EL JEFE
Tread|May/June 2024
Meet the Classic YJ Turned TREAD Cover Model
LINDSEY FISHER 
EL JEFE

"THE BUILD TOOK DAN ABOUT TWO YEARS TO COMPLETE, NOT TO MENTION THE COUNTLESS HOURS THAT WENT INTO DEVELOPING ALL OF THE MOTOBILT COMPONENTS HE INCLUDED IN THE JEEP BUILD."

You can tell a lot about a person by what they put into a build. Take, for example, our cover model a Jeep YJ Wrangler dubbed "El Jefe" built by MotoBilt's owner and CEO Dan DuBose. Just one look at this masterpiece and you'll quickly discern that Dan knows what he's doing when it comes to building badass off-road machines. You'll also see that his attention to detail, along with the custom components he has and continues to develop for other enthusiasts looking to build custom Jeeps, are second to none!

Dan is what you'd call an OG of the off-road world. With over 35 years of wheeling under his belt, Dan has made a name for himself building highly capable off-road machines, particularly Jeeps, as far back as the early '90s. He's also created platforms to help other off-road enthusiasts more easily build their own custom rigs, first with Blue Torch in 2001, and then MotoBilt in 2014. To this day, Dan and his team at MotoBilt continue to develop top-notch components for many Jeep and truck platforms, so it should come as no surprise that a rig like El Jefe here was built by the master himself.

"DAN AND HIS TEAM AT MOTOBILT CONTINUE TO DEVELOP TOP-NOTCH COMPONENTS FOR MANY JEEP AND TRUCK PLATFORMS, SO IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT A RIG LIKE EL JEFE HERE WAS BUILT BY THE MASTER HIMSELF."

One Sick YJ

Built from a 1987 YJ, El Jefe is far from a regular Jeep. This bad boy is built from tip to tail, starting with a full tube chassis, all the way to a fully built engine from Golen Engine Services, and finished off with a totally custom interior and shiny Cadillac red paint.

This story is from the May/June 2024 edition of Tread.

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This story is from the May/June 2024 edition of Tread.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.