Creating your perfect four-wheel-drive vehicle can be a mammoth task. One that is not undertaken lightly and requires meticulous planning, recruiting the right team, skilled execution, and knowing when to say enough is enough. It’s a task akin to scaling a mountain, but once you reach that zenith, only then can you truly enjoy the fruits of your toiling.
Sydneysider Richard Bookhouse knows the feeling of achieving his goal. He set out to build a car that can be used every day, yet still be able to take him on challenging tracks; so after a diet of a few Toyota Prados, he changed teams and climbed into a Ford Everest.
“I was bored of Prados,” says Richard. “I loved the Ranger and how it could be improved but I wanted a wagon not a ute.”
Lucky for Rich, Ford had just the answer, and most of what can be applied to a Ranger works on an Everest.
The Everest shares its architecture with the Ranger utilising the Australian engineered and developed T6 platform, but riding and handling better with its Watt’s link and coil-spring equipped rear suspension which is what was adapted to the Ranger to create the Raptor.
“I like that it (the Everest) has Australian origins and I got to speak with an engineer who worked on it (the Ranger/Everest program),” says Richard.
The Everest hit the market in 2015 and Richard was an early adopter snaring this 2016 model. It wasn’t long before he set out his plan to make the Ford the off-road touring vehicle he wanted. However, being the first to try comes with extra challenges.
“There was a lack of information when it originally hit the market, “ he says of modifying the Ford, “but the Ford Everest Club of Australia have been incredibly helpful.”
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TRACKING THE GHAN
FOLLOWING THE ROUTE OF THE HISTORIC GHAN RAILWAY – FROM ITS TART IN PORT AUGUSTA AT THE HEAD OF SPENCER GULF TO ITS FINAL DESTINATION IN ALICE SPRINGS – IS A GREAT WAY TO TRAVEL FROM SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA TO OUR CONTINENT’S RED HEART.
THE 'CRUISER TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE BUILT
THIS TOUGH-AS-NAILS 105 SERIES LANDCRUISER NOW HAS A HEART OF GOLD AND IS BUILT TO GO ANYWHERE.
SMART LIGHTS
ARB HAS TAKEN NOTE OF ALL LESSONS LEARNED FROM ITS ORIGINAL INTENSITY LED LIGHT RANGE, TO COME UP WITH THE UPGRADED AND VERY CLEVER INTENSITY SOLIS.
SIX OF THE BEST FETTLED NISSANS
FROM MILD TO WILD CREATIONS, HERE ARE A HANDFUL OF OUTRAGEOUSLY EPIC NAVARA AND PATROL CUSTOM BUILDS.
OBSESSIONS
THE NEW BLOKE SHOWS HIS STYLE WITH A PAIR OF 4X4S IN HIS SHED.
LIFE IN THE BUSH LANE
LIKE MANY EVENTS PLANNED FOR 2020, COVID RESTRICTIONS PUSHED THE DRIVE 4 LIFE TEAM TO REASSESS ITS PLANS, BUT THEY STILL HELD A SUCCESSFUL TOUR THROUGH OUTBACK NEW SOUTH WALES.
LEAP OF FAITH
IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING BUT LAND ROVER’S NEW DEFENDER IS FINALLY HERE. HAS IT BEEN WORTH THE WAIT?
PHAT BLASTER
NO WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS HERE. THE ADDITIONS TO ANTHONY BARR’S PATROL WERE ALL COOKED UP TO CREATE HIS OWN ULTIMATE TOURING VEHICLE.
DOUBLE TAKE
THIS EXPEDITION-READY LANDCRUISER IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS AT FIRST GLANCE.
BACK TO WORK
WE’RE FINALLY GETTING OUT AND USING THE MUSSO AS INTENDED.
