Gas prices have dropped a little, but our vehicles of choice aren’t exactly the best on gas! Ultra-knobby tires, big front vehicle profiles, and our love for WOT wreak havoc on our MPG ratings. However, there a few simple things we can all do to increase our mileage and save ourselves a little cash (which you can then dump back into your ride).

Don’t be in such a hurry! (LOL, WOT?)

Most people have a habit of mashing the throttle when they’re driving. Unless you’re racing, or NEED to pass someone.. ease up on that throttle! Just because you’ve built your engine to make a bunch of power, doesn’t mean you need to use it all the time! Even slowing down a little can gain you substantial increases in your vehicle mileage.

Popularity: 60%

Weldtec Designs has been around for years and grew to become the de facto standard for “prerunner” in the East County area (eastern county of San Diego, CA) a few years back. It takes a lot to earn a spot like that in such a fickle neighborhood and they’ve been around.

They are often haunted by their earlier days as an emerging shop for some less than desirable work but they have matured in their skills and I have seen excellent workmanship come from them. Weldtec Designs has built literally hundreds of trucks in the Santee/El Cajon/San Diego area.

Synonymous with 983 or NINEIGHTHREE, Jeremy Johnson took his vision of building race trucks farther than most people ever dream. Times are a little slow for everyone right now but a trip by Weldtec Design in Santee shows that if you’re known for good quality service, you can survive the weather.

Having recently downgraded to a slightly smaller shop to compensate for a smaller staff and a desire for less overhead, the shop is packed with several trucks and buggies. In one corner sits an older bug with full swingarm and extended center-mount a-arm front end (custom spindles, etc.) waiting to get prepped for the season along with a few small changes. Across the shop, a Super Duty is having the front suspension geometry redesigned to better handle the mega-lift the customer had installed at another shop.

These guys handle it all, and everytime I’ve been by, they’ve been staying busy. More than I can say for

some shops!

Popularity: 80%

So it’s been a while between updates but it’s only because I’ve been working hard to lay groundwork. I’m going to be pushing DirtEmpire and DesertBoard a lot soon and I’ve been putting together cards, flyers, posters, designs, etc. for merchandise so I can get stuff rolling. Hope you guys like the new look for the site, let me know your thoughts in the forum on DesertBoard.com.

Popularity: 60%

Weldtec Designs has been in the industry for years now, and they’ve grown and changed with it. Starting off with mostly bumpers and cages, they have progressed to being a capable shop for almost any and all of your offroading needs. They have built rock crawlers, buggies, rhinos, prerunners, race trucks, and manufacture a large majority of their supplies in house. The owner, Jeremy Johnson, has built this Tundra to showcase the skills and craftsmanship they have to offer. This truck speaks volumes about their capabilities.

Popularity: 40%

This 98 Ford Ranger is unlike any other Ranger out. That is because, well, it’s mine. This is just an example of a truck feature but that shouldn’t put you off from reading the entire article. There are many cool things about this truck. Besides the fact that it belongs to me, it has a full boxed cromoly front-end, full cage,

4.0 v6, and plans to be linked in the near future. Maybe when it’s linked it’ll actually be worthy of a feature. Although, I’ve seen some pretty lame cars and trucks get featured in magazines and on websites. So I’m sure there is worse out there, but I have high standards. Just because it doesn’t suck, doesn’t make it cool in my book. Remember this kids. Write that down.

It all started out when my friend bought the truck with a fabtech lift, and basic bolt-ons. Basic gnar prerunner for the average high schooler. This is where things got hairy.. while out froadin one day, he happened to roll the truck. Luckily nobody was hurt (both him and his passenger were strapped down in bucket seats with no roll cage. After the accident, he bought a new cab and all the parts he needed to get it back rolling and looking like a truck again. That’s where I came in. He needed something better on gas (and that actually drove) so we ended up making a deal and I wound up with the Danger Ranger.

From here, it was all down-hill… I got it

Popularity: 60%

The new site is online and we’re out for blood. There has been a lot of talk lately about a certain company losing its focus, becoming too big and cocky, and otherwise stepping on a lot of toes that helped them get where they are. I’m here to dispel any notions that we may be in any way affiliated with this company and we have all intentions of preventing this from ever happening to us in the future. We are here to give back to the community and push this sport and lifestyle to the forefront of popular culture. Help us get the word out and rep the Empire by sporting a banner or theme on your myspace, slapping one of our stickers on your ride, or just telling your friends to check us out. We’ve been growing by leaps and bounds since the beginning of 2008 and we see a lot happening before the year is up.

Popularity: 20%