We’ve assembled an incredible list of modified machines for the inaugural Custom 4X4 Of The Year award.

When Jason Storace managed to get hold of one of only 30 10th Anniversary Rubicon Unlimited Jeeps, he had some pretty serious plans for it. “There were only 18 coming into the country, and I got the only one in this colour with a manual gearbox” he said.

Already a serious bit of off-road kit, with super-low 4:1 gearing teamed with a live axle suspension set-up, long-travel coil springs, electronic front swaybar disconnect and heavy duty Dana 44 locking differentials, Jason’s wild Wrangler is pretty much unstoppable. It also has an additional 1.5in of ground clearance, MOPAR rock sliders and extra underbody skid-plate protection with an AEV rear diff slider.

“I want to say thank you to the all the guys at Double Black Off Road, as well as at JeepKonection who were terrific in helping me set up” said Jason.

Jason fitted an AEV 2.5in lift kit as well as DualSport 2.5in XT suspension. The rear end was beefed up with King Springs. Jason added a front steel bar courtesy of Rock-Slide Engineering which houses a pair of seven-inch LED driving lights with four LED light bars mounted to a Smittybilt light rack above the windscreen.

To really beef up the look, Jason fitted 35in Pro Comp muddies on 17in AEV alloy wheels. For touring, he fitted a James Baroud Explorer Evolution tent with custom shade mounted on a three-quarter-length rack.

In addition, the rack supports an Eezi-Awn Manta 270 swing-out awning. Jason also has a TeraFlex picnic table on the tailgate, an 80-litre Waeco in the back on a custom-made slide, and an Adventure Trailers upper storage shelf in the rear, meaning that he can set his camp up in less than five minutes.

There’s a Thumper 105Ah battery in the back with charging kit. The interior was left mostly untouched aside from a Uniden UHF and mount for his phone, complementing the Alpine premium sound system.

Despite all his mods, Jason isn’t finished: “The dream mod would probably be the 6.4-litre Hellcat V8 conversion.”

Vote for Jason’s wild JK Jeep to decide this year’s Custom 4×4 of the Year.

THIS system is proving to be a winner for off-road adventurers. In a nutshell, it’s a foldable fire pit that’s lightweight and fairly durable – perfect for heating up camp and roasting the marshies.

Add the grill or hot plate on top and you’ve got yourself a great little cooking system. You’ll get around an hour or so of burn time with a full pit of fire before you have to top up the coals or wood.

While adjusting cooking temperatures is an art with this system, you’ll find this thing will grill anything from veggies to kebabs in spectacular fashion. Apart from boiling the billy, though, it’s pretty much limited to grilling only, which can hamper its versatility. Folding flat to about 50mm thick means it’s not taking up much space when you’re packing.

If you want a more elaborate set-up there are plenty of pieces to the puzzle, and the Jikaro table gives you the ultimate platform to work with.

The fire pit sets up very easily, but it’s fiddly to do the whole lot. In saying that, it’s very well designed and put together, and I doubt you’ll find a more elaborate set-up that folds down to bugger-all.

Versatility: 2/5 Running cost: 4/5 Set-up (time and difficulty): 3/5 Weight and ease of storage: 5/5 Clean-up and maintenance: 5/5 Strength and durability: 4/5 RRP: $210, medium fire pit (tested); $360 plus postage, Jikaro table More info: www.drifta.com.au

We’ve assembled an incredible list of modified machines for the inaugural Custom 4X4 Of The Year award.

Built to celebrate the delivery of the 100th ICON vehicle, this Petersen Special FJ44 is Jonathan Ward’s most advanced and special build to date.

The new Sierra Brown powdercoated body was stamped out of heavy-duty 5052 H32 aluminium and mated to a custom chassis designed by Art Morrison, featuring boxed and mandrel-bent mild steel rails.

Beneath the bonnet, this off-roader features a 6.2 LS3 GM e-Rod crate motor, an optional Magnusson supercharger, custom Griffith aluminium radiator, twin thermos fans, 4L65 Hydra-Matic auto with adaptive shift, and an electronically controlled capacity clutch for an amazing 0-100km/h time of 5.9 seconds.

For off-roading, this iconic vehicle has been fitted with an Advance Adapters Atlas II transfer case, twin-stick controls and custom diffs using Dynatrac Dana 60/44 axle assemblies with 4.09 final drives. General Driveshaft units are paired with heavy-duty 1310 units.

An all new radius arm suspension system improves on-road driving performance, paired with new Fox Racing 2.5 nitrogen-charged shocks, external reservoirs and Eibach springs. A new Panhard front linkage and rear four-link is married to Currie Anti-Rock swaybars, heavy-duty Johnny joints and equal-length two-inch steel control arms. ARB air lockers and a matching on-board compressor system round out the set-up.

Keeping contact are cast aluminium 18x8in rollers wrapped in BFG 285/70 all-terrain rubber. Stopping comes through Brembo six-piston and four-piston brakes with 355mm rotors up front and 345mm rotors in the rear.

The 75L fuel tank is fitted with a steel skid-plate to protect it on the trails, and an in-tank sock filter and large Bosch filter are mounted on the chassis rails.

The waterproof cabin has a Polyurea floor coating, removable plugs for drainage and seven heated seats. Dakota Digital made custom electronic gauges for the instrument cluster, which also features MIL-spec connectors, 12V and USB power ports, isolated engine harness, LED lighting, and 140A alternator – all finished with a matching brown and black powder trim.

Vote for Jonathon’s FJ44 to decide this year’s Custom 4×4 of the Year.

Thermal cooking with a set-up like a DreamPot is a real contender in the camping fraternity these days.

It’s easy, too. Simply start cooking your meal normally to get a bit of heat into it, then transfer the cooking pot into the thermal cooker which traps the heat inside and keeps it cooking for hours. That’s it! No cords or constant power sources required, and you can’t burn, boil, dry or overcook your meal.

It’s an efficient and very safe way to cook and it can be done while you’re travelling. That’s right, you can kick those lamb shanks off first thing in the morning and let them slow cook until you pull into camp that night. It’ll cook everything: soup, lasagne, bread and, my favourite, a full roast if you boil it in an oven bag. And it’ll also act as a cooler or yogurt maker. Plus, running costs are at a minimum.

However, there is a catch: some of these recipes need to be tampered with for the meals to work. So Mum’s trademark lasagne mightn’t taste quite the same. Plus, it requires at least a litre of water to work. On the upside the pots can be used for other cooking, so it’s a good use of space.

Versatility: 4/5 Running cost: 5/5 Set-up (time and difficulty): 4/5 Weight and ease of storage: 4/5 Clean-up and maintenance: 4/5

Strength and durability: 3/5 RRP: $329, 6.0L two-pot system (tested); smaller systems available More info: www.dreampot.com.au

MITSUBISHI’s Triton range will be refreshed when a bunch of minor improvements are implemented across the range for 2017.

The base-model GLX will get a rear step bumper, more off-road-friendly 245/70R16 111s RF all-terrain tyres (4×4 models), AM/FM CD display audio with 6.1-inch colour touchscreen, and a new fob key. Double Cab Pick Up models will also benefit from a reversing camera.

“With all-terrain tyres, reversing camera and rear step bumper now available on GLX 4×4 manual at $37,000 recommended retail, the 2017 Triton range continues to offer compelling value for savvy light commercial buyers,” MMAL Executive Director of Marketing Tony Principe said.

In addition to those changes, the GLX+ gets auto air-con, piano black instrument panel trim, and chrome interior door handles.

GLS and Exceed models receive Mitsubishi’s smartphone integration audio system (Smartphone Display Audio), a new dark chrome front grille (and headlamp garnish), platform-style sidesteps and a four-spoke leather steering wheel.

An electro-chromatic rear-view mirror and heated front seats find their way into the Exceed.

“We’ve upgraded every model in the 2017 range to enhance Triton’s appeal,” Tony added.

As well as these changes, two new variants will also be added to the Triton line-up: a GLX Club Cab Chassis 4×4 with automatic transmission and a GLX+ Club Cab Pick Up with auto transmission.

The updated Triton will be in showrooms Australia-wide from December 13, 2016.

THIS is a great bit of kit to have when it comes to cooking straight over the coals. This type of system can be as elaborate or as basic as you want, but its main advantage is its ability to improve the performance and practicality of standard cast iron cooking equipment.

Take the humble hot plate for example. Using it with a cooking stand allows you to fine-tune the cooking temperature by simply adjusting the height of the hot plate in relation to the coals, instead of fiddling with the fire. The same goes for things like boiling the billy and even using a camp-oven stand.

Another plus is that a cooking stand system allows you to use multiple bits of cooking gear at the same time. So you can have a couple of hunks of steak on the hot plate going while the camp oven cooks the veggies and the gravy simmers in the billy.

It’s fairly easy to set this system up when the ground is soft enough for the stand to dig into. However, if the surface is rocky, hard or super soft, you’ll have a hard time knocking the main pole into the ground and keeping it there – which limits where you can use this design.

The good news is, pretty much all of the cooking accessories used with this system can be used without the stand, but you might need to be a bit creative to make it work properly.

Versatility: 3/5 Running cost: 4/5 Set-up (time and difficulty): 3/5 Weight and ease of storage: 3/5 Clean-up and maintenance: 4/5 Strength and durability: 5/5 RRP: From $55 plus postage, Cook Stand with two hooks More info: www.campingwithhillbilly.com

OWNER Stuart Gruchy bought this Hydro Blue Wrangler Rubicon off the shelf two years ago, and it has since had the works thrown at it.

Despite never intending to run 37s, JeepKonection advised Stuart that its GVM upgrade allowed for the bigger tyres, so Stuart thought ‘why not?’

Vote for the Jeep Wrangler JKU Rubicon to win 2017 Custom 4×4 of the Year

Myriad components underneath the JKU work together to complete the suspension package and GVM upgrade (to 3250kg): heavy duty Dana 44 axles front and rear, with 4.56 diff ratios to suit the larger tyres and ARB air lockers; an AEV 3.5-inch suspension system with heavy duty springs, bump-stop spacers, geometry correcting brackets and an AEV high-steer kit; and ARB’s BP-51 adjustable external reservoirs.

To cater for extra weight, you need more power. A 100 per cent bolt-on Sprintex Supercharger kit boosts power from 116kW at the wheels to 190kW.

Up front, an ARB bar houses a Warn CTI-S winch and three Lightforce LED 215 driving lights. There’s also a Mopar 10th Anniversary bonnet and an AEV snorkel.

Uneek 4×4 has dressed up the flanks with rock sliders, A-pillar light mounts, a bonnet-light mount and a roof-light mount.

A Rhino-Rack BackBone system with Foxwing awning lives up top. Down back, a Kaymar twin swing-out carrier incorporates a tow bar, jerry can holder and spare tyre.

Underbody protection comes courtesy of Uneek 4×4 and ARB bash guards. While a 60-litre Long Range Auxiliary fuel tank broadens remote-area travel.

Extensive storage solutions by Affordable 4×4 Drawers includes a fridge slide, a pull-out table and an SMEV stove and sink. A 40-litre Ironman 4×4 fridge is powered by a Genesis dual-battery system and twin Optima Yellow Top deep-cycle AGM batteries.

To read the full feature on this phenomenal do-it-all Jeep, pick up a copy of 4X4 Australia’s January 2017 issue, out now!

We’ve assembled an incredible list of modified machines for the inaugural Custom 4X4 Of The Year award.

There were plenty of Hellcats on show at SEMA in 2015 but none like Wild Boar Off-Road’s Hellhog, a 6×6 JK Wrangler boasting the first Hellcat V8 engine swapped into a Jeep.

The Wild Boar crew are known for sticking bits and pieces into models that were never made for them, but the Hellhog is undoubtedly their masterpiece.

The range-topping Hellhog has a supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi with a 2.3-litre twin-screw supercharger from IHI and a pair of intercoolers. With custom heavy-duty engine and transmission mounts, a whole new wiring loom, and a custom Borla exhaust, the hog’s donk pushes out 562kW and 915Nm. This animal has a claimed 0-130km/h of just 8.1 seconds.

To match the outrageous engine, the stock Hellcat auto has a Dakota Customs Stage 2 Viking-spec build, meaning it can handle up to 1000Nm of punishment – and drive the hog’s six massive wheels.

The chassis is stretched 915mm for the third-powered axle and pass-through diff, with the added benefit of an extra storage bed found under the tonneau cover at the rear of the Jeep. Heavy duty Dana 44s were fitted at the front and rear ends and were mated to a Ford nine-inch pass-through diff with heavy-duty axles and tail shafts. These were fitted with 4.10 final drive gears.

Under Pressure Fabrication fitted a two-inch suspension lift in conjunction with adjustable King 2.0 dampers.

In order to make this beast really stand out, Wild Boar sourced fatter guards and a fibreglass top by FinCo Fabrication from Exotic Custom Car & Design. A 9500lb Seal 2 9.5 winch was added to the front with roof racks, side rails and a tube front and rear bar.

For rough riding, Wild Boar installed a 2WayAir on-board air supply system to allow the 35in Toyo Open Country tyres to be inflated or deflated all at once. The beefy rubber is wrapped around Fuel Lethal multi-spoke bead-locked wheels.

Unfortunately, the Wild Boar Hellhog also comes with a beastly US$300,000 price tag.

Vote for Wild Boar Off-Road’s 6×6 Hellhog to decide this year’s Custom 4×4 of the Year.

It’s hard to beat cooking with fire, and the Campman Jnr is hands-down one of the best ways to do it.

Our test unit was made by Hilltop Heaters, a small operation that makes them from scratch. It was designed in conjunction with The Camp Man, who’s currently a few years into the big lap – that’s right, a few years!

So it’s no surprise it’s one of the most practical, well-thought-out little cooking systems around. Why do I say that? Well, it’s fairly lightweight and portable for what it is, and it can bake, roast, smoke, boil and barbecue like a champion.

As with any open fire, getting it going consistently can take some preparation time and patience. This means perfecting your cooking temperatures can also be a bit tricky if you’re fresh into camp school.

Being fairly small in stature means it’s hard to get a long-lasting fire going, so you do need to keep feeding wood into the fire, or add a few heat beads to the mix, to help maintain a consistent temperature.

The hot plate is nice and thick, so it holds the heat well. Plus you can wrap everything in aluminium foil, so there’s virtually no clean-up required.

When you think about it, this system is basically a camp oven and hot plate all in one, with the added benefit of a self-contained fire pit which won’t cost you a cent to run – that’s unless you can’t find any kindling to get it going. How’s that for versatility?

Versatility: 4/5 Running cost: 4/5 Set-up (time and difficulty): 3/5 Weight and ease of storage: 3/5 Clean-up and maintenance: 5/5 Strength and durability: 5/5 RRP: $235 Info: Search Hilltop Heaters on Facebook

I’ve got the latest piece of survival gear. It sits under the back seat of the Patrol, ready for use if and when I need it and it could save my life.

This article was originally published in the April 2014 issue of 4×4 Australia.

What is it? It’s a HydroPack — a revolutionary ‘forward osmosis’ desalinator and purifier that not only removes viruses, bacteria, heavy metals and cysts, but also salts in water that contains up to 2000 to 3000 parts per million (ppm). There’s also a kit that will do saltwater. These single-use pouches never block up, require no maintenance and do not require pumping or any labour.

Devised and developed in the USA by Hydration Technology Innovations (HTI), these units are now available in Australia through HTI Australasia.

In addition to the HydroPack, there are a number of other emergency hydrating pouches and seawater desalinators, along with bigger units such as the Expedition (a back pack type unit) and the HydroWell (a jerry can unit) that can be used to produce up to 2700 litres of drinking water.

Each HydroPack comes with six pouches, which are pre-filled with a flavoured osmotic agent.

When it’s fully hydrated from any water source, it becomes a highly safe and pure electrolyte enriched drink. The pouch itself is the forward osmosis membrane that allows it to draw in water and reject even the harshest contaminants.

Each pouch supplies 355ml of drinkable fluid after 10 hours of immersion in any water supply.

We thought we’d give the HydroPack a test with some muddy and animal polluted water from a stagnant overflow on a farmer’s dam.

The water smelt terrible and didn’t look too appealing but we grabbed a bucket full and dropped in the pouch. Hours later we pulled the fully hydrated pouch out, wiped it down and took a sip.

It looked and tasted just like a sports drink and after another 10 hours I was still standing with no effects from drinking what was originally polluted water.

We also tried the SeaPack pouch designed to filter seawater and produce 500ml of drinkable fluid.

Seawater has approximately 30,000 to 50,000ppm of salt, while humans prefer 100 to 500ppm (anything under 1000ppm is considered ‘fresh’).

We took our sample of seawater from the shallow saline waters of the upper reaches of Westernport Bay in Victoria, which I’m guessing has salt levels in the upper band for seawater, so it was an ideal area to test the packs. After two simple steps to set up the pouch, we simply dropped the pack into the water.

After 10 hours we had a flavoured drink to enjoy, which tasted better than the fluid from the HydroPouch — that was more to do with the flavouring than anything else.

I would have preferred plain water (for a cup of tea?), but in a survival situation, a sports drink that replenishes body salts probably makes more sense.

RATED

We say: Long shelf life; safe and easy to use when you need it. Could save your life! Contact: www.htiwater.com.au