Aww man, I’ve been banished back to the greys.

I was driving a new-to-me 1997 Chevy C1500 to a dinner with my also new-to-me girlfriend’s parents. I’d only had the truck about a week so hadn’t put any tools in it, and was dressed for a nice dinner so didn’t have my normal daily carry Swiss army knife with me. About 2 miles from the restaurant I notice steam coming…

This has been the best series of articles Jalopnik has had in years. I’ve found myself searching out Jalopnik to find updates instead of browsing from boredom. Kudos, sir. Kudos.

I once blew a heater hose on my old Chevy Truck on the way to a family dinner. I pulled over in the parking lot of a tire place I had just recently done business with and checked to see what the problem was. Fortunately, it had busted right at the end, where the hose goes into the intake. A previous owner had not…

This. I keep seeing some ole J-10s on craigslist and thinking... why not?

Probably wouldn't pass safety standards. In COE, crumple zone is you!

I bet they're not real beadlocks. They aren't street legal, IIRC.

This is relevant to my interests.

Yep, lockers are required equipment for rock crawling and deep mud. Still, smaller rock obstacles and things are doable without them. Just looking at the build he's done here, he has no real skids (factory stuff, but that doesn't cover everything), no winch or heavy bumpers, 31 inch tires, no body armor other than…

I agree on everything except it's usefulness offroad. It'd be much more capable with lockers, but it'll still go places most of the 4x4 SUVs today won't go. The low range on the cherokee isn't very low, so your clutch leg would be ready to fall off after a day of wheeling if you were in a manual, so it's a tradeoff…

I just read up on this after seeing DuckDraper's comment. Apparently it'll be a web tv show, so hopefully available everywhere at the same time.

Depreciation may be the #1 selling point of a Taco for me. 10 year old examples in good condition around here are still ~10-12k. Not sure what KBB is on them, but that's what they bring.

Samurai's aren't really at home in the mud. Rocks and general offroading, though, it's a whole 'nother story. Cheap spring over axle lift with YJ springs and 31's and you've got a very cheap (3k or less) wheeler that'll take you almost anywhere you point it.

There's something about a 'binder grille that does it for me. I'd be scared to take that out on the trail.... but I'd make it my DD in a heartbeat!

The first thing to remember is that eventually you WILL get stuck. It happens to everyone. Always have a plan to extract yourself.

Even here in the South, the land that rust forgot, rust free bodies are scarce. It's a shame, because these are great 4x4s and a nice change from all the Jeeps and Toyotas on the trail (not hating, I own a TJ!)

I'm currently the proud owner of an '01 TJ with the 4.0. The tires are too large for the gears (33's on 3.07's, changing it when I do an axle swap) but I can still hold 70 up most hills with a downshift. I do believe it's the "High Output" 4.0, though, so maybe that makes the difference.

The biggest benefit is that you can fit bigger tires. Larger diameter tires are about the only way to get more clearance for a solid axle housing, among their other benefits. It also provides more room for wheel uptravel, but generally larger tires are the reason.

Any Cool Hand Luke reference gets a thumbs up from me!

There's money in the Ranger, but there's probably a lot more in the F series. I would assume their reasoning is "Why let someone buy a truck at a smaller profit for the company when you can take that option away and make more money off a larger truck?" It would be like cola companies no longer selling cans of soda.