The Concluding Installment Of Our Manly Discussion, All About Perfecting A 4x4 Truck. By Kevin Franklin SO YOU DECIDED you need a 4x4, determined whether you want an old fixer-upper or a new "maintenance-free" model, and have outfitted it with the proper tires for your vehicle and driving. What next? At this point the paths of the old and new truck begin to diverge. If you bought a 4x4 with the notion of maintaining most of its resale value, park it in the garage, roll it out on Sundays for a wash and wax, then put it in the front yard for your neighbors to admire. Later you can bust out a lawn chair and a beer and, while staring at your parked truck, imagine you and the machine having all sorts or adventures. Try not to ask yourself why you spent all that money for a lawn ornament--down that path lies madness. On the other hand, if you bought a 4x4 planning to use it as a workhorse, just think of it as an older truck with newer parts, no matter what the model year. Last week I covered tires and driveline gearing, so let's continue working our way up. Tire clearance, the space between the tire and the body of the truck, is crucial. Make sure your suspension provides adequate space for complete tire travel. Otherwise your tire can bind up in the wheel well and, in effect, you can run over yourself. Unless you want to play "monster truck crushes Hondas" in your local parking lot, keep lifts to a minimum. Maybe just and inch or two will do. The higher you go the more off balance your truck becomes and the more difficult it is to handle on the highway. My truck has two inches of lift in the rear springs to compensate for gear. When fully loaded, it has virtually no lift. I run 31-inch tires on the full-size Bronco. On a few occasions the additional clearance of a 33-inch or even a 35-inch tire could have been useful. But that would require modifying the suspension. Besides, 98 percent of my driving is spent hurtling down pavement at high speeds to distant places. The wear on suspension parts and the poor fuel economy outweighed the benefits of a bigger tire. After getting your tires, gearing and suspension in order, get a Hi-lift jack. What's that? I'd sooner go down the road naked than without my Hi-lift. It's a four-foot jack capable of lifting the truck up and out of deep mud or sand, provided you make a good base with boards or blocks. Bottle jacks or crank jacks are useless if the truck is buried. The Hi-lift also makes changing tires easier, but put the vehicle's weight on a jack stand or stout block. Because of their height and design, Hi-lifts can easily topple. This is actually useful when stuck in a hole. You can jack the truck up and then push it over out of the hole. But never work under a vehicle supported solely by a Hi-lift. The manufacturer makes an attachment so it can be used with stock bumpers, but I prefer a sturdy pipe bumper. Your bumpers should have two places on the front and back where a tow rope or the jack can be connected, preferably on the bumper end points. The rope pull points must be rounded or the rope or strap will snap under load. Use at least one length of a heavy-duty tow strap when pulling a stuck vehicle. Chains are great, but they have no give and can do damage to the truck. Just remember not to jerk the strap or it'll snap with incredible--and potentially lethal--force. The bottom line with a vehicle you take to remote places is reliability. Before you spend any money on 4x4 upgrades, bring your vehicle to the high point of mechanical excellence. I know a story about a fellow who spent $1,000 on a top-of-the line locking differential for his truck, but the truck's brakes and carburetor were, at best, dismal and it had no emergency brake. The new differential carried him up a monster hill, but then the carb stalled, he rolled backwards and had no way to stop and rolled his truck over. Strong like bull, smart like a street car--ding-ding. For what it's worth, that's my incredibly abbreviated list of 4x4 upgrades. The best advice I can give is to go out, have fun and explore. But tread carefully, both for the sake of your vehicle and yourself--and more importantly--the country you're traveling over.

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