Time to Decide Who Goes to Top Truck Challenge 2014

The Four Wheeler Top Truck Challenge has to be one of the toughest challenges a truck can experience, and the most fun a driver can have this side of Paradise. The editorial staff of Four Wheeler magazine loves it, too. It's a jaw-dropper watching what some of these drivers will do to capture that crown.

The magazine makes it a point of letting their readers decide who goes and who stays home. It's a finite field, and a lot of folks across the continent are eager to be selected.

Sometimes the only way out is with a winch.

Here's a link to the potential candidates, though you can also run to the store and pick up a copy of the April 2014 edition at most mag stands. You'll find every kind of carriage here, from a '63 International Harvester Scout to a '96 Dodge Ram 1500. There's even a 2012 VW Bug in the mix. Be sure to check out Brad Daffin's rumpled '78 Ford F-150. He put it through the paces as an alternate last year and wants his turn to take a shot.

They hail from all over. Quite a few Canadians in the hunt again, and even though the majority are from the Western half of the country (it is a California event) there's still an Alabama team and a Floridian seeking your votes. There's even a Hilo, Hawaii contender.

This is one challenge in which if you don't like to get dirty, you'd best just stay home.

A Few More Images from TTC

The AMSOIL-sponsored Top Truck Challenge is not open to the public and even the competitors are limited to three guests. As each year passes the trucks get more and more competitive. The tube buggies typically do well but there were a couple short wheelbase front wheel steering trucks that put up a good fight this year. Doug Kahlstrom in his 1970 Dodge Power Wagon placed fifth out of ten behind the four tube buggies.

As with every year there were a few surprises. On Thursday Wayne Sheeley and his co-driver/wife Addie flipped their Jeep FC-170 over backwards in hole two of the tank trap and were trapped underwater for a few seconds as the recovery crew and host Tony Becker pulled them out. (See image in yesterday's blog post.) Thanks to a quick response nobody was injured.

Third place winner Leroy Latham in his 2008 homemade monster buggy was a strong runner all week. He wasn’t afraid to use the throttle and try different lines. He rolled twice, once in the hill climb and again in the mini-rubicon. Thank goodness for the five point restraint! Second place winner Brett Jerome in his Jeep TJ buggy was a favorite all week with his big air finishes. On Tuesday he launched his truck out of the frame twister logs so high he came down and blew both rear tires off the beads. Wednesday during the hill climb his fly by wire throttle hung and he flew into the trees off course. This mistake may have cost him first place.

First place winner David Green in his 2004 homemade tube buggy was the epitome of consistency all week. He finished every event in the top five or better despite hurting a piston in his 5.9 Cummins in the mud run on Tuesday.

According to our man on the scene Len Groom, "The one remark I consistently heard all week was that AMSOIL is the best for a reason. We not only make excellent products we back them up with support."

Thanks to everyone from Four Wheeler magazine and Source Interlink who pour their hearts and imaginations into making this such a fabulous event... and to all the other sponsoring companies who help make it happen.

2009 Top Truck Challenge Winners Announced

Last week we announced the Top Truck Challenge was underway in Hollister, CA. After three grueling days, a winner finally emerged to claim the ultimate bragging rights as 2009 Top Truck Challenge champion. David Green out of Alberta, Canada took the title in his Green Diesel Buggy. Second place belongs to Brett Jerome of Missouri in his Orange Jeep TJ Buggy, and third place was taken by Leroy Latham of Nevada in his Blue Homemade Monster Buggy. Ultimately all participants were winners simply by making it to Hollister, but these top three outdid the rest of the pack and had what it took to conquer the courses. Congratulations to our winners, and we’ll be back on the scene next year to see if they can defend their titles.

PHOTO: The Tank Trap has a reputation for destruction. Not all who attempt it succeed, but you can't win the TTC without making a valiant effort.

2009 Top Truck Challenge Underway in Hollister

Here at AMSOIL we're anxiously awaiting the results of this years’ Top Truck Challenge, which pits the toughest 4x4’s against one another in a series of endurance tests. As a sponsor of this event, AMSOIL is on hand to witness 10 competitors and 2 alternates battle it out for title of 2009 Top Truck Challenger. Not an easy feat by any means, the competitors were chosen by readers of Four Wheeler Magazine for this three-day slugfest. Over the course of these three grueling days, the vehicles are put through trials so extreme it’s amazing they were conceived, let alone attempted.

Day One the competitors were broken in by performing the Tow Test in which each truck had to tow a heavy object up a steep hill. Next up was the Hill Climb featuring a 400 foot steep climb that is not only timed, but near impossible to reach the top without the power and grit to finish without flipping or breaking. Followed next by an obstacle course through water, hills, and other objects meant to take down the weakest; Day One does not go easy on these competitors.

Day Two brings even tougher challenges and possibly even an end to some of the competitors’ involvement in this event. First up is the Frame Twister, which is pretty self-explanatory. Drivers attempt to make it through a wicked obstacle course that culminates in a 20-yard section of logs without hitting course marker cones, staffers, or winching. Ten minutes max. Penalties are applied for each infraction. Only the boldest make it through to the end. From there it is on to the Mud Pit, a huge hole filled with water, dirt, and near-impossible odds. This year none of the competitors were able to clear it, so the winner of this trial is determined by the truck that made it the furthest. The end of Day Two brings the Mini-Rubicon, a trek through a 40-yard rock pile. Sound easy? It’s not. Four Wheeler Magazine calls it ‘a rock-crawling nightmare’ and last year only two of the competitors were successful in completing this challenge. Boulders, tire-swallowing holes, and nasty entrances and exits to this course make it an extreme 125 feet of metal bending.

If, by Day Three, any of the competitors and their trucks are still standing, they take on the dreaded Tank Trap. While it is ‘only’ a quarter-mile, it runs uphill through a valley that climbs 195 feet in elevation from start to finish that has humbled many a driver before. Within that quarter-mile, drivers will attempt to conquer slippery rock waterfalls, loose dirt climbs, and seven deep water holes within 30 minutes. The track builders go to great lengths to ensure every inch of the course is as twisted and challenging as possible, and they succeed. This event is worth double the points than previous trials if completed, which goes to show drivers are definitely earning them should they reach the end.

Watch this space next week for an update on the final results and more photos from this extreme challenge.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Shake, Battle and Roll

The December Four Wheeler magazine is now on the news stands with its annual in depth coverage of the Top Truck Challenge, the true meaning of shock and awe. With ample quantities of photos, Ken Brubaker’s coverage is vividly detailed. It makes you wish you were there.

There were nine trucks and seven events, with near thirty pages of story, including descriptions of each competition, the nitty gritty on each competitor in each event and an assortment of live action finish line quotes. “Oh man, what a rush,” said Brandon Lammers after the Frame Twister. For the same event, Clayton Kraatz said, “I’ve been waiting 16 years to do that. That was awesome. That was worth the whole entire trip.”

The first day's events included The Tow Test, The Frame Twister, and The Mud Pit, a ride that John Griffin noted you can’t get at Disneyland.

Day two featured The Obstacle Course, The Hill Climb and The Mini Rubicon. If you know the Four Wheeler staff, they ain’t kiddin’ around with these obstacle courses and tests. The goal in The Hill Climb, for example, is not to see how fast you can make it, but whether you can make it at all... though yes, there are extra points for fast. But it’s one tough hill and only three trucks made it all the way before either breaking or flipping over.

The Mini Rubicon was also a bit more frightful this year. You’d think a four wheeling enthusiast would not have too much trouble with a 125 foot strip of rocks, but these psycho course builders stay up nights thinking of ways to make it impossible, and for most they succeeded. Only two, Kraatz’s Warthog and Naeger’s Buggy, completed this third event of day two.

The Tank Trap consumes all of day three out there in Hollister, California’s hill country. This is an obstacle course that brings competitors to their knees.

As a sponsor of the event again this year, AMSOIL enjoys seeing equipment put to the ultimate tests. This is how AMSOIL formulates its own premium synthetic lubricants. The company is serious about extreme performance. It’s fun to watch four wheeling to the max like this. And fun to read about six months later. When you read the mag staff’s “favorite moments” you can tell they’re having the times of their lives out there.

The coverage ends with an application to be considered for next year’s event. If you like the idea of putting it all out there, of seeing what you and your equipment are made of, maybe you should take the next step. Readers will vote, and maybe we’ll see you next year... at the 2009 TTC.