As soon as you start preparing to build a vehicle that will represent your company, thousands of questions come to mind: How to one-up the competition? How to stand out in a never-ending sea of customized trucks and Jeeps? Has this been done already? What about adding turbos, nitrous, or bigger wheels? The list goes on. Yet for Mel Haughton and John Hastings, the brains behind Wild Boar Off Road, the mental maelstrom was really short lived. They started with a radical concept: build a six-wheel-drive crew-cab pickup Jeep Wrangler with a 6.2L HEMI Hellcat V-8 under the hood and nickname it the Hell Hog. Problem solved.

Well, almost. The challenges were, in fact, just starting to pile up. Mel and John are Jeep specialists based in sunny Orange County, California. Their company has been known for years for making stunning Wrangler cosmetic upgrades but not for offering protection, running gear, or suspension parts. However, these were all markets that the duo was ready to enter, along with offering full-on turnkey modified Wranglers for sale. They could find no better way to go all-in than to build a Jeep that no one will ever forget.

Hellcat Inside

© Provided by TruckTrend 029 Wild Boar 2012 Jeep Wangler JK Hellcat 6X6



Shoehorning a 6.2L Hellcat HEMI V-8 into a Jeep Wrangler is easier said than done. For this reason, Wild Boar teamed with Dakota Customs, which are renowned for installing V-8 engines into ’07-current Wranglers. The Hellcat engine swap is a first, though. Others have tried, but the Hell Hog is the first fully running example.

Thanks to a stand-alone engine management system, the Hell Hog’s supercharged HEMI now pushes out 754 horses and delivers a mind-twisting 675 lb-ft of torque. Compare these to the Dodge Challenger and Charger figures of 707 hp and 650 lb-ft and you begin to see just how impressive this build is.

© Provided by TruckTrend 036 Wild Boar 2012 Jeep Wangler JK Hellcat 6X6



The stock gearbox is retained, but it has been considerably upgraded via a Dakota Customs Stage 2 Viking transmissions kit, meaning it can now handle up to 737 lb-ft of punishment. The fact is that the upgraded axles would give up the ghost before the gearbox lets go. Speaking of axles, they consist of a pair of reinforced Dana 44 axles sandwiching a pass-through Ford 9-inch. In order to squeeze in the latter, Wild Boar stretched the Wrangler’s chassis by 36 inches. Two rear tubs were spliced together to create the bed, which received a custom-made tonneau cover. Then, Exotic Custom Car & Design (also based in Huntington Beach, California) modified a Wild Boar hardtop and mated four tubular rear wheel arches into a set of twin mudguards.

Six standard-height springs are couple with custom King 2.0-inch remote reservoir shocks. Heavy-duty front springs are used compensate for the extra load of the mighty V-8, compared to the original V-6. To quench its thirst, an additional Wild Boar fuel reservoir has been installed, along with an Titan 12-gallon exterior fuel tank. The tank is mounted on the spare tire carrier, which also holds the seventh 35-inch tire.



Body Perfection

© Provided by TruckTrend 026 Wild Boar 2012 Jeep Wangler JK Hellcat 6X6



The addition of the bulky blower meant the hood had to be restyled. The Wild Boar design team therefore crafted a blend of Challenger hood lines and scoop into the Wrangler one. The end result is fantastic, especially coupled with the menacing Wild Boar grille. In fact, this hood will serve as a template for a production unit that will be available soon. The company also installed its steel front and rear bumpers, with a 9,500-pound Come Up winch and bolt-on ‘boar teeth’ tow hooks up front. The Wrangler body was finally sprayed with a two-tone matte-grey bedliner before receiving a custom-made rollcage and a Wild Boar Off Road roof rack incorporating a swing-away awning frame.

Also fit to the beast is the company’s 2WayAir tire pressure system. It allows you to set individual tire pressures simultaneously thanks to an onboard compressor and air tank. Air points are plumbed to each corner of the vehicle, allowing the driver to run lines from each hook-up point to the tires’ valve. One can then simply deflate or air up all tires to the same pressure at the same time.