Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championships & ARCA

Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship

Phoenix, AZ - March 2000

Short Cuts

by: Josh Lowenstein, edited by: Randy Burleson

Note how the spotter leans out to add extra leverage.
Joshua Lowenstein

Rock Crawling Innovations and Evolution...
...Stinger Bumpers and Lexan

Ever been on a side hill with the sensation that a roll over is imminent... but just before you go over, your spotter jumps on the side and pulls your rig back down? You count your blessings and give a big Thank You! to the warm bodies whose ballast saved you.

Chip Monk hardly resembles a bikini-clad catamaran sailor, but he sure gets the job done. Preventing a roll over is the primary objective.
Joshua Lowenstein

Do you drive a heavy-nosed, light-tailed trucks, like a Toyota pick up, and have to have people hang on to the rear end while you drop off a steep off-camber ledge? The principle of how this works is not in the simple weight of who ever is hanging on, nor the he-man strength of them either: the real answer is leverage and the multiplication factor of it.

Sure, you can see people draped off the side of catamaran sailboats, riding along on one hull, in the movies. It looks like fun (It most likely is), but it poses a question: Are 4x4 enthusiasts taking full advantage of weight transfer and leverage multiplication?

I don't know about you, but I have sat around the campfire with friends, wondering and brainstorming on the age-old question: How do we get weight to the front end like the awesome climbing power of a Toyota pick up and still have a weight ratio to the rear for those off-camber drops? Sorry, it just won't work if the whole rig is heavy!

An answer, the stinger, was proven in Phoenix at the Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championships.


Shannon Campbell had one of the first stingers. (The stinger is the angled extra-long bumper extension.) Joshua Lowensten	The stinger on Tracy Jordans FJ40 is shorter, but still provides a great place for the spotter to apply weight. Joshua Lowenstein

It isn't a recent invention; off-road racers have used the pre-runner (short stinger) bumpers for years. It took someone like Shannon Campbell to stretch it w-a-y out there. Since then, the design has stayed the same and many different copies and versions have crawled out of the metal shop. Heck, I had mine on a year ago and I did it for roll-over protection of my grill area. A well-built stinger also provides the ability to 'ramp' the nose and drive up a near-vertical wall. It makes you wonder if Shannon had all of these uses in mind?

Look at all these shots of stingers in action:

Don Bernier built his stinger for the ramping effect and for his spotter to hang on. In winning the Phoenix ARCA Event, Don Bernier successfully climbed Stage 5 of Course Two while his spotter, Robert McMahon, added a multiplied leverage factor to the light front end. That looked like it was the difference between success or failure.
On the same obstacle, Steve "Jeepman" Jones struggled to ballast the front and pull Rich Hudson's Jeep up Stage 5 on Course 2. Not only is Steve having no luck, (Rich timed out before getting up on it) but he is putting himself in great danger.
The spotter for Walker Evans is spotting with one hand and pretending to pull Walker's S10 Blazer up the same obstacle.


Phoenix ARCA winner, Don Bernier, successfully climbed Stage 5 of Course Two while his spotter, Robert McMahon, added a multiplied leverage factor to the front end. Joshua Lowenstein	Rich Hudson's Jeep has no stinger, putting Spotter 'Jeepman' Jones in grave danger of slipping under to become an under-tire traction aid. Joshua Lowenstein	Walker Evans' spotter pretends to pull the S10 Blazer up the obstacle on Stage 5 of Course 2. Joshua Lowenstein

The leverage force that an 180lb person puts to the front tires' ability to gain traction through a stinger is staggering, Don Bernier's spotter, Robert, bouncing his full weight on the Jeep's relatively short stinger, can nearly lift the rear tires off the ground. This technique worked, and it helped them get Dons' CJ7 up Stage 5 of Course Two.

Joel Randall' spotter belays Joel to prevent a roll over.
Joshua Lowenstein

Use of a tow strap on a stinger allows for the spotter to be further away and gain better footing and belay-type leverage as well! That was also done in Phoenix with great success!

The Future???

We have crossed into a new playing field in competition rock crawling, soon the industry standard stinger will fold out and lock for spotters to apply great weight to the front rear or side of the new breed of crawler.

Spotters are not going to merely pull cable and give directions through radio transmitters anymore. The new-age spotter need not weigh 260lbs or be able to run a 4.4 second 40 yard dash. They will be the newest super traction-aiding devices for the trail!!!

Go spotters!!

The white 54 numbers adhere to the clear Lexan inner fender/floor boards on the Sniper, allowing the driver to see both tires through the floor without catching rocks in the face.
Joshua Lowenstein

Futuristic Clear Aluminum?

Wouldn't it be "too cool" to be able to see the ground under your rig? Not having to rely on your spotter to see that gate marker for you?

Transparent Aluminum is here, straight out of a bad Star Trek movie. (Just kidding!)

Imagine having transparent floorboards (really!). Cut them out and replace with Lexan. like the Avalanche Engineering Sniper of Steve Rumore.

Is this cutting edge? Maybe not? But who are we to say, what's next?