4XFORWARD

Five behind-the-scenes photos and the stories behind them

Procrastination is a funny thing. Normally, when I’m eyeballs-

deep in a bunch of projects I need to get done, my modus operandi is to look for more unfinished projects to add to the pile rather than dive in and start working in earnest on the stuff I’ve been letting slide. That’s kinda what I’m doing today. I’ve got a pile of new injection stuff from Holley for my little 2.5L Why-J that I need to install, but that involves building an adapter plate. Building the adapter plate requires digging out my cutting tools, welder, and a visit to the metal yard for some aluminum plate. Digging out my tools involves moving a ton of other unfinished projects that are in their way. In short, I’ve once again painted myself into an automotive corner. So, rather than do the responsible thing, I thought this would be a great opportunity to scroll through some of my old photos and randomly pick out five to talk about.

The First @hbombindustries Instagram Post

For starters, why is my Instagram handle @ hbombindustries? Because early on I started one with my name, ChristianHazel, and completely forgot under which email address it was linked to. Then, as our company email systems updated with different @ account names, I wound up locking myself out of my own name, so I just plopped the first thing in there that came to mind and now I’m kinda stuck with it. Anyway, this image is from February 23, 2014. I snapped it while trying to gently break the bead of some incredibly crusty and dryrotted Armstrong Norseman tires that were on my ’52 M-170 Ambulance. I was trying to save myself a trip to the tire shop, and by driving the flattie up onto the sidewall with the valve core pulled, I was able to generate just enough leverage to free the bead from the antique Kelsey Hayes Renegade CJ steelies on which they were mounted. An image of this taken from a different angle wound up being the first thing I ever posted on Instagram, way back on February 28, 2014.

Getting Lost in Moab, Sorta

This image was taken by me in Moab, Utah, during Easter Jeep Safari. At the time, I was editor of Jp magazine, and on a corporate run with 4Wheel Parts. Shortly after we broke for lunch, my buddy Cole Quinnell (who was riding shotgun with me) and I got flagged down to see if we could help with a weld repair. Always happy to help, I busted out my gear and used the underhood welder on my flattie to zap something back together. I honestly don’t remember what I wound up welding on this particular JK—maybe the factory track bar bracket or a motor mount or something like that. In any case, the group we were riding with left us behind and we wound up taking a wrong turn trying to catch up with them. By happenstance, it turned into a killer day just bumping around and running into old industry friends and acquaintances.

The Juice Is Loose

One of the things you don’t really think about when you’re hopping in somebody’s rig for a trail ride last-minute is where you’re gonna stash all your gear. That’s even more crucial in a teeny little overstuffed Willys CJ-2A. It was March 23, 2016, and we were all in Moab, Utah, for Easter Jeep Safari. I had brought my weenie little YJ on 31-inch all-terrains, so when we decided to go do a run up Pritchett Canyon that I didn’t have much hope of driving myself. Instead, I hopped in with Verne. He carved out just enough room in his fridge for my sandwich, but I had nowhere really good to keep my stash of juice. Hey, I like juice. Initially, I had the cartons in a little plastic bag on the floor stuffed under the passenger seat, but they kept sliding out and I kept almost stepping on them. Then I discovered Verne’s little grab bar on his rollcage made a perfect juice holder.

Cookie Monster!

Around the first week of May 2016, I became editor-in-chief of Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road. Fred Williams had been the editor prior to my taking the helm and one of the first things I asked him during the transfer was “what’s been done on Ultimate Adventure?” “Nothing” was definitely not the answer I was looking for, but it’s the answer I got. With six short weeks to plan and execute the world’s best known off-road event, the last thing I was worried about was cookies, but my wife, ever the thoughtful, intelligent person she is, had several boxes of custom-frosted monster truck cookies made for me to hand out on the trail. I thought she was nuts, and furthermore I thought I was nuts dragging these things along. But, hey, they wound up being a big hit, as this photo of Harry Wagner enjoying one on Fordyce Creek Trail proves. Who knows, maybe it’s something I should bring back to the event.

Dirt Heads

This was, hands-down, the dustiest day in Ultimate Adventure history, after driving entirely on dirt roads from the middle of nowhere in Arizona to Hurricane, Utah. Not only was the dust super thick and without any breeze to blow it away, it was extremely alkaline and burned your flesh, eyes, and nasal passages. It was epic. After arriving at the hotel and checking in, we all stopped for a posed photo. From left to right are Verne Simons, Keith Bailey, Sam Gillis, Trent McGee, Steve von Seggern, Christian Hazel, Alan Huber, Clifton Slay, and Fred Williams. Even after a couple of showers the towel still turned rusty brown after I dried myself off. Most humble and sincere apologies from all of us on UA2017 to the cleaning staff of the Hurricane, Utah, Hampton Inn!

-CHRISTIAN HAZEL