NTM

     After we talked to many people using off road trucks through out the country, looking at pictures of the roads our missionaries use and even making measurements of the deepest ruts that we would have to go through, we decided that we needed at least 13 inches of ground clearance. To get that we needed to be able to fit 35 inch mud tires, replacing the 29 inch bald tires that came with the truck. In order to squeeze these under, we needed to put some lift on. For those of you who care, we got a ProComp 4 inch Stage 2 suspension lift and a 3 inch body lift. I really didn’t want the body lift, but it just wouldn’t work without it. In order to turn the bigger tires we regeared the front and rear to 4.80:1 and put an ARB air locker in the rear. Looking at the pictures, there will often be little or nothing to winch to and we will need all the traction we can get! Doesn’t make sense to you? Watch this video:

      Because we will sometimes be hauling very heavy things, like gravel, bags of cement and drums of fuel, we added on a 3 leaf Rancho add-a-leaf springs to the rear suspension and Rancho RS9000XL adjustable shocks. This way we can have a soft ride when we’re in the city, and beef it up when we’re off roading for maximum control and stability. Finally, we put on a ProComp Steering stabilizer to help keep the wheels going straight and we’ve gotten what has been described as “the last vehicle we will ever need.” I certainly hope so! We are so amazed and incredibly thankful for all of you who gave so ridiculously generously to this project. We still have a Warn Tabor 12,000 lb winch in the mail, which will require some bumper fabrication. But we plan our first trip to be to the tribe in the first week of June. And we’ve got calls already from two tribes on other islands wanting to know if we would be able to help them some time too. Good thing we have a ferry system here!

      Although language school is still priority right now, we will use the truck to the best of our ability to reach out to the Filipino people. Even the Filipinos that helped us with building it were able to get a detailed explanation of what we plan on using it for and why: to reach people with the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Now along with the airplane we have a second tool here to reach places that until now were inaccessible to us. Thank you so very much!