Off-Roading Into the Sunset: We Say Farewell to Dirt Every Day

Dirt Every Day wasn't just an off-road show, it was a series that gave us fun adventures with two guys we could all easily call friends on any given day. What started as a YouTube show quickly became the place where you not only learned a few things about building rigs that could literally go nearly anywhere, but you were also welcomed into a club that was only exclusive if you watched Dirt Every Day. What Fred Williams and, eventually, Dave Chappelle would go on to create was the best mud and dirt covered entertainment you could get without needing a bath yourself afterwards. After nearly 10 amazing years and 138 episodes, it's time for the Dirt Heads to close out this chapter, but we won't be saying goodbye to our club leaders anytime soon.

How It All Started

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As successful as Dirt Every Day was, it wasn't something that was planned exactly from the beginning. In fact, while Fred wanted an off-road show onMotorTrend's YouTube channel, he wasn't looking to become the host of one. "The story was more that I suggestedMotorTrendshould have an off-road show as part of their old YouTube channel," Fred explained, "I always thought car shows were very two-dimensional: front and back, side to side. How fast can it go, how much can it drift, can it do a burnout, etc." What Fred wanted was a show that had vehicles do more than that.

Not necessarily in a cerebral sense, but in a physical one and something that only an off-road vehicle could do. "Off-road vehicles offer going up and down obstacles in ways cars never did and can be more dynamic, even when crawling at 3 mph," continued Fred. He pointed out that 4WD vehicles have a performance dimension that pavement pounders just didn't have. When you look at the environment in which an off-road rig operates you also have many more angles to capture it than you would an on-road vehicle. "So," said Fred, "I suggested that they start an off-road show."

That's when Fred revealed that he wasn't looking to host any show, even one that is the subject that he loves. "When they came to me and told me to do it, I tried to get out of it," he admitted, "I wasn't some sort of actor or spokesperson, but I guess they didn't have any other options. Back then, I had no idea what it would be like. They just gave me a cameraperson and said, 'make us a show every two weeks.' It was crazy, but also a lot of fun."

While it wasn't really a first season, those first episodes of Dirt Every Day would hammer out what the series would become, as Fred also pointed out, "We just made short videos and everyone left us alone. I drove my cameraperson crazy because I was just figuring it out." The other issue was that Fred was still working as the Editor at Large at Petersen'sFour Wheel & Off-Road. He essentially had two full-time jobs, with one having hard deadlines to hit and the other dedicated to coming up with topics to put to video. "There were times when I considered quitting as the stress of two jobs was a lot to deal with, but then the magazine job shifted and I was able to just do Dirt Every Day full-time. When that happened, we just throttled down and had even more fun."

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Even when looking back, Fred feels that working at Petersen'sFour Wheel & Off-Roadwas the more difficult job. "I was first a Feature Editor, then Tech Editor, Editor in Chief, and finally Editor at Large and that job was way harder than Dirt Every Day," said Fred. Even though he didn't want to become a show host when he was first asked, it was still a dream job for Fred because he was getting paid "to play with trucks" with his good buddy, Dave Chappelle, and go on adventures.

"Writing and shooting articles is hard work," Fred explained, "and there's always a deadline. Though, it was funny when we went to Hawaii with Tube Sock and the local guys told me about how they learned to build a suspension from an article I had written. That was neat." His time as a show host isn't lost on him and Fred would like to get more of his writing buddies in video, too. "I think what was hard was the fact that some of my good friends were still writing magazines while we were off having fun making TV shows," Fred told us, "I wished I could get all my magazine friends set up to do videos."

Bringing on Dave Chappelle

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One buddy he was able to bring on Dirt Every Day wasn't from the magazine world, but instead a fabricator from El Cajon, CA that owned Chappelle Exhaust and Kustom, Dave Chappelle. "This was a shop that made everything from muffler installs to full custom rock crawler builds," said Dave, "along with doing quite a few tech article installations for my friends in the magazine world."

For the first few episodes that Dave was a part of, he continued to work out of that shop in the sweltering heat. However, his first episode was also the creation of the Dirt Heads. It was a spoof of an off-road club that eventually turned into an unofficial club for everyone that watched Dirt Every Day. So long as you saw an episode of Dirt Every Day, you were a member of this exclusive, un-exclusive club. "Fred and I had been bouncing bad ideas off each other for years at this point," said Dave, "If my memory is correct, it went something like this: 'Fred, I want another Baja Bug, they are so much fun!' 'I want a Bug, too, Dave!' 'We can get matching jackets made!' 'Let's see if we can make an episode about it, Dave. I'll run it by Cameraperson Cory.' The rest is history."

For 50 episodes, Fred was the sole host with Dave coming along on special episodes like the Baja Bugs and others. However, the people at the home office ofMotorTrendsaw that having the chemistry of Fred and another person to bounce off of was a great idea. That's when they insisted that Dirt Every Day become a two-person show, "I didn't want to complicate Dirt Every Day with more people," Fred explained, "but they insisted and I said I wanted Dave as co-host. While he had his own shop and another job on top of that, I eventually got it to work and it was the best decision."

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"This was my time to sink or swim," recalled Dave when he got the news he would become co-host of Dirt Every Day. "I wasn't comfortable on camera yet, but I was totally ready to get out of that hot metal building in El Cajon for one week a month. It was time to kick Dirt Every Day into overdrive."

Once reality did set in and Dirt Every Day was now a fairly full-time job, Chappelle Exhaust and Kustom was shut down. "I eventually closed the doors and got a part-time job with the city of Santee," said Dave, "These were good years. Stress was low and stoke was high." Along with being a co-host, Dave also got some writing credits for Dirt Every Day episodes, but he admits, "I wouldn't consider them 'writing credits' as much as 'professional brainstorming.' Fred and I bounced ideas off each other. We really work well together and draw out the ideas that have been bouncing around for years, putting them on paper, then building them into reality is what made Dirt Every Day so special."

The Adventures and People

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While you could call Dirt Every Day a project show, where there was a project vehicle to build every episode, it really wasn't at the end of the day. Each project was dedicated to an adventure that particular episode was about. They were the means to an ends, but even that doesn't tell the whole story of what made Dirt Every Day special. As a viewer, you could just feel that this show was real with actual love and interest poured out as weld beads and grinder sparks by both Fred and Dave.

What really made Dirt Every Day special was that it wasn't scripted. It was loosely outlined from the journey that Fred and Dave wanted to try and build a project to suit it. That meant it never felt the same way other automotive project shows did when you watch them. That "true" feeling you get is genuine and why Dirt Every Day has lasted for 10 years, but that doesn't come by accident. It also doesn't come from Fred and Dave alone, as the crew behind the scenes were just as important as our hosts were.

For Fred, especially, these crew members have all become friends to him. Much like his magazine friends that he missed while he was working on the show, they are the people he will miss now that Dirt Every Day is over. "I'm going to miss all of it," said Dave, "the crew are my friends, and when we were told that Dirt Every Day was being canceled, I was really bummed because it meant no longer seeing my friends on a regular basis." What makes this especially hard is that those crew people—people he could easily consider a part of his family—don't live near Fred, and Dirt Every Day was the only chance for everyone to hang out together for every couple of weeks. "We traveled together, ate together, had morning coffee together," Dave said, "Dirt Every Day shoots were like summer camp with your best friends."

He pointed out the people that really helped make the show better than it could have been, "My producer is the best in the company and she was always able to keep us on track and under budget. My camera crew are people I really enjoyed being around and were often making us laugh all day long. The supporting crew were always great fun to goof off with during production. I really couldn't ask for better people to work with than the Dirt Every Day family."

The Memories of a Lifetime

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Of course, not everything can be captured on camera and there are moments Fred and Dave have that can never be fully expressed on a single episode of Dirt Every Day. While Fred couldn't just pick one project or adventure as his favorite, Dave pointed out a big one. "The stories will go on forever," said Dave, "but getting a chance to build a rig and wheel in Indonesia has to be the best. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it couldn't have been any more memorable. The Dirt Every Day crew is like family and the experiences we had with Widodo and the ProRock crew will last a lifetime. Watching the bond, hard work, and craftsmanship of the Indonesians was truly amazing." Fred also pointed out, "We don't have stunt mechanics to come in and finish our projects, it's Dave and I getting dirty. We did have a whole crew in Indonesia when we got really sick, but it's usually just us sweating or freezing in the shop trying to get stuff done."

The Projects That Took The Most

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Because it really is just Fred and Dave putting in the work of a project in the limited timespan that shooting a TV show allows for, there are times when things do go a bit overboard. The red Willys Wagon, the 4x4 Motorhome, the dual engine Cadillac were all enormous undertakings that no other TV show could pull off like our Dirt Heads could.

"I think projects are difficult when we bite off more than we can reasonably accomplish in the four or five days of wrenching we get," said Fred, "Luckily, I have Dave, a talented fabricator who knows how to make things happen fast. We got to the point where many decisions were solved by which option could get the vehicle done and on the trail in time. By the end, we were cutting trucks in half and putting them back together to go wheeling quicker than some shows could just bolt on parts."

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One project both Dave and Fred agreed as the most difficult was the Mad Maxxis Off-Roadrunner. "What a huge undertaking," said Dave. "Little does anyone know, but we had to film the action portion of that episode twice because the first time, the car wouldn't stay in forward gears. We tried filming it all while driving in reverse, but that didn't work."

The Great Shutdown Wasn't Much of a Stoppage

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Of course, when the COVID-19 Pandemic brought nearly everything to a halt across the world, Dirt Every Day and our Dirt Heads just couldn't stop and do nothing. Especially for Dave, as he explained, "It's no secret that I'm a workaholic. I have always rushed right back home to get back to my day job, work on house projects, or continue building and repairs on my personal rigs. The Pandemic probably brought on more work than relaxation."

For Fred, Dirt Every Day was his hobby, though he did joke about taking up flower gardening when we asked what he did between seasons. "This show is my hobby," he said, "I play with trucks and Jeeps year round. In between seasons I prepared ideas and projects for the next season." This included the time during the Great Shutdown, "During COVID," said Fred, "I shot a whole series of work from home builds. It was pretty low budget but still fun to do. I don't really have any other hobbies; I drink coffee, hang out with my dogs, and work on trucks. I should probably get a hobby." Now, with Dirt Every Day ending, that might not be a bad idea, but the Dirt Heads already have plans for personal stuff after the cameras are put down for the last time.

What To Do With So Much Time On Their Hands

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While looking towards the future without Dirt Every Day in their lives, Fred and Dave both aren't just going to sit around. The Pandemic couldn't make them do it, why would this be any different? "I'll be working on more of my unfinished project trucks and posting more low budget updates on my YouTube channel and Social Media outlets," said Fred. If you do want to find him, just search for 4xfredwilliams. Even so, something that he experienced for the first time through Dirt Every Day, and encouragement from Dave, is riding on two wheels, saying, "I want to ride bikes and motorcycles more, as Dave was just getting me comfortable doing that." Fred also put out that he might sell a sizable portion of his vehicle collection and "go on some adventures," he explained. "Own less and do more."

Dave's time will be taken up by his street cruiser collection, saying that now is the time to get those buttoned up. "I have an air bagged Nissan minitruck that I'm hoping to have on the road and get some cruising in before winter sets in," said Dave. Though, being the "workaholic" that he is, we'd expect him to do more than just that by the second day.

What If They Were Asked To Do A Show Today?

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With Fred opening up and accepting hosting TV shows as a job now versus that very first episode of Dirt Every Day, what would he like to do next? Well, it still wouldn't be a pavement show but it also wouldn't be just another off-road project show, either. In fact, if he were given the chance to start something new, it wouldn't even be an automotive show. "I'd do a home improvement show on how to fix up a garage/shop/house," Fred told us, "ifMotorTrendwanted that on their channel."

He also threw out an idea for a show on Food Network where he'd be the judge of a coffee and pastry show or, going back to his wheeling roots, "go four-wheeling to find the best beans for coffee." Though, there is one that sounds very interesting to us, "Maybe I'd sell everything and travel around in a 4WD van with my dogs and trailering an old Jeep, looking for my next hometown that I can go wheeling in."

Dave, on the other hand, wants to stay in the automotive culture, "I'd really like to host a show exploring the builds, trends, and styles of car culture from the early 1990s to mid-2000's. It would be a mix of lowriders, street tuners, minitrucks, rock crawlers; all of it." Though, it does sound like Dave would also be into co-hosting or even working with otherMotorTrendshows—which he will be doing in the future. "Working with the other shows was one of my favorite things to do," said Dave, "You can also go into a situation like that, wondering if you have what it takes to hang with the other hosts. Five minutes later, you are all fast friends and working together, making moves and getting jobs done.

A Look Back Into the Careers of the Dirt Heads

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As a closing to this chapter of the Dirt Heads and Dirt Every Day history books, we asked both Fred and Dave their favorite thing to have done in their careers to this point. For Dave, his career as a fabricator was full of interesting projects and jobs, but his favorite was the main part that kept the occupants safe. "My favorite fabrication projects are always roll cages," he said, "It's so much fun working with tubing, figuring out fitment, notching, and finally welding it all together. When it's going smooth, it's great."

Fred feels that his main call to fame is driving Tube Sock under 12 feet of water, but what he was able to create with Dirt Every Day will be an everlasting accomplishment for him. "I developed a show that was family friendly and parents weren't worried that their kids could sit and watch," Fred explained. "Plus lots of guys told me their wives would happily watch Dirt Every Day on date night. We didn't have fake drama or challenges to try and outdo each other with. We just worked on some old truck and then hit the dirt until it broke and we tried to fix it for more adventure time. In fact, the more it broke, the more fun we had."

For Fred, the end goal was always to have fun and everyone to support each other, "not try to outdo your friends but to laugh with them and support each other. If we're going to be an influence on off-roaders of the future, then we need to show them how the hard work is fun, and the fun is more fun with your friends along in the dirt with you.

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That's the thing we'll miss the most: having fun with our two Dirt Heads and seeing them tackle interesting adventures together while bringing all of us along. Fred Williams and Dave Chappelle became our friends by extension of seeing them on the TV, they welcomed us into their lives and even encouraged you to get out and wheel, no matter what your project was. We'll miss being able to bring you those adventures, too, as well as interacting with Fred and Dave while shooting Dirt Every Day. We all became a large family thanks to the show, in one way or another and it's sad that we won't get to do that regularly anymore.

The good news is that Dirt Every Day will remain on MotorTrend+ and that means you can relive all of your favorite moments with Dirt Head Fred and Dirt Head Dave, any time you want, and there will always be a catalog of episodes to watch again onMotorTrend. Either way, thank you to Fred and Dave for 10 years of Dirt Every Day and we can't wait to see what these guys do next. Stay tuned, as neither Fred nor Dave are going anywhere.