This mid-engine TV truck was a real treat.
If you’ve never seen The Fall Guy, you’ve been missing out. Basically, it’s a show about a Hollywood stuntman who works as a bounty hunter on the side. He uses stunt effects to catch people on the run, and one of the most epic things involves jumping his classic 1982 GMC K-2500 Sierra Grande Wideside a total of 33 times from seasons 2 to 5.
All the stunts were real, because back then cheesy CGI wasn’t able to make such jumps look “real.” That meant modifying trucks to take the abuse of these big jumps. In some cases, the crew used a mid-engine version of the GMC K-2500 to help with weight transfer. Instead of the truck nosediving into the pavement or dirt at the end of the jump, having the engine pushed back away from the front axle helped it stick the landing without critical damage.
Other modifications included two shock absorbers installed for each wheel, something you can see on a lot of lifted trucks these days. Other chassis reinforcements and trick door into the payload kind of like the RamBox Cargo System were featured. In other words, this truck was a trendsetter.
Some of these jumps are just fascinating to watch. In particular, there’s the one where the truck crashes through a semi’s trailer, which must be made of paper Mache or something similar. One time the GMC jumps over a convertible and you can see the two stunt guys sitting in the car move their heads, unless they were animated dummies.
This GMC truck was simply the product of the time. KC lights mounted to the roof were a popular thing to have back in the 1980s, like how many trucks these days have an LED bar mounted up there. You’ll notice two more KC lights on the grille guard and a winch is bolted up at the bottom.
The cinematography is as 1980s as the truck, which is part of the fun. Some of the shots of people inside the vehicle are most obviously on blue screens, something which was just common back in the day.
Ultimately, The Fall Guy was all about good TV fun, something we’ve lost these days. Jumping a truck through plate glass being transported on a flatbed or over a chain link fencing using a pile of dirt is most definitely not realistic. However, it’s a ton of fun to watch, so that’s reason enough for this show to be enjoyable.
