02.28.16: Tires & Trucks, Superstition & Sand Dam, Beer & a Blowtorch, HP VS 4Runner, Toy Diesel VS Lexus V8, Hybrids VS Reality, Big Bear Off-Road Terrain, Chinese Product Fails, Stock Truck Abuse, + the Happy Patrol & Daring to be Special

Like the title says: Super Duties and 4Runners, V-10s and diesels, Lexus and GM V8s, sweet mountain bike tires and crappy Chinese ones, trails in Big Bear and Superstition, Foresters and stock pickups on the dunes, nighttime runs at Sand Dam, plus dirt, beer, whether the White House is just "Revenge of the Nerds" and MLK versus Black Lies Matter. Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and able cohosting Powerstroke guy Majid do a garage-only workbench episode from the Fletcher Hills compound in scenic death-spiraling southern Kalifornistan. The topics are standard-issue gearhead superiority - horsepower in sand and rock, engine swaps for trail rigs, the plug & play niceness of OE transplants, off-roading pre-production Ford Super Duty pickups, and a small look at the need for consumers to beware of any products made in China, not just the fakes. There's also a tidy little chat about how hybrid car technology can work when used in the real world, and not narcissistic little commuter dust-busters. The Garage Hour goons spent some time looking back at their visit to the Superstition mountains just west of El Centro as well for the annual Superstition Run (put on by San Diego 4-Wheelers) and the near-perfect off-roading terrain afforded by wet SoCal sand and rock. There's tales of a Class 8 desert truck bombing the famous Sand Dam in full roost-mode, as well as a bunch of other metal that didn't make it. Then they try to figure out how much 4Runner Majid can afford for a trail beater - the beatier the better. In gratitude, the newest Garage Hour cohost attempts to burn Justin's new MTB tires with a blowtorch. Good talk radio starts in the garage - Hank Watson's Garage (Hour). If you'd prefer to download a low-res version of this episode, grab the same date with the "MP3" tag in the title.