Have you ever dreamed of driving the ALCAN or watching the sunrise in the desert with no roads, power lines, houses or people in sight? How about waking up at your favorite fishing spot on a mountain stream, 10 miles down a poorly maintained gravel road? All these things a good driver could probably do in a Subaru, but all these things would be way cooler done in a van! Who wouldn’t want to drive around in a super-bad-ass 4×4 van and have everyone realize how super-bad-ass you are?

U-Joint Offroad owner Chris Steuber started converting vans to 4wd after catching the bug at a young age. His first van took him from east coast to west, where he developed what would become the UJOR 4wd van conversion kit. His goal has always been to create the ultimate all-purpose vehicle, a “daily driver, mountain bike shuttle, cross country driver, tow vehicle and camping rig, all in one.”

The Vanaconda in action at The Flats in Marion, NC.

Kit Details

The conversion typically fits ‘92 to current Ford E150, E250, & E350 Vans and ‘kits’ range from simple bracketry to a complete turn-key package. Each kit is customized for the client’s needs but a typical kit for the do-it-yourself-er includes front suspension hangers, steering, leafs, shocks, add-a-leafs for the rear, a complete grade 8 hardware kit and very detailed instructions. A complete includes a new Dana 60 front axle built with any locker, gearing, etc., that the client specifies and a transmission that has been converted to a 4×4 unit as well as transfer case. All parts are new, OEM quality, with the only exception being re-manufactured transmissions and transfer cases. The springs are new and custom built to UJOR specifications.

How To Videos

Chris and his crew put together these handy videos to go along with the written instructions included with each kit.

U-Joint Offroad is located in Asheville, NC, and Chris can be reached at (818)606-5206

Saturday’s Schedule

9:00AM – Class A and B race begins. A and B will run simultaneously.
11:00AM – A/B race ends. Mid-day intermission begins.
12:00PM – Class C racers begin staging
1:00PM – ECORS King of the Hammers Qualifier begins
9:00PM – Racing Officially Ends

The Navy and POW-MIA Jeeps

One day, Paul told his dad that he had a dream of doing a Jeep for each branch of the armed services. They finished and sold Jeeps for the Army, Coast Guard and Shore Patrol, complete with decals by Crazy8Graphics. Paul completed the last of the group, the 1951 M38 Navy Jeep, in honor of his dad. The POW-MIA Jeep is dedicated to Kathy’s brother, a cousin of Paul’s, and several other named prisoners of war, along with all those unnamed. Paul has traveled with it to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC.

The restorations are stories in themselves, but Paul has quite a few tales to go along with the acquisitions and the future owners of his projects. One Jeep found it’s way home on his trailer with a rattlesnake curled up under the hood! While searching in Virginia for a motorcycle to restore, Paul found two M38s (but only a motorcycle side car) in a warehouse packed wall-to-wall with firetrucks. His USMC Jeep was never completed. On the afternoon he rolled it out of his shop to start the motor, someone drove up and offered to buy it as it sat. The mystery fellow came back a couple of days later and hauled it home to Alabama. Paul has sold four that were shipped to England and has had offers to take a Jeep back apart to ship to India. He tells the story of being out-bid on a Jeep Surrey Gala he found at auction in Arizona by Mrs. Cindy McCain.

Paul's red 1946 CJ2A with original stickers on the windscreen.

He has a couple waiting in the wings, including the second M38 from Virginia (pictured at the top) and a 1945 1/2 CJ2 of which Paul is only the second owner. The original owner’s grandson had driven it to high school. With his dad gone almost two years now, Paul says he’s not sure how many more he’ll do. It was their hobby and not as much fun to do by himself. He says he’s always willing to show others how things are done but that it’s tougher to find younger Jeep enthusiasts with the same patience and respect for the vehicles.

Click for more images:

Reserve your shirt before midnight tonight

The No-Sale Pre-Sale has been going strong for the past week, but time is quickly running out. If you haven’t posted your pre-order in the forum thread, you have until midnight tonight to make the cutoff. Pre-orders will guarantee shirt availability and one lucky poster will get a free shirt.

Expect shirts to be available in the NC4×4 Store in mid-August. Pre-order folks will get an early-bird notification to finalize their purchases.

All shirts are $15/ea shipped, except for pocket tees and 2X and larger shirts, which are $16/ea shipped. Shirts are available in navy blue, olive green, and ash, and in regular adult, ladies’ cut, and youth sizes.

Admission is $10 in advance or $12 at the gate. There’s also a $10 camping fee for this venue. Dirt bikes and quads are prohibited. Directions to the race course can be found here. As always, the race course is open to spectators on Saturday evening and Sunday, so feel free to bring your rig and ride after the race is over.

If the thought of off-road racing isn’t enough to get you excited about the weekend, there are some clips from the last ECORS race at the Flats below the fold:

The action is non-stop on Saturday. First round qualifying on the race track runs all day long. Racers will run single car time trials, with the best times moving on to Sunday afternoon’s race. The Double Points mud race runs from noon until 4pm. The top five from each class will move on to the finals on Sunday afternoon. The Sled Pull and Freerock comp run on Saturday evening.

General entry is $12/day and $5/night to camp per person. Children are $6/day and $5/night for camping. Weekend passes are also available. Get the full schedule and event details at the 4×4Cross website or at Uwharrie Adventures or check out the thread in the forums.

We hope that makes it a bit easier to plan your summer wheeling trips.

Chuck Smith won the raffle to race the ECORS buggy, but a broken wheel stud ended his day early.

Chuck Smith was the lucky raffle winner and started seventh. Chuck was doing pretty well in his rental ride until partway through lap two, when a bad wheel stud got caught up inside the hub and wiped out all the spindle studs. It was a tough break for Chuck, but between the raffle and an R/C table crawl competition, the event raised over a thousand dollars for Jody.

The Mud Devils were nearly unstoppable on their home turf, finishing second, third, and fourth places in the Class C race. Despite some carnage and mechanical mishaps, there was a lot of wide-open racing. Will Carter, in his KOH-proven 52x race car, was the only one able to beat the Devils. In fact, Will was so quick, he taunted his competitors by passing out koozies to spectators during the race.

In last year’s Fall Brawl, Sam Winget crashed head-on into a tree, destroying most of his buggy’s front tube work and ripping his steering ram from the axle housing. Sam was able to patch the buggy back together during the winter and started third at the Second Coming.

He was running in second place on lap four when a small fluid leak got big enough to light off on the hot exhaust. He says he lost count after the fifth time they had to stop and play firefighter. Despite losing about ten minutes, Sam still completed the race and earned a third place finish.

John Thomas's GSXR-powered Samurai spins 10k rpms everywhere it goes.

John Thomas, known to friends as Stump, brought out his GSXR 750-powered Samurai for its first ECORS race. For those that haven’t seen Stump’s Sammy in action, you should know that it doesn’t go many places that it’s not running wide-open. It’s always a blast to watch the little sport bike engine scream around the race course. John combined a trouble-free day with quick lap times to finish second.

Chuck wasn’t the only guy to start the Class C race in a rental. PJ Mallory’s race rig wasn’t finished in time for the Second Coming, so he borrowed a turbo single seater from a friend. PJ rolled the borrowed buggy on the first lap when he lost a bead coming in to a hairpin turn. His teammates ran all the way from the pits to flip the car back over. PJ had to limp back to the pits to change the tire, but his troubles weren’t over. He bent the rear steer ram on the second lap and had the fan come unplugged on lap five. Each time, he was able to get back in the race and salvaged fourth place. The extra effort paid off. Combined with winning his class at the Fall Brawl, PJ is now in the lead for the series points championship.

ECORS will be racing in Marion, NC this Saturday, April 17th. The race kicks off with Class A at 9AM. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the event. Kids under 12 are free. Check out the ECORS website for more information.

Click for larger images:

Watch the video by moorejunk1

With Darlington out of contention, it became a two car race for first place. Greg Slade’s Wrangler, nicknamed Herbie, was quick in the trees and rocks. But it couldn’t outrun Dylan Wiles’ Cherokee in the open straights. Lap after lap the pair duked it out, but Dylan successfully prevented a pass by the more nimble YJ. The crowd had other ideas. As the racers snaked through the trees on one lap, spectators noticed a place where Greg might be able to cut the corner and get around Dylan. They shouted to Greg, “Go through the woods!” He pointed Herbie toward the hole and pinned the throttle.

Watch the video by caseyofisher

After the race, Dylan said, “I heard the crowd yell at the same time Greg did. I could hear his rev limiter coming. It was like we were both driving the new Priuses and the throttles were stuck.” But Greg still wasn’t quick enough, and his bumper hit Dylan’s passenger rear tire.

Greg Slade chases Wade Sullens' F-Toy into the mud

The impact caused the Cherokee to sideswipe a tree on the driver’s side, but it seemed otherwise unscathed. Unfortunately, Dylan was knocked out of the race when the passenger side leaf centering pin sheared a few laps later. The bump from Greg might have done him in after all.

Meanwhile, Wade Sullens was quietly plugging along in third place. His F-Toy had driveshaft problems early in the day that put him too far back to contend for first. But Wade found some good luck in Dylan’s misfortune and passed the blue XJ after it broke down to earn a second place finish.

Although Greg’s Herbie Jeep won the race, victory didn’t come cheap. The front passenger shock was seen flapping in the breeze during the early laps. A post-race inspection also revealed that the front driver’s shackle tore itself out of the frame and both of his sprung-under Waggy springs were bent from collisions with rocks and other racers. Greg took the damage in stride, saying this is far from the first time he’s had to repair Herbie’s front suspension. He’ll patch it all up and be racing again in no time.

Click for larger images: