The King’s New Hammer

Loren Healy won the 2014 King of the Hammers with an old rig. Now it is time for some new innovation. His plan was to debut it at Round 1 of the Ultra4 Western Series, but the truck wasn’t ready. On July 12th, his new ride made its debut at the 4 Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix and made an impact. Let’s take a quick look into the new Hammer.

The rig will still retain the LS-based V8 similar to his King of the Hammers-winning rig, but Loren has gone back to the independent front suspension over the solid front axle. The front of the truck sits very low compared with the solid-axle truck, but he hasn’t lost the articulation. Another change is the exhaust routing. Instead of snaking around the greenhouse, it now goes through it. The exhaust mufflers are right where his navigator would have been, so he’s riding solo.

Prior to racing at Glen Helen, they conducted testing, and he did love the feel of the new rig. While he didn’t turn a pole-winning time at the Glen Helen Grand Prix, he did take the overall win with a time of 40 minutes, 10 seconds in 20 laps. His next-closest competitor, Levi Shirley, was two minutes, 6.2 seconds behind. I have to say that is the best debut of any new vehicle one could ask for.