Letters & Stuff
Send your questions, comments, etc. along with your name, address and phone number to:
- Off-Road Adventures,
- 801 W. Artesia Blvd.
- Compton, CA 90220
or email:
Thanks For Your Support
Well, just as we finished it... IT SOLD. Wanted to thank your company for the best parts and best service. This was the most wonderful time I had building a 4 wheel drive machine and the people at 4 Wheel Parts made it that way! Keeping the public informed and with the right stuff — you guys need to run for President! Thanks again! I’ll miss my Suburban. Some of the mods include: Edelbrock reverse flow aluminum water pump, Edelbrock Performer II intake - ceramic coated, Edelbrock TES (Tubular Exhaust System) headers, Hypertech Performance (customized for this truck), Borgenson Steering Shaft, custom true dual exhaust with Dynomax mufflers, heavy duty Dana Spicer U-Joints, Auburn Sure Grip Rear Posi-traction, fully functional steel cowl induction hood, 4” Explorer ProComp lift with front and rear springs, shocks, dual steering stabilizers, 35” X-Terrain Tires with 15 x 10 Extreme Alloy Revolution II Wheels with bead lock look.
Robert Gambarelli Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Responses To “Mr. President, We Have A Situation Here!”
The Chevy Duramax seat belt is designed to “lock-up” on purpose, it’s the baby-seat locking feature, and when you pull the seat belt out in wide fashion like you would lock when you seat belt down a baby seat, the belt locks-up for security. What happens to the female passengers that are not aware of how this works, is that the female passenger swings out wide the belt to avoid her breasts and inadvertently “sets” the baby seat feature! No Charge.
Stan Rommel, Via email
Stan — Thanks for the feedback on this “resistant” subject. We also received a solution from David Insley of Castalia, OH, “...go to your GM Parts counter and ask for a seatbelt extender. They come in nine inch and fifteen inch long versions. GM will supply you with the exteder at no cost. The extender also works great for short people as it moves the attachment point over and gets the shoulder belt off the neck.” BTW Stan, did any of your ancestors happen to command a tank division in Africa a few years back ?— D.S.
July 2004 Issue Error???
The “Diesel Engine Performance” Buyers Guide on page 76 of your July 2004 issue shows an F-350 with what appears to be a V-10 gasoline engine. Is this an art department error and editorial oversight or did the photo caption not credit the vehicle with receiving an engine swap?
Dallas Green, San Diego, CA
Would you believe it’s the ultra-rare, built only one hour, Ford Powerstroke V-10 Diesel? We thought not. Dallas gets the eagle eye award for July. — Jim Allen
Drained & Shaved For A Good Cause
My name is Chris Schafer and I am sending this email in honor of my daughter, Allyson and to thank all those who participated in a blood drive I organized at the 4 Wheel Parts store in San Antonio, TX. Allison is 5 months old and will be having surgery (happened on July 22nd) that will require a blood transfusion, and we ended up collecting 32 units of blood from 45 donors. A special “Thanks” to All Banged Up off road members showed their support along with two 4WPW employees who decided to shave their heads along with me.
Chris Shafer, Manager, 4WPW in San Antonio
Update From The 1st. Battalion In Iraq
Rene here. Just wanted to update you on things here. It’s still hot. But now it starts around 9 am with 90 degrees. It stays at 120 from about 11 am till 6 pm. It’s 9 pm and it’s about 95. The bad part of the weather is that next month (August) will be hotter. But once that comes and goes, it will be down hill from there. Gotta love this job. I received eight packages today. All from your readers. I’ll be distributing the boxes out tomorrow. There are things in there that I know the soldiers will need. Thanks again for all your support.
Staying cool in the sand box, Rene
Rene, Glad to hear that you have started receiving packages from our readers. I think it’s just the beginning of their response to supporting you guys over there. Keep us posted on what items are needed as the needs come up. — D.S.
For those readers just “tuning in” to this situation, check out the July ’04 issue No Name column for details on how ORA got involved in sending Care Packages to our soldiers in Iraq. They can still use baby wipes (showers are not a daily pleasure), deodorant, foot powder, toothpaste, shaving cream, and shampoo. The female soldiers can also use the usual feminine hygiene items. All of them can really use sport drink powders such as Gatorade or All Sport. Reading materials such as magazines and newspapers are great to help pass the time and keep them in touch with what’s going on states-side.
You can mail the packages parcel post to:
- SGT Rene Mosquera
- Attention: Any Soldier
- HHS, 1/33 FA BN
- Operation Iraqi Freedom II
- FOB SUMMERALL
- APO AE 09392
Shawn Used To Know The Way To San Jose
Just wanted to say how much I like your mag. I used to work in the San Jose, CA store years ago and I am amazed how much the company has grown. I have sent a few pictures of my truck for you guys to see, If you like it I would love to see it in your magazine. Its a 1970 Chevy C-20, yes that’s right, C-20. It was once 2WD and now it sports an LT1 with headers, Flowmasters and a K&N filter, a TH400 trans with shift kit and a low stall converter, an NP241 t-case, Dana 60 rear with 4.56s,an ’87 3/4 ton 10-bolt front also with 4.56s and a Tru-trac. The springs are 4” Pro Comps in front (’73-87 style) on custom mounts for about 6” of lift, and Rancho 9000s. The rear has F250 Super Duty leafs with a shackle flip and a 3” block, also with Rancho 9000s. The truck has custom rock sliders and rides on 37” SSR radials. I have done all the work myself, thanks to the skills I earned at 4WPW. Keep up the good work!
Thank You, Shawn Mander, Evans, CO
Even Ike Likes Ora
Thank you for your kind offer of copies of the June 2004 issue (Old Iron: D-Day 60th. Anniversary Special) of Off-Road Adventures magazine. We would be interested in receiving 100 issues. The Eisenhower Library receives inquiries regarding vehicles used during World War II and your article should be of interest to our clientele. You may send the magazines to my attention. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely, Martin M. Teasley, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene KS
August 2004 — Another Excellent Issue — But...
I especially enjoyed reading about Hancock Pass. About a month ago, I took my family up to the Mary Murphy mine in our ’76 Jeep CJ-5. The last mile of the road up to the mine was the only really bad part, and that wasn’t too bad in granny low. I’d like to pick a small nit with you regarding your Old Iron article about the ’61-66 Fords. In it the author states that the 223 CID six was “uninspiring” and stated that “History has pretty much left it behind.” While the later may be true, from a high performance perspective, my personal experience with this engine is quite the opposite. My father bought new a 1958 Ford Country Sedan with this engine and a 3-speed with overdrive. When I sold it in the early ’90’s, it had over 280K miles on it and was still going strong. That old beast went on two generations of honeymoons, pulled a two-horse trailer (fully loaded), went on many camping trips and covered some roads that I wouldn’t do without my Jeep today. While it wasn’t a powerhouse, it gave many years of trouble free operation and was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
Thanks for listening — Bill Lugg
Sorry to blow snow over your warm, sunny memories, Bill. When I used the word “uninspiring” I didn’t mean to imply “bad.” It was actually a pretty good engine from a reliability standpoint, as you said, but it was a bit overmatched in 4x4 trucks from the power standpoint. Ford would have been smarter to use the 261ci version in 4x4s but, hey, nobody asked me.— Jim Allen
Austin Is Definitely An Early Bronco Kinda Guy
I was wondering if I could get my ’70 Bronco in the Letters & Stuff section of the magazine. The magazine is awesome and I am always looking forward to reading it. The Old Iron section is always very cool because I haven’t really seen that in other mags. The stats on my Bronco are: 302ci (cam, intake, flex fan, shroud, K&N X-Stream airfilter, truck avenger carb), Dana 20 t-case (3.8 gears, HD output shaft), Dana 44 (4.11, tie rod flip, Tru-trac, diff skid) big bearing 9” (4.11, Detroit, 31spline), NP435, 5.5” lift, extended radius arms, 35” BFG M/T’s on 15x10 Rockcrawlers, 6-point cage, HD f/r bumpers, rocker skids, 8,000 lb. Mile Marker, (2) 100 watt Explorer Pro lights, fiberglass hood w/ Mach 1 scoop, home made arctic camo paint.
I really appreciate you taking time to read my mail. Other magazines aren’t very suave in this category. I would really like to see the beast in the mag, because the magazine is almost as cool as my Bronco (just kidding). Keep up the great work!!!
Austin and Bill Landers — Via email
P.S. - The Truck Fest was pretty cool, even though it only had one early Bronco. continued on page 48
Bryson Steps Up!
I have been getting your magazine and shopping at your Alderwood, WA store for a while now. I was reading through the July 2004 issue and came across the “No Name Column”. I was really touched by it. I have read a lot of articles on people helping and the war but for some reason it really hit home for me reading it here. I feel very strongly against the war in Iraq but like it said in the article no matter what your personal feelings are on the war you can’t forget the men and women fighting over there, away from family and friends. I think this is something that is overlooked a lot. I have friends there and friends of my family and I live around Fort Lewis, so I know a lot of people in the military. I am a 21-year-old student struggling to get by but I would like to help anyway I can. I saw the web address for the “Adopt a Platoon” program but was wondering if that was the best way to get something over there. I don’t have a lot of money and am struggling to get by but would like to do something. Maybe you could print my letter to open other peoples’ eyes that our soldiers can’t be forgotten over there just because you don’t agree with it and that if a 21 year old kid can find the time and money to do something, then anyone can. Either way, I would like to hear back from you.
Thanks, Bryson B. — Via email
Bryson — Thanks for your positive words on this subject. You can put together your own “care package” based on what you feel you can afford. Mail it to the address mentioned in the No Name column and mark it “To any Soldier”. It will be distributed to someone in the 1st. battalion in Iraq. I’m sure everyone will appreciate your letter and hope they will join in to help out. — D.S.
Ora Helps Scooter Find His Old Love
In 2002 while living in Colorado I sold my ’98 Jeep TJ with plans to build another rig, but never did. For a long time I really regretted selling my Jeep because I had purchased it brand new in ’97 and had put a lot of time, money, and work into it. After a recent move back to our home state of Alabama, my wife seemed to notice that I missed my Jeep and suggested I get another project vehicle to work on. I looked long and hard to try to find something to replace my old Jeep but always found myself thinking about it. I always wondered if the guy I sold it to still had it. One day I came home from work and saw my April ’04 issue of Off-Road Adventures and low and behold there was my Jeep in the background of the cover picture! Holy Cow! I could not believe it! It seemed as if I was meant to see the picture or something. Feeling motivated I wondered if there was any way I could get in contact with the guy that had purchased my Jeep. I still had the bill of sale with all the info but guess what? No phone number, and his name did not come up in the white pages. I was out of luck. But wait! For some reason I decided to look in the Auto Trader Online to see if there was a chance he was selling it. I immediately put in all the search info and could not believe my eyes when I saw the first Jeep in the listing. My prayers had been answered. It was there. It was really there. I immediately called the number and found out that it was indeed the same guy I had sold it to and that he had just listed the Jeep for sale two weeks prior. We talked for quite a while and I found out the Jeep was exactly as I left it, but with a few more miles on it. I talked to my wife about what she thought about me re-purchasing the Jeep if I could get the right price and luckily she agreed. Well to make a long story short (maybe a little too late at this point, sorry— D.S.), I did negotiate a fair price on the Jeep and purchased my one-way ticket to fly to Denver to pick it up and drive it back 1,400 miles to ‘bama. To make the story even more interesting, the guy I bought it back from had previously made plans to visit his father in Florida, so he hitched a ride with me back to ‘bama, where his father picked him up. We ended up driving straight thru 22 hours with no problems at all. I just wanted to say thanks again. If not for Off-Road Adventures magazine I might still be day dreaming about my Jeep instead of driving it.
Thanks Again, Scooter Geram, Hoover, AL — Via email
The ORA Bug Just Keeps On Bitin’
Just gotta say you guys have a hell of a mag and wanted to know what I needed to do to feature my XJ. I own a ’99 XJ Sport that I bought bone stock and very clean in Dec. ’02. Soon after purchasing I picked up an ORA magazine a friend had, with no clue what went on in the 4x4 world. I have since been receiving ORA and enjoy it so much I usually keep one in my Jeep for those long waits in traffic. I saw the Four Real Steel XJ and told my wife that I would like to get some mods going on mine. I have since gone from a 3” Pro Comp and 31’s, to a 5.5” RE Kit with 32” BFG M/T’s, Warn 9.5 ti, Warn front bumper, safari snorkel, roof rack, Pro Comp SS 130 lights, 4.10 gears and Bushwacker fender flares. So as you can see the bug has bitten me and I can’t seem to stop scratching.
Thanks for your time and for having a great mag dedicated to the passion we all enjoy.
Sam Madrigales, Eglin AFB, FL.
Wants All TJ Covers — All The Time?
Thanks for the subscription, and keep those Wrangler TJs on the covers. I’m just glad to see you guys haven’t sold out and gone mainstream like all of those truckin’ mags. Tremendous props for your great work and dedication to what a four wheel mag should be like.
Sincerely, Ronald Major — Via email
Ronald — Thanks for your compliments on ORA magazine. We’re not sure what you mean by your reference of the other magazines “selling out”. If selling out is having vehicles other than Jeeps on the covers, then I guess you might consider us sell outs too. We do try to show a variety of vehicle types and modifications, so every once in a while you’re going to see what could be considered a show vehicle or boulevard off-roader, because they’re also a segment of the sport. — D.S.