Ever had your hands full when you were lowering your tailgate? Does your wife complain about lowering the tailgate because it’s so heavy? Or maybe someone who’s a little older keeps dropping the tailgate because they can’t control the weight. The Stabilus EZ Down looks like a very neat solution.

The EZ Down installs in about 4 or 5 minutes and no special tools are needed. It’s essentially a gas shock absorber that connects on the side of the tailgate and you can simply open the tailgate and let go because the EZ Down does the rest, gently lowering it until it’s fully down. Very simple, very neat.

They have details on their website and a video that shows the short and simple installation process.

Link: EZ Down

After the record run of the Holden pickup for production vehicles, we had to remind you of what a non production but still street driveable pickup can do. Gale Banks took his Dodge Dakota pickup, the Sidewinder, to Bonneville back in 2002. The best thing about it is they drove to Bonneville, that is, they drove the Sidewinder to Bonneville, pulling its own trailer with parts and tires. When they arrived, they swapped the wheels and tires for the special race versions, pointed the truck down the track and proceeded to smash the previous records.

Although the clock malfunctioned on one of the runs, the measured exit speed was 222.139 mph in a street driven diesel pickup! It gets 735 horsepower and 1300 foot pounds of torque from the 5.9 liter diesel and 21.2 miles per gallon. It’s an economy truck, too! They set a number of records in various classes detailed on their web site.

You have to give Gale Banks credit, he builds some of the best performing trucks on the planet. 222mph! Not bad.

Link: Gale Banks Sidewinder

Holden Special Vehicles just set a new speed record for a production standard utility/pick up truck. The HSV LS2 6.0 litre V8 Maloo R8 Ute raised the record from 248.783 km/h (154.586mph) to 271.44 kp/h (168.66mph). The record was previously held by the Dodge Ram SRT-10. The Ute was completely stock and for record purposes had to make two runs within an hour to set the new speed mark.

The Holden folks, down in Australia, have been doing some nice work over the past year with their wild custom “EFIJY” and the recent GTO from Pontiac was based on the Holden Monaro.

Holden isn’t well known in the U.S. but if they keep doing this sort of thing, they might get a little more notoriety.

Link: Holden HSV

Stylin Concepts is giving away another great truck, this time it’s a 2006 Ford F150 they call “Positive Displacement.” Loads of truck accessories for both style and performance. The contest begins July 1st. Be sure to check it out.

Press release follows:

Stylin’ Concepts, the world leader in aftermarket SUV and truck accessories, is pleased to announce the completion of its first sweepstakes truck of 2006, a fully-customized 2006 Ford F-150. Entries for the sweepstakes will be accepted between July 1, 2006 and September 20, 2006. Visit www.stylinconcepts.com/winF150 for details and to enter the drawing.

Christened with the name “Positive Displacement,” Stylin’s customized F-150 features many aftermarket accessories for both styling and performance. Performance accessories include a Belltech-lowered suspension, a high-performance Magnacharger supercharger and a custom Corsa exhaust system vented through a through-the-body exhaust tip. 22” Boyd Coddington Magnum wheels with low-profile Hancook tires and a Stainless Steel Brake Corp. heavy-duty braking system make sure the F150 handles superbly and stops on a dime (with room for change). Read the rest of this entry »

If you have a pickup truck and a motorcycle, like a lot of us do, the truck can come in really handy for moving your bike. Sometimes you want to take your dirt bike out to the trails or you might need to get your street bike into the shop for service. A motorcycle trailer can do the job but the Ready Ramp Bed Extender makes it possible to load the bike into the pickup bed and not have to tow the trailer around.

These days, a lot of pickup beds are shorter, too, and the bed extender function of the Ready Ramp uses the extra length of your tailgate to make it possible to haul your bike, even if you have one of the shorter beds.

The Ready Ramp folds in three sections. It folds flat for storage in your truck’s bed using the brackets you can purchase separately or you can store it in the cab behind the seat. When fully unfolded it serves as a ramp for your motorcycle and then when folded as a bed extender, it fits on the tailgate and is held in place by the side of the truck bed.

It comes in either 600 pound or 1000 pound capacities and either compact, which fits smaller trucks and full size trucks with a step side bed or in the full size version which fits the usual Fords, Chevy, Dodge and other full size trucks.

Nice product that a lot of us will find useful.

Link: Ready Ramp Bed Extender

If you get a great set of wheels for your truck, you don’t want those old crusty brake calipers showing through and ruining the whole image. Tuner 01 has caliper covers in a variety of finishes, carbon fiber and several powder coated colors. You don’t have to upgrade your brake calipers just to make them look better, get a set of caliper covers and your problem is solved.

Tuner 01 received the International New Product Award at SEMA for these covers. They are definitely worth a look.

Tuner 01

Do you sometimes head out into bad country where getting stuck is pretty much expected? Ever find yourself in sand, mud or snow where jacking your truck is almost impossible? The Bushranger X-Jack slides under your truck and attaches to the exhaust. It will lift 8800 pounds. The X-Jack won Best New Exterior Accessory award at SEMA 2005. It’s made by the Australian company ARB.

ARB
ARB USA