Ultimate Adventure Trailside Upgrades by Dave Chapelle

This article is the second in a series of two 2023 Ultimate Adventure articles contributed by off-roading industry veteran, automotive enthusiast and journalist Verne Simons.

Getting started:

The Ultimate Adventure is the world’s longest running week long off-road adventure trip, and if you want to know more about it check out this article (RealTruck Sponsors Ultimate Adventure 2023) all about Ultimate Adventure 2023 and some of the events history. This article is all about our buddy and Ultimate Adventure Crony, Dave Chappelle and his truck LuisViTen, a 2008 Ford F-250 Dave built for RealTruck for Ultimate Adventure 2023 and part of his adventure on the trail including some breakage and how he planned for it and upgraded the truck in the dirt.

Ultimate Adventure may be the ultimate test of a vehicle and its driver and while Dave Chappelle is not new to the event, his 2008 Ford F-250, LuisViTen was, in true Dave fashion, completed mere hours before it left to attend the event…on the opposite side of the country. Luckily Dave is one heck of a fabricator, having built a few Ultimate Adventure rigs in the past. Dave is also “the real deal” when it comes to off-road with lots of background modifying trucks starting with a penchant for low riders which developed into Dave starting his own fabrication shop before becoming the co-host of one of our favorite web show, Dirt Every Day. With that knowledge in hand we knew Dave and LuisViTen (the truck’s got a Ford V-10 engine under the hood) would be ready for the event…but as often happens Dave didn’t have the opportunity to install some of the aftermarket parts from RealTruck that he had planned to add to the build, namely Yukon Chromoly Axle Shafts, Spicer greaseable 1550 U-joints, and  Warn Locking hubs for ‘05 and up Ford Super Duties. Dave knew the stock axle shafts, U-joints, and locking hubs were a weak point in the truck’s Dana 60 front axle when a Yukon Zip Locker, locking differential, low gearing, and large Sticky, 40-inch  Black Label Milestar Patagonias are added, so he brought the replacement parts with him in hopes that he wouldn’t need them, and if he did, he had them. A tough few days on the trails and roads of Ultimate Adventure finally took its toll on the stock front axle and passenger side U-joint.

The first step in repairing a broken 4x4 on any off-road trail is to get the vehicle to a safe location where repairs can be made. That often also includes moving the rig to somewhere relatively flat and out of the way of other off-road users. The author provided used his big and custom Jeep as a winch point for Dave and LuisViTen to get off the trail and onto a flat-ish access road where repairs could be done.

Once in a relatively flat spot the truck was parked with parking brake engaged, and a jack roller under the truck, the front wheel, caliper and rotor were removed. Here Dave uses some huge snap ring pliers borrowed from Quigley Driveshaft’s very own Tiger LeBrun. Just about everyone on the trip bands together to help with repairs even if that only means loaning out a helpful tool to those in need.