The Great American Crawl rolled into Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch (SMORR), and the Motobilt crew wasn’t about to miss it.
Between Rockstar Garage, Ian and the GAC crew, and a long line of built rigs ready to take on Missouri rock, this stop of the Crawl had everything: deep creek beds, slick waterfalls, ledges that made engines cook, and more than a few “are we really doing this?” moments.
Great American Crawl x SMORR
Great American Crawl isn’t your average trail ride. It’s a rolling off-road tour that drops into some of the best parks in the country, links you up with people who know the lines, and then lets the day unfold the way wheeling days should—one obstacle at a time.
For this stop, the Crawl landed at SMORR in Seymour, Missouri. If you’ve never been, it’s one of those parks where you can’t drive 100 yards without seeing another line you want to hit. You’re in the creek one second, climbing ledges the next, and staring at a rock wall wondering who in their right mind tried it first.
From the moment Ian walked up and said, “I think we’ve got a plan for what we’re going to do today,” it was game on. The goal: log as many trails as possible and push ourselves—and the rigs—without crossing that line into yard-sale carnage.
The Crew & the Rigs
Motobilt rolled in deep for this one. Hunter and Dan were out in Hunter’s JT, fully dressed in Motobilt armor and looking every bit like a catalog come to life. Bender brought his brand-new four-door JKU platform, fresh off the build and ready for some real-world abuse. Mixed in with them were friends of the brand and Great American Crawl regulars: Chris, Jake, Logan, Troy, and more—each rig set up a little different, each driver with their own style of attacking the same problem.
Events like this are where parts get proven. You can talk about fit, finish, and design all day, but it’s days like these—heat, slick rock, tight lines, and bad decisions that turn into good stories—where you find out if you really nailed it.
Creek Beds, Not-So-Simple Lines & Rocker Knocker
The day kicked off in the creek, where SMORR really starts to show its personality. Drop into the water and you’re immediately surrounded by options. Left side, right side, straddle the crack, or commit to the bottom and live with the lean.
Some of the crew played it conservative at first—straddling ruts and cracks to keep the rigs level. Others dropped into the deeper cuts and let the sidewalls work. One after another, rigs worked their way through, feeling out traction and figuring out how much “heat” each obstacle really wanted.
From there, the group pulled into Rocker Knocker—one of those classic style obstacles that looks simple until you’re on it. There’s a big rock dead center, logs and rock to the sides, and just enough off-camber funk to make it interesting. Longer, wider wheelbases could straddle the main rock and walk it, but shorter rigs had to pick their line carefully.
Jake took the higher, more aggressive line first, and that set the tone. With his taller stance, he cleared the big rock and made it look manageable. That opened the door for others to try the same line, even if it meant backing up, resetting, and working the rig a bit harder to keep everything moving forward instead of getting hung on the belly.
Waterfalls, Walls & Rattler
From there, the terrain only got more serious.
The crew dropped into Rattler, a trail defined by a nasty waterfall-style obstacle that looked almost like a vertical wall with a pocket at the bottom. The rock was wet, which at SMORR can mean two totally different things: either there’s zero traction and you’re just polishing stone, or it somehow grips better when it’s soaked. On Rattler, it was a mix of both depending on where your tires landed.
Local knowledge came into play when Troy in the orange Jeep showed everyone the trick: hug left, aim for the tree, and just miss it. That line turned out to be the golden ticket. Most of the rigs that committed to that approach clawed their way out.
Not everybody got away clean. Some setups were lifting weird and unloading in the wrong spots, which meant breaking out straps and winch lines to keep tires planted and rigs on all fours. A few drivers gave it everything they had, only to find themselves standing nearly straight up in the cab, transmission and engine temps climbing fast. At that point, you either make the call to keep hammering or you admit the wall is winning today and pull cable.
Even the Motobilt rigs weren’t immune to the punishment. There were winch pulls, resets, and one rear tire that popped a bead from running too low on air pressure. Thankfully, having a Power Tank on-site meant the tire was reseated and aired back up in seconds instead of standing around for half an hour with a little plug-in compressor.
