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00:00It's time for the 2025 Build for Off-Road Adventure Ride.
00:04We kick things off in Big Bear, California with a scenic mountain warm-up
00:09before the crew is going to descend into the legendary Johnson Valley.
00:14The terrain gets tougher, the stakes get higher, and the action doesn't stop.
00:20This multi-park off-road journey showcases a fleet of serious off-road vehicles
00:26and capable chase trucks as they put aftermarket parts to the test
00:30in real-world, extreme, hardcore off-road conditions.
00:41This is the show that we've been waiting for all year.
00:45It's time for our annual Build for Off-Road Adventure Ride.
00:48Now, I know what you're wondering.
00:49What is the Build for Off-Road Adventure Ride?
00:51Well, it is an epic five-day trip.
00:54We're going to spend five days in the dirt before we end it all at the annual SEMA show.
00:59When I say five days in the dirt, I mean Big Bear, California,
01:03Johnson Valley, California, Kingman, Arizona.
01:05And I had one rule for this trip.
01:07Hard trails only.
01:10No easy days, no road days, nothing like that.
01:13It's all about hitting the dirt with your rig for five days.
01:17But first, we've got a little bit of work to do on this Jeep before we start.
01:24One thing I always wanted to do on this rig was basically drop the winch further down inside the bumper.
01:39And especially since we haven't run a front sway bar on this rig in years, it just doesn't really need it.
01:43So this is the perfect time to do that.
01:45I'm going to be using this Carbon Off-Road 12,000-pound winch mainly because of the packaging for it.
01:51It's an incredibly strong winch.
01:53It's one of the lightest 12,000-pound winches on the market.
01:56But the nice thing is it also comes with a box that's prepped to be mounted remote.
02:00So I can mount the control box separate from the winch.
02:03And then it also comes with this super cool fair lead, this basically billet aluminum fair lead,
02:09which will end up on the front bumper on this Jeep when it's all said and done.
02:12That will basically lower this winch down inside the bumper, give me lots more room for air to get across the radiator,
02:17and it'll look a lot cooler.
02:21Another issue that I've always had with this Jeep has been just storage in the back.
02:26When I originally built it, I put a back seat in it.
02:28But honestly, I can only think of like two times in the past seven years that I've ever had a person sitting in that back seat.
02:35Normally, I've got tools and stuff basically strapped down with the seatbelts.
02:39And this trip, I'm taking even more stuff because we're going to be gone for five days.
02:42So I've got all my new Carlisle tool bags and a whole bunch of Carlisle tools.
02:47Obviously, my recovery equipment from Carbon Off-Road.
02:50I have a new Zamp Solar solar panel.
02:53That's going to charge up a battery bank and keep my Dometic cooler running when I'm on the trail.
02:57Plus, I always carry extra fluids with me whenever I go.
03:01So I've got a whole bunch of transmission fluid, oil, and then, of course, always carry some coolant.
03:06And this time, like if I'm going on a big trip, I always take my ESAB Renegade Volt.
03:12That is a battery-operated welder.
03:14Operates off power tool batteries.
03:16So it's super easy to keep charged and super easy to use when we're on the trail.
03:19But as you can see, just by looking at this, there's no way it's going to fit in this space right here.
03:24Plus, I want to add a cooler back here since we're going to be on the trail for long days.
03:28So I think right now the plan is ditch the back seat, build a cargo rack to properly store all this stuff.
03:35Now all I've got to do is drive all the way across the country to Big Bear, California,
03:40to meet up with a whole bunch of my friends to spend a week in the dirt.
03:45We're slapping on the final sponsor stickers, double-checking gear,
03:49and making those last-minute tweaks before we hit the trails tomorrow.
03:53These rides always draw in some of my favorite people from the industry.
03:58And this year, I get some extra eyes and ears out there
04:01because there's no way I can cover this entire adventure on my own.
04:06So right at the shop, we made it to Big Bear, California, and I'm not alone.
04:09I got Matt and Willie with me out here to have some fun.
04:12So is this your first time in Big Bear, California, to go four-wheeling?
04:17Four-wheeling, yeah.
04:18I've been up here snowboarding several times.
04:20There's no snow in this week.
04:21I heard that story, dude, and that's one for another show.
04:24But it's all good.
04:25Hey, listen, I live literally in a swamp in Florida.
04:28So the whole scenery out here is totally different for me.
04:30So I'm excited about everything.
04:32Coming in here today, it was beautiful.
04:34It's weird to see the land go up.
04:36Yeah, what are these big protrusions that come out of the earth like that?
04:40I got my Jeep.
04:41Willie, you got your Jeep.
04:42Yeah, man.
04:43So it's ready to roll.
04:43And you're riding with?
04:44I'm riding with everybody.
04:45I'm like a variety pack.
04:47All right.
04:47So it's all good.
04:48You're just bouncing around.
04:49All right.
04:49So today, it is some of the wildlife-picked-only hard trails in Jumbo.
04:55So it'll be good.
04:56How many trailers do you think we plan on getting through
04:58before the first person breaks down?
04:59Oh, hopefully we'll get through all.
05:01Next up, it's time for the appetizer for this year's adventure ride
05:05with the gatekeeper at Gold Mountain Trail,
05:08the perfect warm-up for what's ahead.
05:11We'll get a closer look at the Factory 5 XTF sponsor rig
05:14that's keeping our crew rolling on this year's ride.
05:31Trail one, day one.
05:32Here we go.
05:33We're out here in Big Bear, California.
05:34We're headed up to Gold Mountain Trail, I believe it's called.
05:38I did have to check on Onyx Off-Road because a couple days ago,
05:42this trail was actually closed.
05:44And so I wanted to make sure that it opened back up.
05:47So fired up Onyx App, made sure everything was good.
05:50And it was.
05:51It's opened up.
05:52We're all good.
05:53We're ready to hit the trail.
05:54Have some fun.
05:55Right out of the gate at the first obstacle,
06:00you can already see how stunning the scenery is
06:04along Gold Mountain Trail here in Big Bear, California.
06:14Onyx Off-Road rates this trail a 7 out of 10,
06:17calling it a challenging trail that's perfect for any rig with 4x4 and plenty of clearance.
06:27Most of these trails trace back to the late 1800s when Elias Lucky Baldwin struck gold in the area
06:35and a mining town sprang up around his claim.
06:38The lake below still carries his name, Baldwin Lake,
06:42though the mines have long since gone.
06:47Our ride, on the other hand, is anything but quiet.
06:50We've brought out a full lineup of sponsored rigs
06:53from Aesop, Amsoil, Duplicolor, and more,
06:57along with support vehicles like the Factory 5 XTF truck.
07:01It's built to tackle the terrain all week long
07:04while hauling the gear and supplies our crew needs
07:07to capture this epic journey and adventure.
07:10Probably one of the hardest things when you plan trips like this
07:13is how to get the film crew around.
07:15And this year we lucked out because our good friends from Factory 5
07:18brought out the XTF truck so they can run them around
07:20to all the different places to get all the cool shots.
07:22And this is more than just a Factory F-150, right, Nate?
07:25Right.
07:26This is Nate from Factory 5, by the way.
07:28He's going to tell us all about the truck.
07:29We've had this truck on the show.
07:30Yep.
07:30And so let's just run down to remind everybody
07:32what exactly this thing is.
07:34So we take 2015 to 2020 F-150 crew cab.
07:37We give you a full chassis, all your suspension, shocks,
07:40everything, body kit to make a desert pre-runner.
07:44Yep.
07:44And how much wider is it than like a Factory F-150?
07:48It's 5.5 inches wider on each side, so 11 inches wide.
07:51It's 90 inches all over.
07:52Total wide.
07:53So 5.5 over on each side.
07:55That gives it, obviously, more suspension travel.
07:56And then the rear is now four-length.
07:59Full four-length, yep.
07:59Yeah.
08:00We get 16 inches of travel in the front, 20 in the rear.
08:02You took it for a couple drives with the crew to run them
08:04around.
08:05How's it feel?
08:05What's it doing?
08:06It feels awesome.
08:07Only the other time I've been out here was in Ocotillo with
08:10Fox doing testing.
08:11So I was super excited to come back when you guys invited us.
08:13I said, yeah, I want to go play in the desert.
08:14So we said, let's go with the crew, get you guys out to some areas.
08:17And then while you're off doing your rock crawling, we're going to play in the
08:20desert and have some fun with it.
08:21What model year, Ford, do we build off this?
08:232015 to 2020 is the current XDF.
08:26And we're actually working on, call it a second generation that can use 2015
08:30all the way up to, we believe, 2028 from what Ford has told us.
08:33That is awesome.
08:34So it's great having these guys out here to run the crew around in this truck,
08:37get them where they need to go and get them there fast.
08:39And it's great having factory five here to support the crew.
08:54This was probably the first time I've gone jeeping or rock crawling.
08:58New experience has me thinking wanting to build a Jeep.
09:00So I guess you could say that was good for the first time out.
09:09This is the bone garden section of Gold Mountain Trail, and it definitely earns its name.
09:21That crushing sound under the tires, it's like bones cracking.
09:26Luckily, it's just rocks.
09:28Well, mostly rocks.
09:30Maybe a few small bones mixed in.
09:33So being out here, checking it out, what do you think?
09:41What's your impression?
09:42Yeah, I mean, it's been great.
09:43You know, we eased in on Gold Mountain this morning.
09:46Most drivers out here know what they're doing.
09:47A couple new guys out here.
09:49So I thought that was a great start.
09:51I think where all the vehicles are built out, ready for it, you know,
09:53especially we've got more difficult ones upcoming this week.
09:55So it's been great.
09:57So this road's pretty brutal right here.
09:59You know, knowing now what you guys know about this,
10:01what would you recommend somebody have in their setup to bring it out?
10:03There's a lot of different variations of builds, right?
10:06Depending on how much clearance you want with lifts and tire size,
10:10that's kind of where we'll dial you in on the correct gear ratio.
10:13But everyone can benefit from the upgraded axle shafts, the 4340 chromoles.
10:18Then paired up with the knee lockers, you could do a 35-spine upgrade,
10:21which is also going to give added strength.
10:24Let's keep it going, man.
10:24We've got to get down and around here, and then I think it spits us out.
10:28I act like I've been here before.
10:31So, Willie, how's the Carlisle Jeep rocking along there so far?
10:38Well, I haven't needed tools yet, so no Carlisle tools.
10:41So no Carlisle tools. That's 90% of it.
10:42What do you think of the trail so far?
10:44I like the obstacles. I'm sure the other guys as well.
10:47So I hear there's some down here.
10:48On a 1 to 5, what do we got waiting for us?
10:50Oh, I don't grade them because everything for me is a 5.
10:53That's just the way it is.
10:55No, I think this is supposed to be a 7.
10:57So it's a 7 out of 10, but it's not too bad.
10:59I mean, it's no different than what we've done so far.
11:01This is the official start of John Bowl Trail.
11:03So what we've done is the Gold Mountain section.
11:05That brought us up over the top of the mountain, back down through here.
11:08Now, this is John Bowl.
11:09There's a couple good little rock gardens down in there.
11:10Hey, the scenery up there was nuts, wasn't it?
11:12Yeah.
11:12We're going to be down pretty much in the valley for a little bit,
11:15and we're just rolling around in some of this rock crawling stuff,
11:17and then we'll jump back up on top one more time.
11:19All right, I'm down, man.
11:20The least bean rig is rolling.
11:21That's all they can feel for.
11:22And I put my sticker on the sign, so we're ready to go.
11:25How has your day been so far, Mr. Sher?
11:50So this is like a full-circle event for me where, as a kid,
11:56I grew up loving Tonka trucks, right?
11:59I'm thinking off-road was where it was at
12:02and watching as many things as I could get my eyeballs on.
12:06And I love the maker-style community that makes what we're riding in.
12:12I mean, you've made an amazing rig here.
12:14It's beautiful.
12:15It started as a pile of tubes on the tube rack,
12:18and then a whole bunch of welding.
12:22Now we're on John Bull Trail.
12:24John Bull.
12:24John Bull.
12:25Ain't no bull.
12:26Yeah, it's not really that different.
12:28I mean, it's similar to what we've been driving.
12:30We're going to be down in the valley for a little bit.
12:33There's a couple good little rock gardens down here at the bottom,
12:37and we'll have you drive through a little rock garden.
12:39Me? I get to drive?
12:41You get to drive.
12:41Yes, sir.
12:42The John Bull Trail is one of the toughest sections on the Big Bear Trail loop,
12:47packed with rock gardens, steep climbs, and tight technical lines.
12:52It's all parked in the San Bernardino National Forest.
12:56And out here, lockers and a solid set of tires make all the difference.
13:00That's why the Revolution Gear and Axle Jeeps are making quick work of this first obstacle.
13:06Even Sherm from ESAP jumped behind the wheel of my LJ to give it a try.
13:17We've also got Dan and Darren from Carbon Off-Road,
13:20who made the long trip all the way from Australia to join this year's ride.
13:26Let's catch up with them, get their thoughts so far,
13:29and check out what rig they brought for this year's Adventure Ride.
13:33Day one on Adventure Ride has been an absolute blast.
13:35It was great to get out there in the rocks,
13:37mix it up, and challenge ourselves and do some hard wheeling in the States.
13:41The rig that we've got this week is a ZJ Cherokee.
13:45It's got JL Rubicon diffs underneath, 37-inch Yokees.
13:50We've got the Carbon Scout Pro 9000 fast line speed winch on the front.
13:56It's also got our upgraded air-free spool clutch actuator as well.
14:00So that makes handling the rope, engaging and disengaging the clutch,
14:05super easy from inside the cap.
14:06It's also got a low-range transfer case.
14:09It's a good rig.
14:10It's probably under $10,000,
14:12so it's held up really well this week.
14:15And thanks to Dave, who actually irons a rig,
14:17and Mike, for letting us borrow it.
14:24Brian, dude, we've worked together a lot of years.
14:26Oh, yeah, a long time.
14:27And we've done a lot of cool things,
14:28but this is like a whole new level.
14:31We are way up here.
14:32We are way up here.
14:33I didn't even mean it like a new level, but yeah.
14:35Let me be honest with you.
14:36I've never done this before.
14:37I've done the whole mud thing, but I've never done the rock.
14:41Yeah.
14:41I have full confidence in you.
14:43So we had this in the shop, you know, getting it ready for this.
14:48Right.
14:48And, I mean, you're intimately familiar with some of the tasks that we did
14:52because you were around for some of them.
14:53We put the wheel paint on there, the gold.
14:55Yep, gold wheel paint.
14:56Which looks awesome.
14:57Yeah.
14:57And this thing really, we got some cool-looking vehicles out here this week.
14:59There's no doubt.
15:00Real nice.
15:00But this stands out, man.
15:02And then the vinyl and fabric on the seats.
15:04Yeah.
15:05Yeah.
15:06And we're stepping all over them, but it's holding up.
15:09Yeah.
15:10Dude, I love the fact that just a cool group of guys out here having fun.
15:14It's during the week.
15:16We got some great companies out here that we work with.
15:18Yeah.
15:18And tying all the shows together like we're doing.
15:20Oh, that's great.
15:21Yeah.
15:21I love it, dude.
15:22I hope there's more and more of this.
15:25I could do this all the time.
15:26I don't know if you see it, but there's a huge drop-off over here.
15:30And it's on my side.
15:32So let's try to avoid that.
15:34Let's keep it tight over here.
15:34Yes.
15:43We've got a couple of minutes to catch up with Adam and Brad Lovell.
15:46And there's a lot of history with this truck.
15:48We'll get into that here in just a minute.
15:49But it's your first time running this trail.
15:51It is.
15:52Yeah, I haven't been up here yet.
15:53You wouldn't know it from watching you, man.
15:55I've been watching you drive.
15:56Genetically, I think you've got some gifts for driving, though.
15:59Yeah.
16:00But you're showing them off here today.
16:02Yeah.
16:02I mean, I've certainly learned a lot from my father these past few years.
16:05But I've never been up on this trail before.
16:07And it is just so beautiful.
16:09I mean, that view out there is just so cool.
16:10It's crazy, isn't it?
16:11It's so cool.
16:12You know what I like about watching you drive?
16:14Is it's like you're going, if you're fourth or fifth in line,
16:17you just take a whole different run than everybody else does.
16:20And I like that, dude.
16:21Yeah.
16:21I like doing what people don't do, whether it's building something on a vehicle
16:25or taking a different line, just do something else, do something different.
16:30Dad, you've got to be digging that.
16:31How cool is that?
16:32Yeah.
16:33It's always fun riding with my son.
16:35I can see so much with Adam and his brother, Byam, about who they are as people when they're
16:40behind the wheel.
16:41Yeah.
16:42But let's talk about the history of this thing, because this has been around for a little bit.
16:45Yeah.
16:46You know, I was just thinking, we're sitting here overlooking Johnson Valley down there.
16:49And I believe it was about 19 years ago that we debuted this vehicle in Johnson Valley.
16:54We went out to suspension testing, had no idea what we were doing, going fast in the desert,
16:59learned so much.
17:00Awesome, guys.
17:01Happy to be out here with y'all doing that.
17:03Yeah.
17:03Thank you, guys.
17:04Absolutely.
17:04I mean, it's a great trail ride out here, and it's a little bit more relaxed than the
17:08high-strung racing we get to do together.
17:10So I think we've got to turn it down a notch and ready to enjoy this week with you guys.
17:15Awesome.
17:21We've met some great folks on the ride so far, and everything's been running smoothly until
17:26now.
17:28Things took a turn when Willie managed to get the Carlisle Pool Jeep stuck.
17:33Well, I guess the old tube rotated there in the diff.
17:36If we hopped out and noticed that pinion angle was severely off and got to looking, and yeah,
17:40we spun the tube inside the axle, and it just so happens, man, you brought your stick welder,
17:45and I'm happy for it.
17:46All right.
17:47So we'll pull the pinion back down, hopefully get it lined up, and then we'll glue it together.
17:50Yeah.
17:50One to three.
17:51That's the angle we're looking for right now.
17:53It's like this.
17:54He's not getting an angle of one to three.
17:56He's going to get close.
17:58Time to put some of those tools to work.
18:01The axle tube, unfortunately, spun on the differential, and now that it's back in place, we're
18:05breaking out my Aesop Volt battery-powered stick welder for a little trail-side welding
18:12action.
18:13How much weld time can you get out of something completely portable?
18:16Yeah, fresh battery charge, but you get 10 minutes of battery on 1⁄8-inch electrode.
18:2210 minutes of welding.
18:23That's with 1⁄8-inch rod.
18:24If you were doing something thin, though, you wouldn't use 1⁄8-inch.
18:27You'd use 332nd.
18:28Sure.
18:28Well, now I'm going to turn that amperage down.
18:30The minutes go even higher.
18:31You're talking 15, 16, 18 minutes of welding.
18:34And completely stand free.
18:38There we go.
18:38That should get you home.
18:40Day one of the Build for Off-Road Adventure ride is almost in the books.
18:44Next, we'll see if we can make it through the final obstacle on John Bull Trail without
18:48anyone else breaking their rig today.
18:51We are still out here tackling trails in the Holcomb Valley area on day one of the Build for
19:18Off-Road Adventure Ride.
19:24Off-Road Hall of Famer and Amsoil team driver Brad Lovell is along for the ride today with
19:29his son, Adam, behind the wheel.
19:31It's awesome to see this iconic 2007 Ultra 4 car and rock collar that kind of looks a
19:43little bit like a Ford Ranger back out on the trails.
19:47This rig helped launch Brad's legendary career, racking up 44 off-road wins, including his
19:54first King of the Hammers event.
19:56We've had quite a pedigree with this truck.
19:58It's built our team, our family, my career, carrying on into the next generation.
20:03A lot of success in King of the Hammers.
20:05I think three EMC wins, four class wins in this, and almost won the big race one year,
20:14but Lauren Healy outdid us by 28 seconds.
20:17It's been a heck of a machine for us, and it's still competitive, I think.
20:21And Adam put a bunch of time in over the last six months, re-prepping it and getting it ready.
20:26So now we have an active truck that's ready to go next time a race comes around.
20:29Back up like you mean it.
20:31All right.
20:33Don't stop.
20:33Don't stop.
20:34I said don't stop.
20:36Don't stop.
20:37Pardon my way and forward.
20:38There we go.
20:40Woo!
20:41Yes.
20:51That's a wrap on day one of the Build for Off-Road Adventure Ride.
20:54Today was just a teaser of what we've got coming, because the trails today, although scenic and
20:59pretty, they weren't hard.
21:01Tomorrow, we go to one of my favorite places to wheel on the West Coast, Johnson Valley,
21:06California.
21:06And that's not just because it's named after me.
21:08It's because it's some of the hardest trails that you can hit on this side of the country.
21:12We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:14We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:14We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:15We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:15We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:16We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:16We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:17We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:17We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:18We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:19We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:19We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:20We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:21We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:22We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:23We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:24We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:25We're going to hit a lot of them.
21:26We're going to hit a lot of them.
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