Roadkill Garage S02e04 The Off Road Challenger Instant

To really wake up the 360, they pulled a used Comp XE268 hydraulic flat-tappet camshaft (with 224/230 duration at .050 and .477/.480 lift) from an older 318 and paired it with a high-performance roller-style timing chain set. Major Surgery: Fitting Massive Off-Road Tires

The episode is perhaps best remembered for its testing phase. After completing the build, Freiburger and Dulcich took the ORC to a in the desert for some "desert bashing". Their fun was interrupted by a catastrophic 100-year sandstorm featuring 70-mph winds.

: The guys start with a mundane dirt-track race car (previously seen in Roadkill episodes 54 and 56). To make it trail-ready, they cut into the bodywork to fit giant off-road tires.

The concept was beautifully simple and utterly insane. Freiburger and Dulcich wanted to build an off-road vehicle. But instead of a Jeep, a truck, or a classic Baja Bug, they chose a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Yes, a quintessential muscle car—long, heavy, low-slung, and built for pavement—was destined for dirt jumps, whoops, and desert washboards. roadkill garage s02e04 the off road challenger

Purists might want to shield their eyes during Roadkill Garage S02E04 . To fit the heavy-duty desert tires, Freiburger and Dulcich took a saw to the classic E-body wheel wells.

The mechanical setup remained intentionally low-tech. The car retained its factory-style torsion bar front suspension and rear leaf springs, though both were adjusted and modified to maximize ground clearance. The powertrain consisted of a basic Mopar 318 V8 engine hooked up to a rugged TorqueFlite automatic transmission. With open headers peeking through or dumping aggressively, the vehicle lacked basic amenities, including an air filter, which would later prove to be a critical mistake during testing. The Desert Trial: The 100-Year Sandstorm

The 12-valve Cummins is mechanically simple, making it ideal for dirty work. The hosts adjust the fuel delivery to ensure the heavy car has the low-end torque required to churn through mud without stalling. To really wake up the 360, they pulled

: Cut back the iconic wheel arches and quarters with a sawzall. Rubber : Fit giant, aggressive off-road terrain tires.

delivers the ultimate Mad Max-style automotive transformation. Hosted by automotive journalists David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich, this classic episode pushes the philosophy of "doing the wrong thing the right way" to its absolute limit. By taking a clapped-out 1970 Dodge Challenger and converting it into a desert-shredding off-road beast, the duo created an iconic project car known to fans as the ORC (Off-Road Challenger) . The Origin of the Off-Road Challenger

The mechanical meat of the episode occurs at Steve Dulcich’s famous grape farm. The build relies heavily on aggressive body modification and budget parts. The Off-Road Challenger Is Reborn! | Roadkill Garage Their fun was interrupted by a catastrophic 100-year

Rather than purchasing a proper lift kit, Freiburger and Dulcich employ the classic budget hot-rodder trick: inserting wooden blocks between the leaf springs and the axle. While crude, this provides the necessary clearance for larger tires and allows the suspension to articulate better over bumps.

: To accommodate massive off-road tires , the hosts took the extreme step of hacking away significant portions of the car's sheet metal.

stands as one of the most delightfully chaotic and "Mad Max"-style episodes in automotive television history. Hosts David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich take a classic 1970 Dodge Challenger E-Body—a car that collectors routinely spend a fortune restoring—and slice its sheet metal away to fit massive off-road tires for desert-bashing.