Dangerously Slow New Cars?

March 24, 2021 / Andy Lilienthal / 2 Comments

I was recently reading a post on a Facebook group about the Subaru Crosstrek. We all know this lifted Impreza isn’t going to set any land-speed records. They’re not going to light up the drag strips on Saturday nights, right? They’re designed to let people go down rutted gravel roads or just as easily hop…

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2020 Alcan 5000 Rally Memories: The Sourtoe Cocktail

February 18, 2021 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

It’s been nearly a year since we participated in the mother-of-all-winter rallies, the 2020 Alcan 5000. We’ve been reflecting on some of our favorite moments and are putting together some fun memories. One of these was our night in Dawson City, YT Canada and the infamous Sourtoe Cocktail.

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Lifted Toyota Yaris

January 30, 2021 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

After seeing a host of lifted cars at the 2014 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, I proclaimed on Subcompact Culture that lifting would be the new lowering. In other words, we’d see more cars getting the off-road/rally treatment rather than the slammed-in-the-weeds look. Well, it’s 2021, and we’re seeing just that. In fact, this lifted…

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Our Delica Gets a Long-Range Fuel Tank

November 30, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / 4 Comments

Our 1994 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear, aka the TBD Tractor, just got a new long-range fuel tank. This Long Range Automotive tank brought in by Long Range America ups our fuel capacity and extends our Delica’s range significantly. In fact, here’s a video all about it.

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How To Find Parts For Your JDM Truck, Van, SUV, or Car

November 20, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / 6 Comments

We get asked a lot of questions about our fleet of JDM (Japenese Domestic Market) vehicles. But the one that gets asked the most is how to find parts. Sometimes it can be a daunting task to find that hard-to-get piece for your JDM vehicle, but there are ways to find parts for your Delica,…

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Crankshaft Culture Gear Garage: The SUV Doorstep

November 16, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

For years we’ve seen these steps that simply hook onto your door’s latch and you can use them as a step. Frankly, we always thought they were a good idea. Recently the folks from SUV Doorstep reached out and sent a sample for us to try out.

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Our Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear Build on Pickup Truck + SUV Talk

November 9, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / 5 Comments

By now you may know we have a 1994 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear (L400) 4×4 van in our stable. And of course by “stable” I mean our driveway of ’90s JDM 4WD Mitsubishi money pits projects. What you might not know is we’re again partnering with Tim Esterdahl of Pickup Truck + SUV Talk to…

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My Link Between 1990s JDM Cars and Radio Shack

October 24, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

As electrical things break and need fixing on our small fleet of 1990s JDM cars, specifically our 1991 and 1992 Mitsubishi Pajeros and 1994 Delica Space Gear, it’s ironic how much I could use a local Radio Shack these days. Connectors, wiring, capacitors—all in one shop open seven days a week. Yet the brick-and-mortar stores…

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Crankshaft Culture on YAK Radio with Dave Stall (9/20/20)

September 26, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / 1 Comment

We had the pleasure to be a guest on YAK Radio with Dave Stall again on September 20, 2020. Dave’s show, which is on KCBQ The ANSWER FM 96.1 / AM 1170 in San Diego, talks about a host of automotive topics. This time, we talk about our 1994 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear van as well as a host of other oddball vehicle topics. Hey, he obviously knows us well!

The show’s about an hour long, and we always have a great time during our 60 minutes with Dave. Enjoy.

Our 4D56 Pajero Gets a D4BF Engine Swap

September 12, 2020 / Andy Lilienthal / 13 Comments

A little over a year ago, our 1992 Mitsubishi Pajero XR-II, aka the Ralli Tractor, suffered a cracked block due to a fouled thermostat. Today, it has a new Hyundai heart courtesy of a D4BF engine swap. How does this compare to the original 4D56? Does all this make any sense? If not read on….

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