If you picked up a copy of the June '07 issue of OFF-ROAD, you would have read about American Racing's Ford Ranger project vehicle. We also filled you in with plenty of information about American Racing and the numerous desert racers, motocross racers, and rockcrawlers the company sponsors such as Larry Roeseler, Karnivore Racing, Sarah Whitmore, and many more. Now let's take a look at another American Racing vehicle. This '06 Ford F-250 is owned and driven by American Racing's Chris Anderson. More than likely you've spent some time talking with Chris at one of the many desert races or other off-road events he attends to man the American Racing booth and answer questions for off-road enthusiasts like us. Chris is also one of the main reasons the impressive and aggressive ATX wheel series from American Racing has recently taken the off-road world by storm.
So what does someone who needs to be everywhere, tow a trailer, and spend weekends riding motorcycles with his son in the desert build as a daily driver and show vehicle for American Racing? Chris chose to build one of the most popular vehicles found in the desert-racing industry today: an '06 Ford Super Duty F-250. The size and strength of the vehicle offered an excellent platform to accommodate all of Chris's needs. He also needed to build something that would help highlight the ATX line by not only sporting a new set of ATX-series wheels, but also by looking great and performing well in the dirt.
If you've visited any recent SCORE or CORR races, Off-Road Expo, or the SEMA Show, then you may have already spent time looking over this machine. The Power Stroke V8 turbodiesel already provides plenty of horsepower and torque - more than most need. However, Chris decided to add a few extra ponies under the hood by installing an AEM Brute Force intake system, a Superchips programmer module, and a MagnaFlow 4-inch exhaust system.
Chris knew that he wanted to get a big wheel-and-tire combination under the Super Duty, so he gave his friends at Superlift a call to talk about installing the company's 8-inch lift kit. Superlift utilized both caster brackets and radius-arm lowering brackets (4-inch drop) in order to obtain the correct amount of caster correction required for such an 8-inch lift. Without caster brackets, lowering the radius arms 8 inches would overly stress the framerails. Other items included on the front suspension are diesel-truck-specific coil springs, front compression-travel-stop relocation brackets, track-bar relocation brackets, a dropped pitman arm, front antisway-bar extensions, and a steering stabilizer bracket. For this system, Chris chose to run Superide Select Series shocks by Bilstein. For the rear, Superlift uses a block and add-a-leaf combination. Chris also chose to run the optional replacement leaf springs, which incorporate Superlift's unique heavy-duty rear compression-travel control and load-assist system. It uses specially designed, hollow rubber cushions that improve ride quality and load control when hauling or towing.
With all that new height, he was able to run a set of 20x10 ATX-series Thug wheels with 37x13.50R20 Toyo Open Country M/T tires. The Thug wheels are brand-new to the ATX lineup but should be available by the time you read this article. Much like numerous other wheels in the series, the Thug is coated with American Racing's Teflon coating, making the wheel extremely durable and resistant to the elements and brake dust.
Up front is a Street Scene bumper cover and grille as well as a Camburg Engineering front lightbar running three massive 10-inch Lightforce 240XGT lights. If you want to see something impressive, check out the video on Lightforce's website showing someone swing a baseball bat full steam at the front of one of the company's lights - it doesn't break. The 240XGT light uses the same housing at the Lightforce 240HID housing and incorporates a 12V Xenophot 100-watt bulb. The light output comes in at over 730,000 candlepower.
Out back, we found a TireGate PreRunner Series angled tire carrier holding a fullsize spare tire. The TireGate can be mounted with the spare tire inside the bed or hanging off the back to create more bed space for cargo. All of the graphics you see on the truck were done by House of Tints in Irvine, California.
Along for the ride was Chris' Kawasaki KX250F motorcycle that was wrapped in a one-off sticker covering by Spin Imaging in Long Beach, California. American Racing ATX wheels are the official sponsor of Kawasaki Team Green, so Chris thought it would be fitting to have his two-wheel dirt destroyer covered in some ATX love.