Ultimate Cover-Up?
We all love 4Wheel & Off-Road’s Ultimate Adventure, but I noticed a few odd cases of possible sponsor-induced bias in both the first and second ’05 UA article installments. No, I’m not trying to play publication police or anything of that sort, but some of this stuff jumped off the page at me like a cat off a hot barbecue. To be fair, let’s investigate them together, and you can draw your own conclusion.
The following drivers were participants in the 2005 Ultimate Adventure. The information has been gathered from both articles and Scott Frary’s Damage Report from the second article.
Paul Chowanec
They specifically name the failed remote box as being a T-Max product, and called it a “no-name winch solenoid” in the previous issue. What a coincidence, Warn, the world’s best known maker of winches is a sponsor. The T-Max winch may be a new player on the scene, but calling this new winch “no-name” is a foul on any field.
Nate Marsh
No mention of the brand of bent rear leaf springs on his Wagoneer although they are listed as being Superlift springs in the description of the truck’s modifications in the previous issue. Funny…Trent McGee, former 4Wheel & Off-Road employee and a “usual suspect” on this year’s UA works for Superlift.
No mention of the brand of the front hub that Nate destroyed, which leaves one to wonder, was it the Warn hub, or the Teraflex hub that he was running at the time? Gosh, I guess we’ll never know…hey wait…Teraflex makes hubs?
Keith Bailey
No mention of the brand of the front hub that blew on this CJ-7 either - although Keith is running Warn hubs in the pictures.
No mention of the brand of the blown front locker either, which is listed in the rig modifications in the previous issue as being a Detroit. What a ka-wink-e-dink, Detroit was a sponsor in 2004.
Aaron James
Torn tire on the ’01 Dodge Ram. Hmm, the tire brand is not mentioned here. That would be a BF Goodrich Krawler I believe. Oh, by the way, isn't BFGoodrich the UA’s Title Sponsor?
Sam Patton
Torn sidewall specifically mentioned as being on a Bogger. Interco Tire, which manufacturers the Bogger is not a sponsor of the Ultimate Adventure. I’m just surprised that anything on the Heepee survives Sam’s Get-R-Done driving style.
Scott Sweeny
Not just a blown fuse under the hood of the Toyota Truggy but specifically mentioned as a blown fuse on the ARB. Strange, ARB’s not a sponsor either.
Pat Meiwes
Two rear springs had to be replaced on the spring-under YJ during the UA. No name mentioned, but yeah, they’re Superlift springs.
Rick Péwé
No mention of the brand of tire torn on the Ultimate K10. Yep, it’s a BFGoodrich Krawler.
Non-operational ARB named here again folks.
Fred Williams
This is the single exception to the rule. Fred’s blown hub was a Selectro, a competitor of Warn’s. The name was not specifically mentioned here, although the failure was discussed in the Clampy Makeover article in the same issue.
Once again on this rig multiple rear spring failures are noted with no manufacturer being named. Whoops, that would be Superlift once again. (See Nate Marsh above.)
Tom Boyd
The EB’s three blown locking hubs were Warn products, but no mention of the sponsors’ name here either.
Trent McGee
Two blown front hubs on the ’92 YJ. Hmm…Warn hubs here again folks.
Pretty interesting, don’t you think? And no – don’t even think for a second that I’m intentionally bagging on the UA’s sponsors here. I use or have used most of the products that were conveniently not mentioned as having failed in the article. They’re all good products, but then the products that were conveniently mentioned as having failed are pretty good too.
Let’s face it, most of us do terrible things to our rigs, and stuff is going to break. In fact if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my twenty-six years or so of wheeling it’s that parts failure is kinda like cracks in concrete or your kid asking you for money, it’s not a matter of if it happens, but when.
Just to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things I re-read the ’04 UA articles and I noticed no discernable pattern regarding the mention of broken parts and their respective brand names whether the part was manufactured by a sponsor or not. Maybe this new method of reporting UA is just a fluke. Let’s hope so.
Most of us (me included) that have had the pleasure of generous sponsors helping out with projects and events have been known to over-promote our sponsor’s products from time to time. But in our defense, the sponsors have stepped up to the plate and delivered when we needed them most, and we should support them in return. In fact, the readers should support these sponsors too because without them there just may not be a magazine to read or events to attend.
So while it may not be the Ultimate Cover-Up, blatantly displaying the names of a non-sponsoring company’s products when they fail and then omitting or burying your sponsor’s shortcomings is just poor form whether intentional or not. 4WOR is one of my favorite reads, and to be honest, I’m more than a little disappointed.
The following drivers were participants in the 2005 Ultimate Adventure. The information has been gathered from both articles and Scott Frary’s Damage Report from the second article.
Paul Chowanec
They specifically name the failed remote box as being a T-Max product, and called it a “no-name winch solenoid” in the previous issue. What a coincidence, Warn, the world’s best known maker of winches is a sponsor. The T-Max winch may be a new player on the scene, but calling this new winch “no-name” is a foul on any field.
Nate Marsh
No mention of the brand of bent rear leaf springs on his Wagoneer although they are listed as being Superlift springs in the description of the truck’s modifications in the previous issue. Funny…Trent McGee, former 4Wheel & Off-Road employee and a “usual suspect” on this year’s UA works for Superlift.
No mention of the brand of the front hub that Nate destroyed, which leaves one to wonder, was it the Warn hub, or the Teraflex hub that he was running at the time? Gosh, I guess we’ll never know…hey wait…Teraflex makes hubs?
Keith Bailey
No mention of the brand of the front hub that blew on this CJ-7 either - although Keith is running Warn hubs in the pictures.
No mention of the brand of the blown front locker either, which is listed in the rig modifications in the previous issue as being a Detroit. What a ka-wink-e-dink, Detroit was a sponsor in 2004.
Aaron James
Torn tire on the ’01 Dodge Ram. Hmm, the tire brand is not mentioned here. That would be a BF Goodrich Krawler I believe. Oh, by the way, isn't BFGoodrich the UA’s Title Sponsor?
Sam Patton
Torn sidewall specifically mentioned as being on a Bogger. Interco Tire, which manufacturers the Bogger is not a sponsor of the Ultimate Adventure. I’m just surprised that anything on the Heepee survives Sam’s Get-R-Done driving style.
Scott Sweeny
Not just a blown fuse under the hood of the Toyota Truggy but specifically mentioned as a blown fuse on the ARB. Strange, ARB’s not a sponsor either.
Pat Meiwes
Two rear springs had to be replaced on the spring-under YJ during the UA. No name mentioned, but yeah, they’re Superlift springs.
Rick Péwé
No mention of the brand of tire torn on the Ultimate K10. Yep, it’s a BFGoodrich Krawler.
Non-operational ARB named here again folks.
Fred Williams
This is the single exception to the rule. Fred’s blown hub was a Selectro, a competitor of Warn’s. The name was not specifically mentioned here, although the failure was discussed in the Clampy Makeover article in the same issue.
Once again on this rig multiple rear spring failures are noted with no manufacturer being named. Whoops, that would be Superlift once again. (See Nate Marsh above.)
Tom Boyd
The EB’s three blown locking hubs were Warn products, but no mention of the sponsors’ name here either.
Trent McGee
Two blown front hubs on the ’92 YJ. Hmm…Warn hubs here again folks.
Pretty interesting, don’t you think? And no – don’t even think for a second that I’m intentionally bagging on the UA’s sponsors here. I use or have used most of the products that were conveniently not mentioned as having failed in the article. They’re all good products, but then the products that were conveniently mentioned as having failed are pretty good too.
Let’s face it, most of us do terrible things to our rigs, and stuff is going to break. In fact if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my twenty-six years or so of wheeling it’s that parts failure is kinda like cracks in concrete or your kid asking you for money, it’s not a matter of if it happens, but when.
Just to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things I re-read the ’04 UA articles and I noticed no discernable pattern regarding the mention of broken parts and their respective brand names whether the part was manufactured by a sponsor or not. Maybe this new method of reporting UA is just a fluke. Let’s hope so.
Most of us (me included) that have had the pleasure of generous sponsors helping out with projects and events have been known to over-promote our sponsor’s products from time to time. But in our defense, the sponsors have stepped up to the plate and delivered when we needed them most, and we should support them in return. In fact, the readers should support these sponsors too because without them there just may not be a magazine to read or events to attend.
So while it may not be the Ultimate Cover-Up, blatantly displaying the names of a non-sponsoring company’s products when they fail and then omitting or burying your sponsor’s shortcomings is just poor form whether intentional or not. 4WOR is one of my favorite reads, and to be honest, I’m more than a little disappointed.
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