By Brad Brownell March 17, 2026 12:05 pm EST
Mike and Zach took the big X5 out for an off-roading day at the iconic Johnson Valley ORV trails and sand dunes (home to the Mad-Max event known as King of the Hammers) to see what the truck is actually good at. Street driving isn't this truck's forte, despite it serving daily driver duty. Get it out on the big rocky trails, however, and it's seriously in its element. There are really three things you need to make off roading easier, and those are ground clearance, grip, and power, and this X5 has all of those in spades. Even driving trails that would make the average off-roader back out, Mike is more than happy to keep powering through.
"Look at that thing, like a ship in the ocean, just bobbling along," says Zach Jobe, watching from the outside.
In an act of absolute faith, trusting wholly in Mike's skills in building this truck, four guys headed out for an off-road journey in the X5 without a backup vehicle. Even with a little wall crawling and rock bouncing, it seems like there wasn't much to worry about. Not only did the truck make it in one piece, but it did it in mid-2000s comfort. That's pretty radical, if you ask me.
I've travelled in the same circles as Mr. Day for a few years. I've broke bread with him, we have several mutual friends, he's worked on a couple of my vehicles, and we both spent time working at ECS Tuning. He's a good dude, proper old-school midwest nice, and an incredibly competent fabricator, as should be obvious from this wild machine. It's nice to see him getting some airtime for his bonkers machines, and I can't wait to see what comes next for him and the BigTime crew.