Roadkill Garage S02e04 The Off Road Challenger May 2026

The fourth episode of Roadkill Garage Season 2 features one of the most extreme transformations in the show’s history: the creation of the Off-Road Challenger (ORC). Hosts David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich take a clapped-out 1970 Dodge Challenger and, in true Roadkill fashion, hack it into a desert-bashing beast. The Build: From Dirt Track to Desert

The vehicle at the center of the episode is a 1970 Dodge Challenger originally used as a mundane dirt-track race car. Unlike the pristine E-bodies often seen at auctions, this car was a rough survivor that had been off the road since at least 1989. Freiburger and Dulcich decided the best way to "save" it was to embrace its ruggedness:

Sheetmetal Surgery: The duo famously hacked away the car’s sheet metal to clear space for giant off-road tires.

The Powerplant: The ORC initially featured a 318ci engine that had been sitting for 27 years. During the episode, the guys struggled to get it running and driving by a Sunday deadline.

Mechanical Philosophy: The episode highlights the show's "wrong thing the right way" mantra, including using an impact wrench to install cylinder heads in a pinch. The Survival Story: The 100-Year Sandstorm

The episode is perhaps best remembered for its testing phase. After completing the build, Freiburger and Dulcich took the ORC to a lava pit in the desert for some "desert bashing". Their fun was interrupted by a catastrophic 100-year sandstorm featuring 70-mph winds.

Environmental Toll: The storm was so intense it stripped paint, shredded skin, and filled the engine's carburetor with sand.

Engine Damage: The sand ingestion was fatal for the original 318 engine, effectively "self-boring" the cylinders and leaving the car sidelined for years afterward. Legacy of the ORC roadkill garage s02e04 the off road challenger

Here’s a social media post tailored for "Roadkill Garage S02E04: The Off-Road Challenger" – pick the platform style you like best.

Option 1: Facebook / Instagram (Casual, hype style)

🔥 Roadkill Garage S02E04 – The Off-Road Challenger 🔥

Dulcich and Freiburger are at it again – this time they take a tired old Dodge Challenger and turn it into a mud-slinging, desert-bashing off-road beast. No pavement, no mercy.

✅ Giant tires? Check.
✅ Welded diff? Check.
✅ Bad decisions? Absolutely.

Watch them fight rust, wiring gremlins, and common sense to build the ultimate junk-yard off-road muscle car. Does it survive the dirt? You’ll have to see the ending.

🔧 Watch now on MotorTrend+
👉 Drop a 🚗💨 if you’d daily drive an off-road Challenger The fourth episode of Roadkill Garage Season 2

#RoadkillGarage #OffRoadChallenger #Freiburger #Dulcich #DodgeChallenger #JunkyardBuild #NoPavementNoProblem

Option 2: Twitter / X (Short & punchy)

Roadkill Garage S02E04: The Off-Road Challenger.
Because why keep a Challenger on pavement?
Dulcich + Freiburger = lifted muscle car chaos. Watch them build it, break it, and send it. 🚜💥

#RoadkillGarage #OffRoadChallenger #MotorTrend

Option 3: YouTube / Video caption style

Roadkill Garage S02E04 – The Off-Road Challenger

In this episode:

Starting with a beat-up ’70s Challenger
Hacking suspension for ground clearance
Off-road test: who survives – the car or the drivers?

If you love Roadkill’s “fix it in the woods” attitude, this garage build delivers. Expect welding sparks, dirt in every crevice, and a V8 screaming through the desert.

🔔 Like & subscribe for more junkyard builds.

#RoadkillGarage #DodgeChallenger #OffRoadBuild

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Step 2: Diagnostic Work

Scan for Codes: Use a scan tool to check for any trouble codes stored in the vehicle's computer.
Compression Test: Perform a compression test to assess the engine's overall health.
Leak-Down Test: Conduct a leak-down test to identify any issues with the engine's cylinders or valves.

Verdict & Entertainment Value

"The Off-Road Challenger" is a quintessential Roadkill Garage episode. It perfectly illustrates the contrast between professional garage shows and the Roadkill style:

Creativity: Using wood blocks for lift kits and Cummins engines in pony cars.
Realism: The car doesn't work perfectly immediately; adjustments are made trackside.
Humor: The interplay between Freiburger’s optimistic enthusiasm and Dulcich’s dry skepticism carries the episode.

Step 4: Off-Road Preparation

Skid Plates and Protection: Install skid plates and protective components to safeguard the vehicle's vital parts from damage.
Winch Installation: Install a winch to help the vehicle recover from any sticky situations.
Lighting and Accessories: Add off-road lighting and accessories, such as a roof rack, to enhance the vehicle's capabilities.

The Premise: Mismatched Madness

The concept was beautifully simple and utterly insane. Freiburger and Dulcich wanted to build an off-road vehicle. But instead of a Jeep, a truck, or a classic Baja Bug, they chose a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Yes, a quintessential muscle car—long, heavy, low-slung, and built for pavement—was destined for dirt jumps, whoops, and desert washboards.

The donor car was a rust-free (by East Coast standards) but mechanically tired 1970 Challenger coupe. It had a slant-six engine and an automatic transmission—the least powerful, least glamorous version of Mopar’s iconic E-body. For Freiburger, that was the point: a cheap, disposable body that could be hacked without guilt. Option 1: Facebook / Instagram (Casual, hype style)

Step 3: Repairs and Modifications

Engine Repair: Based on the diagnostic results, perform any necessary repairs, such as replacing worn-out belts, fixing leaks, or rebuilding the engine.
Suspension and Chassis Upgrades: Upgrade the suspension and chassis components to improve the vehicle's off-road capabilities.
Tire and Wheel Upgrades: Install new tires and wheels to improve traction and handling.

The Adventure

After the build, the team takes the Challenger to a local off-road playground to test their modifications.

Performance: The car surprises the hosts. Despite its heavy unibody construction and long wheelbase (usually bad for tight trails), the massive torque of the diesel engine allows it to power through mud holes that would trap a standard 4x4.
The "Diesel Advantage": The episode highlights the benefits of a diesel engine in off-roading—gobs of torque without the need for high RPMs, preventing the engine from drowning in water or mud during deep crossings.
Durability Issues: As expected with Roadkill, things break. The stress of off-roading a unibody muscle car puts strain on the chassis, and the hosts have to deal with the usual gremlins associated with a cobbled-together vehicle.

The Build: Lift, Tires, and Weld

The episode’s magic is in the garage fabrication. With Dulcich’s welding skills and Freiburger’s junkyard-parts-bin memory, they set about creating a monster.

The Lift: The first step was destroying the Challenger’s low-slung profile. They sourced heavy-duty truck springs and fabricated custom lift blocks to jack the car up nearly six inches. The front suspension received longer, stiffer torsion bars cranked to their limit. The result was a Challenger with the ride height of a 4x4 truck and the suspension geometry of a nervous physicist.
The Tires: No off-road build is complete without meaty rubber. They bolted on a set of massive, knobby mud-terrain tires mounted on plain black steel wheels. The tires stuck out past the fenders, necessitating immediate, aggressive fender trimming with a Sawzall—a moment of pure, cathartic destruction.
The Drivetrain: The original slant-six was pulled. In its place went a 360 cubic inch small-block V8 pulled from a derelict Dodge van, topped with a four-barrel carburetor and backed by a heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite transmission. It wasn’t a Hemi, but it produced enough torque to spin the giant tires.
The “Dulcich Special” Touch: Steve, ever the resourceful farmer-engineer, rigged a manual valve body for the transmission, allowing them to slam-shift gears without an automatic’s hesitation. They also installed a cheap, universal floor shifter that looked like it belonged in a tractor.