Fred Williams and Dave Chappelle drag a tired
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MotorTranscript
00:00 This is what you're going to do every day, we're snow racing in Avalanche!
00:14 Get him Fred, they're on your six!
00:17 Woohoo!
00:44 We're in the shop working on the Ultimate Avalanche. This is a 2003 Chevy Avalanche
00:49 three-quarter ton truck that we built for Ultimate Adventure at Peterson's 411 Off-Road Magazine back in 2003.
00:55 This was one of my very first project vehicles at the magazine.
00:59 It was beautiful, it was bright red, it's a three-quarter ton so it has an 8.1 liter big block.
01:04 Over the years we have ruined this truck. It got damaged, abused, and finally the company was like
01:09 we're done with it, we're selling it. And I, because I'm dumb and this was my first project truck,
01:14 I bought it from the company. We've changed it multiple times, we've changed the bumper,
01:19 and this time we're going to race prep it to take it to Idaho and go snow wheeling.
01:23 So what does that mean? What does race prepping mean? We're going to go through all of the mechanicals on this thing.
01:28 I just took it up to Fabwerks and we had the axles re-geared. It's now running 488 gears,
01:32 has a Detroit locker up front, an ARB air locker in the back. Make sure the whole truck is ready to go.
01:38 Why are we racing a three-quarter ton Avalanche in the snow?
01:42 Because this was a luxury truck when we bought it and it's got heated leather seats. What more do you need?
01:47 First thing it needs is like to be painted and put back to normal because they destroyed it on Ultimate Adventure
01:52 and then like six other people have taken it out and tried to kill it and it won't die.
01:58 This truck is very similar to the Alaska Army truck. The rear suspension is spring under,
02:02 the front is a five link with coil overs and those are actually internal bypass shocks.
02:07 These are just really amazingly high dollar wicked cool shocks for such a hammered old three-quarter ton truck.
02:14 Are you ready to track bar?
02:17 Yeah.
02:19 Alright, so we have all of the bolts started. All the four link bolts are started.
02:23 Now we'll put the track bar in which keeps the axle from moving sideways.
02:27 [Music]
02:42 This all got engineered and put together so long ago.
02:45 We're trying to figure out if it's got the right caster for where the ride height's at.
02:50 So we may roll the caster back a little bit and it might give us a little more clearance on the oil filter.
02:55 Front suspension is pretty well dialed. We're going to need to charge the shocks.
03:00 We're going to move to the rear and start looking at the fuel system, see what we need to get the fuel tank in.
03:05 If we can get the rear tank in, we're going to try and do that.
03:08 That helps us in a couple ways. It gives us additional fuel economy and it keeps all of our smog equipment legit.
03:15 How does putting a bigger fuel tank in it increase your fuel economy, Fred?
03:19 Fuel economy, because it makes the thing happier.
03:25 Think about it, if you had more coffee in the morning, you'd be happier.
03:28 See that little tiny coffee mug you have there? Think how happy you'd be if you had twice as much.
03:33 Are we going to paint all of this?
03:36 I think we should.
03:37 Bare metal?
03:38 I'll grab you a grinder.
03:40 We're going to kind of clean up the frame here where the shocks mount, spray paint it so it looks really nice when we go win our big race up in Idaho.
03:47 They're going to be super impressed by the guys from California.
03:50 Everybody from out of state loves Californians.
03:54 Alright, the frame's done, Fred.
04:07 The frame's painted?
04:08 Yeah.
04:09 So the front axle's in and bolted in, the rear axle's painted and ready to go in as soon as the paint's dry.
04:14 The gas tank's ready to go in as soon as the paint's dry.
04:17 Oil filter adapter is ordered.
04:19 Drive shafts are ordered.
04:21 Alright, so we'll go to town, we'll get some pizza and we'll get some tall cans of ice cold milk.
04:28 Dave and I stayed up late last night.
04:39 We went through the paint cabinet, we picked out every color that I had and we tested them all on the truck.
04:44 We decided that none of them are right.
04:46 Today we're going to get a lot of work done because yesterday we got the fuel system in, the exhaust.
04:52 We didn't do any of that.
04:53 Rock sliders?
04:54 Nope.
04:55 These are the rock sliders.
04:56 I've had these rock sliders through like three different projects.
04:58 Dave's going to clean them up and put them on.
05:00 Off-road lights.
05:01 Paint the frame.
05:02 We did that.
05:03 Alright, we can mark something off.
05:05 Basically we didn't get anything done yesterday.
05:07 We found a lot of problems.
05:08 We got problems with the fuel system.
05:10 We got problems with the oil filter hitting the drive shaft.
05:13 These are opportunities.
05:14 Opportunities to excel and make this thing great.
05:18 Race trucks are groundbreaking things, Dave.
05:21 Think positive.
05:22 So Fred built these rock sliders for a magazine rig, I don't know, 15 years ago or something.
05:28 They were for a Suburban.
05:30 Then he cut them down, shortened them to try and fit the Alabama Army truck.
05:33 I got a wire wheel all the old rust off because they've been sitting around forever.
05:36 Scuff them up, use some rusty metal primer, and then paint them black.
05:39 They should last and look good for a long time.
05:41 So I cut some kickers.
05:56 These are going to go to the frame rails.
05:58 I went ahead and I welded them on so that the slider's at an angle.
06:02 It'll just kind of give it a little better look.
06:04 So even though it's old used stuff, it's going to look cool on there.
06:08 I got the other one on the truck ready to go.
06:11 We'll tack it up, double check everything, and then finish welding it and add some gussets and go smash on them.
06:16 The hardest part on this type of job is getting the other side to look exactly the same.
06:24 There'll be all sorts of like trying to figure out if I got them both in the same spot.
06:28 Once we smash it on a couple rocks, they'll probably do their own thing anyways.
06:32 [Music]
06:34 Okay, the tank is in the body.
06:40 All the connections are hooked up.
06:42 Cross your fingers that the fuel pump still works after sitting for five years.
06:46 [Music]
06:48 Beep, beep.
06:53 We're trying to get this like 400 pound axle over to the vehicle without it falling off the jack.
06:59 And smashing toes.
07:01 Hold it right there.
07:03 That should keep the axle in place.
07:06 Now we're going to bring the leaf springs up, put the shackle into the leaf spring.
07:10 Then we can align the axle onto the leaf spring.
07:14 And then we'll figure out all the U-bolts.
07:17 So that's where the axle will be on the rear end at full droop.
07:20 We got the shocks in here, we'll put the brake lines on.
07:23 We'll get all the U-bolts and U-bolt plates dialed in.
07:26 And then we can put the truck up on jack stands in the rear end, sitting on its own weight.
07:31 [Music]
07:35 Morning Dave.
07:39 Hey Fred.
07:40 So we stayed up late last night.
07:42 After much consideration, we finally picked out a color.
07:45 This is green, tan, beige, brown, blue.
07:50 I'm going to modify the tube benders so that Dave can build a rear bumper.
07:54 Drive shafts should show up, tires should show up, and a few other odds and ends.
07:58 And our race truck will be ready to go.
08:00 This truck started out on UA with this fancy red and silver scallop paint job.
08:07 And then it got the tar beat out of it.
08:10 It looked terrible, so we're just doing a quick rattle can paint job.
08:14 We got everything for like $65.
08:16 And we're going to paint this thing one color so it looks cool again.
08:20 Cool to us, not to people that know what good paint jobs look like though.
08:25 This is my JD squared tube bender.
08:30 It's a manual bender.
08:32 It's pretty simple, it's pretty strong.
08:34 But unfortunately, it's really heavy, so you have to bolt it to the ground.
08:38 I found an option from the guys over at Swag Off-Road.
08:42 I've welded up this bracket that uses an air over hydraulic ram.
08:45 I grab this ram down at Harbor Freight, and then I'll be able to hydraulically run the tube bender to bend pieces of tubing.
08:51 In addition to that, I'm building this rack to mount the tube bender on to allow me to move it around anywhere in the shop that I want to work.
08:58 So I'm simplifying the entire tool, and it's all really off-the-shelf simple stuff.
09:03 And then Dave will have a really simple way to bend up a rear bumper for the Avalanche.
09:07 That's pretty cool.
09:09 Dave, I made this!
09:12 I'm still painting your truck.
09:15 Hey Dave!
09:17 You listened to me and you got rad tires.
09:19 I got us some rad tires!
09:21 What size do you think I got?
09:23 37x13x50x17.
09:25 That was a good guess.
09:27 I got some 37x13x50x17 Toyo Open Country M/Ts.
09:31 Look how wide those are. That's rad.
09:33 Alright, so I got a set of Trail Ready beadlocks. I'm going to bolt these on.
09:36 And we're going to go dominate some snow!
09:39 Alright, let's see how we've done.
09:42 Dave, is the exhaust done?
09:44 Nope!
09:45 Drive shafts?
09:46 They didn't show up.
09:47 J.E. Reel sent us two new drive shafts. They'll be here any day now. Hopefully today.
09:50 Rock sliders?
09:51 They're almost done.
09:52 Rear bumper?
09:53 Didn't even start on it.
09:54 We haven't started the rear bumper yet, but I built this really cool tube bender contraption so Dave can build a rear bumper.
10:00 Off-road lights?
10:01 Nope!
10:02 We have a cool set of ARB Intensity off-road lights. Dave built some brackets.
10:06 You guys need to leave because you're slowing us down.
10:09 Get out of here. We've got work to do. The next time you see this truck we're going to be bombing through the snow like a...
10:14 Snow bomber!
10:15 Snow bomber!
10:16 Or a Yeti.
10:18 Or one of those snow things.
10:21 [Music]
10:24 [Music]
10:50 We made it to Naples, Idaho at the Insanity Fab Winter Challenge.
10:54 The Avalanche is ready to race.
10:56 Well, it's almost ready. I've got to put in a new battery.
10:58 This truck has not been driven in somewhere between five and eight years.
11:02 It's been sitting.
11:03 So the very first thing we're going to do is unload it from the trailer and go race in this awesome race with all these guys from all over Idaho and the Northwest.
11:11 So this race has two classes.
11:13 41 inch tires and bigger.
11:15 40 inch tires and smaller.
11:17 And the smallest tire you can run is a 37.
11:20 So we have one of the biggest trucks here as far as weight and length.
11:24 One of the smallest tires that are allowed because we're running these 37 inch Toyos.
11:28 A lot of the other trucks here have like Exo cages.
11:31 So get a good look at it because it looks beautiful right now and it may not look as good by the end of the day.
11:37 We got the wrong truck.
11:39 Big time for this race.
11:41 There's guys out here on like 47 inch big V8s and buggies.
11:45 They might be colder than us, but they're probably going to be faster.
11:49 Hoping the big power works.
11:50 Hoping we have enough protection.
11:52 Hoping to have a good time really.
11:54 That's going to be easy.
11:55 We're going to go five laps.
12:00 You're going to come down in the open here, circle right back around where you started, and go right back into the trees again.
12:05 Down on this loop there is two different spots that we have flagging coming out because there is two different jumps down there.
12:11 And it flags you out and funnels you into the jump so you can't get around it.
12:14 You have to go over it.
12:15 We made them as equal as we could.
12:17 So if you take a left, the right one is going to have the same amount of obstacles and distance.
12:23 So it may be faster over here, but a harder obstacle.
12:25 Maybe tighter over there, but not as many obstacles.
12:28 We tried to make it as equal as we could throughout the whole course.
12:31 So we're at the driver's meeting.
12:36 They just kind of gave us the course, which is basically go out in the air into the woods and smash your truck all to hell.
12:41 And then come out of the woods and go as fast as you can.
12:44 Oh, and there's some jumps.
12:46 One guy said it's really bad.
12:49 So that's probably where we'll also smash the truck.
12:51 If you do break down, hopefully you broke down near one of the fires because there's multiple fires on the course so that you can stay warm.
12:57 Sounds like a good idea.
12:59 All around.
13:00 Again, thanks Fred.
13:01 You're the best.
13:03 [MUSIC]
13:06 [ENGINE REVVING]
13:08 Come on, Henry.
13:22 Back this way.
13:23 There you go.
13:24 There we go.
13:27 Yeah.
13:28 [SCREAMING]
13:31 [ENGINE REVVING]
13:33 We went out and we looked at the trail, the obstacles.
13:44 A lot of the other guys in the first heat in our class are getting hung up over there on some rocks and stuff.
13:49 But I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen to us because we have a lot more wheel base.
13:52 What do you think, Dave?
13:53 I think we got enough horsepower.
13:55 We're going to jump it all.
13:56 Yeah.
13:57 Out of the way.
13:58 Avalanche coming through.
13:59 It's coming through.
14:00 There are no other race trucks here today that have heated leather seats that are five-way adjustable.
14:06 But we do.
14:08 And we're going to win.
14:10 [MUSIC]
14:12 All right, Dave.
14:21 All right, Fred.
14:23 [LAUGHING]
14:25 We are lined up at the start of the race.
14:28 Yes, we are.
14:29 We're on the far right side.
14:31 We've got six competitors over there.
14:33 Yep.
14:34 Losers on the left, winners on the right.
14:36 Yep.
14:37 [ENGINE REVVING]
14:41 It's working good!
14:48 Yeah.
14:49 Get in!
14:50 I'm getting in.
14:51 Get in the rut, man.
14:52 Woo!
14:54 [ENGINE REVVING]
14:56 Oh, everybody hit us.
15:07 [LAUGHING]
15:08 That was grim.
15:09 Here we go.
15:13 Coming around the bend.
15:14 So far, so good.
15:16 Get in, Fred.
15:20 They're on your six.
15:21 Woo!
15:22 All right, we've got two guys in front of us.
15:24 And how many behind us?
15:25 Four.
15:26 Four behind us.
15:27 Oh, there's a hole.
15:36 I didn't see that at all.
15:37 You think maybe we should have watched the course?
15:41 No idea where we are.
15:44 Maybe slightly lost.
15:45 I hope we're not going backwards.
15:49 [ENGINE REVVING]
15:51 Yep, we're totally on the wrong way.
15:54 Turn around, Fred!
15:59 Turn around!
16:00 [LAUGHING]
16:01 Sorry, guys.
16:02 We're new here.
16:03 [LAUGHING]
16:04 All right.
16:08 Woo!
16:09 Now we're racing.
16:10 [ENGINE REVVING]
16:14 [ENGINE REVVING]
16:16 Woo!
16:27 Oh, jeez.
16:29 All right, Fred.
16:30 Getting serious.
16:32 What is that?
16:33 Oh, here's that rock pile.
16:34 Oh, we got a guy stuck on the left.
16:37 Do they need a bump?
16:41 We're hung up here at a little obstacle.
16:44 We got a Toyota.
16:45 I'm going to go winch people.
16:46 You're going to go help winch?
16:47 Yeah.
16:48 OK.
16:49 Dave's leaving.
16:50 Hey, while you're out there, bring back some coffees
16:52 or a hot chocolate or something.
16:54 That guy's stuck.
16:58 [LAUGHING]
16:59 Should we go on the right and try to winch over it?
17:01 Probably.
17:02 I don't have a problem with that.
17:03 Let me get a strap.
17:04 OK.
17:05 [ENGINE REVVING]
17:11 [ENGINE REVVING]
17:13 You're going to want to keep it driver.
17:21 OK.
17:22 Drive it.
17:23 Driver.
17:28 You got it.
17:30 I can try and pull that way if those guys are cool.
17:36 Yeah.
17:37 The drive shaft seems to have come up
17:38 and hit the transmission shifter,
17:39 so I can't shift it out of drive.
17:41 So I can't get it into reverse to back up
17:43 to give them any slack.
17:45 So we're going to start winching off this direction.
17:48 Drive it.
17:50 There it goes.
17:54 Yeah!
17:55 Yeah!
17:56 Woo!
17:57 Woo!
17:58 We got three apple winch!
18:00 Keep it going, Fred.
18:02 Come on.
18:07 I think we're ready, Dave.
18:08 Woo!
18:09 Good job, Dave!
18:10 Thanks, Fred.
18:11 I can't feel my hands.
18:13 We'll get you a nice cold beverage at the next pit stop.
18:17 Oh, crap.
18:20 Oh, crap.
18:21 High on the passenger.
18:22 High on the passenger.
18:24 Right there.
18:25 Drive it.
18:26 No.
18:28 Start farther driver and then come into it.
18:30 OK.
18:36 Yeah!
18:37 Woo!
18:39 There it is.
18:40 Five laps or can we just--
18:47 if everybody else breaks, we can stop then.
18:49 There's that hole we found last time.
19:03 Your rear locker's not on.
19:06 Coming around the mountain.
19:09 Fred.
19:32 What?
19:33 You want to try and drive the hole?
19:35 Sure.
19:36 Woo!
19:39 Yeah, there went a window.
19:41 Woo!
20:00 Woo!
20:01 Woo-hoo!
20:03 Woo!
20:04 You're the best.
20:07 Like a champ.
20:08 I know, you're like a champion.
20:10 There it is.
20:12 Passenger.
20:13 Passenger.
20:14 There it is.
20:15 Yeah!
20:16 Yeah!
20:17 Woo!
20:18 Give it hell, man.
20:20 Let her eat.
20:22 This thing's screwed.
20:29 Have you seen the outside of it?
20:32 I don't want to see the outside.
20:34 Sure, it's beautiful still.
20:36 Next time, can I drive a new winch?
20:43 Yeah, definitely.
20:45 What do you think?
20:55 We're winning in steering.
20:56 Left or right?
20:57 Left or right?
20:58 Oh, jeez.
21:00 We call mud or rocks?
21:03 Uh, rocks.
21:04 This spectator guy is saying go left over the big boulder.
21:07 I think we want to go left, too.
21:09 All right.
21:10 There's that daggone Toyota again.
21:12 Action.
21:17 Whoa!
21:21 Whoa!
21:22 Come on, come on, come on, big bumper.
21:42 I gotta go over here.
21:47 Yeah.
21:50 Oh, no.
21:51 Good job.
22:02 Now we got the big whole tire pile.
22:08 Good job.
22:10 You got it.
22:11 Run those rock sliders on this tire.
22:13 Spin it around it.
22:14 There you go.
22:15 Go fast.
22:16 Oh!
22:17 Hit it.
22:19 [LAUGHTER]
22:20 That's all right.
22:24 We'll catch him again.
22:25 Go straight.
22:27 Go straight.
22:28 He's going that way.
22:29 We'll beat him on this downhill.
22:30 Go.
22:31 Don't stop for that.
22:32 Good job, Dave.
22:33 4x4 racing is fun.
22:39 It's a great hobby.
22:40 Lots of you should get into this.
22:42 [LAUGHTER]
22:43 All right.
22:48 We're in the trees.
22:49 Nice and easy.
22:50 This is the start of lap number--
22:52 Four.
22:53 Four.
22:54 Keep it along the trees.
22:55 Oh!
22:57 Like that?
22:58 Close enough.
22:59 Where are we going?
23:02 Let's do mud.
23:03 Wait.
23:04 Mud?
23:05 Try mud.
23:06 The rock buggy guys were going super high right.
23:09 OK, ready?
23:13 Good digging with it.
23:17 I think I can get it.
23:18 OK.
23:19 You want to do it again?
23:20 Go, go, go!
23:26 I'm good now.
23:32 It's like raining glass in here.
23:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
23:38 Let's try this again.
23:48 OK, bring it, drive.
23:54 Bring it, passenger.
23:55 More, more, more, more, more.
23:56 There you go.
23:57 Line it up right there.
23:58 There you go.
24:00 You got it, Dave.
24:01 You got it.
24:02 You got it.
24:03 Go, David!
24:04 Yeah!
24:05 Thanks, camper!
24:06 Woo-hoo!
24:10 I think that's it.
24:12 I think we're done.
24:13 Really?
24:14 Yeah, he waved the flag.
24:15 I thought he said when it dropped, and then he threw it on the ground, I guess.
24:19 Can we just keep going?
24:20 How'd we do?
24:22 Last is the new first.
24:27 Run it back to the shop.
24:28 We're going to button up a few little things.
24:31 We took an avalanche snow racing, and it was really fast.
24:34 And it did lots of damage.
24:36 Anybody selling any doors for avalanches, taillights for avalanches, headlights for avalanches?
24:42 Oh, the tailgate still looks good.
24:44 Good work, Fred.
24:46 Good job, Dave.
24:47 Oh, Dave.
24:51 Looks good.
24:54 You really tore it up.
24:56 I drove it one lap.
24:57 What happened there?
24:58 There's no way I did all that.
24:59 What happened there?
25:00 This was your side, Dave.
25:01 You were supposed to be watching it.
25:03 It's puking everywhere.
25:05 We lost three windows.
25:06 Three.
25:07 These two are Dave's sides.
25:10 They're his fault.
25:11 And that side over there we lost when Dave was driving.
25:13 So that's his fault.
25:14 If you guys are looking for a really good deal on an avalanche, super low miles, give us a call.
25:19 That was awesome.
25:20 This was the most fun I've had in this truck.
25:22 Ever.
25:23 Ever.
25:24 In eight miles, we destroyed this truck.
25:27 Yeah, we drove for two and a half days to drive eight miles and destroy our truck.
25:31 And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
25:33 That's it for Dirt Every Day.
25:34 We'll see you guys next time.
25:36 Fred, what's your plan on winning the heat race?
25:41 We're going to win because we'll have the most heat.
25:44 We will have the most heat.
25:46 We will have--look.
25:47 See that? Feel the heat?
25:49 Oh, yeah.
25:51 Yeah.