By James J. Weber
As the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean, a strange and elusive phenomena occurs that not many can claim to have seen, and then in an instant, it is gone. That's right, blink and you'll miss it. What is it, you ask? It's a green flash that occurs during the final milliseconds of a sunset and is caused by the setting sun's light rays reflecting at the perfect angle upon the water. While it is almost impossible to photograph such a masterpiece, our own Randall Jachmann managed to capture another type of green flash on film for all to enjoy.
Some 2,000 miles away from the blue Pacific in a town named Wichita Falls, Texas, Bryan Taylor and his best friend Jeff Cullar have created the Texas equivalent to the green flash. Working from about 7 p.m. until 12 a.m. every Monday through Thursday evening and all day on Saturday for two years, the dynamic duo created a masterpiece that could be missed by some, if they blinked, since this rig is so fast. Having built a total of six quality show trucks over the previous years, Bryan knew exactly what would satisfy his desire for a smooth-riding, unbreakable, hard-core off-road vehicle.
With the exception of the factory hood, the side doors, and the cab from a '96 Extended Cab Chevrolet truck, Bryan and Jeff built the entire vehicle by hand from the ground up. The main frame of the truck consists of 1-3/4x0.120-inch-thick 4130 chrome-moly tubing, including the transmission cradle and shock hoops. The interior rollcage fabricated from 1-5/8x0.083-inch-thick 4130 chrome-moly tubing is mated to the frame by seamless TIG welds. All of the tabs and mounting locations were custom-designed and -fabricated in house by Bryan, including the custom-altered ARP 12-point motor-mount hardware.
Once the skeleton was completed, the emphasis shifted to the suspension of this masterpiece. Having dealt primarily with the tried-and-true leaf spring suspensions on their previous creations, Bryan and Jeff decided that in order to create their desired smooth-riding and reliable four-wheeler, the suspension would have to provide a respectable amount of front and rear wheel travel. Recognizing the amount of wheel travel and punishment that monster trucks endure, Bryan decided that the implementation of a front and rear four-link suspension system would be the most beneficial to his desired outcome. After locating drawn-over mandrel 2-1/4x0.250-inch-thick seamless mild steel tubing for the four-link bars, his fun began. Between the 1-1/4x1-inch chrome-moly Heim joints and 1-3/4-inch front and rear Schroeder Super Speedway NASCAR sway bars, all you have to do is look at these components to know that this is indeed a no-nonsense kind of vehicle. All axle brackets and other key components of the suspension were either TIG-welded or mated together with Grade-8 hardware. To provide the smoothness that he was aiming for, Steve Combs of Nightstalker Shocks built four 3-1/2-inch nitrogen-charged units with reservoirs that are backed by dual Beard limiting straps to protect from any possible over-extension when Bryan and crew are flying through the air. When all is said and done, a whopping 14 inches of wheel travel is available.