January 2015 | Volume | 8 Issue 1

The Company
Four Wheel Campers started in 1972 in Colorado, with a revolutionary camper design for the International Scout.  The product lines eventually expanded to include pop-up campers for the Scout, Ford Bronco, Chevrolet Blazer, and campers designed for pickups.  While the Scout, Bronco, and Blazer have all gone the way of the dodo bird, Four Wheel Campers has continued making pop-up campers.  After being purchased/sold a few times over the company’s history, and relocating to Woodland, California, Four Wheel Campers was eventually purchased by Tom and Celeste Hanagan in 2001.  It is here where we begin to see the evolution of the Four Wheel Campers camper into a modern travel platform we see on the roads today.

Ironman 4x4 has been touting their new Foam Cell Pro shocks for some time and Excop Offroad was the first in the US to get our hands on them to put them through their paces to see if they will live up to the hype.

The Ironman 4×4 Foam Cell Pro shocks are designed to meet punishing demands of the outback while delivering a comfortable on-road ride.   Extensive research and development by the Ironman 4×4 team went in to making this new line the strongest shocks for the money. Instead of Nitrogen gas charged shocks, Ironman has replaced the Nitrogen with a foam cell product that is designed to provide a more consistent and predictive ride quality.

Your 80 series Land Cruiser is old.  17-21 years.  200,000 to 300,000 miles (or more).  While it may not yet be a classic like an FJ40 or FJ55, it also has many more systems.  It’s amazing how long these systems last, but parts do wear out.

In addition to bearings, inner axles, and spindles, I've replaced door gaskets, suspension bushings, door switches, and the fuel door spring.  I have adjusted the hood bumpers, replaced hood and liftgate struts, and even an entire liftgate that was starting to rust. These repairs keep your rig in tiptop shape and eliminate the kind of neglect that leads you to neglect even larger problems.

We asked Brian Rogers, President of the Dallas-based Toyota Trail Riders club, to tell us about his 2002 4Runner build, destinations, and anything else he could think of…

Getting involved with the Toyota Trail Riders is what ignited my passion. I have always been an outdoor enthusiast, but after meeting this group, it totally changed my direction. My first modification was a lift so I could try out off-roading. After one trip out to the local trails with these club, I was hooked. I continued to evolve my truck into a more capable rig, with the notion of being out in the wilderness multiple evenings.