Remember the drag racing ’74 Chevy Muscle Truck from Roadkill Episode 18? It’s back, but with a twist: it’s gonna become a true dual-sport ride for surf and turf, shedding its drag slicks for Super Swamper Boggers and hitting the sand dunes…hard! And to prove that a lowered, two-wheel-drive pickup can dominate the dunes, Freiburger and Finnegan set up a shootout with Fred Williams from the Dirt Every Day series on the Motor Trend channel. Fred brought out his ’69 VW Baja Bug from DED Episode 23 and went head to head with the Muscle Truck on the beach at Pismo, California.

The Roadkill/HOT ROD Magazine Muscle Truck is a ’74 Chevy C10 shortbed, stepside, with a GM LS6 crate engine (like the all-aluminum V8 found in a C6 ZO6 Corvette). It’s stock other than a small crane cam, midlength headers, and a new addition for this episode: MSD’s Atomic EFI (the truck used to run a carburetor). The Atomic setup is atop a BBK intake manifold, and uses a stock LS1 throttle body. That legendary exhaust sound comes
from 3-inch pipe with 4-inch Dynomax Bullet race mufflers.

The truck’s transmission is a JW Turbo 400 backed by a Gear Vendors over/underdrive unit. And it really needs overdrive because the Ford 9-inch rear carries 5.13 gears and a spool. The suspension features dropped spindles and Ridetech Strong Arms and air bags up front. In the rear, two leaves were removed from the stock spring packs, they were flipped under the axle, and traction is delivered by Caltrac’s bars.

Roadkill appears every fourth Friday on the Motor Trend channel. http://www.youtube.com/motortrend

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