You know a rollcage is strong when it takes not one, but two mammoth bucket loaders to smash in the top. After seven years of existence and a complete metamorphosis, Adam Householder decided that the best thing to do with his truck was to watch it get shredded into bite-size chunks of steel.

"Been there, done that." While most of us are working toward legitimately uttering that declaration, Steve Sourapas can belt it out unchallenged. Steve's racing rsum goes back nearly 30 years. Sourapas Motorsports has four SCORE class championships to its credit and one overall SCORE championship. His is the only team ever to win the fabled Baja 1000 overall in a limited-class vehicle. Steve and his team accomplished that feat racing Class 10 in 1985. Steve has also taken the helm of Trophy Truck No. 6 (highlighted in Dezert People: Second Lap) and shared seat time with Brian Ickler at the controls of the Corona Extra RPS Class 1 Unlimited Buggy. Like several of his desert-racing peers, Steve has also thrown his competition hat into the CORR short-course ring, entering the Pro 2 and Super Buggy classes. This plethora of racing classes combined with nearly three decades of racing experience led to one question: What prerunner does he drive?

You don't need to dump $100,000 into your truck in order to create a solid prerunner that will provide years of fun in the sun. With the right modifications, you can take your mild-mannered truck and transform it into a dirt-eating beast. Our friends at Camburg Engineering have assembled an '05 Toyota Tacoma that has been showcased at various off-road events and also sees a fair share of dirty fun. A good-looking truck is nice. But as off-road enthusiasts, if the truck doesn't work in the dirt, then there is no point in even turning the first wrench. This truck does well and was a pure joy to wheel.

If you frequent Internet desert-racing forums such as www.race-dezert.com, then you are familiar with John and Jennifer Bitting's '79 Chevrolet Blazer aka Blazito. For the past five years, John has worked with several shops to complete his dream prerunner and has spawned a wealth of forum-posting fans asking for pictures, eagerly awaiting its completion. Well, here it is, showing all of us what a whole lot of patience and ingenuity and choosing the right people to work with can get you.

David Moore and his brother have been involved with off-road racing for more than 30 years. Together, they have formed Gun-It Racing, which has led Class 1, Class 12, Stock Mini, and Stock Full vehicles to the finish line many times. In need of a solid-performing prerunner and chase vehicle, David called R&H Longtravel out of Apache Junction, Arizona, to work with him and make his dream vehicle come to life. You are now looking at what came of David's vision and R&H Longtravel's skills with a toolbox.

The term "all in the family" really comes to light with the Evelo brothers. It seems Austin's passion for off-road shed onto Jerrod's desire for the dirt, which has led to the creation of two truly incredible Ford Explorer prerunners. We also can't forget to mention that their little brother is building what we are sure will be one incredible '68 Ford F-100 race truck. With all three brothers helping out, we have no doubt that you will see them tearing up the 1450 class in the MDR racing series very soon.

Everyone knows that Rhinos are one of the fiercest and revered animals on the planet, which doesn't surprise us when we find out that they are the same way on a racecourse. With their steady growth in popularity amongst people of all ages, virtually every off-road-racing sanctioning body has formed specific racing classes for these mighty vehicles. This month, we get up close and personal with the '07 HRT Motorsports-built race Rhino.

Look up the word enthusiast, and you'll probably see John Boggio of Upland, California, staring at you from behind the wheel of his '01 Chevrolet 1500 2WD prerunner that was four years in the making. Built as a multipurpose vehicle that John could take to Glamis one weekend and prerun for Chris Robinson's CST Trophy Truck team the next, no expense was spared in creating this red wonder. However, one of the rig's most intriguing features, amidst all of the high-tech suspension components and fabrication work, is its powerplant. It began life as a 6.0L GM Vortech V-8 that was bored and stroked by Keith Craft Motorsports of Plano, Texas, to a displacement of 408 cid that puts out a staggering 460 hp via a Holley HP950 four-barrel carburetor and MSD ignition and distributor system that was engineered by Wegner Motorsports of Markesan, Wisconsin. A custom-built 4L80 race-modified transmission with a TSC torque converter built by Culhane's Racing Transmissions of Lake Elsinore, California, is a perfect match to the engine. "I wanted an engine and transmission setup that I could work on and perform the maintenance to wherever I may be," explained John for his choice of carbureted versus fuel injection for the truck.

Holmes And Fourth Street Racing Show What's PossibleNew life. That's what the 7 Open/7200 racing class needed. Defined as an "open class for two- or four-wheel-drive mini or midsize pickups," the class label ostensibly presented the opportunity for fabricators and racers to build their trucks any way they wanted to. A look in the rule book told otherwise. There were plenty of restrictions. Frame material could not be removed. Engine placement was restricted to the stock location (plus or minus an inch). Track width was restricted to 78 inches. Faced with this set of restrictions, most 7 Open/7200 racers ended up building overly tall trucks with relatively (by today's standards) narrow track widths. Combine a tall ride height and a narrow track width and what do you get? Rollovers. Instead of building new trucks for 7 Open/7200 competition, racers began to look for other classes to race in.

It started with utility vehicles being modified for off-road sport use. Polaris has raised the bar again for those who like to go fast with their Ranger RZR, a side-by-side designed from the ground up as a speedy, powerful sport vehicle that can do utility work too. Called the Razor by everyone, the latest side-by-side from Polaris is lighter, lower, and narrower than any other side-by-side. It also really moves.

Todd Jorgensen, director of retail operations for EK USA in Logan, Utah, needs a daily driver that not only gets him where he needs to be during the week but also works in Moab, Utah; Graze River, Wyoming; and Millville, Utah; his favorite places to go off-road. EK USA manufactures all kinds of products, including webbing (tie-downs, rollcage handles, etc.) and other vehicle accessories such as fire extinguisher holders, cell phone pouches, and so on. The company's also famous for its keepers for glasses, Cat Crap goggle and glasses defogger, and enough other diverse products to fill a store. In fact, Todd is overseeing the development of EK's new retail outlets that you'll soon find in a shopping center near you.

It should come as no surprise to Ford truck lovers out there that anyone who has owned a show-quality '71 Bronco with a matching Bronco-bed trailer and a wild V-8 Ranger 4x4 pickup, such as this writer has, would decide to build another Ford. And since everyone in the country seems to be concentrating on buildups of new Ford Super Duty and F-150 trucks, the decision was made to not run with the pack -- dare to be different so to speak -- and build up an older-style Ford.

Tradition, tradition, tradition. Every year, the go-slow off-road community meets in Moab, Utah, for a week of crawling some of the gnarliest, nastiest, and most scenic trails around. Although it's called the Easter Jeep Safari, we wonder if Easter Wheeling Safari wouldn't be more fitting.

Jose Acevedo, owner of International Mainte-nance, a landscaping and gardening firm in St. George, Utah, owns trucks that get beat up daily hauling equipment, sprinklers, pipes, and plants to jobs. For himself, he just purchased a new '05 Ford Super Duty 4x4 with the 6.0 liter Powerstroke diesel to use not only in business but for fun as well.

I was sitting at my desk about to check out and head home for the night when my phone rang. It was Van Holmes, the new PR guy for Yamaha. He was going on about the new Yamaha Rhino 700 FI Automatic 4x4 vehicle and how he would like for us to check it out. Knowing how much fun we have spent in the dirt with the previous Rhino 660 model, we thought, "Sure, why not?" I packed up my helmet, goggles, and some cold-weather gear, and flew out to Knoxville, Tennessee, to have a little fun with their new vehicle. Anyone can regurgitate press information about how great something is, which is something I wanted to avoid. Instead, read on about my personal experiences behind the wheel of new the 700.

Desert racing is currently experiencing a surge in popularity with huge numbers of racers venturing into the deserts of the Southwest almost every weekend. The level of competition is at an all-time high. The same is true for those of us who photograph the thousands of miles of torturous terrain and brutal beauty of our sport. The technical and creative level of desert-racing photography is on par with the advancements made to the modern race vehicle. Cameras today are marvels of electronic wizardry, built from titanium and composites. In the race to outshoot the competition and "get the shot," prerunning the course and getting into the more remote spots has become a necessity. Having a capable truck that can handle the terrain and be reliable is not just convenient - it could save your life. I wish I could say we lead a glamorous life making big money and traveling the world, but the reality is the pay is low, the work is hard, and the hours long - just like racing!

Chevy introduced the S-10 Blazer in 1983, and the "baby Blazer" grew rapidly in popularity. Today, however, you just don't see that many of them on the road. So when we spotted this bright red one, we knew we wanted a closer look.

Chase truck. Prerunner. Daily driver. Impossible to combine in a single vehicle. Or is it?

If you get out in the dirt much, then you have likely noticed that Ford Rangers rule the whoops while Jeeps and Toyotas reign supreme in the rocks. What about all of the other makes and models out there though? Isuzus are often overlooked as the basis for an off-road vehicle, but Rodeos and Amigos can be capable platforms. They come equipped from the factory with powerful engines, rugged frames, and Dana 44 rear axles with disc brakes. These vehicles are also available for thousands less than their Jeep, Toyota, and Ford counterparts.

We all know that off-road adventures, whether they are rockcrawling the Rubicon or blasting up Comp Hill in Glamis, are that much better when the entire family is having fun, and everyone has a toy to play with. While the boys get to go out in their custom UTVs and sand cars, the girls have typically stayed at camp or ridden generic and stock UTVs, bikes, or similar toys. Seeing a need to alter this trend, Black Rhino Performance (BRP) has built this customized '08 Yamaha Rhino 4x4 UTV that has a touch of the feminine persuasion to it.

Editor's Note: Submit your dirt to jordan.may@off-roadweb.com

One could say that Scott Steinberger's Trophy Truck has been around the block a few times which in off-road racing is not necessarily a negative thing. His truck holds a pedigree which reads like a Who's Who list within the off-road racing industry, with previous owners and builders being Russ Wernimont, Jimmy Smith, Terrible Herbst Motorsports, Mike Smith, and Excite.com Racing. Steinberger has managed to dial in his truck just the way he likes it and without having to deal with the gremlins that often exist in a brand-new machine.

I admit it. When they first came out, I was a hater. I looked at Yamaha's Rhino and saw an overgrown golfcart. I refused to even acknowledge UTVs as part of the off-road culture. But then someone let me try one about six months ago, and I couldn't believe how fun they were. And when a coworker from a sister publication brought a Polaris RZR to the sand dunes for the weekend, I knew I had found what was going to be in our OFF-ROAD stable soon.

Ever coveted someone else's Power Tank, just thinking of how easy it'd be to just turn a knob and have compressed gas ready for you to use? Maybe you already own a Power Tank and know how great it really is having CO2 ready to fill up your tires or power your air tools, no matter where you are. We've had a couple tanks for a while now, and I don't really feel like I need to sell you on why you should have one. You know what they do, you know how useful they can be, and you just need to justify the expense to yourself. No, they are not mandatory, they will not make you popular with the ladies, nor will a genie pop out if you rub one. But when you debead a tire miles from any help, you're going to wish you had already spent the money to get a tank that holds enough gas pressure to reseat a tire.

Just a few short years ago, nobody would have imagined the niche that the utility vehicle market would have created for itself within the off-road community. Today, it's as though you cannot be admitted to any oHV area within the country without owning one as a prerequisite.