Adventure with Rick Pewe and David Freiburger; Dirt Every Day Tour

A few weeks ago a Jeeping friend reached out to me asking for a favor... Traci Clark had some friends from out of state that found a beautiful '71 Jeepster Commando in Grand Junction and they needed a local opinion.

Turns out, the interested party was David Freiburger and he was planning a big Dirt Every Day tour with Rick Pewe. These guys are both absolute LEGENDS in the automotive/4x4/Jeep world... David was Editor in Chief at Hod Rod magazine years ago and came to Petersons 4Wheel & Offroad, where Rick was the Editor in Chief. David is one of the masterminds behind Roadkill and Rick is still tinkering with old Jeeps. You really should know who these guys are, if you don't!

Back to the story.... I set up a time to look at the Jeepster with the seller and it was MINT, as David would say. Very original, with some dents and character. It ran well, drove decent and seemed like a bargain. I told David my thoughts and he gave the OK, contacted the seller and told him I'd pay asking price. We met the next day, cash in hand and it was handed over!



David sent out a new set of tires, the old ones rode terrible, I unbolted the roof rack that didn't fit in, also recommended changing out the rear pinion seal.... then, waited for them to arrive.




I picked them up from the GJ airport on Sunday in the Gladiator (of course ) and we went straight to to my place to check out the newest addition to Davids fleet. They both LOVED it, looked it over and made a parts list for prepping for a long ride home. We headed out parts shopping at a couple parts stores.... they got recognized at both stores, mostly Frieburger. Some of the younger guys were so damn nervous to say Hi, they were simply awestruck. It was hilarious!

We pulled the Jeepster into my shop and went to work... the list was long and we worked late into the night. There was still more to do, so the next morning we started with a big breakfast, then went back to wrenching. By Noon the Jeepster was ready to head South-West on it's big adventure!








This was a vacation for these guys, so no filming crew.... just the guys recording their adventures. There should be a YouTube video in the near future.

That's a pretty rad experience.

Too stupid cool.

- DAA

Wow, way cool.

About 6 years ago, I was at West Auto Repair in Moab helping Joe West repair some holes in a radiator that I needed for my buggy when Rick Pewe walked in. We all had a nice chat.

When they left Grand Junction, they headed South on the highway and outside of Montrose the poor Dauntless V6 started running rough, missing one cylinder.

The next day they changed plugs and wires, not changing how it ran. Next they did a compression test... all good. Sounds like a cam lobe got wiped out. Down on power, they motored on.

They're still on the road at this point, knocking out the miles headed South West.

If you want to follow their adventure on Instagram, check out...




Also, peep Freiburgers Stockers With Lockers page... you might see a familiar truck!

This is so freakin’ cool!!

Oh, I asked them to sign my RME banner hanging in the shop!

Super cool, Greg! One time at EJS while we were waiting in a line on triple threat Pewe came up and chatted with me about my beater XJ and how much he loved it. First of all I was shocked he liked it but mainly I was blown away by how nice he was. I bet we chatted for like 30 min. Super nice guy

We hosted the Ultimate Adventure for three days one year, Pewe and Fred Williams were great to hang out with.

What an experience. It's awesome when notable people are just cool.

So I've debated sharing this as I don't want to make my wife look bad, but I'm going to because it's funny...

Back story... I usually watch Roadkill, Roadkill Garage, Engine Masters etc when we go to bed. I'll stay up for an hour, winding down and my wife likes the background noise as she drifts off to sleep.

Engine Masters is very technical and if you're not into Engine tech, A/B tests, dyno pulls and the guys breaking down the findings, I'm sure it can be pretty boring.

Back with Rick and David.. on the first day we picked up dinner to go, after we ran around town gathering up the needed parts for the Commando. We're sitting at our dinner table eating with David, Rick, Catherine and myself making small talk. At one point, my wife brings up Engine Masters and she says that at the end of the episode, she likes to say "... Next time, on Engine Masters!!" And points to the TV, like all 3 hosts do, pointing at the camera.

Frieburger started doing this in the earlier episodes, then Steve and Steve joined in, so it's all 3 in unison and it's kind of funny.

David thought it was funny too, said he's not sure how that started but it's what they do now. Then Catherine says, "I really like the show, it's great to fall asleep to!"

😳

All I could do was laugh... David looked insulted, but I think he understood that my wife isn't really into A/B dyno testing. The look on his face was priceless though, I wish I could have filmed that conversation and reaction! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

David just released the video about the Jeepster!! 😍 I'm watching it now... 😳

I feel like Freiburger and Finnegan should be joined at the hip and never allowed to separate. It's like watching one of the Top Gear guys without the other two, it's just not the same.

Kevin B. said:

I feel like Freiburger and Finnegan should be joined at the hip and never allowed to separate. It's like watching one of the Top Gear guys without the other two, it's just not the same.

Click to expand...

They're a great team, but David and Rick are the OG Jeep crew... and this was their vacation from all the other 'work' they do.

Rick is really aging. He's a fun guy.

Watched this last night. Those two are so rad.

ID Bronco said:

Rick is really aging. He's a fun guy.

Click to expand...

We all are... 😬

He's so down to earth and talks to you like you've been friends for years. So fun to hang out with.

ID Bronco said:

Rick is really aging. He's a fun guy.

Click to expand...

It’s crazy to me when I watch old Roadkill episodes and think how young Dave and Mike look now when I thought Dave was old back then. 😂