Turning a 1993 S10 into an Off-Road Superstar

The S10 is not the Rolls-Royce of Chevy trucks—that title would probably go to the biggest, baddest Silverado you can buy. Because of that, however, there are a lot of them that are inexpensive, easy to fix, and even easier to transform into a sports-truck designed for dirty places.

For the casual truck enthusiast, off-roading can be a little off-putting for a few reasons. It’s a surefire way to break things, and if you’re not mechanically inclined, it can become extremely expensive, quickly. There’s also a kind of nascent belief that off-road trucks need big, brand name equipment just to survive. In reality, that isn’t totally true. Yes, there’s some prep involved, but it’s also one of the cheapest ways to get into auto-sport and to learn valuable vehicle DIY skills. The S10 is an excellent platform to start with.

In the video, MotorTrend starts with a 1993 S10 that’s just shy of 200,000 miles old. They give a lot of great advice on buying S10s specifically, but also 4x4s in general. They cover the basics—from engine size, tire quality, weight distribution—as well as some fancier topics like locking differentials, gearing and departure angles.

I’d advice checking out the whole series if you want a crash course in off-roading. Who knows? Maybe one day that junker S10 in your local used car lot will play with the big dogs in the mud bogs.

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