2000 Ford F-350 Super Duty 4x4 - Goin' On Safari

Greg Jevne has always been into building off-road machines. As a youngster, fresh out of high school with a welding and engine-building certificate, Greg found himself engulfed in the prerunner scene. He spent a good portion of the 1980s behind the wheel of a 2WD Toyota pickup, which became a guinea pig for his bumper fabrication ideas. Not long afterwards, Greg went through several different automotive phases, one of which found him collecting exotic Volkswagens, until one day he saw a vehicle that would forever change his life. Sitting on the side of desolate road was a '67 Land Rover 109, which Greg instantly fell in love with. He wasted no time in snatching up the stout SUV and immediately converting it for severe off-road duty. Greg still had the prerunner disease coursing through his veins, so he used his fabrication skills to build functional products for his SUV. Little did Greg know that the wrap-around bumpers and differential guards that he scratch-built for his 'Rover would spawn a thriving business soon thereafter.

Greg's company, Safari Gard, was born out of the necessity to manufacture and sell products for vehicles, such as the Land Rover, that actually work in an off-road environment. Currently, Safari Gard makes bumpers for Toyota 4Runners, Land Rovers, and the Ford Super Duty line of pickups. The black and gold '00 F-350 4x4 you see here is Greg's personal test mule and tow vehicle that he used to prototype the bumpers his company sells every day. The goal with the buildup of this truck was to make a rolling billboard for Safari Gard's products and, of course, to outfit this truck for Greg's frequent excursions in the dirt.

A suspension lift was the obvious first addition to the truck, and Greg went with a 6-inch kit from Superlift. The kit lifted the frontend of the Super Duty via a new set of leaf springs, and the rear suspension received a set of 3-inch lift blocks. To damp the front suspension, Greg installed four Fox 2.0 reservoir dampers on custom hoops. He also added another pair of matching Fox dampers to the rearend, bolting them to the stock mounts.

The new suspension lift made the necessary amount of room between the fenders for a completely new set of rolling stock. Sixteen-by-six-inch KMC Rallye wheels made a new home for a sextet of Michelin's XL 39x11x16 industrial tires. Greg's truck isn't the first we've encountered that rolls on industrial tires. In fact, this is an application that seems to be a perfect match for the long-wearing and quiet tires from the Michelin Man.

In keeping with the less-is-more approach to building a truck, Greg chose just a few more well-placed items for his rig. Of course, this Super Duty is outfitted with front and rear Safari Gard bumpers, as well as lighting from Hella. A Ramsey RE12000 electric winch is positioned on the front bumper just in case Greg needs to pull one of his buddies' trucks to safety. A fiberglass shell from Snugtop protects the bed cargo from the elements, and the Triton V-10 engine gained a new Airforce 1 air intake and a Borla exhaust system.

Greg's truck is a prime example of just how simple it is to turn a stock Super Duty into a capable machine. After seeing what a cool idea and a bumper buildup did to Greg's life, we are left to wonder what the next product will do to change his life again. We hear that a line of products for the Jeep TJ is around the corner.