story and photo by Perry Mack
Oh it’s good to be gettin’ my hands dirty once again. It’s so easy to get caught up in routine and neglect the best parts of life, for me that is getting together with friends after work and diving into a mechanical project.
Work commitments and a hectic lifestyle have made it very easy to convince myself that, “the truck can wait another night, I’m going to spend tonight on the couch.” Which is repeated the very next day, and the day after that, until one day I look out the window (or more accurately, my wife does) and sees that half finished project has been sitting for too many months without any attention.
This is why I love wheeling, it’s not just the act of getting out into the wilderness that makes it such a great lifestyle, it’s also coming together with friends, wrenches, and beers, to create the fantastic machines that take us deep into the wilds that the vast majority of Canadians will likely never see. Project Samurai is more than just reviving a once great off-road vehicle; it’s reviving a social life that I allowed to slip away. And not a synthetic online social life, a real face-to-face, getting into a vehicle’s guts and making it better life.
We promised you cool projects, and it’s time to deliver. The Samurai is well underway and will make a strong presence in the next issue, while Ford trucks will be front and centre in this issue. Bryan has an F-150 build that has hit the halfway point, while on the other side of the country, Off-Road Addiction is giving a Raptor some legs that will make it even more capable than its already legendary reputation. We’ve also got the action highlights from the Loonie Run and a BC local’s return to the trails of her past.
Nothing brings a group of guys together like an unsolvable dilemma. Getting a rig fixed in the bush with nothing more than a Band-Aid, paper clip and a ball of string is what makes wheelers such a resilient bunch; we will creatively make a repair, getting our truck back to civilization by any means possible. So in tribute to this, we at 4WDrive Magazine came up with some of our finest MacGyver moments.
As a side note, the word “SEMA” has started to be quietly whispered around the office, and a little ball of excitement is starting to grow in all our stomachs as November closes in. The spastic mind-blowing orgy of bright and shiny things that is SEMA is creeping closer, and we are putting on a full-court press this year. The year is shaping up to be one of the best ever for the 4WD market with the addition of a couple new events… but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Until then, keep on wheelin’ and enjoying the great outdoors with your neglected pals while the days are still warm.