LetzRoll Offroad Racing is known for pushing the edge, both on and off the course. Ultra4 Racing is a brutal combination of high-speed desert racing and hard-core technical rock crawling.  

If you aren’t familiar with Ultra4 Racing, check out this highlight from the biggest race of the year, The King of the Hammers: 

Set in Johnson Valley, California, KOH has been described as “Burning Man for Gearheads” on more than one occasion. It’s long, it’s brutal - it’s a week on a lakebed with 40,000 of your closest friends. 

The challenge for LetzRoll: KOH is only 11 weeks away and the team has two new cars to finish.

With only weeks to go, everyone is a blur of activity.

With the exception of safety requirements and a rule for having a transfer case with low gear and 4WD, there ARE NO RULES when it comes to Ultra4. If you can build it, you can race it. 

After three successful seasons with their cars, LetzRoll is taking on the task of building two new cars in two different classes for 2015… and it all starts with the welder.

BIG CHANGES: IFS

As the sport continues to grow, so does the competition. Drawing more and more from the Baja style of desert racing, Ultra4 cars have undergone an evolution in both form and function. 

With a consistent Top 10 car, LetzRoll owner Andrew McLaughlin is ready to push harder in 2015, and the new season is bringing big changes for the team.  

First and foremost is the change from a solid axle car to an Independent Front Suspension (IFS) on McLaughlin’s “Unlimited Class” #4493. The IFS design also dictates having a rear, reverse mount engine. 

“I expect this car to take the LetzRoll / ESAB team to the next level in both Ultra4 and desert racing,” McLaughlin said. “As the sport becomes more competitive so will the vehicles. We are at the tip of the spear and expect an excellent season.” 

STRENGTH AND SAFETY:

With speeds reaching more than 100 mph in the open desert, strength and safety come first in Ultra4 racing.  For the first build, LetzRoll chose 2” x .120 Chromalloy tube.  For durability – this is endurance racing after all… “in order to win, you must first finish” – the A arms and the trailing arms were heat-treated. Using a combination of Mig and Tig welding, the chassis and initial suspension work were completed at Jimmy’s 4x4 in Cortez, Colorado.  

Jimmy’s, a team partner on the leading edge of IFS Ultra4 cars, brought a wealth of information to the build. One of the more controversial decisions was to mount the trailing arms as the lower, instead of the upper, links. The final decision came down to performance in the rocks as well as the desert.

Taking the chassis as a simple roller, LetzRoll worked mainly on the interior as well as the midlevel parts that would be needed. Massive ADS Off Road Racing shocks (coilovers and bypass shocks) were installed. 

Getting the car prepped for displaying in the ESAB booth at The SEMA Show 2014 in early November drove the team late into the night, fabricating and welding. 

Using the new ESAB Crossbow to layout and cut parts on the table saves the team incredible time and money, as well as keeping them on schedule for the build. In addition to the Crossbow, the Migmaster 215 and the Powercut 700 and 1300 are getting a workout with this build!

NEXT STEPS:

Stay tuned for the next installment of our build blog. We’ll recap SEMA 2014 as well as update on the next stages of the build. As a sneak peak, here is a spy pic of the #4511 Modified Stock class build. We have just a few more items to complete and it will be ready to go. Little things… like the chassis, axles, shocks, drive train, interior, fuel system, and steering. If you look closely, you will see that the rear axle (built on this episode of Two Guys Garage) is Ready to Roll!

Do you think we’ll be ready in time? …11 weeks and counting. We’ll keep updating the blog and take you through the whole journey as we prepare for the 2015 King of the Hammers. Stay tuned!