- 2 months ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00it's time for the 2025 build for off-road adventure ride we kick things off in Big Bear
00:10California with a scenic mountain warm-up before the crew is going to descend into the legendary
00:17Johnson Valley terrain gets tougher the snakes get higher and the action doesn't stop this
00:25multi-part off-road journey showcases a fleet of serious off-road vehicles and capable chase
00:32trucks as they put aftermarket parts to the test in real-world extreme hardcore off-road conditions
00:45this is the show that we've been waiting for all year it's time for our annual build for
00:52off-road adventure ride now I know what you're wondering what is the build for off-road adventure
00:56ride well it is an epic five-day trip we're going to spend five days in the dirt before we end it all
01:02at the annual SEMA show when I say five days in the dirt I mean Big Bear California Johnson Valley
01:08California Kingman Arizona and I had one rule for this trip hard trails only no easy days no road
01:17days nothing like that it's all about hitting the dirt with your rig for five days but first we've
01:23got a little bit of work to do on this Jeep before we start one thing I always wanted to do on this
01:41rig was basically drop the winch further down inside the bumper and especially since we haven't run a front
01:46sway bar on this rig in years it just doesn't really need it so this is the perfect time to do
01:49that I'm going to be using this carbon off-road 12,000 pound winch mainly because of the packaging
01:55for it it's an incredibly strong winch it's one of the lightest 12,000 pound winches on the market
02:00but the nice thing is it also comes with a box that's prepped to be mounted remote so I can mount
02:06the control box separate from the winch and then it also comes with this super cool fair lead this
02:12basically billet aluminum fairly which will end up on the front bumper on this Jeep when it's all said
02:17and done that will basically lower this winch down inside the bumper give me lots more room for air
02:21to get across the radiator and it'll look a lot cooler another issue that I've always had with this
02:29Jeep has been just storage in the back when I originally built it I put a back seat in it but
02:34honestly I can only think of like two times in the past seven years that I've ever had a person sitting
02:39in that back seat normally I've got tools and stuff basically strapped down with the seat belts
02:44and this trip I'm taking even more stuff because we're going to be gone for five days so I've got
02:48all my new Carlisle tool bags and a whole bunch of Carlisle tools obviously my recovery equipment
02:53from carbon off-road I have a new Zamp Solar solar panel that's going to charge up a battery bank
02:59and keep my Dometic cooler running when I'm on the trail plus I'm always carry extra fluids with me
03:05whenever I go so I've got a whole bunch of transmission fluid oil and then of course
03:09always carry some coolant and this time like if I'm going on a big trip I always take my ESOV
03:16Renegade Volt that is a battery operated welder operates off power tool batteries so it's super
03:21easy to keep charged and super easy to use when we're on the trail but as you can see just by looking
03:25at this there's no way it's going to fit in this space right here plus I want to add a cooler back
03:31here since we're going to be on the trail for long days so I think right now the plan is
03:35ditch the back seat build a cargo rack to properly store all this stuff now all I got to do is drive
03:42all the way across the country to Big Bear California to meet up with a whole bunch of my
03:48friends to spend a week in the dirt we're slapping on the final sponsor stickers double checking gear
03:54and making those last minute tweaks before we hit the trails tomorrow these rides always draw in some
04:01of my favorite people from the industry and this year I get some extra eyes and ears out there
04:06because there's no way I can cover this entire adventure on my own so right at the shop we made
04:12it to Big Bear California and I'm not alone I got Matt and Willie with me out here to have some fun so
04:17uh this is this your first time in Big Bear California go four-wheeling um four-wheeling yeah
04:23uh I've been up here snowboarding several times but there's no snow this week I heard that story
04:27dude and that's one for another show but it's all good hey listen I live literally in a swamp in
04:32Florida yeah so the whole scenery out here is totally different for me so I'm excited about
04:36everything coming in here today it was beautiful I can't weird to see the land go up oh yeah what
04:42are these big protrusions that come out of the earth like that I got my jeep Willie you got your jeep
04:47yeah man ready roll and you're riding with I'm riding with everybody I'm like a variety pack all
04:52right so it's all good you're just bouncing around all right so today it is some of the wildlife picked
04:57only hard trails in uh and jump so it'll be good how many trailers do you think we plan on getting
05:02through before the first person breaks down oh hopefully we get through all next up it's time
05:08for the appetizer for this year's adventure ride with the gatekeeper at gold mountain trail the
05:14perfect warm-up for what's ahead we'll get a closer look at the factory 5 XTF sponsor rig that's
05:20keeping our crew rolling on this year's ride trail one day one here we go right here in big bear
05:39California we're headed up to gold mountain trail I believe it's called I did have to check on onyx
05:45off-road because a couple days ago this trail was actually closed and so I wanted to make sure that
05:50it opened back up so fired up onyx app made sure everything was good and it was it's opened up we're
05:57all good ready to hit the trail have some fun right out of the gate at the first obstacle you can already
06:06see how stunning the scenery is along a gold mountain trail here in big bear California
06:19onyx off-road rates this trail a 7 out of 10 calling it a challenging trail that's perfect for
06:25any rig with 4x4 and plenty of clearance
06:28most of these trails traced back to the late 1800s when Elias lucky baldwin struck gold in the area and a mining
06:40town sprang up around his claim the lake below still carries his name baldwin lake though the mines have
06:48long since gone our ride on the other hand is anything but quiet we've brought out a full lineup of
06:57sponsored rigs from aesop amsoil dupli-color and more along with support vehicles like the factory
07:045 xtf truck it's built to tackle the terrain all week long while hauling the gear and supplies our
07:11crew needs to capture this epic journey and adventure probably one of the hardest things when
07:17you plan trips like this is how to get the film crew around and this year we lucked out because our
07:22good friends from factory 5 brought out the xtf truck so they can run them around to all the different
07:26places to get all the cool shots and this is more than just a factory f-150 right nate right this is
07:31nate from factory 5 by the way he's going to tell us all about the truck we've had this truck on the
07:35show yep and uh so let's just run down to remind everybody what exactly this thing is so we take
07:392015 to 2020 f-150 crew cab we give you a full chassis all your suspension shocks everything body kit to
07:47make a desert pre-runner yep and how much wider is it than like a factory f-150 it's five and a half inches
07:55wider on each side so 11 inches wide it's 90 inches all total wide so a five and a half over
07:59on each side that gives it obviously more suspension travel and then the rear is now four
08:03length full full length yeah we get 16 inches of travel in the front 20 in the rear you took
08:08it for a couple drives with the crew to run them around how's it feel what's it doing feels awesome
08:12uh only other time i've been out here was in ocotillo with fox doing testing so i was super
08:16excited to come back when you guys invited us i said yeah i want to go play in the desert so we said
08:20we'll support the crew get you guys out to some areas and then while you're off doing your rock
08:24roll we're going to play in the desert and have some fun with it what model year uh ford do we
08:27build off this 2015 to 2020 okay is the current xdf and we're actually working on call it a second
08:33generation that can use 2015 all the way up to we believe 2028 from what ford has told us that is
08:39awesome so it's great having these guys out here to run the crew around in this truck get them where
08:42they need to go and get them there fast and it's great having factory five here to support the crew
08:59this was probably the first time i've gone jeeping or rock crawling new experience has me thinking
09:04wanting to build a jeep so i guess you could say that was good for the first time out
09:17this is the bone garden section of gold mountain trail and it definitely earns its name
09:23that crushing sound under the tires it's like bones cracking luckily it's just rocks well
09:34mostly rocks maybe a few small bones next day
09:43so being out here checking it out what do you think what's your impression yeah i mean it's been
09:48great you know we eased in on gold mountain this morning uh most drivers out here know what they're
09:52doing a couple new guys out here so i thought that was a great start i think where all the vehicles
09:56are built out ready for it you know especially got more difficult ones upcoming this week so it's been
10:01great so this road's pretty brutal right here you know knowing now what you guys know about this
10:06what would you recommend somebody have in their setup to bring it out there's a lot of different
10:10variations of builds right depending on how much clearance you want with lifts and tire size that's
10:15kind of where we'll dial you in on the correct gear ratio but everyone can benefit from the upgraded
10:21axle shafts the 43 40 chrome ollies then paired up with the knee lockers you could do a 35 spine
10:26upgrade which is also going to give added strength let's keep it going man we got to get down and
10:30around here and then i think it spits us out i act like i've been here before
10:40so willie how's the carlisle jeep rocking along there so well i haven't needed tools yet so so no carlisle
10:45are so good that's all right that's that's 90 of it what do you think of the trail so far i like
10:49the obstacles i'm sure the other guys as well so i hear there's some down here on a one to five what
10:54do we got waiting for us oh i don't grade them because everything for me is a five that's just
10:59the way it is no this i think this is supposed to be a seven so this is seven out of ten but it's not
11:03too bad i mean it's it's no different than what we've done so far this is the official start of john
11:08bull trail so what we've done is the gold mountain sections that brought us up over the top of the
11:11mountain okay back down through here now this is john bull there's a couple of little rock gardens
11:15down in there hey the scenery up there was nuts yeah we're gonna be down in the pretty much in
11:19the valley for a little bit and we're just rolling around in some of this rock collier stuff and then
11:22we'll jump back up on top one more time all right i'm down man the least being rig is rolling that's
11:26all they feel for and i put my sticker on the sign so we're ready to go
11:41how has your day been so far mr sure epic so this this is like a full circle event for me
12:00where as a kid i grew up loving tonka trucks right thinking off-road was where it was at
12:07and watching as many things as i could get my eyeballs on and i love the maker style community
12:15that makes what we're riding in i mean you've made it you've made an amazing break here it's beautiful
12:20started as a pile of two on the tube rack and then a whole bunch of welding
12:27now we're on john bull trail john bull john bull so it's not ain't no bull yeah it's not really that
12:32different i mean it's it's similar to what we've been driving we're gonna be down in the valley
12:36for a little bit there's a couple good little rock gardens down here at the bottom and we'll have you
12:42drive through those rock gardens me i get to drive you get to drive yes sir the john bull trail is one of
12:49the toughest sections on the big bear trail loop packed with rock gardens steep climbs and tight
12:56technical lines it's all parked in the san bernardino national forest and out here lockers and a solid set
13:03of tires make all the difference that's why the revolution gear and axle jeeps are making quick work
13:09of this first obstacle even sherm from asap jumped behind the wheel of my lj to give it a try
13:22we've also got dan and darren from carbon off road who made the long trip all the way from australia
13:29to join this year's ride let's catch up with them get their thoughts so far and check out what rig
13:35they brought for this year's adventure ride day one on adventure ride has been an absolute blast it's
13:40great to get out there in the rocks mix it up and challenge ourselves and do some hard wheeling in
13:45the states the rig to wear we've got this week is a zj cherokee it's got jl rubicon diffs underneath
13:5337 inch yokies we've got the carbon scout pro 9000 fast line speed winch on the front it's also got our
14:01upgraded air free spool clutch actuator as well so that makes handling the rope engaging and disengaging
14:08the clutch super easy from inside the cap it's also got a low range transfer case it's a good rig
14:15it's probably under 10 grand so it's held up really well this week and um thanks to dave who actually
14:21owns the rig our mate for letting us borrow it brian dude we've worked together a lot of years
14:31oh yeah and we've done a lot of cool things but this is like a whole new level we are way up here
14:37we are way up here i didn't even mean it like a new level but yeah let me be honest with you
14:41i've never done this before i've done i've done the whole mud thing but i've never done the rock
14:45yeah i have full confidence in you so we had this in the shop you know getting it ready for this
14:53right and i mean you're intimately familiar with some of the tasks that we did because you were
14:57around for some of them we put the wheel paint on there the gold yep gold which looks awesome yeah
15:02and this thing really we got some cool looking vehicles out here this week there's no doubt
15:05real nice but this stands out man and then the the vinyl and fabric on the seats yeah and we're
15:12we're stepping all over them but it's holding up yeah dude i love the fact that um just a cool
15:17group of guys out here having fun it's during the week we got some great companies out here that we
15:22work with yeah tying all the shows together like we're doing oh that's great yeah i love it dude
15:27i hope i hope there's more and more of this i could i could do this all the time i don't know
15:32if you see it but there's a huge like a drop off over here and it's on my side so let's let's try to
15:38avoid over here yes
15:48we've got a couple of minutes to catch up with adam and brad lovell and there's a lot of history with
15:52this truck we'll get into that here in just a minute but it's your first time running this
15:56trail it is yeah i haven't been up here yet you wouldn't know it from watching you man i've been
16:00watching you drive genetically i think you're you've got some gifts for driving though you know but
16:05you're showing them off here today yeah i mean i've certainly learned a lot from my father these past
16:09few years but uh i've never been up on this trail before and it is just so beautiful i mean that view
16:14out there is just it's crazy isn't it so cool you know what you know what i like about watching you drive
16:19is is like you're going if you're fourth or fifth in line you just take a whole different run than
16:23everybody else does and i like that dude yeah i like doing what people don't do whether it's building
16:29something on a vehicle or taking a different line just do something else do something different
16:34dad you gotta you gotta be digging that how cool is that yeah uh it's it's always fun riding with my
16:40son i can see so much with adam and his brother byam about who they are as people when they're behind the
16:46wheel yeah but let's talk about the history of this thing because this has been around for a
16:50little bit yeah you know i was just thinking we're sitting here overlooking johnson valley down there
16:54and i believe is about 19 years ago that we debuted this vehicle in johnson valley we went out suspension
17:00testing had no idea what we're doing going fast in the desert learned so much awesome guys happy to
17:06be out here with y'all doing it yeah absolutely i mean it's it's a great trail ride out here and it's a
17:11little bit more relaxed than the high strung racing we get to do together so i think we gotta turn it
17:17down a notch and and ready to enjoy this week with you guys awesome
17:26we've met some great folks on the ride so far and everything's been running smoothly until now things
17:33took a turn when willie managed to get the carlisle tools jeep stuck well i guess uh the old tube
17:39rotated there in the diff we uh hopped out and noticed that pinion angle was severely off and
17:44got to looking and yeah we spun the tube inside the axle and it just so happens man you uh you brought
17:50your stick welder and i'm happy for it all right so we'll pull the pinion back down hopefully get it
17:53lined up and then we'll glue it together yeah one to three that's the angle we're looking for right now
17:57it's like like this he's not getting an angle of one to three he's gonna get close time to put some of
18:04those tools to work the axle tube unfortunately spun on the differential and now that it's back in
18:10place we're breaking out my aesop volt battery powered stick welder for a little trail side welding
18:17action how much weld time can you get out something completely portable yeah fresh battery charge but
18:23you get 10 minutes of battery on eighth inch electrode 10 minutes of welding that's with eighth inch rod if you
18:29were doing something thin though you wouldn't use eighth inch you'd use 3 32nd sure now i'm going to
18:34turn that amperage down the minutes go even higher you're talking 15 16 18 minutes of welding and
18:40completely stand free there we go that should get you home day one of the build for off-road adventure
18:47ride is almost in the books next we'll see if we can make it through the final obstacle on john bull trail
18:53without anyone else breaking their rig today
19:08we are still out here tackling trails in the holcomb valley area on day one of the build for off-road
19:24adventure ride
19:29off-road hall of famer and amsoil team driver brad lovell is along for the ride today with his son adam
19:35behind the wheel it's awesome to see this iconic 2007 ultra four car and rock collar that's kind of
19:48looks a little bit like a ford ranger back out on the trails this rig helped launch brad's legendary
19:55career racking up 44 off-road wins including his first king of the hammers event we've we've had quite
20:02a pedigree with this truck it's built our team or you know our family my career carrying on to the
20:07next generations a lot of success in king of the hammers i think uh three emc wins four class wins in
20:15this and uh and almost won the the big race one year but lauren healy outdid us by 28 seconds it's
20:22been a heck of a machine for us and and it's still competitive i think and adam put a bunch of time in
20:28over the last six months re-prepping it and getting it ready so now we have a active truck that's ready
20:33to go next time a race comes around back up like you mean it all right don't stop don't stop i said
20:40don't stop pardon my way and forward here we go
20:56that's a wrap on day one of the build for off-road adventure ride today was just a teaser
21:01of what we've got coming because the trails today although scenic and pretty they weren't hard
21:06tomorrow we go to one of my favorite places to wheel on the west coast johnson valley california
21:11and that's not just because it's named after me it's because some of the hardest trails that you
21:14could hit on this side of the country we're gonna hit a lot of them
21:36so
21:41you
Comments