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aFe is no stranger to the engine performance market, as it dominates market share and needs to do very little advertising to position itself at the top. Located in Corona, California, aFe produces and distributes Cold Air Intake systems for almost every make and model car and truck on the road today.
OK, it's time to get serious about initial protection. Unfortunately, stock and most aftermarket bumpers offer minimal security to vital parts under the forefront of a wrangler. Steering box, track bar, and anything else up front can be damaged or bent on contact in various off-road environments. Most front bumpers out there perch on the front rails to merely act as a winch cradle and/or a crafty menorah for off-road illumination. Then you have the ultra premium bumpers that are priced high above the average joe's budget. You're craving an upgrade up front but might have to settle for the plain Jane because of financial dictation.
CarolinaK5.com hosted our second annual Autumn Thump at the outstanding Uwharrie ORV area. The scent of burnt wood still lingered in the air from a forest fire. It had threatened to shut down the event, but was extinguished the previous week by rain showers.
When thinking of Maxxis Tires, one might conjure up thoughts of huge, ultra aggressive, professional use rock crawling tires, and cringe at the thought of a droning, rough highway trip on bias ply tires.
After all, Maxxis Tires is now a leader amongst the hard core professional teams and drivers of XRRA and UROC, among others. The pro drivers want the most aggressive, indestructible and best performing tires, sacrificing any of the creature comforts that most of us are used to with a dual purpose, radial tire. We were able to get our hands on a set of Maxxis Creepy Crawler tires to test them, trying to find out if they are only for the professional driver or if the weekend, "just for fun" crawler can drive to and from the trail in comfort, while still sporting the ultimate rubber for some extreme bashing.
Jeep. The venerable marque is the hands down "chameleon" of the four wheeled off-road world. Unsatisfied with the stock engine? There is no end of companies offering conversion mounts for just about everything else that burns fuel. Want more suspension? A quick leafing through one of a thousand catalogs will net you springs'n things to keep you drooling into the wee hours for days to come. And what if you're the do-it-yourself type? The Jeep provides the raw canvas for all your mechanically artistic endeavors.
In a nutshell, you're not likely to see the little beasts on the EPA's "endangered species list anytime soon. That said, there are some jeeps that are rarer than others. While you won't likely be hurtin' for CJ-5's or 7's to oogle the next time you're out on the trail, the CJ-8 "Scrambler" is a little harder to come by. Fortunately for us, Off-Road.com has had the pleasure of capturing 2 of the elusive breed on film; Duffy Ladd's fire red rock monster, which was featured in the Dec. 99 issue, and it's partner in crime, the white hot wonder featured here.
The new Mud-TerrainTM T/A®KM2 Tire is an aggressive tire with an aggressive look that still has decent manners on the street. This was a long time coming from BFG but it appears the wait was worth it. I believe this will be a great tire for the average trail rig that spends time on both the trail and the highway getting to their favorite off-road location.
You gotta have protection on the trail. I wanted to use the same brand for armor and cargo options. Eric Lichtbach, of Olympic 4x4 Products, helped me pick out a great front winch and rear bumpers/tire carrier and storage racks. Eric suggested that products would look great with a new look of powder coating the designed. "SIERRA CHROME", once he told me the name, I was afraid people would expect me to have gold teeth and chains around my neck. He assured me that it is the same powder coating principle, but adds a nice factory brushed aluminum type look without the "BLING-BLING" of polished chrome. This is the MR. T. of armor, a tough steel color, yet no reflection. These products are very high quality: great welds, design, but low profile and light. It's nice to have a helping hand for installing armor. The pieces used here were light enough for me to install on my own. Following instructions properly, the install was simple and stout.
This last month brought us the sale of Chrysler Corp, and it will be divorced from Daimler Benz. Chrysler was bought out for over $37b. It was sold for about $7b to Cerberus Capital Management. That's quite a coup. I remember back almost two decades to my MBA classes. Those were the days when corporate raiders would buy out a struggling company. Then the order of the day was to sit down and carve it up. The division would go down two lines of order:
Profit loosing sectors,
Profit Making sectors.
The profit making sectors would be further examined. How much profit could they deliver to the buyer? There's got to be a way to pay for the buyout. That means more reorganization. The bean counters looked at the company and carved out low performing sectors and they were sold off, sometimes at a loss.
The profit making sectors remained. Those would be looked at with even a finer tooth comb. The sectors would eliminate all the deadwood, and waste. Then they higher profit portions of what's left may be sold to fund the buyout.
Motorcycles have, in recent years, become more focused and specialized in their function. Here are definitions of a few key types of bikes; to get a visual sense of the differences between these motorcycles.
Since 1998, the number of motorcycles in the United States has increased by 34 percent . Why the sudden spike in popularity? Unlike cars, motorcycles allow riders to connect intimately with the driving experience. But it's not just about adventure and freedom. With gas prices soaring, motorcycles, which can achieve fuel economies as high as 85 miles per gallon, provide an attractive alternative to gas-guzzling cars.
In this article, we'll learn how the modern motorcycle operates, how motorcycle design has evolved over the years and how motorcycles might change in the near future.
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