Ken Smith is no stranger to off-road travel. In fact, you may have seen him in Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s Ultimate Adventure a few (or more) times in various vehicles. He has rigs with meaty tires and big power for his rowdier trail exploits, but sometimes he just likes to slow it all down and bring a passenger along with a few creature comforts. That’s where his ’71 Chevy K20 comes in.
Once you tear your eyes away from the ochre paintjob and patina, you might notice the K20 sits on newer bones. When Ken got the K20 from Utah, it was a rolling chassis. His plan going forward went a bit like this: “It’d be cool to have a Cummins truck,” so he worked some fabrication magic to mate the 3 ⁄4-ton body with the chassis from an ’01 Dodge Ram 2500. From there, it only took a few minor adjustments to make the K20 a reliable machine on the rougher trails, as well as the stretches of highway in between. We caught up with Ken and his wife, Charla, on Four Wheeler’s Overland Adventure East where they showed us how the K20 has all the comforts they need when they’re on the road and the trail.
1 Ken relies on Falken Wildpeak M/Ts to grab onto the trails. Stock K20 Rally wheels and hubcaps can also be found at each corner.
Denne historien er fra May 2021-utgaven av Four Wheeler.
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Denne historien er fra May 2021-utgaven av Four Wheeler.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
2022 Summer Safari
NEK Overland led the way into parts of Vermont and a bit of New Hampshire most will never see
This fourdoor Ford foreshadowed late-model Broncos
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I was hoping to pick your brain as to a couple of different builds. I have a '19 Jeep Wrangler JL and a '74 Chevy Blazer. I'm a little baffled as to what to focus on. The '74 full convertible Blazer is my dream vehicle. She's been a long build and now I am thinking of focusing my energy on my wife's '19 Jeep JL. I recently joined a Jeep club and have been going off-road with a few guys. I'm shopping around for lift kits. Would you suggest that my time be spent and focused on the Blazer or enjoy the Jeep? I really can't do both.
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