Top Gear America Best America's 4x4 Truck S01E09 - 2011.01.16

[Music] now on top gear we swap pavement for pain and head to alaska to find america's toughest truck adam do you see how big that mountain is in front of you i think i'm gonna need bigger tires i think you're gonna need a better truck [Music] [Applause] welcome to a very special episode of top gear i'm adam ferrara that's tanner faust and this is rutledge wood today is all about the pickup truck in 2009 americans alone bought 4.9 million trucks like this f-150 the f-series ford has been the top-selling vehicle in this country for 28 years in a row now there's a lot of rivalries in trucks so we decided to answer the question that's consumed the nation for years what is america's toughest truck to find a definitive answer the producers told us to go online spend no more than three thousand dollars and buy a truck that would then be put through a series of challenges here's the catch it had to have at least 150 000 miles and we had to buy it sight unseen and we met our trucks for the first time in an equally challenging environment alaska the last wild frontier two and a half times the size of texas it's pretty wild and apparently has lots of animals that can trample and eat you we bought our trucks online they looked okay in the photos but we had no idea if they'd actually be any good all we knew was that one of them would be crowned america's toughest truck but between now and then lay the alaskan wilderness and a slew of challenges we had no idea what was in store for us only that we'd meet our trucks for the first time in the forest just north of anchorage [Music] do you know alaska is one of the only few states where you can see all three types of bears that's great you know it's not the bears i think that you got to be worried about it's the moose did you hear that moose what was that there's three times as many people killed by moose as bears what are you wearing this is for the bears this is bear spray this is this'll knock a grizzly down like bear pepper spray these are bear bells they hate this salsa oh my god was it a bear no it's a dodge oh yes oh it's even bigger than i thought i'd picked a 97 dodge ram with an extended cab and a 5.7 liter magnum v8 i was gonna power across alaska in style and comfort it's a lot newer than any other ones how'd you get this for three grand i found it on craigslist it had to have 150 000 miles that's all our criteria said so and how much is on this 159. if there's any endurance factor then the dodge is hosed tanner do you see this i can fit my entire head that's how much suspension travel i got that's impressive yeah i think my favorite part about this is your head is now a unit of measurement is this your standard oh it's adorable with smurf the the color description my choice was a 1983 chevy ck step side lightweight diesel 165 horses the perfect bush truck gentlemen take a look under the hood this is the best part well you guys they're choking on uh trying to find gasoline this is a torque monster with my d got a diesel you got a diesel with a carburetor that's a 350. you got rob no if you're lucky it's a four bolt main but that that is not a diesel it's a small set back it's a 350 small block check one of the most popular engines ever sold in america not what i was hoping for but this is really for a man's truck like this adam i wasn't gonna say anything but this is the worst decision you have ever made are you kidding me look it's a ford baby for me it could only be a 220 horsepower ford f-250 this beast was made in 1976 when men were men and trucks were trucks and i was nine this is like the ford of death check out the seats wow that is semi-truck leather like this this is seats from a lincoln electric wow this is gonna be the roughest ride probably of your life that's why i got the seats i thought of everything this is a ford my friend it's the best selling pickup in the world while each truck had its downside failure was not an option because stalking behind us all the way was a 93 toyota pickup a jihadi favorite it's known around the rest of the world as a hilux now the rules were simple if your truck failed you had to finish the search for america's toughest truck in an import you would be a national disgrace i don't know if anybody's in a really great situation right now but i think by far i've got the best ride out of the three yeah if you want to pick up guys in gnome to find out how road-worthy our trucks were the producers gave us our first challenge a braking test we needed to get up to 30 miles an hour and then jam on the brakes at a marker point 30 feet from the lake if our trucks didn't stop we would be beaver bait let's go are you scared um i'm looking for my out 20 30. wow it's got some power oh i think he's coming that thing is coming how is that possible that that thing can stop adam's stopping distance was five feet from the water's edge tanner and his chevy smurf side were up next a night attack comes from a predatory bear uh-oh oh god here we go this is going to be clunky oh man oh man he's it stops yeah okay safe my truck stopped two feet from the water which meant adam was in the lead i think you're up there uh texas ranger hope you got some chuck norris in that dodge here we go rutledge definitely had an unfair advantage with his 97 ram so we decided to level the playing field a bit by cheating and we moved his breaking point closer to the water don't worry about a thing his head floats get it up there we go get it up there there it is oh just a little too far you had it where was i supposed to break no you're good you're fine there you go keep coming that is really i don't know how something like that could happen you guys went 30 30. yeah i was over 30. 3-0 that sucks i think you lost that one you'll be fine don't worry about it i'd shake it off and focus on the next one remarkably adam's one thousand-year-old ford zilla won the first challenge but now it was time for the next one all right gentlemen the moment we have been waiting for alaska is home to the most brutal environment in america where trucks routinely meet their fate in rivers forests crevasses and ice as well as on the road you're now in healy alaska where christopher mcanlis famously went into the wild and died by the way actually he died yeah he did to test the road worthiness of your trucks your next challenge is to drive a hundred miles to fairbanks okay let's go do you really know how the guy died or no he didn't have a bear belt you don't know okay this road trip challenge would test our vehicle's endurance and it also gave us the perfect chance to get to know what we'd bought getting her up to speed for the first time you're getting a little shake through the steering wheel i've got a good 25 degrees of actual play in the wheel fan belt is squealing away and we're going 46 miles an hour this old chevy i mean it's got 238 000 miles that's a load rutledge has got a truck that either a high school football captain would drive or maybe chuck norris can you hear the tires [Music] i gotta set a 37-inch mud terrains that's huge i think that may be why i had a little bit of trouble stopping now the tough thing for dodge is they haven't always done really well with their truck sales in 93 they sold less than a hundred thousand trucks so that's when they decided to totally redo it launched a completely new ram for 94. the highest number of trucks dodge ever sold 1996 and this was one of those four hundred thousand adam's truck was built before i was born i am driving a 1976 ford f-250 and i'm yelling because it's very noisy the paint job is falling apart and the power steering there's no power steering i should have been a little bit more suspicious when i saw the ad for this truck the picture was taken way far away and he said we'll trade for mountain bike i figured out your color tanner it's blurple just wait till the sun comes out you'll see the blue adam's truck is it's what the unabomber would drive [Music] a lot like when we went to detroit i haven't seen any foreign cars up here except for one toyota truck i do not want to drive a toyota at this point in our country's automotive history i want an american truck to prevail more importantly i want my american truck to prevail [Music] we headed north on a ribbon of asphalt separating us from epic emptiness to the west siberia to the east a vast nothingness that some call canada once you get beyond the trees and you can see a little bit of distance under the clouds it is god's country it's not conquered by man certainly not by vehicles at all after four hours we made it to a gas stop things were going good but something was just bothering me hold on rutledge's truck looks way too new doesn't it oh get him at him get him at him oh oh come on that's what you get for buying a 97 rutledge come on [Laughter] that looks much better yeah why did you get your ugly purple on my beautiful black truck to me it looks like you've had a severe front impact and i have a little door ding your lifted ass truck i would have taken it in the bumper but instead it had to take it in the corner of the hood yeah you said you'd prefer to take it in the bumper we finally made the outskirts of fairbanks and completed the second challenge unscathed then we were told that from now on we would be in the wild tonight would be our last hotel so our next challenge was to convert our trucks into bush-ready campers overnight if we didn't the bears would be feasting on us coming up we prepare to go into the wild with our modified trucks what in the sam hell are you thinking [Music] having successfully completed the first highway challenge we'd spent the night in fairbanks converting our trucks into campers last night the producers were gracious enough to give us all of about six hours notice that we'd be camping in our trucks in the alaskan wilderness for days so of course we decided to make a few minor modifications i created my camper shell in the shape of a giant spoiler it would keep me warm and dry while enhancing the already stellar performance of the chevy step side it is all about rugged simplicity a bed sleeping bag coffee of course and this thing this is on there we're gonna be off-roading through hell i admit the paint fumes may have gotten me a little bit in the spoilers i don't know what they're for maybe they'll scare the bears away but if you're gonna go out into alaska with a truck and keep it tough this is the way to do it oh my god really do you have to kill a beaver for that rutledge wood what in the sam hell are you thinking it's a log cabin i i wanted to bring a little piece of home with me so i wanted to be comfortable this is my porch hang out here come on in hold on i like to wipe my feet on the welcome mat wow if you want to have a seat on my front porch you know every good southern man likes to sit on the front porch but look i've got a mini bar i've got a stove complete with a stove exhaust oh look at this this way i'm really one with the animals got my daniel boone hat here your bed is about five feet long you don't think i can fit in this bed i couldn't fit in that bed why don't you move i'll show you you ready voila this is the life in here tanner this is an entry point for bears for tournaments this is where my feet get mosquitoes this is where i'm gonna sleep oh rutledge listen what don't i have sanity protection from the elements some sort of structural rigidity look at this thing is this is bad i only had a few hours i thought you'd be a little bit more impressed i thought you would have put your attention to like survival a little bit instead of your dream cabin oh my gosh adam how are you fellas i am at a loss the truck got worse what do you mean it got worse it wasn't possible but you did it is this a cage yes so this is simply from bears bears and those killer moose we were talking about before so paranoia got to you not paranoid safety you're gonna use a picture of a lion and you've painted your truck blaze orange safety from hunters right this picture will scare away the visual creature does it ring like a bell wait let me show you what else i got go stand by the lion i'm not sure what to expect here huh really a speaker phone with a lion noise on it it's brilliant you know bears i mean they have huge paws they can just get in and just adam i think you're a nice guy i do i think you're awesome but you are freaking crazy this your escape hatch yes i thought he was just pretending you're you're really scared of errors you're not no i've got whiskey and guns in the log cabin hey you guys are aware that this is the wettest alaskan summer in history what are you gonna do if it rains with our trucks prepared for life in the wilderness we set off for our next challenge which would start 80 miles [Music] away back on the highway it was becoming clear that we might not have thought through our modifications properly tanner how much downforce are you getting in the purple chevy i think i can drive upside down right now are you getting a good draft off of it back there nascar i'm finding i'm just slightly less aerodynamic than i was yesterday in this monster i feel like i'm being chased by the jamboree bears adam when you're done mowing all those lawns will you have a chance to go out in the woods with tanner knife everybody that pulls up to rutledge pauses to see if they dare pull up alongside you it's hilarious tanner i think you just need to hope you don't find any skateboarding bears adam do you see how big that mountain is in front of you holy wow they are all around three sides i think i'm gonna need bigger tires i think you're gonna need a better truck we arrived at the start of the next challenge we had to drive to the top of somewhere called fish creek which was a 20-mile automotive proving ground built by mother nature the extreme inclines drop-offs potholes and water hazards would be a test for any brand new truck let alone our weathered pickups [Music] whoa hey guys looks like uh we got a water crossing we got a what how deep does it look i don't think there's any other way to go but a cross you guys good yeah buddy oh he's stuck uh fellas things weren't looking good for the lion king [Laughter] did the engine die or did you stall it no i think the engine died it's coming up like kind of into this thing it's coming in why don't you come on out [Music] you guys need a life raft the river was flowing hard enough to sweep an average truck away luckily the ford weighed close to three average trucks i know this currently that lion is not scaring anyone you have the tow strap you want me to just throw it why don't you drive it over okay i could do that yeah baby dick dick that's what i'm talking about hook this to that you ready you look great up there trying to get me in the water no no no if adam fell into the icy waters he could die which would hold tanner and me up it's good put it on there all right get back in your truck there kimo sabe oh chuck norris he'll be happy to pull you out okay rutledge go ahead and adam turn left as hard as you can turn left adam left left left keep going rutledge keep on rutledge keep going religious keep going relig yeah okay good it's like taking care of a three-year-old chuck norris saved you thank you texas ranger it lives we only helped out him out of the water because frankly we didn't want to pollute the river i have no idea how that truck started after being underwater for that long risen from the dead my ford was indestructible it deserved a name that could tell the world it could take anything and keep going keith richards it's only rock and roll but i like it [Music] with the water obstacles completed we headed up to the top of the ridge but an ordinary hill climbing task this was not this was more like hell on earth to our left a drop of a thousand feet away to the careless driver wow and if somehow you survived the fall the ice and gravel below was full of deadly sinkholes that could swallow small office buildings without a trace oh my gosh look up to your left i'm not looking i'm not looking that is straight down ah don't go too far right adam geez oh i don't like heights on a trail like this it is vital to have power steering good brakes transmission in perfect working order and great visibility and i had none of these things our trucks had made it but our nerves were fried but the day was far from over [Music] whoa now it was time to put our trucks through a skid pad alaskan style [Music] ow everybody okay that was my bad it got wetter and muddier oh yeah there's a nice little sippy hole chuck norris paved the way until he met bruce lee oh my gosh that was awesome holy crap i'm gonna need a little help with my dodge stuck and in need of assistance tanner did the decent thing maybe i can go around you on the left side as their room and tried to overtake me and leave me for dead i don't think i do that anymore you're gonna roll over oh crap i'm stuck is he both stuck tanner and i were down for the count lucky for us adam's ego took over and he wanted to prove that his orange ford could do something right all right riley that's you come on back buddy if adam failed we would all be more than screwed it's a little help rutledge the nearest help was 60 miles away there you go chuck norris my ass okay stop there adam stop there adam right stop i'm gonna try to hit your truck and sail on through if you bounce off my truck you could flip it you know that right rutledge do not hit my truck if you hit it that thing is gonna flip for sure is your radio work in rutledge you copy that do not hit the blue truck oh more yes as we head further into the alaskan wilderness rutledge decides to remodel we were halfway up an alaskan ridge and our trucks were stuck embarrassingly i'd had to be pulled out of the mud by adam's 30 year old gun range target but tanner was still stuck do not hit the blue truck just don't hit it it's going to flip and i'm going to be bear meat this is going to be awesome adam may have bailed me out your cage is strong right but i tried talking him out of helping tanner guys this is like 202 full court press stupid that thing's like a rubber band when you get it really tight all right let's do this thing okay i'm just gonna watch for my porch it's not you guys it's me oh my gosh are you ready i'm gonna go [Music] [Music] incredibly we all managed to make it to the top of fish creek which is reputed to be one of the best views in all of alaska my back hurts my arms are 20 feet long i feel like i've been getting hit in the ass by a 2x4 for like six days straight with a good fire going we did what all guys do in alaska a round of fire now it's a party talk truck driving a pickup truck through alaska has to be one of the ultimate things you can do with four wheels the three of us are really representing american truck lovers yeah with the chevy the ford and then the ultimate dodge so the ultimate dodge yeah i don't see that badge anywhere all right fellas we're gonna have a big day tomorrow i think we should all get some sleep it's blue sky right there it's 11 30 at night what yeah i'm going to bed see you guys okay hop in there you're totally in there all right thank you you got them auntie in the morning good night adam night rileage goodnight tanner got it night goodnight bears not funny we were two days into the quest to find america's toughest truck all three of our vehicles were still working but behind us stalked a predator the toyota pickup we'd have to drive if one of our trucks died none of us wanted that shame to test the brute strength of our trucks we had to drive up a river valley until we got to a glacier 140 square miles of moving ice our challenge was to touch that ice with our trucks i gotta say i'm actually impressed with the chevy it is uh it's stout you think yeah it makes some noise complains a little bit but she's reliable i mean my truck is loud but the whining of your belts is deafening yeah the belts are bad the you know what actually that reminds me [Music] knock it off oh that's weight that is way too close i'm trying to go to the bathroom immature we were now up against an almost vertical climb over large muddy boulders if all of the trails to the glacier were going to be this stuff we were in big trouble i gotta be a hundred percent honest i'm surprised any of these are making it through this how's it going up there right i have blown my left front shock wow you've led us into some nasty stuff this truck drove on a cliff went through a river eventually this can take anything oh when you're driving this sort of terrain it's vital to keep control of your vehicle by maintaining forward momentum in all four wheels on the ground at all times or you can do it like adam uh oh that didn't sound good fellas oh my gosh yeah uh i didn't stop on purpose it's uh i think i might have snapped the drive shaft what did it sound like nothing it was flap and so now you don't have any gear or no not one gear whatsoever how is it sitting right there rocks it kind of sounds like the truck might be dead sounds like a toyota might be in your future hey we'll see you back at camp okay good luck with that so keith richards was dead the great orange warrior defeated by the overwhelming forces of nature and quite a big rock [Music] adam was the first to fall on his sword i'd like us to all have a moment of silence for keith richards with adam's ford out of the running it was down to dodge versus chevy oh oh [Music] whoa come on rutledge's dodge was a monster oh this is awesome it might have been 10 years younger than my chevy but it was twice as heavy and an accident waiting to happen holy you lost your house right [Music] oh oh no oh no my house no did you hit my house right i got no other way out of here i think you're gonna have to just back all the way down i gotta get through it i sleep in there oh no that is real unfortunate that had to happen it's all part of wheeling my friend i'm sorry you're gonna have to pick that up let me get your pillow for you welcome jackass [Music] we now had plenty of firewood thanks to tanner and his stupid chevy turd side perfect scoot back a touch let's camp i need to get my crapper how bad do you have to go not bad enough to do it that close to the fire coming up in the final race to the glacier rutledge gets distracted did you write i love sheep on there no on a distant trail deep in the alaskan wilderness my ford f-250 became the first casualty in the search for america's toughest truck i was now a national disgrace in the toyota of shame [Music] only two trucks were left in the game and it all had come down to one final challenge we had to drive our battered vehicles further into the wilderness to the mighty connect glacier but reaching the glacier wasn't enough to complete the challenge we had to actually drive on it but there was no trail here we would have to pick our way through the endless river channels in quicksand that could swallow us whole many trucks have attempted this route and never returned roll up the window before bashing through the water oh i can't see anything [Music] for some reason i'm covered in mud because the top of my door won't seal from here it was a race through virgin territory there were no more roads there were no more rules just one perfectly proportioned chevy step side against a super-sized lumbering dodge i can't see your hood is just bouncing every time you hit anything this was fast and furious alaskan style holy holy oh you lost the bed [Music] the race was on but chuck was starting to feel the heat he was built for comfort not for speed and the pace was taking its toll oh boys i have bad news what's up buddy i think big dodge go boom you got a dead ram bat bat let's take a look oh that could do it you got a sideways battery let's get out of here [Music] chuck was back stronger than ever kind of boys the dodge is hurting she is knocking and way down on power wow that does not sound good right keep digging keep digging chuck there's the glacier right there that's what i'm talking about i can't believe it i can see the glacier come on chuck gigg come on come on stay with me stay with me is that as fast as it'll go for the record this is foot to the floor how about you stop pushing me i'm trying to give you a push i thought you said you had no power oh little then he died again come on baby come on i think chuck norris is gonna be buried at sea come on chuck come on are you kidding me [Music] and again that's it and again uh i think that's it i'm not even getting out of my truck this time we've done this five six times already then finally whatever fight chuck had left started steaming out of the hood a lot more under hood smoke this time here we go oh look at that smoke [Music] is it time to push it off the trail yeah i think this is it for chuck this is his final resting place so long chuck the death of a giant but we knew it was inevitable hey genius i'm on a tree did you write i love sheep on there no if you guys don't mind i just need a minute with chuck alone of course take your time chuck you are a fighter up till that very last minute i believed in you chuck i don't love sheep and i know you don't either kick ass out here whatever you're gonna do in the alaskan wilderness i'm in coming up it's toyota versus chevy but will anyone be able to walk when it's over jeez the battle to crown america's toughest truck had claimed two casualties adam's ford had been vanquished by a medium-sized rock and rutledge's dodge was killed by an exotic mix of earth and water known as mud only the chevy remained so obviously i had taken the title [Music] technically you're just in the lead we are not at the glacier yet and that's what the deal is that was our mission you had to get to the glacier and drive on so you drive carefully my friend cause if you don't make it you don't win so who's driving the toyota i got to drive it it's the rules the cycle of shame continues well we're behind you if you need anything i mean not metaphorically but physically we'll be behind you unfortunately they were right i did have to make it onto the ice to win and then it dawned on me i was representing every american truck with my little blurple chevy if i didn't make it to victory and the toyota did an import would be crowned america's toughest truck and i couldn't let that happen i wouldn't let that happen this quickly became a matter of national pride let's get to the ice oh jeez [Music] rutledge you guys feel it getting colder out yeah that must be we're getting [Music] [Music] close tanner we made it yeah [Music] look at that wall of ice right there [Music] unbelievable [Music] most insane terrain i've ever seen let me out of this thing god it's beautiful one of the most epic things i've ever seen and you know what with these gorgeous blue glaciers um i think your blue truck looks nice yeah it's a nice blue truck he called it a blue truck yeah that was very touching you earned it we've proven the chevy is the toughest truck no no no we've proven that chevy made it this far i don't know if you can see tanner the glacier is right over there and we are right over here annoyingly again they were right between the chevy and the ice field was a deep river and a lake full of icebergs there was no way through but because these icebergs are from that glacier i think it should count if you can get your truck to an iceberg you win so if i can get out to an iceberg it's done yep we're gonna do this like a rock my friend [Music] so where are we going you think this is gonna work i don't know it looks like the icebergs are closer to the edge over here anyway this is probably the dumbest idea we've ever had who knows how cold that water is or how deep it is [Music] well that's interesting he's coming down backwards i wouldn't have thought of that how is that gonna work any part of the truck right yep [Music] good luck there you go you can do it you touched it that counts [Applause] [Music] what are you doing i'm getting on the ice and i get it that's what the step side's for [Applause] [Laughter] i think i'll call this iceberg it's floating away floating away it's floating away all right i'm getting back on the truck that hey you won that is america's toughest truck let's go take some showers it's a good idea i meant separate showers [Music] go big [Music] he got it out gonna buy alaska i'm going home [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Boban Seiz

Views: 12,745,872

Rating: 4.3955932 out of 5

Keywords: Top, Gear, America, 01x09, 2011, 01

Id: P05j37Q5VTY

Length: 44min 0sec (2640 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 14 2011

Reddit Comments

[u/EncasedShadow]

Once they dropped the studio it got a lot better.

When they didn't copy stuff straight out of the UK (flamethrower snow cleaner, 3story caravan) it was authentic good fun.

[u/Youre_a_Turd]

Decent bit of TV. Funny how the forfeit car in this is the Toyota whereas in a lot of the English TG stuff they applaud the Toyota as being indestructible. They use heavily modified Hiluxes (Hiluxi?) to drive to the north pole and they try to kill one through a bunch of challenges and fail. And they drive one up a volcano.

[u/runforreal]

I would agree, I loved this episode.

[u/paper_thin_hymn]

I loved this episode, and there were a lot of awesome ones in the later seasons too.

[u/Gun_Nut_42]

Is it still a thing?

[u/Captain_the_Obvious]

As an American, I don't see what the big deal is with having to drive the Hilux.

There could be much worse things like, I don't know, maybe having to drive through Vietnam with an American flag-painted scooter that plays the national anthem.

[u/[deleted]]

So i watched the Vegas Death Valley 4x4 episode. It was..okayish. But the problem seems to be a lack of any real chemistry. Jeremy, Hammond and May are really good friends IRL, and this shows beautifully in their show. TG US looked like they were trying really hard to like each other, but just don't really get along well. As a side effect, the jokes weren't funny and everything felt more fake than it already is.

[u/Skullpuck]

The one where they went to Cuba, in the last season, was really good to IMO. That show didn't get a fair shake. Yeah the presenters weren't chums like TG UK, but they became that over time.

Problem is Tanner Faust had no personality whatsoever. Hell of a driver though.

[u/CGFROSTY]

The US Top Gear is second to me, only behind the original.