Quite possibly the worst build platform we have ever started with.

In 2018, I originally bought the truck so we could have it as a loaner for people who needed it. People who didn’t have a rig to hit the trails. Sometimes people who didn’t even have a vehicle at all. But for the first part of its life with us, it spent most of its time living in Hurricane, Utah, and was more or less the rig I used when I went down to visit family in the area or for Trail Hero events.

Trail Rat soon became an integral part of memories with friends and family. It was an awesome truck. We did some absolutely crazy trails that I never thought this truck would be capable of doing. But since we’d only paid $900 for it, we decided to give it a go—and most of the time, it actually came through. The truck lived in southern Utah for a few years, giving us the opportunity to throw friends, family, and team members in and introduce them to the sport of off-roading.

In August of 2020, we decided to do what we now call the Summit Tour. This was our first year doing it, and it was quite the experience. There were no guests, no sponsors. Honestly, it was just a group of friends heading out to the mountains on a week-long expedition. We wanted to lay the roots for something that would make a huge impact in people’s lives down the road, and I believe we were successful in doing that.

The Summit Tour has given us an opportunity to teach people about mental health, to connect with people who have a hard time getting out of their own living room, and to create friendships and support networks that hopefully last a lifetime. And Trail Rat has been a big part of that.

Trail Rat was on the first Summit Tour. Not only that—it came on several Summit Tours after that. But the first one was where this truck really started to show exactly how awesome it is.

Right before the trip, we did a ton of work to make sure it was ready to go. Bearings, seals, U-joints, fluid exchanges—basically everything we could think of to make sure this little blue truck could keep on trucking. And boy, did it keep trucking. While other vehicles experienced critical failures—including a broken axle shaft, overheating, carburetor issues, and electrical problems—this little truck just kept going with zero issues. It was awesome.

It tackled epic trails like Black Bear Pass, Imogene, and Devil’s Racetrack without a second thought. It drove all the way to Colorado and back, assisting other vehicles that were having a hard time along the way—including carrying the hood to the Land Cruiser I took that year because of an overheating issue.

Upon returning from the trip, the person who had the opportunity to go because of this truck decided he wanted to purchase it. So we made a deal, and Trail Rat was sold for the first time—to a teammate. A friend. Someone who could make memories with this truck.

Once we got the truck back on its wheels, we tried to winch it out of the ravine, but the very steep breakover angle proved to be a challenge. There wasn’t quite enough room to get a truck dead-on for a straight pull, and every time we got it close to the edge, the tension increased and ended up pulling our winch vehicle instead of winching Trail Rat up and over—even with a wheel assist.

Eventually, we decided on a new plan: back Trail Rat up as much as we could and drive it out of the ravine. Which is exactly what happened. We drove the truck home with the roof caved in, laughing about it the entire time—also very thankful that nobody got seriously injured.

After a few days, we hammered the roof back up, called a few glass companies, and found one willing to come out and test whether we could fit a windshield back in it. With a little more hammer work, we were able to glue a piece of glass into the front of the truck.

The best part? We were scheduled for a scout trip and then the Summit Tour back-to-back—not even three weeks after the rollover.

So here we are, in the middle of the San Rafael Swell, with a sunk truck.

We pulled it out, removed the spark plugs, put it in fifth gear, and rocked it back and forth to push the water out of the cylinders. After wringing out the air filter and reinstalling it, we put the spark plugs back in and towed the truck for about a mile until it was running on its own.

After that, I swear this truck ran better than it ever had before. Maybe that’s the best way to clean out an engine.

After coming on several more Summit Tours as a crew support vehicle, this truck made even more of an impact on our team. It was always fun to see this beat-up little truck—with one fender flopping and no windows left—flying down the trails, climbing over obstacles, and making everybody smile.

As the truck was passed through different people who were all associated with Racing Anxiety in one capacity or another, it eventually had acomplete motor failure, and was deemed too much for any one person to repair. 

Thats when I got the call asking if we wanted Trail Rat back—also indicating that its condition was not quite what it was when I originally paid $900 for it.

I didn’t even really have to talk to the team. I knew what their answer would be. I knew how they felt about this truck. I knew the impact it had had on every single member of our team. Even the ones who weren’t that familiar with it had heard the stories. They knew the truck. They’d seen the videos. And they loved it.

So during Trail Hero 2025, hands were shaken and a deal was made to bring Trail Rat home.

Before it even made it back up to northern Utah—where Racing Anxiety headquarters are—one of our sponsors heard about the deal and wanted to get in early on helping us make this truck something absolutely epic. At least… more epic.

Capivara Industries took the truck to their headquarters in Arizona to do prototyping and hook us up with a rear disc brake conversion kit that Trail Rat is going to rock and test as it continues bringing smiles to people who need it.

The truck currently sits at our headquarters and is about to get some major upgrades.

Follow along as we build this truck from the ground up.

And who knows… maybe someday you’ll end up being affected by Trail Rat.