Covered Wagon - 1-Ton Wagoneer

Typical car owners trade in their vehicle for a newer model, but Brody Zink is not typical. After wheeling an XJ Cherokee for a few years, the Nevada firefighter set his sights on a fullsize Jeep Wagoneer.

- Harry Wagner

“I saw this thing for sale on Facebook and went to check it out,” he recalls. “I made a deal with the seller, but I got called off to a fire shortly thereafter. When I got back he told me it was sold, and I was heartbroken.”

Little did Brody know that his girlfriend, MacKenzie, and her father had bought the Wagoneer for him and were keeping it as a surprise.

Living close to the Rubicon, Brody wanted to get the Wagoneer out on the trail in a hurry rather than spending years and thousands of dollars on his dream vehicle. MacKenzie’s father Kurt already had a built Jeep, and Brody’s father Greg had recently bought a J truck, so they were all eager to go wheeling together. Brody says, “My dad is a racecar guy, but he knows how to put things together regardless of whether they are used on the track or the trail.”

Brody and his father slung 1-ton axles from a Super Duty under the Wagoneer and cut to fit 40-inch Pro Comp Xtreme MT2s. Revolution gears and ARB Air Lockers were added to the axles, and Kurt designed and built custom bumpers and rock sliders for the Wagoneer. After that the only thing that was left to do was for the group to hit the trail.