Ebay is holding a contest called "The 2009 Motors Master Contest" where users have the chance to win a free trip to the 2009 SEMA Show, Title of Motors Master 2009, or a $2,500 eBay Motors shopping spree. To enter, users must submit a short video showing their favorite automotive project and tell them why eBay should choose them to be the Motors Master. The contest ends September 7th and winners will be announced October 1st.
Are you a fan of the free service called Twitter? Truckblog can be found on there under the name "Trucknews". We couldn't get the actual name "Truckblog" because it was taken already by some guy in "Deutschland, Thüringen" which is somewhere in Germany. Damnit.
If you're looking for information regarding the Cash For Clunkers program, look no further. Inside you'll find a quick summary of the program including rules, regulations, and more importantly information about pickup trucks.
Are you planning to attend the California JAM After-Dark show on Saturday, August 1st in Hollywood Park (Inglewood, CA)? If so we've got a deal for you.
Starting today and ending July 10th, attendees can get a pre-registration discount of $5 with the promotional code "TRUCKBLOG".
For more information or to register for the show head on over to www.TruckJam.com.
Are you a fan of the free service called Twitter? Truckblog can be found on there under the name "Trucknews". We couldn't get the actual name "Truckblog" because it was taken already by some guy in "Deutschland, Thüringen" which is somewhere in Germany. Damnit.
Automotive online advertisement is on the rise and print media is officially a lost cause. Over the course of 2008, advertising dollars spent for television rose 2 percent, Internet spending up over 55 percent, and radio & magazine advertisements were down over 40 percent combined. Analysts predict that the internet will become the second largest advertising channel by 2010 with television leading the pack at three quarters of the total advertising dollars spent each year. Nielsen Online says "The key to successful Internet spend in 2009 will be identifying where your target audience goes online and interjecting yourself at the right moment in the vehicle purchase funnel".
To take advantage of advertising opportunities at Truckblog, click here and request a media kit.
If you are looking at expanding your web presence through viral how-to videos, look at the opportunities available with MOTORZ TV and request a media kit.
Truckblog can now be found on Twitter, a social networking messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. The entire site is advertisement free and can be accessed virtually anywhere.
Hub Garage is a new online community of automotive enthusiasts that was founded by Chris Jacobs of Chip Foose's hit show "Overhaulin". Members can share photos, videos, publish their own automotive news, and more. Check it out at www.hubgarage.com
Now available: a dynamic new look for www.SEMA.org and a host of new benefits for SEMA members. The modernized site blends new technologies to enhance networking and delivers information more concisely, based on user preferences. The website overhaul is part of a continuing investment by SEMA in better networking and communications for SEMA members. “Over the years we heard from the membership about ways that the website could serve the industry better,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “Most recently, the team assigned to building the site reached out to our members to understand specific improvements that could be made.”
The Internet's most popular automotive enthusiast site, CarDomain, has purchased the second popular site, Streetfire.net yesterday in a deal that would create the largest social network for automotive enthusiasts.
The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who buy a new passenger vehicle this year may be entitled to deduct state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase on their 2009 tax returns next year. "For those thinking about buying a new car this year, this deduction may give them a little more drive to make their purchase this year," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "This deduction enables taxpayers to buy now and get cash back later on their tax returns."
A new feature was added today throughout the Truckblog website called "Marketplace". Located under "Our Sponsors" on the right hand portion of the site, you can search for thousands of aftermarket parts for any vehicle which include all of the major automotive manufacturers.
Categories include Air Intakes, Body-Exterior, Body-Interior, Coatings, Lubricants & Fluids, Electrical, Engine, Tools & Shop Supplies, and more.
How many custom license plates do you see each day that are completely stupid? Today, this beerblog is dedicated to lame vanity plates that our fellow citizens pay premium registration fees for every year. Check them out inside.
This is a really odd story. A man in Gainesville, Florida was announced missing earlier this month on February 11th. On February 12, his 2001 BMW 330i was ticked for being parked illegally on the side of the road. Over the course of a week and a half, the car was ticketed 6 more times but was never towed. It wasn't until this past Monday, February 23, when the body of the missing man was found in the back seat of his own car! A spokesperson for the City of Gainesville said the man went unnoticed due to his dark tinted windows. An autopsy was performed but the actual cause of death is still unknown.
The United States Senate have approved a provision on the $800 billion dollar stimulus bill that would allow new vehicle buyers to write off any auto loan interest on their taxes, in return saving the customer approximately $1,500 on a $25,000 purchase. The same provision has not occured since 1986 and will most likely start deterring automotive manufacturers from offering 0 percent financing on future vehicles, instead offering more cash rebates on models. New pickup trucks anyone?
Top rental car agencies which include Enterprise, Avis, Budget, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and others are now asking Congress to help bailout their own industry, citing a blame on the economy and lack of leisure travel as a downfall in profits. The companies are requesting that Congress allow them to receive a portion of the TARP rescue fund money set aside for Detroit automakers. Apparently the House of Representatives already added a clause to the fund that allows the government to back loans for rental car companies and fleet buyers. What else could go wrong with this situation?
Indy car racer Danica Patrick is bearing it all again for web domain host, GoDaddy, again this year in a new set of Super Bowl XLIII commercials. Last month we brought you a collection of automotive related commercials for this year's Super Bowl and now AdGabber have posted up GoDaddy's line up of commercials. Check out the videos below.
2008 was an exciting year again for us at Truckblog. We showed you how to install more aftermarket products with technical articles, launched a successful automotive show called MOTORZ TV, upgraded our website and hardware for faster load times, and delivered fresh automotive news every day. As a celebration of the past year, we've collaborated a list of the top 10 blogs of 2008. Check them out inside.
On behalf of the whole Truckblog crew, I would like to say happy holidays to our members and readers, and thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and memories here at the blog this past year. Make sure you stay logged to the blog in 2009!
Being called the "Shanghai Lady" on YouTube, the Chinese woman in the video below had her Chevrolet Capitva SUV picked up by a tow truck driver for parking in an incorrect spot, which pisses her off. While not looking, she jumps into her SUV and proceeds to drive down the street pulling the puny tow truck behind her while still tethered up to it.
Mike Rowe, star of the Discovery Channel television show “Dirty Jobs,” and F-150 Chief Engineer Matt O’Leary host a series of demonstration videos that capture the all-new F-150 in direct, head-to-head competition with the 2009 Dodge Ram, 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and the 2008 Toyota Tundra in key test areas Ford engineers evaluate when developing trucks. “We wanted to give people a sense of how we stack up against our competitors in real world scenarios,” said O’Leary. “The results validate all the work we’ve been doing during the last few years to deliver an unbeatable truck in areas that matter most to customers - towing, hauling, fuel economy and durability.”
Truckblog is back online! Our network of websites including Muscle Car Blog and Truck Hownd, were down for maintenance all last week and received a new server upgrade at the same time. You will notice the site runs a lot faster because of the changes! There are a few bugs still being worked out but a majority of the website should be running smoothly. If not, let us know by going to our contact page.
Just in case you crawled under a rock last week and did not get the memo about our SEMA coverage, this weeks "Monday Morning Recap" is comprised of our SEMA coverage from last week including the launch of Ford's SVT Raptor F-150 and sighting of the 2009 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson Edition. MOTORZ also launched their 13th episode, a full how-to installation of an Alpine Electronics stereo system.
For a huge list of all our SEMA blogs from last week, go to live.truckblog.com.
Truck cap and tonneau manufacturer A.R.E. has launched a new interactive tool on its Web site that allows consumers to custom build and view a truck cap or tonneau prior to purchase. By visiting www.4are.com and selecting the "Build/Quote Your Own Truck Cap" link, visitors can virtually display four varieties of fiberglass tonneaus and eight fiberglass truck cap designs on a full-size pickup truck.
On the new MOTORZ website, we've added a blog for updates about MOTORZ and what we are doing, we posted the MOTORZ 2008 Fall Schedule similar to those at NBC, CBS, and ABC, we found a solution to the "Truckblog.TV" name conversion on Apple iTunes explained here, and have a preview photo of our next episode. Can you guess what it is?
Beginning earlier this year in May, Chris and I decided to try something original for Truckblog, something that had not been done before (or at least in a way that appealed to true automotive enthusiasts). That idea was called Truckblog.TV.
Truckblog.TV has grown into a huge success with 9 episodes under it's belt and much appreciation goes out to those who have provided us with feedback and support. Chris and I decided to push things further with our how-to videos and perform installations on other popular vehicles, not just trucks and sport utility vehicles. In doing so we decided to change the name from Truckblog.TV to MOTORZ.
MOTORZ has its own website, http://www.motorz.tv/, where you can catch all of the episodes (as well as on Truckblog), news about what's going on with MOTORZ, photo gallery, podcast links, and more.
Our popular Apple iTunes podcast is also the same, being re-branded as MOTORZ and if you have a current subscription to Truckblog.TV, everything will automatically change for you.
Stickers, stickers, stickers. If you've already requested a free Truckblog.TV sticker you will automatically receive a MOTORZ sticker by mail for free. If you have not got in on the sticker action yet (you know you want to), you can click here to get one.
Once again, thank you everyone for your support of what we're doing and we hope that you will stick around for future episodes of MOTORZ! ZOOT!
We like to stay very busy at Truckblog and always push the envelope to bring you more complete automotive coverage, integrate the latest technologies, and try new things. We've updated our website again starting with the Truckblog.TV videos section, added our new Truckblog.TV HD (high definition) podcast, as well as added support for your Apple iPhone!
Starring the originals Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, "The Fast and the Furious 4" certainly looks to be as action packed as the original but this time including more trucks into the scene. In the trailer, you'll see two old Chevrolet 2500 Crew Cab flat bed trucks that have been heavily modified and feature NOS tanks, an indestructible black Hummer H2, Cadillac Escalades, a Chevrolet pre-runner desert truck flying through the air, and more. The movie is set to release next summer and I hope it will be as good as the original. Check out the trailer inside, there's also a high definition version.
Christ Car Wash Systems have released their (very hot) 2009 calendar showcasing their car wash systems with beautiful ladies each month. I don't know if there's any connection between the name "Christ Car Wash Systems" and "Christ" as in "baby jesus", but this calendar spread is definitely a gift from the heavens. Click the "Full Story" link for the full spread inside.
Valid through the end of today, August 18, 4 Wheel Parts is offering 20 percent off any single item with the coupon code "Welcome20". You can access over 70,000 parts on their website, www.4wheelparts.com, as well as find anything for your pickup truck, jeep or rock crawler. Click here to head on over to their website.
This guy totally has a death wish. After zooming by trucks, semi's and other vehicles at ball-hair raising speeds, the motorcyclist finally gets taken out by a small four door sedan on a side road.
Is that no talent ass clown in the cubical next to you listening to the radio loudly while you are trying to collate information, just like Peter Gibbons experienced in "Office Space"? Unfortunately right now, the time is 9:00 AM and he is allowed to listen to the radio from 9 till 11. That gives you a two hour time frame to check out Truckblog.TV and read through the list of blogs below from last week.
OCA TV are now inviting audience members to join them in the first United States episode of Top Gear which films July 26th in Los Angeles, California. Adam Carolla will host the in-studio shoot for NBC, joined by co-hosts Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer. All audience members will be required to submit proof of identification in order to participate in the filming. If you are interested in attending the first episode click here.
Someone give this guy a Darwin award. A dumbass man from Shelby County, Texas (I'll leave his name anonymous to help save his man-hood), drove his brand new Dodge Ram 2500 diesel pickup with new travel trailer into the side of an ATM drive through, taking down the whole exterior of the building and roofing. According to the genius, he was circling the bank to park on the other side when the corner of his travel trailer caught the corner of the bank awning and the next thing he heard was the awning falling onto his truck, crushing the drivers side door. Somehow he was able to unbuckle his seat belt and make it out the passenger door in the nick of time. Check out the video inside.
Only on eBay would you find crap like this. You have the chance to bid on a "Condition: Used" 1984 GMC 4 axle camper with sauna trailer, NO RESERVE!, "UNIQUE", for $3,800 bucks! Vibrating and rotational bed not included. Located in Lantana, Florida, the custom van has four axles "fixed dually on the middle, two steerables on front and one steerable on back. I made it out of three vans that I built together. It's a dream camper with a full RV-gear on board".
After announcing a pretty lame line up of new hosts for the United States' Top Gear series (the only one with any driving credibility is Tanner Foust), NBC will be featuring full episodes of their American version of Top Gear each week on their website as soon as the series starts this fall. Set for the 2008 to 2009 NBC primetime line up, the highly anticipated Emmy award-winning television series will "follow three friends as they attempt to perform outrageous challenges and stunts through the crazy transformations they make to their cars". I wonder if "they" (Tanner Foust) will hop in the seat of a Ford Lightning, Chevrolet SS or Dodge SRT10 pickup?
I am not quite sure who persuaded Mike Levine to climb inside the new "RamBox" bedside found on the 2009 Dodge Ram, but this YouTube video explains why he did it. Mike does a good job of demonstrating the size and volume of the newly added cargo area when climbing in, but it makes me wonder if the new Ram Box option could have been displayed better with actual contents such as tools, paint buckets, ropes, tow hooks, or other common accessories that are actually found in the beds of pickup trucks and not human bodies. Check out the video inside.
Now you can enjoy all of our Truckblog.TV episodes in the Podcasts section of Apple iTunes! We've set up a free podcast to display our how-to videos, future events, and more. Throw them on your iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, or other portable devices and keep them for the road.
Attention all you GearheadZ out there! Due to the overwhelming popularity of Stacey David's GearZ, SPEED TV recently announced their first marathon airing of GearZ on Sunday, July 6th beginning at 10:30 A.M. EST, and running through 3:30 P.M. with 11 back to back episodes! For those of you who can't get enough of Stacey's affable personality, and easy to understand, hands-on approach to everything automotive, this marathon's for you! Whether you're a novice, a weekend tinkerer or a high-end automotive restorer, end your fourth of July weekend with Stacey, and get ready to go out and build something!
Television and radio comedian Adam Carolla, champion rally and drift racer Tanner Foust, and TV construction guru Eric Stromer, will lead NBC's pilot of the international smash hit series "Top Gear." The production will begin later this week. Produced by BBC Worldwide America, the U.S. version of the hit franchise will mirror the UK show's irreverent humor and camaraderie between the three presenters, epic races, outrageous stunts and challenges...
What used to be the top selling vehicle in the United States until it fell from the peril of oil prices, the Ford F-150 really is one tough and aggressive pickup truck. Ford has been trying to convey that message for years and until recently, they never explained the "behind the scenes" of their commercials, which are in fact 100 percent real. As part of their website, Ford offers four crazy behind the scenes look of their commercials: Centrifuge, Chinook, Cargo, and Forward Thinking. Click here to remember why this was the top selling truck, despite the $100 dollars it took to fill them up.
Torch Technologies are now selling their drive ByWire XGV (self-driving) Ford Escape hybrid SUV for just $89,000 to anyone who wants to expand it as a "research platform". The SUV, which won third place at the DARPA Urban Challenge, is loaded with vibration sensors, ports, cable harnesses, receiver modules and much more. Torch Technologies collaborated with Virginia Tech to research, design, and develop the self-driving SUV.
Every year vehicles become more sophisticated than ever, making it nearly impossible to debug any problems by yourself without having to make your way to the dealership. A website by the name of www.obd-codes.com is now making it easier for anyone to troubleshoot any OBD-II codes given by your pickup truck or car. Offering tips, symptoms, and possible solutions, www.obd-codes.com is making it easier to obtain the information you need, faster. You can check out their website at www.obd-codes.com.
The 6th Annual Texas Showdown is next weekend, June 14 and 15, at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas. There will be a tug-o-war, burn out contest, truck, car and motorcycle show, hopping contest, motorcycle stunt show, live music, chugging contest, audio sound-off contest, hot dog eating contest and more. The gates open at 10:00 AM and the show ends at 5:30 PM. Adult admission is $15.00 for the 2-Day pass and $10.00 for the 1-Day pass. Children 10 and under are free. For more information check out the Teas Showdown website at www.texasshowdown.com.
Did you get struck down last Friday by your boss making special requests for more work? Just like Peter Gibbons endured from his boss, Bill Lumbergh, in Office Space. "Oh, oh, and I almost forgot. Ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday Monday, too...". If you're at work on this Memorial Day holiday, take a second to review last week's wrath of blogging. You're guaranteed to enjoy it.
"Oh and remember next Friday is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans."
ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, today announced an initiative with the Detroit-based Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA) to convene an international work group to address how to safely access internet content through embedded and nomadic devices in vehicles. ATX, as the convenor of the working group, and CVTA will launch an immediate effort to invite automobile manufacturers and interested parties in the automotive electronics value chain to participate in an open discussion and process for setting requirements for in-vehicle Web browsing.
As if Hearse Con 2008 wasn't bad enough, this would definitely ruin your day. Apparently in Russia, the roads are absolutely horrible during the spring, summer, fall, and you guessed it, winter seasons. They are however, at their "worst" conditions between seasons, when all of the insane amount of snow begins to melt, creating a mudd bogging paradise for most southerners here in the states. According to the original source, the authorities don't give a crap about the conditions either (sounds like lovely Russia doesn't it?). Check out the pictures inside.
You're going to have to check this one out for yourself. Unfortunately, we missed the second annual Hearse Convention 2008, which was held in Englewood, Colorado this month. The rides that showed up are pretty slick though, featuring machine guns mounted on fenders, lots of skulls all over the place, the famous "CARGOYL" Hearse, and blow up dolls. Yes, blow up dolls. Now that I have your attention, check out the video inside.
Exactly one week ago, a category 2 tornado with winds of 150 miles per hour touched ground in Leighton, Alabama. Someone crazy enough to stand near a window during this event, captured some remarkable footage of a group of cars in a parking lot being tossed around, like dead leaves that fell off of a tree. Somehow the trucks on the right portion of the screen were not affected. Check out the video inside.
It is that time again! STILLEN is excited to invite all Nissan and Infiniti owners to attend our annual Customer Appreciation day. We have been holding these events for over 10 years and each year it gets bigger and bigger. Last year we had nearly 800 customized cars and trucks in attendance. In the past we have shut down 250 yards of Airway Avenue in front of our headquarters. This year, we have gone to the city of Costa Mesa and extended that an additional 100 yards, over 3 football fields long, plus our parking lot full of Nissan and Infiniti Trucks, SUVs and cars. Make sure you get here early, we are opening the outside lot first and once space is gone, you'll have to search for parking outside of the event.
Just like the scene from Office Space when Dom Portwood asks Peter if he received the memo about his TPS reports, today I ask you Truckblog fans, did you get that memo from last week about Truckblog TV and our other huge stories? If you didn't, below is a list of our top blogs from last week for you to read this Monday morning. "So if you could just remember to do that from now on, that'd be great. All right!".
Known for leaking the 2009 Dodge Ram on the intarweb earlier this year, Dodge has accidentally posted an image of what appears to be the 2009 Dodge Ram R/T or SRT-10. The vehicle can also be found in a promotional video for the new Rambox, a bedside storage system being offered in the new 2009 Ram. Click here to visit the Dodge Ram website.
As you've noticed the moment you logged onto our site this morning, Truckblog now features an updated layout and is now large and in charge. Some of the main enhancements of the site are an updated video player, static right bar menu system which is featured on every page for quick access to Live Chat, Active Topics, etc, and our new Truckblog TV spot on the home page (it also doesn't auto-start). The breakdown for all features is as follows:
The following video was developed by Ford and BFTrules.com, as a collaboration to promote their Built Ford Tough ad campaign and slogan. The "BFT" team, seeks out individuals that are violating their code of conduct, and in this episode, CASE #194- PINK SHIRT VIOLATION, the "BFT" team pulls over an F-150 owner whom is shirtless (and somewhat disturbing), after throwing his "contraband" pink t-shirt out the window. This clearly violates their code of conduct and rule number five- No Pink Shirts.
General Motor’s Hummer division and the nonprofit organization Tread Lightly! announced today the launch of a new partnership called Hummer’s Recreation Rescue, which will provide grants to outdoor recreation sites. The grants will be dedicated towards land use education, management and trail maintenance.
NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Car racers will soon head to Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk, Ohio for a chance to win $50,000 at the 2008 K&N Horsepower Challenge Race. Racers are not the only ones that can win. You can enter the sweepstakes for a chance to attend the race courtesy of K&N and a chance to win the Pontiac G6 courtesy of General Motors by entering “The K&N Horsepower Challenge” Sweepstakes.
The following video was developed by Ford and BFTrules.com, as a collaboration to promote their Built Ford Tough ad campaign and slogan. The "BFT" team, seeks out individuals that are violating their code of conduct, and in this episode, CASE #235- MANICURE VIOLATION IN PROGRESS, the "BFT" team hunts down an F-150 owner who is getting a manicure, which clearly violates their code of conduct and rule number nine- No Manicures.
In a video by Pickuptruck.com, Ralph Gilles, Vice President of Jeep/Truck and Advance Interior Design, provides a walk around interview of the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck, explaining all of it's new features, and design aspects. Check out the video inside.
The following video was developed by Ford and BFTrules.com, as a collaboration to promote their Built Ford Tough ad campaign and slogan. The "BFT" team, seeks out individuals that are violating their code of conduct, and in this episode, CASE #073- FANCY COFFEE INFRACTION, the "BFT" team intercepts a Super Duty owner with "Fancy coffee", which is number six in their code of conduct- No Fancy Coffee.
Have you ever found yourself sitting in front of the "consultants" at work, being asked to explain what you do at work every day? Just like Peter Gibbons had to do in the comedy movie, Office Space. "What would you say...Ya do here?". Well our Monday morning recap should solidify exactly what you're not doing for them, and instead, you are catching up on the hottest news from last week, just in case you missed it all.
Leading with innovation, Chrysler LLC launches industry’s first online Customer Advisory Board to establish ongoing two-way dialogue with customers and gain their insights on product features and technologies. The online Customer Advisory Board’s closed forum leverages the leading-edge technology of Passenger, which is the leader in on-demand customer collaboration, to engage customers in active collaboration about products and business efforts.
Chrysler have announced they will be offering In-Car Internet, beginning this year. "The feature will be added to existing vehicles by dealers beginning this year and later be installed on the assembly line" stated Chrysler's Product Development Chief, Frank Klegon. Chrysler also hopes to make the radio itself a WiFi port. The technology will not be free though, and will utilize mobile phone towers for its signal, so you will need a wireless phone carrier for the system to work. The new Internet option can be added to existing models and will be worked into the future assembly line soon. Now you have an excuse to check out Truckblog even more, and become an even greater traffic hazard! What happened to safety?
I honestly don't know what the hell this guy was thinking, but this one of a kind creation is guaranteed to turn heads at any gas station. God forbid you have to sell your truck or SUV because of our outrageous gas prices and are forced to purchase an old Volkswagen Golf car like this one, be aware that there is a new replacement available for your spare tire.
Known for the late 1990's famous tv show called TRUCKS!, Stacey David is now hosting a new tv show called GearZ, which premieres this Saturday for its second season, February 23rd at 9:00 am EST on the SPEED channel.
So you are probably thinking by now, "Oh great, more Hummer news- what's the deal Truckblog?". Well, today is unofficially, Hummer Friday. Why, you ask? Well, we found a handful of articles regarding Hummer and their vehicles, and decided to post them all today. And that leads us to our Beerblog, "The 110k Hummer H2".
If you were amazed as much as we were at Fords F-150 SuperBowl commercial this past Sunday, you will be even more amazed that Ford has confirmed that their commercial was 100 percent real. Pushing over 6G's of Gravitational Force, nearly 6 times the trucks weight, their F-150 demonstrated the strength of its towhooks and overall rigidity of the truck. If you missed the commercial during the SuperBowl, you can check it out below. You can also see how Ford constructed the commercial into reality, by visiting http://www.fordvehicles.com/f150behindthescenes/.
With the release of the 2009 Hummer H3T Photos we blogged about earlier this week, General Motors has now released video on YouTube of their 2009 Hummer H3T pickup truck. The following video shows the bright orange Hummer truck playing in the snow.
This is insane. What do you do with 2 monster trucks, a helicopter, a CORR series race truck, a calculator, and a group of 10 freestyle motorcycle riders? You choreograph them launching off 4 seperate ramps at the same time, of course! This extreme stunt is sure to grant them the most viewed section on YouTube for this week!
2007 was an exciting year for us at Truckblog, filled with a bunch of technical articles and one of our own project trucks making it into SEMA. As a celebration of basking in all of the glory, we've collaborated a list of the top 10 blogs of 2007. Funny enough, most of them are our famous Beerblogs! Check them out inside.
With Fords official introduction of the 2009 F-150 this weekend, Ford has launched a mini site for the new pickup truck that lists all of their latest advancements. Featuring full 360 degree rotational fly-by views, the mini site explains how the 2009 F-150 is "Built For Capability, Built For Style, Built For Comfort, and Built For Safety".
Wrapping up our SEMA coverage, our SEMA Video Part Two has been posted. Featuring customized rides, new products, and models or as we call them, "booth babes", part two offers another insight to the largest automotive trade show on the planet. Be sure to check out our full list of coverage as well.
For years, Red Bull USA energy drink has sponsored extreme athletes performing wild stunts and consistantly pushing the boundaries. Being dubbed "The Red Bull Experiment", on the strike of midnight on New Years Eve, famous Formula D driver, Rhys Millen, will attempt a first-ever backflip in an off-road racing truck, hoping to set a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records. Millen will actually jump twice, once at the strike of "12" on the East Coast, and once again for the West Coast.
DodgeTalk posted an image of the 2009 Dodge Ram they discovered by accident on Dodge's accessory website, MoparAccessories.com. No details have been released about the truck, other than the announcement of their rear coil sprung rear end that we reported about. But with all of the excitement behind the 2009 Dodge Ram pickups, Dodge announced that they will halt production of the 2008 Dodge Ram for the entire month of January 2008.
BlueOvalNews has released their review of the 2007 Saleen S331 Supercharged F-150 and as it turns out, this is one bad truck! From a supercharged 5.4 V8 that produces 450 base horse power and 500 foot pounds of torque, this truck provides "functionality with radical performance.” Click this link to read the full review of this radical truck.
As part of our continuing coverage of SEMA 2007, Truckblog is proud to announce the first, full coverage video of the 2007 SEMA Show. Full of the latest customized vehicles, hottest products on the market, and loaded with models, or as we know them, "booth babes", this feature video is part one of two, and will leave you craving for more. Part two will be released later this week.
Beware, this product is patented. It's called TruckShade and guess what it does?...You guessed it, provides shade for the side of your truck. I would like to see this thing survive one trip in the desert or any climate where there is any amount of wind, watching it break off and scratching the bed sides of your truck. The TruckShade weighs less than 5 pounds, "super compact" (like a tampon?), "quick and easy to set up", and retails at only $87.97 (someone took an economics class) for long bed trucks and $79.97 for 6 1/2 foot bed trucks. It's also been chosen as Dirt Rider Magazine's "Personal Picks" for "2006 Product of the Year". Well in my opinion, I vote the TruckShade as Truckblog's "2007 Crap Product of the Year". If you do like this product, you can visit their rad website at www.truckshade.com. They're almost in competition for the 2007 Webby Awards, watch out Truckblog.
Sometimes I communicate with my friends through email or by phone, but rarely do I use Truckblog. That was until today when Jim at Full-Size Chevy blogged about Truckblog at his site. Full-Size Chevy is a massive Chevy truck enthusiast site that caters specifically to the (you guessed it) full size trucks manufactured by Chevy and GMC.
The forums area is very active, and there's even a member gallery if you'd like to check out other member's rides or post your own pics. Jim also hooked up a blog to allow him to cover the latest industry news and well, talk about Truckblog! So if you haven't seen FSC yet, y'all best get on over to FullSizeChevy.com and get your bowtie on.
Internet Brands, Inc., a leading operator of media and e-commerce sites for consumer purchases, such as CarsDirect.com, has purchased Ford Truck Enthusiasts (FTE) and F-150 Online today, with the plan of using their technology and content resources to enhance the websites.
If you own a SuperDuty and you plan to turn it into an off-road beast, one of the better online places to buy off-road gear and swag for your rig is Gilbert, Arizona's very own Super Duty Headquarters. These guys specialize in anything off-road for the Ford Super Duty and they even have a shelf or two of parts for the F-150 & Ranger folks out there.
–
How many of us out there collect shirts and other items of clothing that easily let people know how much we actually like cars, trucks or really anything that can make massive amounts of noise, belch carbon dioxide and propel us in a forward motion? I know I collect shirts from all the different car & truck shows and places I attend around the country.
–
Thanks to Kuz over at VehicleShoot.com for featuring Truckblog.com on the home page of his site for the entire month of December as the "Site of the Month".
He reviewed us by saying "If you are looking for interesting truck articles and want to post your two cents then I would first recommend Truckblog. You will also find features, reviews, & show galleries."
When Jake and I aren't somehow involved with the physical world of trucks, we are spending most of our time in the virtual world of trucks--that being the web. There are so many incredible truck websites out there that we figured we would honor their online accomplishments by starting a weekly department called "Truckblog Site Of The Week". We wanted to go with our "Whateverblog" naming convention like our Friday "Beerblog", and "Truckblog" is already taken (ha!) and "Siteblog" just sounds stupid. So since Jake is off shooting a feature for the site and I haven't been able to come up with something different, here is our first "Truckblog Site Of The Week" (feel free to hit "Comments" and make a suggestion for something better!)
Our first award goes to...
The Baller's Journal
(5/5)
After careful review of our favorites (which will be in the spotlight in the near future), we agreed that "The Baller's Journal" was the clear winner of our first award. Why? It is not your normal enthusiast website... in fact it's not like anything else we have ever seen on the web. While this isn't a 100% dedicated truck site, the majority of the vehicles featured are trucks.
–