Go behind the scenes of MotorTrend’s 2026 Truck of the Year testing — where forklifts rule, mud traps strike back, and even the mighty off-roaders get humbled! From learning to drive a forklift in 5 minutes, to sinking trucks in the infamous “Lake Failexander,” to the unbelievable moment when the Silverado EV Fail Boss rescued a Ram Power Wagon… this episode has everything.
00:00Behind the scenes at the 2026 Motor Trend Truck of the Year, where forklifts rule and common sense goes missing, if you've ever wondered what goes on behind the curtain at Motor Trend's Truck of the Year test, here's the truth.
00:14Somehow nobody dies.
00:16Sometimes we learn new skills we probably shouldn't have.
00:19And every year we create enough inside jokes to last until the next toady, toady toe.
00:24To those of us who say it 40 times a day is the chillest of all our of the year programs.
00:28Fewer trucks, simpler testing, and way more opportunities for us to act like unsupervised children.
00:36Since moving toady to Michigan two years ago, we've enjoyed surprisingly nice fall weather compared to the biblical downpours we get back in California.
00:44Sunshine, plus trucks, plus no mudslides, equals happiness.
00:49The All-American Showdown this year was special, because every single truck competing was domestic Ford.
00:56GM and Stellantis all showed up with everything from tiny subcompacts to full-fat heavy-duty monsters.
01:05Gas, diesel, hybrid, electric, you name it.
01:09Someone brought it.
01:10Testing starts with normal road loops, then towing, then hauling.
01:14To load the trucks, we use massive rubber horse stall mats that weigh about 100 pounds each.
01:20In the past, we hauled them around by hand like cavemen.
01:24Then it hit us.
01:26Why not use a forklift?
01:28Becoming totally unqualified forklift drivers, we rented a forklift no questions asked.
01:33Just a credit card.
01:35Our testing director got a five-minute crash course literally could have been a crash.
01:39And the rest of us learned by pushing random levers until something moved.
01:44The forklift survived.
01:46No one got run over.
01:48And suddenly, everyone wanted to quit journalism and join a warehouse crew.
01:52We also discovered you can drive a Chevrolet Bright Drop van with the side doors open,
01:57which is basically the closest thing to a sideways convertible.
02:01Probably not OSHA approved, but the seatbelts are orange, so that counts as extra safety, right?
02:06A Frode time equals chaos.
02:09Time once towing was done.
02:10We headed to Hollyoaks of Frode Park, where real stupidity traditionally happens.
02:15This place has everything from mild trails to vehicle-eating pits.
02:20Many trucks have met their doom here.
02:22A legendary puddle at the park.
02:25Nicknamed Lake Felixander was created when a former staffer once turned their engine into a snorkel.
02:31The lake was dry this year,
02:32so naturally someone posed a maverick hybrid inside it to roast that former co-worker.
02:38Then karma struck.
02:39The solid ground around the empty lake turned into mud soup the moment a maverick drove onto it.
02:46Boom sunk to its half-shaft.
02:48A Ram 2500 power wagon rescued it,
02:51but not before the rescuer almost lost a shoe to the mud.
02:55Lake Felixander is now also known as Scott's Folly.
02:59Did we learn our lesson?
03:01Of course not.
03:01Minutes later,
03:03the photo team managed to bury the same power wagon up to its axles in even worse mud.
03:09Since we couldn't figure out who was dumber,
03:11the photographer,
03:12or the driver we named that pit,
03:14Lake, what the hell were you two thinking?
03:17Enter the fail boss.
03:19Truck closest to the scene was the Chevrolet Silverado EV trail boss,
03:23because it had been embarrassingly bad at climbing even the easiest hills.
03:27We hooked it up for a joke rescue attempt while waiting for another Ram to arrive.
03:32Shockingly, it worked.
03:34One little tug turned into two, then three.
03:37And suddenly, the mighty power wagon was crawling out of the mud.
03:42Pulled by the truck that had failed at practically everything else,
03:45the whole team lost their minds celebrating.
03:49It was the dumbest, funniest miracle of the entire test.
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