Australian outfit ARB has a huge catalogue of off-road parts, but they’re probably best known for pneumatic locking differentials. To demonstrate how they work, the ARB crew brings this amazing self-contained off-road obstacle all over the world.
I caught sight of this thing a couple weeks ago at the 2015 Overland Expo, where I was told it was put together at ARB’s Melbourne, Australia headquarters around 2005. The idea is that a truck “can’t get over it without lockers,” which helps their PR people sell the product to off-road enthusiasts.
Self-contained and self-powered, the Traction Trailer Bed (as it’s officially called) sets up in just a few minutes after it’s disconnected from a tow vehicle. Not much more to it than a some twisted metal and a whole lot of of hydraulic lifters.
Here’s a clip of the trailer deploying, and a Tacoma taking it for a spin.
Neat!
Images by the author, ARB
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.