Social media is a bizarre place in 2024. You can be doomscrolling through brain rot and things that probably should’ve remained inside thoughts when bam! The tightest shit you’ve seen all month appears on your desktop like a sign from a higher power. Well, I’d like to credit the Instagram algorithm for introducing me to the 4×4 off-road Dodge Challenger Hellcat, and it recently made the leap from a project to a running, driving vehicle. Oh, and hell yes, it still does burnouts.
It takes a vivid imagination and a solid set of skills to turn an off-road dual-solid-axle Challenger Hellcat from a fever dream into reality, and Westen Champlin seems to have what it takes. After all, this dude built a wild Yamaha R6-swapped BMW Isetta, and that’s the sort of creation we can get behind.
Obviously, the Challenger never came equipped with solid front or rear axles, so serious fabrication was required. The rear end’s a classic four-link design, but after some trial-and-error with a radius rod front end, Champlin and his team ended up going with a three-link design. As for dampers, this thing’s rocking long travel coilover dampers from Carbon Shock Technologies mounted to fabricated tubular towers. The rear towers are actually connected by tubing running between the Challenger’s factory upper shock mounts, which seems good for rigidity.
Now, with axles this wide, it quickly became apparent that the wheels and tires wouldn’t fit under the stock fenders, so a $350 set of Challenger-specific fender flares were ordered from Amazon and the end result, well, it was about as expected. Yeah, the cheap flares went in the bin, but a solution can be found at another point. Don’t get it perfect, get it running, right?
Impressively, with axles out of a Ford F-350 Super Duty, a set of 35-inch tires — the same diameter as the ones on a Ford Bronco Raptor — clear at full articulation. Even more impressively, this isn’t just a case of cutting a Challenger body up to fit on a ladder frame. Every piece of mad science underneath that Sublime paint is welded directly to the factory unibody. Is that more or less safe than a body drop? Who knows? But hey, projects like this exist for awesomeness, and it’s hard to deny that this thing’s awesome.
Of course, being a Challenger Hellcat, it’s still powered by the factory 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, and Champlin claims that the air-conditioning works, which is a sure sign of a proper build. Aside from the massive body motions and significantly altered sightlines, this thing’s basically a daily driver. Oh, and can we take a second to appreciate how clean the front bumper cut around the winch looks?
The off-road Hellcat rules. Hats off to Champlin and his team, this thing is a bonkers exercise in American ingenuity and the will to make dreams reality. I feel like we’ve all wanted an off-road muscle car at some point, and this feels like taking that idea to the ultimate extreme. Perhaps best of all, even though it’s remarkably complete, it’s not done yet, which means we’ll likely be seeing more updates from Champlin in the future. Rock on.
(Photo credits: YouTube/Westen Champlin)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
Geniuses Have Been Swapping Junkyard Lincoln Navigator Motors Into Mustangs And Making Serious Horsepower
-
See If You Can Guess What This Weird-Ass Truck Cab Is For
-
You’d Have To Be Crazy To Buy A Lifted Miata With 11 Friends But I Did It Anyway. Here’s How It’s Going
-
Ranking Honda’s Weird Band-Themed Civic Compacts From Cringe To Awesome
-
Galaxy-Brained Tacoma Owner Replaces Carpet With Persian Rug He Bought On Facebook Marketplace, Instantly Has Classiest Toyota Pickup Ever
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
“Impressively, with axles out of a Ford F-350 Super Duty, a set of 35-inch tires — the same diameter as the ones on a Ford Bronco Raptor”
The Bronco Raptor comes with 37″ tires standard.
The lower versions with the Sasquatch package come with 35″ tires.
HEMI BROTHERS!
That is unbelievably cool. I want one, but seeing the amount of body roll during cornering I am afraid I might get seasick. I would definitely keep a bottle of dramamine in the glove box.
That’s impressive. Serious props for not just doing a body-swap, but actually building new front & rear suspension.* I even like how much it flexes when he revs it (though I know that’s gotta be addressed)
*watched Dirt Every Day put solid axles under a fwd CUV a few years back: there’s a whole lot more to doing that than I ever imagined
Way cool! And in the good ol USA this thing is 100% legal which is wonderful. Westin and his crew have some solid skills.
He’s also done a Cummins powered Mustang.
In Detroit, a plucky VP of branding at Dodge has just hopped the first flight to Stellantis headquarters with an idea to save the company.
My inner-redneck approves this message.