part of working in Ian's shop here, besides the air conditioning,

05:43 because it gets hot here in Tennessee and this is a really well-built building,

05:47 just it's fun. You know there's no heaviness, there's levity, you can joke, you can riff off

05:54 each other. He's here to help, I'm here to help. So it's a really fun,

06:00 it's just a really fun collaborative environment to work in.

06:13 This wasn't my plan, but I basically have to completely redesign the spring and shock mount

06:19 on the front of the frame because this original design is not gonna work. No big deal, just chop

06:25 it off, cut some stuff out on the plasmid table, weld it all together. It'll actually work better

06:30 and I like how it looks a lot better too. Then I'll spray it with some bed liner along with the

06:35 rest of the frame and then it's time to assemble this rolling chassis.

06:39 So we get a three-link front and a leaf spring rear in this thing, but we're also going to have

06:49 some really killer Radflow shocks on it. Radflow makes all sorts of high-performance shocks. These

06:54 are their two and a half inch remote reservoir smooth body shocks with a seven eighths inch shaft.

07:00 These are 10 inch travel, but a really cool feature on these is the adjuster on the remote

07:04 reservoir so we can increase or decrease the firmness of the shock for any kind of terrain

07:09 or vehicle load, which is really great for UA since you never know what the event's going to

07:13 throw at you. We got quite a bit done. I gotta head back to California and get things ready for

07:24 Ultimate Adventure, which is happening real soon. Ian's gonna keep moving forward on this thing,

07:28 get it running and driving, and meet us at the start of Ultimate Adventure.

07:31 [Music]

07:53 We're here in the parking lot for Ultimate Adventure. We're gonna get things underway

07:57 in a couple minutes, but first Ian's gonna walk us around the Corral Dorado.

08:00 Yeah, it's pretty cool. You know, it's a lot different than the last time you saw it because

08:03 the last time you saw we were dropping the body down to the frame. I blew it all apart,

08:07 coated the frame with some bed liner, finished up the back, got my Rugged Ridge tent back there,

08:11 got a couple storage boxes. I've kind of been trying to figure out the best way to tackle this

08:14 Ultimate Adventure thing. You've been doing a lot longer than I have and I've kind of been dancing

08:17 between a hardcore crawler and a good place to sleep. Yeah, so capability and comfort. Yeah,

08:23 they usually don't mesh. If I could get a coffee maker in this, I think I'm 90% of the way there.

08:28 [Music]

08:34 After you left, I painted the Dana 60 front axle, finished welding up the forelink,

08:39 and got our Radflow shocks in place on the chassis. Then I painted the 14-bolt in the rear,

08:45 got the Radflows fitted under the bed, just like I was hoping. The spare tire fit perfectly in place

08:51 up underneath our toolboxes. The engine transmission was what fought me though. I

08:57 knew I should have gone with a 4L80 or a Turbo 400, but by going with a 4L65E for the highway

09:04 miles, it ended up being the thing that delayed me from getting here at the start.

09:08 Good on you for never saying die. I mean, that's really the first rule of Ultimate Adventure,

09:14 after no whining, is never say quit. And so you did, you know, ran into some problems, you

09:18 shook it out, and here you are. We had a killer day on the trail yesterday. It's gonna just get

09:24 better from here. This thing looks great. I can't believe it came together so quickly.

09:28 Can't wait to see how it does on the trail. Let's climb over some rocks in our Colorado truck.

09:33 [Music]

10:01 The real truck Colorado is working epic. I was able to boil the tires down a little bit.

10:07 Nothing crazy happened. That's always a good feeling. But that line was not my line. So I

10:12 took a different one. But I still made it to the top. I have not unspooled my winch yet, that's all

10:17 it matters. Man, I love wheeling in the South. This is like home for me. I'm based out of Nashville,

10:24 so this is just normal stuff. This is a perfect Ultimate Adventure because I love it, because

10:30 everyone who shows up with these pristine trucks, I looked at them and said, "It's not going to end

10:35 that way." The beauty of this truck, a whole new cab is 150 bucks.

10:40 [Music]

10:58 We're back at the shop. I've got the truck back here. Now, if you remember from the very beginning,

11:03 I said the plan here was to try to basically come up with the perfect UA vehicle. And I honestly

11:09 think I've done it. This truck ends up being the perfect package. I've got everything I need for a

11:15 throw-down, hardcore off-road rig underneath. One-ton axles front and rear, mechanical lockers

11:20 that are super simple, good chrome moly shafts, super strong, beefy parts where they need to be.

11:26 I even love the Method Race Wheels non-beadlock wheels, that bead grip wheel. I got a legit flat,

11:32 like dead flat, and I did not lose the tire off the bead. I was able to use my super special

11:38 winch in the back, drop the tire down, change the tire, and get back on the trail in no time.

11:42 So for an off-roader, hands down, this truck has got what it needs. But this is where this truck

11:49 really shines. Sleeping in this truck after, you know, 10 hours on the road, the Rugged Ridge

11:55 rooftop tent sitting on top of those toolboxes on the back of this truck, it was perfect.

12:01 - Just woke up after having an amazing night's sleep in my Rugged Ridge rooftop tent. I gotta say,

12:08 I think this is the best night's sleep I've ever had on any Ultimate Adventure I've ever gone on.

12:14 - That combo ended up being, I honestly think, the best part of this truck. It's not super

12:20 expensive, that tent is under a thousand bucks. Put it on a rig like this, that it's not sitting

12:24 up super high, it's cab height, so it doesn't mess with the stability when we're off-road,

12:29 and you end up with the best of both worlds. I literally have a hardcore rock crawler,

12:34 I can drive this thing down the highway at 70 miles an hour, no problem at all, and I'll be

12:37 able to stay out in the woods for days at a time with this thing. This truck is not going anywhere,

12:43 it's going to be back next year for another Ultimate Adventure, just even better. So don't

12:48 forget, if you want to see all the excitement from this year's Ultimate Adventure, pay attention to

12:52 the Motor Trend channel, you'll see us having tons of fun in the South for a week on Ultimate Adventure

13:00 2022.

13:04 you

13:04 [Music]

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