[objects clatter, smooth music]
♪ ♪
‐ What's the worst injury you've ever had working
on a project?
‐ Once broke my collarbone changing a lightbulb.
‐ Fell off the ladder, huh?
‐ No. I just reached up.
‐ What are you made of, graham crackers?
You fell off‐‐and you break your collarbone?
‐ I should have zigged when I zagged.
‐ That is just the weirdest thing I've ever heard.
‐ Yeah. Well, tell that to my collarbone.
‐ Here we go.
♪ ♪
‐ Yeah, baby. [laughs]
Hi, I'm Tim Allen.
If there's one thing I love,
it's people who build things...
and hanging out with them.
All right, that's two things.
♪ ♪
So I invited three incredible makers to compete
from their own shops.
♪ ♪
They'll be creating mind‐blowing builds
from cool stuff that I send them,
all for a cash prize.
♪ ♪
‐ I'm coming for you!
‐ I've asked my ride‐or‐die, Richard Karn,
and our resident expert, April Wilkerson,
to have fun with me,
as these makers design,
build, compete, and, of course...
Add more power. [grunting]
What could go wrong?
Oh! Whoa! Whoa! ‐ Whoa!
‐ Except for maybe that. ‐ Whoo!
‐ This is "Assembly Required."
♪ ♪
You all right?
‐ I am. ‐ Yeah? Good.
‐ Did you design these chairs? ‐ Easy.
‐ It's good to see you. ‐ They're made of metal.
Good to see you. This is gonna be something special today.
‐ Yeah. Let's meet the makers.
‐ No, that would be sounding like you want to die.
I don't want to meet my maker. ‐ Let's meet the builders.
‐ That's a better thing. Let's meet the builders.
♪ ♪
‐ My name is Julia Montgomer.
I'm from Venice Beach, California.
♪ ♪
I'm a welder, a fabricator, a woodworker.
I've done a lot of experimental welding.
Built myself a truck with my dad.
She's a 350 V8.
‐ Ah, so impressive.
‐ Guys that say women can't weld and women can't build‐‐
that's total bull[bleep].
‐ Too many questions I have about the car.
‐ The car just stopped you dead.
‐ Yeah, welding is above my pay grade.
‐ Well, there are very specific weldings, I mean,
when you're building a car or a plane
or something like that, but this‐‐
‐ I get it. It's‐‐ ‐ This is more free‐form.
‐ Yeah. I love it. ‐ Let's see the next one.
‐ My name's Gabe Parker,
and I'm from Social Circle, Georgia.
I'm a stay‐at‐home dad, but I've helped build barns.
I build fences.
I was a classic‐ and exotic‐car mechanic.
I've worked on everything from Ferraris, Ford GTs,
cars from the '20s.
‐ You have one of those.
‐ I belong in this competition
because I think I have the skills to do something
really interesting with whatever you throw at us.
‐ Okay. A lot of the stuff he does is for cars,
and car building‐‐there's a lot of things
that translate to other stuff.
‐ I love all that. Like the hat.
Love the car he was driving.
As soon as I see cars, it's like a kid with candy.
I go, "Heh, heh, heh." So let's see another one.
‐ Yeah.
‐ My name is Maxwell Britton,
and I'm from Sharpsburg, Georgia.
‐ [laughs]
‐ I really enjoy welding, and I love painting.
I really love to do crafty things,
so I think I got a shot at this thing.
And if I win, you guys are gonna get to share this thing.
It's an eagle trophy.
[imitates bird squawking] ‐ [laughs]
‐ No. ‐ Well, he is the first one
to try and bribe us.
‐ We got a gifted group of makers.
‐ Yeah.
‐ Makes me want to swing a hammer. [chuckles]
Ready to meet them? ‐ Hair check?
♪ ♪
‐ All right. Let's go live.
‐ Makers, welcome to "Assembly Required."
I'm Richard Karn.
‐ And I'm Tim Allen, graciously letting Richard
introduce himself first.
Seriously, you guys are the Mt. Rushmore of makers.
‐ You really are.
The best part about this competition for you gus
is working from your home shop.
I mean, each of you gets home‐field advantage.
‐ Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
But the best part for us‐‐we don't have to clean up.
‐ [chuckles] But, makers, only two of you
will take on our final challenge.
In the second round,
you will attempt to build a machine that hauls and dumps.
‐ A mini dump truck.
Think of it as a wheelbarrow on steroids.
‐ The winner walks away with $5,000
and, of course, bragging rights.
♪ ♪
But first is the Make or Break Challenge.
We have sent you a mystery crate of items
that will test your skills as America's best builders.
You have 90 minutes
to build an item of your choosing,
using any or all of the items we've shipped
and the resources in your own shop.
Use your ingenuity.
Some of these items work better than others.
But it's up to you to figure that out.
When the time is up, we'll inspect your work,
and we will put it to the test.
At the end, Tim and I will deliberate,
and, unfortunately, one of you will be going home.
So, Tim, tell them what they have to build.
‐ All right. All three of you are about to build a grabbe.
It's like an old woman is at the store‐‐
"I'm gonna get those chickpeas from up top there.
I don't want to hit myself in the‐‐"
‐ Tim. ‐ Huh?
I want you to upgrade it and add‐‐get this‐‐more power.
[grunting]
I'm channeling that cute guy from that old show.
I can't quite remember what the name of it was.
‐ "Married... with Children."
‐ You want to turn the grabber into a claw of some sort.
And it needs to be a lean, mean grabbing machine.
I want it strong enough to clutch a log
and drag it across the yard, right?
Don't hold back. The grabber will be an important part
of making your mini dump truck a success.
‐ And at the end of 90 minutes,
it should be able to crush a garbage can.
And, yes, we've included the garbage can.
‐ We got that kind of money, people.
‐ That's right. Your shipments have arrived.
You have 90 minutes to make or break a claw.
The time starts...
now. ‐ Now.
♪ ♪
‐ We get those trash cans from the 1970s?
‐ Those are from your house.
‐ You took mine? ‐ I took your garbage cans.
‐ That is a big trash can.
♪ ♪
‐ we've given them an assortment
of goodies to work with.
What they'll need to do is figure out which parts
are most useful to their build.
But they can also add any parts they have
from their own shop if they need more.
‐ Now, this is a complex build,
and 90 minutes is not a lot of time.
♪ ♪
‐ I've got big, giant nuts.
‐ [laughs]
‐ Biggest nuts ever.
[laughter]
‐ All right, the first thing they need to do
is build the mechanics of the claw itself.
Figure out the dimensions, cut out the parts,
and then piece it all together.
Once they get the claw built, they're gonna need
to incorporate the pneumatics, right?
Then figure out the electronics to power it up.
‐ Let me draw this out. We're making a claw.
♪ ♪
I don't think I need to do too much.
It's a pretty simple mechanism.
Electrical 101.
So even drawing it out at the beginning,
it helps me in my own building process
to just, you know, start thinking outside the box.
Basically, I'm just measuring the hydraulic,
trying to see how much open and close I need for this,
where it's gonna hook to, how long my pieces are.
There's so many ways this can go.
So, slightly fearful,
but I know a little bit about a lot of stuff,
so hopefully that takes me far.
‐ Looks like a bunch‐‐‐
‐ Gabe‐‐ ‐ He's like a doctor.
‐ Yeah, Gabe is really meticulous.
‐ Gabe must have a very organized sock drawer.
‐ [chuckles] No. ‐ [chuckles]
‐ The biggest things that I'm doing to prepare
is getting everything laid out
where I don't have to look for it,
don't have to go somewhere to find it,
that it's right there at hand when I need it.
Figuring out how I'm going to crush the can.
‐ I love the fact that you've got something in mind already
and you're aiming towards it.
‐ Yeah. I've got an idea of what it's gonna be.
Whenever you're building anything,
the strongest shape is a triangle.
And so we're gonna use triangulation
so that when we activate the ram, is crushes the can.
‐ Well, keep at it, Gabe. I'm gonna keep watching.
‐ All right. Thank you, sir. ‐ Uh‐huh.
‐ I'm gonna start building my frame up.
♪ ♪
So there's the structural aspect of it.
And then there's the geometry of it.
But I've already got ideas. [item clatters]
I'm a visual person.
Like, I need it in my hands.
Oh, it's a pencil. I can see it.
You know what I mean?
♪ ♪
‐ Yee‐haw.
♪ ♪
‐ It's the claw. The claw.
There's another kind of the claw game.
You've seen the claw game at carnivals, you know,
the thing that picks up stuffed animals.
‐ Absolutely. ‐ You ever play that game?
‐ Yeah. ‐ Right. Right. Who made that?
What kind of a sick mind makes that to torture children?
‐ Well, it's a carnival game. ‐ Right.
‐ And the carnival games are tough.
‐ I'd just wait till the kids aren't looking.
I went and bought them a stuffed animal.
‐ [chuckles]
♪ ♪
‐ You know who knows a lot about pneumatics? April.
April, where are you? Come on in here.
Let's see if she can enlighten us
on what our makers are dealing with today.
‐ Hello, gentlemen.
‐ April, our makers are currently building their claws.
Talk about pneumatic systems our makers are using.
[air hissing]
Pneumatic and hydraulic‐‐
explain the difference the way you do things.
‐ Sure. Pneumatics is a system that uses compressed air..
‐ Right, right.
‐ In order to lift things, typically.
A different system is hydraulics.
That uses a fluid, which is not compressible.
So pneumatics have much lower PSI range.
You have a home shop with a car lift in it,
then you would definitely need the hydraulic,
because you need the lifting power, so...
‐ Well, not everybody has Tim's shop.
‐ [chuckles] We can all hope for it, though.
I have some dickering to do. I'll leave you to it.
‐ Okay.
‐ All right, you guys.
You have one hour.
Julia, are you feeling good
about how far you've progressed in 30 minutes?
‐ Uh, no.
‐ Okay.
‐ That's a fair answer.
‐ [muttering to self]
I feel like I'm just running out of time.
And I know I have to do all this electrical stuff,
and I'm still super unsure.
This is where I have a feeling everybody else
knows exactly what they're doing.
‐ You better figure it out. Time is a‐ticking.
‐ This is the worst part.
Okay, I should be soldering this.
It just‐‐it sinks in.
You get, you know, 30 minutes in,
and you go, "[bleep]."
I've just got so much more to do.
That should be soldered.
Move on to the next round.
I have to work quickly.
‐ Her process is fluid.
And some of this is out of her comfort zone.
‐ Oh, it's so hard to work quickly.
‐ The clock is not her frien.
‐ Holy [bleep].
‐ It seems like she's struggling.
‐ Holy [bleep].
‐ But the real question is, is Julia gonna finish?
‐ Like I said, electrical is not my strong suit,
so, yeah, a little overwhelmed.
But you know what?
There's really no time to be too overwhelmed.
‐ You got less than 30 minutes. ‐ Three‐zero right now.
Not to put pressure on you.
♪ ♪
That is just really odd,
Maxwell, that you're standing on the table.
What are you, a monkey? Get off the table.
♪ ♪
‐ Nope, that's his process.
I like how Max just goes for it.
But it's kind of reckless. Hopefully it works.
‐ Max looks like his frame is coming together.
Gabe looks like he's moving on to the pneumatics.
‐ I don't want to worry you guys,
but you got ten minutes left.
♪ ♪
‐ Oh, yeah. That's gonna crush something.
‐ Well, Gabe basically built a pneumatic scissors.
‐ [chuckles] Yeah. He's Edward Scissorhands.
He's painting it. Some style points.
‐ I was gonna pinstripe it. But I haven't had time.
‐ All right.
‐ Time is ticking away.
They all need to pick up the pace.
Max is going to town on the electrical part of the build.
‐ Has he got jumper cables? ‐ That's to power it.
I feel so bad we've done this to these people.
I'm gonna blame this on Richard.
I'm gonna tell them that this was your idea.
I wanted to just build a Kleenex box out of fabric,
but you wanted this.
‐ I've had this anxiety. ‐ I have anxiety, too.
‐ Well, sometimes a little pressure
makes the brain work that much better.
♪ ♪
All right, we've got minutes to go,
and I'm not sure Julia's gonna finish.
I mean, I want her to. I really do.
The electrical took up so much of her time.
It will be tough to do the final assembly.
One minute! ‐ One minute!
‐ You got one minute!
[electricity booms]
‐ No, that's not good. ‐ Blew a fuse.
‐ Maxwell hasn't tested his pneumatics yet,
so who knows if this is gonna work?
‐ I'm down to the absolute wire.
I'm not gonna finish it. "Come on. You can do it."
Like starting an old lawnmower engine.
"Come on. I know you got it in you."
♪ ♪
Whoo! Holy cow!
♪ ♪
Oh!
‐ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
‐ Oh! ‐ Five, four, three...
two, one.
Time's up. ‐ Time's up, guys.
‐ Drop your number‐two pencils.
[Tim chuckles]
‐ Blood! ‐ Makers, get ready
to crush your garbage can.
Now, all of you must place the garbage cans
we've provided for you within your claw's grasp.
you only have one shot
for your claw to crush it with force.
The two makers with the most effective builds
move on to the next round.
‐ All right, Gabe, your trash can's in positio.
Let's crush it.
‐ Let's see what happens.
♪ ♪
‐ Whoa. ‐ Ha ha!
‐ [laughs] ‐ All right.
You put a dent in it.
Okay, Maxwell. You're up.
♪ ♪
‐ Whoa! ‐ Oh!
♪ ♪
That's a way cleaner crush.
‐ Very well done. Very well done.
‐ Julia, you're up.
‐ Crush that can. Let's see what happens.
‐ Ready? both: Yeah.
[machine whirring]
‐ Nope.
Nada.
I got‐‐something's disconnected,
I think, when I moved it.
‐ You got stuck on that solenoid in the wiring,
and it got you off track.
‐ 90 minutes.
That was‐‐three hours could have‐‐you know,
would have taken me probably three hours.
‐ It was a very difficult task in 90 minutes,
and even though you didn't get everything put together,
you did an incredible job, but, unfortunately,
it looks like your claw isn't going to work.
Because Gabe and Max's did, that means, automatically,
you did not make it to the next round.
‐ All good. All good.
I live a little too much in my head,
with design and stuff, so it was just things like that
that I just needed to get right, but I didn't.
♪ ♪
‐ Gabe and Maxwell, congratulations.
You made it to the second round.
‐ All right. ‐ We call it Run with It.
Earlier, Tim challenged you to build a mini dump truck
that can dump, haul, and be tough enough
to withstand any backyard project.
This is your chance to meet that challenge.
Inside your crate are materials needed to build
a custom hauling and dumping machine.
In addition, you must also incorporated the claw arm
into your build, but that's not all.
‐ Right. Right. ‐ Him them, Tim.
‐ I've also thrown in the drivetrain to a go‐kart.
So disassemble it, make it better,
make your build even more fantastic.
When you complete your build, after five days,
they will be shipped back to me and Richard
and will be tested on three criteria‐‐
quality, design, and functionality.
‐ Max, Gabe, your crates will arrive tomorrow morning.
Good luck.
♪ ♪
‐ You know what? Let's see what April's up to.
I'm in the mood to learn that I know very little.
Oh, great and powerful expert, tell us your hack
for the‐‐I just wanted to see it like that. Sorry.
‐ Today we're talking about sandpaper.
So, oftentimes, sandpaper
will actually get clogged prematurely...
‐ Oh, okay.
‐ And then people will toss it out.
But you can actually use some rubber in order to de‐clog it
and get more life out of it.
A good hack is to use
old tennis shoes before you throw them away.
‐ Somebody else's. ‐ Okay. Show us.
♪ ♪
Look at this. Look at that.
‐ So you see it just kind of flying out.
‐ That's amazing. ‐ Yeah.
‐ Where do you come up with all these things?
‐ It's my secret. ‐ Trial and error?
‐ A lot of it is trial and error.
Exactly. ‐ First I tried a high heel.
Then I tried a sandal. Then I tried a Birkenstock.
And then I finally came up with a tennis shoe.
‐ Reused tennis shoes.
♪ ♪
[both sigh] ‐ Wow.
♪ ♪
[dog barking]
♪ ♪
‐ Oh, that's the iFixit kit.
♪ ♪
‐ Do you think these guys are under more pressure now
than the 90‐minute build? ‐ Hell, yeah.
‐ iFixit precision bit set.
‐ For round two, we've given them even more cool stuff.
And, of course, the makers can use anything they hae
in their own shop in the creation
of the ultimate mini dump truck.
‐ Oh, this thing's a monster.
Day one is really gonna be
about the frame, the chassis of the mini‐dump truck.
I got to start cutting stuff off of here.
‐ There's no trial or error with this guy.
‐ I know.
‐ I mean, he just says‐‐ ‐ Just go.
‐ You know, he looks at it, and he goes,
"This is what I need to do." And he's cutting it off.
♪ ♪
‐ How do I feel about the welds?
Here's how you feel about it.
Always got to test it and make sure you can do the drop,
and then you're good. ‐ [laughs]
‐ He's confident about the welds evidently.
‐ He's confident about the welds.
♪ ♪
‐ Wait a minute, Maxwell Smart.
♪ ♪
‐ I wonderful if he can build a‐‐
‐ Cone of silence. ‐ Cone‐‐What? What did you say?
‐ What? ‐ [laughs]
‐ This drive wheel is up, and that's not good.
The carrier bearing turns around,
but I've got it on a different plane.
Oh, my gosh. Dude.
What? What?
‐ Huh. Looks like the way Max's frame is now,
it's not allowing the drive wheel to touch the ground.
It gets one wheel lower and higher.
It'd be all off‐balance.
He's gonna somehow make a suspension on this?
‐ Yeah. ‐ Good frickin' luck, Maxwell.
‐ I need full contract on the drive tire,
because it's not gonna do me any good whatsoever.
It'll be a complete failure.
It's gonna mess me up on time.
And this aspect doesn't work, then I can't present it.
[sighs]
‐ This is robbing me of my time right here.
‐ Thinking outside the box,
yes, it's unintended consequences.
‐ That's what you said earlier. ‐ If you just focus like this,
you keep moving like this, keep‐‐"Ah, that works goo.
Oh, I've welded myself into a box."
‐ Well, that's why we're giving them five days.
You know, they can try something.
You know, instead of the 90‐minute build,
if you try something, you got to stay with it,
'cause you only got 90 minutes.
‐ What I got to do is‐‐I mean, I just got to weld it.
So, if I can weld that in place,
it will still‐‐it'll still do what it's supposed to do.
I'm gonna shake this off, and I'm gonna just move forward,
because I've got to, you know...
[imitates beep] Reset and just have that calm approach
to fixing my mistake.
If I get all nuts and lose it,
then I'm never gonna finish this.
Better now. It's a‐nice.
[rock music]
‐ Do we go ahead and cut the frame?
I've never made a mini dump truck.
So we'll see how it goes.
Hopefully I'm up to the challenge.
'Cause the safe thing is to keep all this assembly
and just build off of it.
‐ I don't see any plans, Gabe.
You just start ripping stuff apart.
Let's see you‐‐ ‐ Gabe has the same problem.
He's gonna have to figure out his way of doing it.
‐ But if I want to make the front wheel steer,
then, obviously, it can't be like it is right now.
‐ He's internalizing.
He knows he has to do something.
He's just figuring out what it is.
‐ Ah, why not?
♪ ♪
‐ Ah, what the heck? I'm just gonna saw it up.
♪ ♪
‐ He came to the same conclusion that Max did.
‐ "I'm just gonna take her apart."
‐ Too short a wheel base. We need to move it.
‐ I don't know.
‐ So what's going on there? Is that sliding?
‐ He's making it steerable, but it looked like Maxwell
was using a U‐joint of sorts on the front of that moun.
He's going from the top.
From my point of view,
this is a much more cogent plan.
‐ I think it's gonna wind up
cooler than I thought it would be.
‐ He's steering like this. This guy's steering like this.
That's how I look at it. ‐ And what's the difference?
You don't need a turn radius for this kind of thing.
‐ I don't think this is going to work, steering this way.
‐ The hardest part of this whole thing will be
the amount of time to actually get the thing done.
Five days is not a lot of time.
When I get done,
my eight‐year‐old son will be able to drive it.
♪ ♪
‐ Hey, Google.
What color is argon gas in an electric field?
‐ Here's some information
from the Web that might possibly help.
‐ Violet.
‐ On the website... ‐ Who knew?
Day two's plan is to work on the dump bed.
Oh, yeah. Time to burn some stuff.
♪ ♪
I haven't wrangled myself into such a tight corral
that I have an exact plan.
Oh, that's nice.
That's part of who I am.
About like that.
Center load and then... [imitates beep]
‐ Maxwell's right.
That articulating suspension
is gonna be more stable over weird terrain.
‐ Well, it's not like we're sending them to Mars.
‐ Surprise is, we are.
And they have to build their own homes and oxygen supply.
But they'll have a wheelbarrow on Mars.
‐ Pick up rocks. We need rocks.
♪ ♪
‐ Mentally, it's just exhausting,
just trying to continually think about, what's next?
What's next? What's next? How do I do this?
How do I make it work? It's intense.
Outstanding.
‐ It's not gonna dump much.
‐ That door just opens and lets all the material out.
‐ You're not moving a lot of dirt with that.
I mean, maybe just for building, what, a tomato patch?
‐ A what? ‐ A tomato patch.
Don't you like tomatoes?
[laughs]
♪ ♪
‐ Today my goals are to have it steering, driving.
Oh, she ain't pretty.
‐ Now, this is one looks
a little more... ‐ Traditional.
‐ Something you'd by at the store.
Maxwell's looked like something he built in his garage.
‐ 'Cause he's building it in his garage.
♪ ♪
That's a steering arm, I believe.
This is very traditional steering.
See that? Very simple.
‐ Hopefully I got my geometry correct
so that it steers when I test it.
Oh, look at that.
Dealt with a lot of steering in my life, working on cars.
But we'll see what it does.
♪ ♪
‐ Nice turn radius‐‐I mean, without any weight upon it.
But how will articulate when you put more poundage
on there?
[beeping]
‐ Backing up.
‐ [chuckles] ‐ Does he had a backup beeper?
‐ Yeah. Just to remind yourself to don't run over yourself.
‐ It'll haul 200 pounds.
‐ You know, he only has a couple days left.
‐ Is a joyride the best use of your time?
Just need to blow off a little steam, huh?
Relieve a little stress? [beeping]
‐ Steering like a forklift.
‐ I think he's had a little bourbon.
‐ I'd say that works.
♪ ♪
‐ So I'm halfway through a five‐day build,
and I'm exhausted, but my core is still raring.
[grunts]
I got the chance to win this thing.
♪ ♪
‐ He's moving right along, boy, I'll tell you what.
‐ And that's going down. ‐ Yeah, baby.
‐ I think we're in business here.
‐ No, you're in business.
♪ ♪
‐ Now what I have to do is create a solid axle,
basically, for the rear.
I have to finish conceptualizing
what I'm gonna do with the claw and mount the claw.
So I've still got a lot of stuff to do.
♪ ♪
‐ [grunts] Scratch my ear.
Maybe I'll come up with an idea.
♪ ♪
‐ But if they weren't thinkig about the claw that actually
also has to go on the machine, they could be in big trouble.
‐ No doubt, the claw is one big component to this build.
♪ ♪
‐ He's welded one side down for the claw.
‐ Oh.
‐ So it's stationary from the one side?
‐ Yeah. We sure asked these guys to do a lot.
This is‐‐ ‐ Well, look.
Look what's happening.
♪ ♪
The way he wants it to? ‐ Looks a little slow to me.
But again, I‐‐
‐ Well, how fast does it have to be?
‐ I want something that scares children.
‐ [laughs]
‐ Snap, snap. [whimpers]
"Come here, you. Come here."
♪ ♪
‐ [grunts]
‐ He's putting the motor on.
‐ Oh, you know what?
‐ What? He didn't like something.
♪ ♪
‐ Talk about over‐engineering.
‐ Well, it's good to sight back
and think about it for a second.
‐ Yeah, this is a calendar pose.
‐ If this articulates over the terrain,
how does the steering mechanism...
It's gonna lock it into place.
So I either have steering, or I have articulation.
‐ This is a big moment in this build,
because he has to decide which ones he wants.
He can't have both.
‐ Ah!
‐ Should he try and fix this,
or should he just keep moving on?
‐ I know that I could get this to work.
It's just a matter of time, you know?
I've only got two days left,
and I've got a laundry list of things to do.
‐ He can't have it both ways. He's gonna lock it up.
So all that technology and all that weight and all that wok
to make it articulate, it's gonna go away.
‐ So, at this point, if I were to choose,
I'd say I'd have articulation and lock the steering.
‐ No.
‐ I guess what I could do is I could weld the bearing,
and then it would be static,
and then it would still articulate,
so I'd still have one of the systems that would work.
If it had two wheels in the front, it would work perfectly.
It's not a "two wheel in the front" vehicle,
so it might not work.
As much as I could think about everything,
I didn't think of everything, so it is what it is.
‐ I love Maxwell thinking outside creatively,
and it looked cool and all that.
‐ Yeah.
‐ There's points in my little head for that stuff.
‐ Well, you have to be able to steer it.
I mean, that's pretty important.
‐ It's cool‐looking. Doesn't work.
♪ ♪
All right, this is the perfect time
to see what April has for you makers at home.
‐ All right, you ready for my other trick?
‐ Yes. ‐ Okay.
Whenever you have curves on wood,
sometimes you could just take a piece of sandpaper, like so.
But it's just kind of tricky,
and you're never gonna get a smooth finish.
If you grab something round‐‐ ‐ Ah!
‐ Yes, you better watch out now‐‐
you can attach your sandpaper to it...
‐ No way. How simple is that? ‐ Honk, honk.
‐ Yeah, exactly. Get the radius correctly.
‐ Oh. ‐ Ow. Ow!
‐ I wasn't done yet, Richard. ‐ Sand that down‐‐dang.
‐ I think we should make Tim sand it.
‐ Hey, I love sanding.
♪ ♪
It's one of those little chores that you like to do.
I like that. ‐ But the great thing‐‐
‐ It's like riding a motorcycle.
‐ Stop. I'm gonna sand. ‐ The real hack here...
is to take whatever your surface is
that you're trying to sand‐‐
is to get sandpaper and attach it to something in order to‐
‐ Right. ‐ In order to‐‐
‐ Oh, sorry.
‐ So that is my two sandpaper tricks, gentlemen.
‐ She knows way too much. ‐ This is true.
♪ ♪
‐ Today we're going to finish the claw and build the bed.
♪ ♪
One half of the claw is welded to the frame.
The other half is articulating.
So, as the linear actuator retracts,
it pivots the other side of the claw around
to make it squeeze.
And I use the linear actuator
so that I can stop at any point
and maintain its grip on whatever we're gonna drag.
♪ ♪
‐ Oh. Oh! ‐ Yo!
‐ That's why I need the restriction in the line.
‐ That's a catapult.
‐ We can launch [bleep]. both: Yeah, you can.
‐ Stand up on it and say, "Ho‐yah!"
‐ Maybe just put that at the end of the pool.
"Here, son, stand here."
‐ That's why‐‐is that a dumping mechanism
or a skeet shooting machine?
‐ [chuckles]
♪ ♪
‐ So there's only two days left.
You know, it's crunch time.
I've got a longer list than when I started on day one.
I just had plumbing on the list for day four,
and now it's just... [imitates explosion]
♪ ♪
‐ He's adding a claw? ‐ Adding a claw.
Huh. I like that.
Maxwell's being really smart here,
making the claw as strong as it can be.
‐ I think it's really important
that I have an additional claw on here.
And I'm gonna add two more pinchers at the bottom.
Then it'll have double points of contact to pull the pull
and not let it slide under.
‐ One little mistake could cost these builders hours
to troubleshoot.
[grunts] I got about ten lights.
‐ He's putting lights on. ‐ A little style.
‐ Is he working at night?
You know, anybody that's dumping something
at night‐‐it can't be good.
‐ Why are there human parts in there?
‐ [laughs] ‐ There we go.
I think a lot of my inspiration
came from my family.
There's a lot of talent there.
And for me, it means a lot to be able to share that
and be able to create.
That's huge.
‐ I got the lights‐‐the clearance lights working.
And I'm happy.
‐ Well, he still doesn't have steering.
‐ No.
‐ I mean, he's got the dump truck thing happening.
‐ We haven't seen that. I don't know what's he's doing.
All these details Maxwell's done, I love it.
But we don't know the steering yet.
‐ Yet. ‐ I'm just trucking.
♪ ♪
So today's the last day. It's gonna be nonstop.
All the guns out. They're all blasting.
Still have to do some wiring
and a small laundry list of other things.
I need to feed this through here.
♪ ♪
‐ That's a lot of wires.
[horn honking] What was what noise?
[horn honking]
‐ My fillings are coming loose.
‐ I wanted to add a nice big bulldog...
Woof!
Kind of a horn. ‐ Because he can't steer.
So he's got to warn who's ever in front of him.
‐ You got to warn people. Oh! ‐ Get out of the way.
[horn honking] ‐ I think it works.
♪ ♪
‐ Hey, Google.
Why do men wear skinny jeans?
‐ Skinny jeans on men look better
because you actually see the shape of the legs,
which is highly flattering.
‐ Today's day five.
I still got to build whatever sort of basket thingamabob
to dump stuff out of.
We're gonna do a little arts and crafts and paint him up.
I'm hoping that all the time
I spent contemplating what I was gonna do
has paid off here at the end,
and it hasn't cost me time to do the details
that I think will make it stand out.
I think I'm gonna do wooden sides.
Since the cart, so far, has mainly been steel,
I think it'd be a good idea to throw some walnut in there.
♪ ♪
‐ Well, he should put flaming balls of hay in there,
'cause it's a catapult, remember?
‐ [chuckles]
‐ I named my creation Wilson.
‐ Is wood practical?
Probably not.
‐ It's one‐inch walnut.
It looks like it's a nice, strong wood.
‐ You put boulders in there rolling around,
you're just gonna beat it up.
Cool as hell. Great look. ‐ It's hardwood.
I think it'll stand up pretty well.
‐ Nah, I just don't think it's worth all the effort.
It's a style only. There's no purpose for it.
‐ Isn't that important? Don't you want that?
‐ Yeah. Yeah. I want to make it work first.
‐ Design, craftsmanship‐‐
those are part of our criteria.
‐ I got no problem with wood. ‐ Durability...
I mean, obviously, is something.
‐ Not durable.
‐ As far as the timeline goes, I think early on,
I started out ahead.
At this point, I'm behind.
I think I've slowed down a little bit.
We'll see if that bites me in the butt.
♪ ♪
What I had holding the batteries did not wor.
So...
♪ ♪
We are using redneck chrome...
a la duct tape.
‐ What the...? ‐ A little duct tape.
♪ ♪
It's going to come down to the wire to get these don.
♪ ♪
I'm actually getting nervous.
‐ Stand back, Tim. Stand back. ‐ I am standing back.
I just wet myself.
♪ ♪
‐ I'm definitely anxious. I'm really behind right now.
I might not finish this today.
♪ ♪
Two hours left. I might not finish this.
♪ ♪
‐ Oh. Finishing it up, baby. ‐ Yeah.
‐ This is the part I always like. Detail.
‐ Give it a little aged look. Look at these claws.
I just kind of buffed them with some black.
I like it to look like it was used already.
It's an aging technique, and feels right.
‐ How many minutes we got? ‐ We got two minutes.
♪ ♪
There's a lot of bells and whistles to, like,
keep you away from the fact that you can't steer it.
[horn honking]
What's the extra claw for? ‐ I don't know.
‐ That's awesome.
‐ It looks like the dump will go up.
‐ I still don't know where you operate it from.
Where are you standing? In the claw?
‐ Well, maybe that's his surprise.
‐ [chuckles]
♪ ♪
‐ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three,
two, one.
‐ That's good.
[exhales deeply]
All right. I'm happy.
With the time constraints,
I think that what I've done is impressive,
and it shows
that I tried to do something to impress Tim and Richard.
‐ Looks good.
I think the claw will handle
just about anything Tim has to throw at it.
That being said, I don't want to be overconfident,
'cause I've seen that bite people in the butt
time and time again.
We'll see how it goes.
Enjoy Wilson.
♪ ♪
‐ Wow.
♪ ♪
‐ [shouts]
Lick your finger and touch right here.
[horn honks] ‐ [laughs]
Ah, I love that. ‐ That's real funny.
All right, I asked these guys to build me
the ultimate mini dump truck, and they didn't disappoint.
They took this build to the next level and beyond.
Maxwell used all his skills
to weld together this metal beast.
He motorized his truck and wired it to a hand control.
♪ ♪
The bucket is made from steel
and added this hinge release for perfect dumps, right?
He also took the claw from round one
and gave it teeth for more of a bite.
He went an extra mile by adding fog lights,
a parking brake, and a horn.
[horn honking]
Gabe went a little more traditional route
with his build, which he named Wilson.
He combined steel and solid black walnut wood
for the dump bed.
To control the dumping mechanism,
he added a paintball CO2 tank
for the actuators on his bucket.
♪ ♪
He incorporated the steering bar and front tires
from his son's old four‐wheeler.
His claw, he modified to fight
between the bucket and the frame.
And what would any mini dump truck be
without a bottle opener?
♪ ♪
It's time to put these mini dump trucks to the test.
Now, Richard and I are gonna see how they handle, right?
How they dump and how they haul.
Get ready, people.
You're in for the best dumps of your life.
♪ ♪
‐ Let's see how they maneuver. All right, look.
I'm going over here. You got it?
‐ Yeah. Sure I do. ‐ You got it?
‐ Easy.
‐ I'm doing circles around you, Tim
‐ I got it!
‐ We're starting our test
with three functionality tests.
Here we go. Oh, my God!
Now I can go circles around you even more.
In fact, I can do‐‐look at that.
‐ Huh.
‐ Did you check the brake?
‐ All right, hold on.
‐ Here, let me come over and help you.
‐ Took off the brake. Just wait till I get mine up and running.
‐ Okay. You're going back‐‐okay.
‐ All right.
Watch out, people. Hold on. ‐ Here.
‐ Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop!
I think I've seen enough, all right?
Let's move on to a test I'm all too familiar wit.
Now it's time to take a dump. [bell dings]
‐ Here, just let me line up to this square.
You need some help there, Tim? ‐ No, I'm good.
‐ We loaded 50 pounds of crushed rock
into the beds of both of these mini dump trucks
to test their dumping capability.
[air hissing sporadically]
♪ ♪
‐ Excuse me. Shouldn't have had that breakfast burrito.
‐ Oh! Look at that!
‐ Hold on.
♪ ♪
Hold, please.
♪ ♪
Excuse me. I have to do some union work.
♪ ♪
‐ Oh. And look, that's a clean dump.
‐ That's because I eat right.
‐ Mine's still backed up a little bit.
‐ Well, you got to eat more kale.
Now it's time to see how they haul.
The claws are coming out, baby.
♪ ♪
Come on in, now. Come on in, now.
Grab it.
Pull the log of death out of here.
‐ Okay.
‐ [grunting]
♪ ♪
‐ Gabe's Wilson pulls and drags the log like a champ.
Take it back up to my cabin.
Or you could just pick up the log
and pull it over there to the pile.
♪ ♪
‐ All right. Let's see how Maxwell's claw works.
‐ Here we go. [air hisses]
‐ Oh! God, that's nice!
Can you back up?
♪ ♪
Pull it. ‐ Hold on. We'll get there.
‐ It needs some weight in the back.
Oh, yeah.
♪ ♪
Let's go. Come on. Come on, baby.
‐ People. ‐ All right.
♪ ♪
We are judging these builds on design, ingenuity,
and functionality.
‐ Design‐wise. ‐ Design‐wise, Gabe has
a much better thing going on here.
The style, with the wood‐‐ ‐ He did a great job.
I didn't think it was a good idea.
‐ It's self‐contained.
‐ It's a solid build. Sold me on the wood.
I didn't think so. It doesn't hurt that it says‐‐
‐ You didn't like the wood to begin with.
‐ I didn't like the wood. When I say craftsmanship‐‐
‐ But seeing it in person, it really does‐‐
‐ It's really very nice. ‐ It really does nice.
‐ Point to Gabe on design.
Ingenuity.
‐ Even though Gabe's didn't dump cleanly, it launched.
Maxwell used a linear actuator.
‐ Yes. The bed works. And the‐‐
‐ And the dump part...
‐ The dump truck worked real good.
‐ Worked a lot better. ‐ Let's give him a point there.
‐ So, at the end of the day, functionality.
‐ Come on.
‐ Which one would you use more often?
I mean, if they were both sitting in your garage‐‐
‐ Two interesting builds. ‐ Yep.
‐ I think we've made our decision.
‐ I think we've come to the decision.
‐ I want to run inside, because I'm getting melanoma
sitting out here
in the fire‐retardant sun of California.
‐ Let's go inside.
♪ ♪
April, come on over.
♪ ♪
‐ Unless your building some napalm over there or something.
‐ No, she's building everything you've broken. All right.
‐ Just everything on my to‐do list.
‐ Hello, fellas. Welcome aboard.
‐ What's up, guys?
‐ Both your builds were amazing.
Gabe, Maxwell, you've got some nerve to have left us
with such a tough decision to make.
That said, as tough as it was, we've made it.
‐ The maker with the winning dump truck is...
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
Is Gabe. ‐ Hey!
both: Congratulations.
‐ All the hard work you did. You pulled it through.
On top of that, you just won five grand.
‐ Courtesy of iFixit, and they're also gonna be
sending you the ultimate toolkit.
‐ Very cool.
‐ Maxwell, it was amazing watching you work.
I mean, you are a true pro. ‐ Thank you.
‐ I hate to point this out like I'm a killer hornet,
but the steering‐‐a little bit of a problem.
When it comes to hauling, Gabe's just hauled better.
‐ Well, I mean, honestly, it's a letdown,
a little bit of a letdown.
But the honor of being able to execute this project
under the constraints that it was
and the fact that I completed it,
I'm very proud of what I did
and I feel I accomplished a bunch.
I do want to ask, you know, where did the idea for Wilson
on the side of the truck come from?
‐ You know, I'm of that generation that the TV show
that y'all were on was a big part of my childhood.
And that was always one of my favorite character,
just because he always seemed
to have that little bit of wisdom.
‐ I'm glad to hear that Wilson affected your life.
Affected our life. Thanks for that shout‐out.
‐ I think you got to name everything. It gives it a life.
‐ Yoo! ‐ Thank you, guys.
Congratulations. ‐ Congratulations, both.
‐ Amazing job.
‐ Hearing firsthand from Tim and Richard
that I won‐‐that's something I won't forget.
I'm smiling, if you can't tell.
I'm excited that I won.
But the experience was the best part of it.
‐ Congratulations, Gabe. ‐ Thank you, sir.
We'll have to get together and have a beer.
[Tim chuckles] ‐ You got it.
‐ Well, we know where you can open it.
[laughter]
♪ ♪