4 Wheel & Off Road – October 2019

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The front suspension consists of Rancho

4 - inch lif t springs that have the center pin

redrilled to move the front axle forward 3 inches.

In our ex perience springs tend to snap at the old

center pin. Wyatt plans to swap them out for

52-inch Chevy springs or even link the front end if

funds allow. Fox air bumps and Fox 12-inch-travel

remote-reservoir shocks soak up the bumps.

4-WHEEL & OFF-ROADOCTOBER 2019 51

LONGBED LOVE

SOMETHING OLDS,

BY Harry Wagner

[email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHY HARRY WAGNER

L

IVING IN PLACERVILLE, CALIFOR-

nia , in the shadow of the famous

Rubicon Trail, Wyatt Barry has

abundant opportunities to wheel

all year long. That includes mul-

tiday trips and plenty of snow

wheeling, so Wyatt’s vehicle of

choice has always been full size Chev ys.

And not shortbed trucks, but longbeds with

plenty of wheelbase to climb tall obstacles

and bed space for all his cargo.

All that wheeling took its toll on his last

truck though, which ended up with a seized

400ci engine and a crushed cab after five

years of heavy wheeling. Wyatt tossed the

cab, bought a clean 2WD truck, and got to

work combining the two in his barn with help

from Hank Collins and Dan Dammen. Using

the lessons he had learned along the way,

Wyatt was able to make a truck that was

even more capable than his last.

The bored 455 Oldsmobile V-8 came from

Dave Phillips makes as much torque as a

big-block Chevy but weighs the same as a

small-block Chevy. After cracking the tail-

housing in half on the Rubicon in the snow,

Wyatt built three mounting points for the

current TH350 and four-speed Advance

Adapters Atlas II transfer case. The uncon-

ventional drivetrain continues with a

14-bolt front axle built with Dana 50 outers.

“They are the same size knuckles that Dana

60s use but they are cheap,” says Wyatt.

The previous 47-inch tires were replaced

by 41.5-inch Pit Bull Rockers on 20-inch

TrailReady HD beadlock wheels. The tires fit

with only a 4-inch lif t thank s to heav y fender

trimming that involved removing the inner

fenders in the front and raising the rear fender

tubs in the bed by unbolting them from the

bottom and setting them on top of the bed.

The two-tone paint is original and looks great,

although given how frequently Wyatt wheels

we don’t expect it to stay that way forever.

SOMETHING NEW