If Scott Sidwell looks a little sleepy in this photo, it's small wonder. Halfway to Top Truck from his Minnesota home, his trailer was sideswiped by a passing car, leaving a mangled wheel-and-hub assembly in its wake. Delayed half a day in Utah, he managed to rustle up the parts to patch up the axle, and drove 800 miles nonstop to Hollister a day before the event. He arrived with his Ranger in the dead of night, a few hours before these photos were taken.
Specifications
Owner name/city: Scott Sidwell/Glencoe, MN
Occupation: Shop owner, Sidco 4x4
Vehicle model: 1983 Ford Ranger
Estimated value: $25,000
Engine/aspiration: 514ci Ford V-8, Holley 770cfm Truck Avenger carb, Edelbrock intake, hand-fabbed exhaust w/ 21/4 x 5-in collector
Transmission: Stock 4-spd w/manual valve body, TCI 2,000rpm stall converter
Transfer case: 3:1 hand-fabbed double-row #60 chain-drive
Suspension (f/r): Four-link, 9-in Skyjacker F-150 springs, semitractor-trailer shocks/four-link, 9-in Skyjacker F-150 springs, Gabriel shocks
Axles (f/r): GMC 2 1/2-ton military/GMC 2 1/2-ton military; rear "lead" locker, 4x.0.120-wall driveshafts, pinion brakes
Axle ratio: 6.68:1
Wheels: 20-in hand-fabbed steelies
Tires: 54x20 Interco Super Swamper Boggers