The Ultimate Desert Rig: RJ Fab’s Insane Willys Build

AS SEEN IN OUR Tread May/June 2026 ISSUE – Buy Now!

The World’s Greatest Off-Road Vehicle

The name for this rig speaks for itself—so do its color and looks, its sound, its suspension and agility, as well as the pedigree of its builder. Yes, I said what I said. This very well may be the world’s greatest off-road creation that has ever come out of any shop, country, state, town, or garage. We will go over as much as we possibly can because there are so many details that made this Willys into what it is. It’s almost too hard to describe with words.

In every aspect of off-roading, this rig supersedes the expectations and bends the rules that we formed as the basics of off-road wheeling. There are so many questions surrounding the creation of this vehicle. It’s the best of the best of every possible way from the front to the back and between both sides. Just stare at this Willys and bask in the presence of a masterpiece. The builder and executor of this insane rig is RJ of RJ Fab in Hesperia, California. He talked to me about this vehicle and the reasons behind everything. I spent over 40 minutes on my back underneath this machine taking photos and taking in the rightfully impressive routing and plumbing of every hose. You typically only see this level of detail on dragsters or other high-performance vehicles. Even though it has the horsepower of a drag car, this rig was built to conquer the toughest of the tough on any given day.

This Willys has some history in Mr. Lee’s family. His grandfather bought it brand new in 1949 to use as a farm vehicle, and at age 14, Lee took over and bought it off his grandpa. This rig has a story, a connection, and a purpose, that’s for sure. Stand in front of it and look at the sunlight glowing off the Orale Orange paint job. Seeing this color transition is unbelievable and breathtakingly beautiful in person. Sylvester’s Customs in Nuevo, California, gets all the credit for such expert body and paint work—bravo!

Instead of running with the 1949 Willys headlights, RJ Fab went with KC headlights typically found in the newer generation Jeeps. Notice something different about the cab? Yes, it’s an extra cab, and no, this was not an option from the factory. RJ went ahead and stretched this beast up to 18 inches and gave this rig a little more cockpit space and accessibility for everything he wanted out of it. The fenders and bedsides—basically the entire bed of this Willys—feature custom hand-crafted aluminum work by RJ and his team of metal magicians, making it look original and smooth but with a stronger and more structural setup. This is what I’m talking about when it comes to this build and its details. You may not even recognize the changes unless they are mentioned to you. These types of details are endless on this rig.

With the beauty, must come a beast, and this rig is all about its growl and bark. Under the hood of this insane Willys is a 427ci Chevy LS3 by Moruzzi Race Engines in Banning, California. If you are an off-road enthusiast and know about the big names in engines, then surely you have heard of Moruzzi and his incredible reputation. But what is that we see on top? This rig is running a Whipple 2.9L supercharger with a custom pulley and front drive system made in-house by RJ Fab. Paired to that power plant is a Maximum Transmissions billet 4L80 with straight-cut gears and a 300M steel input and output, truly putting ponies to power. A set of CBM transmission coolers helps keep the trans at optimal operating temps at all times. Turning the transmission and putting some power to this rig’s axles is a custom driveshaft and carrier bearing designed by RJ Fab and built by Hi Desert Driveline in Hesperia.

The front end on this beast deserves a true chef’s kiss for RJ for coming up with this. See anything familiar? Oh yes, that’s a Triton Engineering front-drive axle setup. Haven’t heard of Triton? Well, they make this little-known thing in Ultra4 racing, which is the most dominant front-end design that every other IFS chassis maker in the game tries to recreate! Triton is the absolute greatest at it, with more trophies and wins in U4 than they know what to do with. The rear drive axle is from Tubeworks and sports a matching set of 4.56 gears in both front and rear with a front straight track locker and rear Evan Weller Racing spool with custom differentials also by EWR.

Providing the stopping power is a set of Jamar 6-piston brakes with a matching Jamar ⅞-inch master cylinder. What’s connecting man and machine to the earth? Nothing less than BF Goodrich KR3 race tires in a staggering 40×13.50R17 size would do. These hunks of rubber are wrapped tightly around beautiful 17×9-inch Inov8 G1000 beadlocks for a mean-looking stance. Hopping next to those tires and showing off some true grade-A suspension, are a full set of shocks, bypasses, and coilovers, all from King Shocks. These aren’t your normal off-the-shelf shocks, though. These are trophy truck-grade units that can do 120+ mph in the dirt while keeping the truck floating like a Cadillac down Sunset Avenue.

Hopping into the back of this rig and opening up the trunk that glides up with ease and latches shut with no rattles, you can find a slide-out where you can keep a tool bag, cooler, and more. In the front is an impressive 60-gallon Harmon fuel cell. With this much horsepower and tire weight rotation, you’ll be burning fuel and making smiles and memories with every press of the throttle. Underneath the fuel cell you can find a complete skid plate, which once again relates to this Willys’ sleek and aerodynamic flat belly style. Even though it’s not shaped like a missile, this rig will haul some serious ass without much resistance!

Speaking of resistance and air flow, every panel, curve, and custom-made aluminum piece was crafted and air tested—not in a fancy wind tunnel, but with hundreds of small pieces of yarn and tape, just like Ken Miles and Carrol Shelby did when designing the aerodynamics of the GT40. This method works! They found all the mistakes that held up airflow and made modifications to make this thing flow and break through the air like a bullet.

When you’re hauling in the dirt, safety is a big priority, since it’s an uneven and slippery surface that is constantly changing. Safety factors you can see from just opening the door into the cab are seats and harnesses, the cage, and more. This Willys doesn’t have just any roll cage, though; this is a complete tube chassis, so this entire cage is designed and fitted tight inside the cab for a perfect fit and maximum protection. The Corbeau Baja seats are lined in soft Alcantara and suede upholstery done by Rudy’s Custom Upholstery in Hesperia, California. A Holley touchscreen provides all the performance vital signs, and a Momo steering wheel was included for comfort, maximum grip, and the ability to mount paddle shifters for the 4L80. Other features inside this interior include a complete custom aluminum dash and center console, underseat compartments, and an overhead Rugged Radios unit for better communication abilities.

I could go on and on about this absolute masterpiece of an off-road vehicle. From start to first appearance, it took over 4 years! And even then, it’s still being touched and buttoned up to this day, continuing into a 6-year project. RJ takes the best care of his clients, and he did not want this build leaving his shop any less than perfect.

Thank you to Mr. Lee and RJ Fab for allowing me to come out and go over every detail about this rig. We cannot wait to see this thing rip it up in the desert and dunes. I will make sure to be there when it happens. Until then, remember to always tread on!