I got a text message early in the morning back in the beginning of February from Brenthel Industries, “Hey we are testing Robert Pickering’s 7200 truck in Barstow later today, can you make it?” After seeing the F-150 we featured back in November, I loaded up my gear and headed to Barstow.
By the time I got there they had just unloaded the truck and I met Robert and his crew and they we ready to take it out.
Robert Pickering has been racing for a while. You might have seen him at SNORE races, BITD races or SCORE races. He is the driver and owner of RFS Motorsports, and you will see him more on the podium after you see this truck.
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The 7200 trucks built by Brenthel Industries (BI) are basically narrow Trophy Trucks. I heard Robert is already thinking of making it one real soon. |
Extensive research has been done in developing this model truck. Brenthel Industries engineers everything using 3D CAD software to be as light and strong as possible. It also let’s them see how various components will function in the “digital fab shop” before one piece of metal is cut. It ensures precision that they can repeat for other customers.
We are going to start with the front suspension. Again the arms are built using CAD software then sent to be laser cut. They are 100% boxed with 4130 plate and tubing. To control the bumps BI uses 3.0″ King coil-overs and 4.0″ King Kong bypass shocks both with BI proprietary valving. All this equates to 22″ of travel.
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Full View Front Suspension |
Close Up of Upper A-Arm | View of Upper Attachment |
Finishing off the front end we find 2.0″ 4130 hollow bolt-on front snouts and 7075 aircraft billet hubs. BI gives Robert control over his truck with a power steering Pro-Am steering rack with machined billet aluminum and heat treated alloys. The front wheels are attached to 2.5″ 4130 spindles.
If the front suspension sounds impressive wait until you see the rear. 30″ of travel is achieved with a BI designed and built link suspension running 3.0″ King coil-overs and monsterous 4.0 King Kong bypass shocks both with BI proprietary valving. Just in case Robert hits some really deep ruts there are a set of King hydraulic bumpstops so soak up the last few inches of travel.
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Lower Trailing Arms |
Upper Shock Mounts | Hydraulic Bumpstops |
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Powering this beast is a 500+ HP V-6 with custom headers. Getting this power to the ground is a Culhane transmission and a TCS torque converter. Next it is on to the Dirt-Tech Pro housing stuffed with 40 spline TT axles and bringing this truck to a stop is the responsibility of 4 piston calipers. |
Feeding this motor is a 85 gallon fuel cell that is FIA & SCORE legal. Keeping the motor cool is handled by a custom double pass radiator with 2 14″ electric fans. There is also a transmission and power steering cooler.
Moving on to the interior, you see Robert sits in one of two Sparco seats, and is held in by CROW 5-point harnesses. Keeping an eye on where the race course is can be tough when you are going 100+mph so 2 Lowrance GPS units were installed, a 5″ HD model for Robert and a 10″ HD model for his co-driver. There are also 2 RacePak digital gauge systems and providing the juice for all the electronics are 2 Optima batteries.
Keeping the desert off the passengers during a race is made possible by the custom aluminum interior panels.
Finishing off this build is the rolling stock. Robert chose 6 BTR beadlock wheels mounted inside 37″ General Grabber Tires.
All of this is the recipe for desert success. Quality you can count on when you need it most. You will see from these few actions shots just what this truck is capable of. When Robert hit the whoops at the entrance in Barstow, you would have never known this truck had absolutely no shock tuning done before hand. It stayed level and smooth the entire distance. Now that shows you the benefit of CAD design.
