Superior Axle and Gear is pleased to sponsor the 2010 Top Truck Challenge in Hollister California. This event put on by Four Wheeler magazine is one of the most extreme off road vehicle competitions worldwide. This pits ten of the most outrageous off road vehicles ever built to compete against each other through a series of contests that pushes every vehicle and driver to their breaking point.
Leo Kuether is one of the ten competitors at this year’s Top Truck Challenge and calls Grand Forks North Dakota home where he operates Surplus Centre Inc. hardware store. I met Leo the first day of the event when I was drawn to his outrageous ride.
His buggy is big, sleek, and has a paint job that grabs your attention – painted a beautiful Metallic Pumpkin Seed Orange. Leo enlisted the help of friend and mechanic "Viz" to build the buggy. Viz is a perfectionist and has built and rebuilt the buggy several times to ensure that it is tuned to perfection. Even the paint was so important to Viz, that he repainted the buggy three times until he was satisfied with the outcome.
Leo is one of those guys that you end up liking in just one conversation. His gregarious wife Gem lives up to her name, she is truly a Gem in many ways and not just tolerates her gear head husband but enjoys the sport almost as much as he does. Leo is currently working on building Gem her own buggy. When Leo and Gem have free time, they enjoy Motocross and racing snowmobiles in addition to off-roading. Gem is no lightweight either when it comes to motor sports, she recently purchased a new quad and opted for the powerful Honda 700 XXX.
Leo’s buggy is built on a 2007 Coldworx chassis, is powered by a 502 Chevy Ram Jet crate motor mated to a TCI Turbo 400 transmission with reverse manual valve body. It has an Atlas 30 transfer case and sits upon front and rear Rockwell 2.5 Ton axle assemblies loaded with oversize gun drilled 47 spline axle shafts. The suspension is aided by Fox coil overs and King airbumps.
The tire and wheel combination of this over-the-top buggy are TOUGH. The 20-inch wheels are custom built by Marsh and feature double bead locks and each wheel has 96 bead lock bolts! I love the custom ‘TTC 2010’ detail that is laser cut into each wheel. Then our friends at Mickey Thompson provided limited edition 54” TTC Baja Claw tires. These tires were made in a very limited quantity exclusively for this event and even feature the TTC logo!
I want to thank you guys for saying such nice things! it's you guys along with all the other competitors that truly make this entire even the greatest! once again thank you!!rnrn-=gem=-
09 June 2010, 06:25
Someones gotta give Shane Vizenor huge props for being the one to turn the wrench on this amazing rig and getting it into tip top shape for this event and many others before. He did an amazing job fixing all that was wrong, painting it and those custom 'TTC 2010' wheels were a great idea he had....Nice work Viz!!!
many ways and not just tolerates her gear head husband but enjoys the sport almost as much as he does. Leo is currently working on building Gem her own buggy. When Leo and Gem have free time, they enjoy Motocross and racing snowmobiles in addition to off-roading. Gem is no lightweight either when it comes to motor sports, she recently purchased a new quad and opted for the powerful Honda 700 XXX.
