Latest / Jeep Talk Show / Ep. 8 The Best Jeep XJ Bumper Ever Made?

Transcript

Ep. 8 The Best Jeep XJ Bumper Ever Made? · Jeep Talk Show

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Ehappa- It_ library
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It_ library
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NEN
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now.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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Hey guys, thanks for joining us.
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XJ Talk Show.
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XJtalk.com is the website.
0:45
It's about Jeeps, the Jeep Cherokees.
0:48
We have other Jeeps on there, but it's
0:52
mainly Jeep Cherokees.
0:54
We've got a great interview
0:56
tonight with Mark of Detours.
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Detours happens to be the company that
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built both front and
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rear bumpers for my Jeep and
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very happy with them.
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Easy for me to say.
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My name's Tony, by the way.
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See Mark has joined us on the chat room.
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Welcome Mark.
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He's in there as Detours.
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My name is Tony.
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It's Mutter Roy on XJtalk.com.
1:25
I am one of the administrators on the
1:28
site and the guy that sits
1:32
in front of this microphone
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and plays with all these fun things.
1:36
So hopefully you'll enjoy the interview
1:39
as much as I enjoyed doing the interview.
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The interview is actually what we
1:44
recorded, an interview we
1:46
recorded last night, Mark
1:48
and I.
1:49
And actually it's a good thing because
1:50
Mark isn't feeling very well.
1:52
The plan was to have the interview and
1:55
then have some
1:55
questions and answers after the
1:57
interview and we'll have to see how
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Mark's feeling and see
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if that's what he wants to
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do.
2:02
I think he is all drugged up and may be a
2:08
little off more so than usual.
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So, let's get a few things out of the way
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here and we'll get to the interview.
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I did say drugged up.
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I'm just guessing though.
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This segment brought to
2:41
you by DetoursUSA.com.
2:44
10 years of innovating,
2:45
not imitating XJ products.
2:47
Check out www.detoursusa.com and Detours
2:53
wants to remind
2:53
everyone to practice safe sex.
2:55
No pig-borking till you wrap that rascal.
3:00
XJTalk.com.
3:02
It's where you go
3:03
when you're not off road.
3:05
Do you have questions or comments that
3:06
you would like played on the air?
3:08
We've set up voicemail
3:09
just for that purpose.
3:10
All you have to do is call 530-675-4102.
3:17
Just leave your name, your location and
3:20
your question or comment.
3:22
Chances are good it
3:22
will get played on the air.
3:24
That number again is 530-675-4102.
3:30
We look forward to
3:31
hearing from you today.
3:33
That number is available now guys so if
3:35
for some reason you'd
3:36
like to call it's not going
3:37
to be played on this show obviously but
3:40
that number is
3:41
available 24 hours a day, 7 days
3:43
a week and you can say
3:45
whatever the hell you want to say.
3:47
In fact here's a message
3:49
that Jim, Big Jim 350 left.
3:52
I just wanted to say XJTalk is the best
3:55
f***ing tight in the
3:56
f***ing world and if you think
3:58
you know a better
3:59
f***ing tight, f*** you.
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By the way this is Big Jim 350.
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If you think you can beat Big Jim I think
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you should try because
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I'm going to play that
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a lot until you get sick of
4:12
it because I really enjoy it.
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I think that is some funny stuff.
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If I had a beep I would say funny
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something stuff but I
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don't so I'm not going to.
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As I was mentioning we have an interview
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that Mark and I recorded
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last night that I'm going
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to start up here in a second and
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hopefully it will answer all the
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questions that you've
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had about Mark.
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Well perhaps not all of them but answer a
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few and generate a few
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others and well let's
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just get to it.
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Like I said it's a really good interview
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I think you'll enjoy it.
4:45
Tonight we've got Mark with Detours USA
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and he's agreed to do an
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interview with us tonight.
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Mark thanks for being on the show.
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Hey Tony it's my pleasure.
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Well I know that we've spoke a little bit
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on how to conduct
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this interview and we've
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shared some information back and forth so
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why don't we start
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with some of your personal
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background information let people know
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who you are and you
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know how you got to where
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you are today.
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It all pretty much started you know at
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the old metal shop in
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high school and then from
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there went into the Air Force and I
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actually enlisted as a
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metal fabricating specialist
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so I waited about seven months for my
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career to come up and
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ended up going to school for
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that in the Air Force and did my time
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there and then worked my
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way through after the fact
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and eventually
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started doing my own thing.
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How long were you in the Air Force doing
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the metal fabrication?
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I enlisted I was 18 got out
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at a little over 22 I believe.
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That had to have been rough I know I
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wasn't very mature at 18
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I don't know how well I
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would have taken orders even if I was
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doing something I liked.
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Probably I would do it again in a
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heartbeat let me just say
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that and you know sometimes
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you could use a little discipline so I
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mean if I was the guy
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going to college I would
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have been buying the keg every Tuesday
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night and majoring in student loans.
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Gotcha.
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Yeah I played a lot of
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pinball in college so.
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Yeah.
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Unfortunately.
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So from I guess actually when was the
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first time you got
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interested in off-road stuff
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is that something that was before or
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after the interest in metal fabricating?
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Well after and it was
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after my divorce actually.
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I was into the polished muscle cars and
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in Corvettes and I've
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had a lot a lot a lot of
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different vehicles and they always sat in
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the garage after they
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were finished and just
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sat there and I guess a big change in
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your life you take on different
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challenges so instead
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of polish them I decided I
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wanted to go dent them up.
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So you mean but you went
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out and drove them fast right?
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Lightly they were more you'd build one to
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create something of
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more value to build the
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next one and just continue increasing
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value and your first strings per say.
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That's interesting because that's exactly
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what my dad told me
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to do whenever I got my
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first vehicle was you know fix it up sell
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it and get you a better one and so on and
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so forth.
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I never did that but that was exactly
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what he had recommended to me.
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Yeah that's interesting because I was
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going to say the muscle
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car thing I was I was doing
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that myself.
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I had a 72 Nova with a 327 and L60s with
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traction bars and it was just a blast but
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I certainly didn't want to dent it but
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boy I just drove the
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hell out of the thing and
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well actually I broke the main on the 327
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driving the hell out of the thing.
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Yeah pretty hard.
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And that's a whole different crowd you
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know you don't have the
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same camaraderie there's
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there's small but it's a very small
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circle you travel in and
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you know you're doing the
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car shows on Sundays wasting your whole
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day in a parking lot
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kind of gets old after a
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while.
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Yeah I guess so because like I was
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talking to somebody else on
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another show the the whole
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muscle car thing is you go out it's a
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competition you go out and
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you raise somebody and it's
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very very a very aggressive thing whereas
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the off-road scene is
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more of a partnership
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and hey look what I can do and oh I got
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stuck and here let me
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help you out here's a part
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and an axle so and so forth so.
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Exactly.
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There's a camaraderie.
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Yeah there's a lot of nice things about
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off-roading I mean it's not
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always the case people are
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people but for the majority of the time I
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think that it's exactly that way at least
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that's what I've seen it's it's very nice
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it's more much more friendly.
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I think you'll continue to see that.
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So when did you how did you get started
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fabricating parts for Jeeps
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or was that your first things
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first automobiles?
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Was it off-road stuff or was it I guess
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the muscle cars you
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were fabricating but I mean
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as far as metal work goes.
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As far as the muscle cars and the customs
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it was I was chopping
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which is when you lower
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your roof I was Frenching which is when
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you countersink
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lighting into the side of the
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body of the vehicle and all that kind of
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shave door handles
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all that kind of stuff.
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That stuff early on I had a Bronco too
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but I really wasn't that
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was just kind of a pacifier
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way back when and then when I really
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started getting in the
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off-road I bought a 71 Bronco
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probably about four days after that
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purchase I realized it was
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probably just too nice to
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take out wheeling.
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So I flipped that one as far as you know
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I did some things to
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it and got four thousand
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more of it than I paid for it.
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Wow that's sweet.
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So I flipped that and then I got into a
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YJ and then you know
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we started I just get a
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Jeep and you start falling in with people
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and the fabricating
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was always there but it
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was never applied towards Jeeps prior and
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that was had to be at
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least 11 years ago 10
10:18
years ago I don't even know and then it
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just kept snowballing.
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So really it's been relatively recently
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that you've done the
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fabrication on Jeeps.
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Relatively yeah.
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I mean I know 10 years seems like a long
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time but I actually
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thought you've been doing it
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a lot longer the quality of the
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workmanship that I see looks like
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something that you've
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been doing for I mean I know you're not
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this old but it looks
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like you've been doing it
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for 30 years.
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Let me do some quick
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math it won't be long.
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Well it may be.
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The quality comes from doing
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architectural steel for I
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can't even tell you how long I
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did that 11 years probably 11.
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I had structural and architectural steel
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I ran a shop in
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Brantford Connecticut I was
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actually a shop foreman and yeah that's
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where all the polishing
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comes from is the architectural
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side of things because
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architects can be pretty nutty.
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Oh I'm sure.
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They kind of get in that habit.
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They design it on paper or on computer
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and it's perfect and if
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they see it in the real
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world you know they don't understand they
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don't care they want it perfect.
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I would imagine.
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And if it's not perfect you're not
11:28
working for them again
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so it's you know it's just
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a time-consuming thing and you do it you
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just learn to do it.
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Well I've said it before and I'll say it
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again I'm not a welder
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but whenever I received your
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um bumper rear bumper the slimline bumper
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slimline that's what I was trying to say.
11:47
Yeah I got your the slimline slimline
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bumper and I was just
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amazed it even on the inside
11:54
where nobody could see this beautiful
11:56
welds and again I don't
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know anything about welding
11:59
but I know what looks good to me and
12:02
thank you that was one of
12:03
the reasons why I wanted
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to try to talk you into making that front
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bumper which which wasn't an easy process
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but you finally gave in.
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Yeah it was fun.
12:11
What it is it's hard to schedule that
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type of custom handmade
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work around a regular schedule
12:17
and if you if you mess it
12:18
up you got to start over so.
12:20
Yeah well it turned out well everybody
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everybody always asked me
12:25
about the bumper always says
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the bumper is beautiful and I will tell
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them you have the same
12:30
guy that made this made
12:31
the rear bumper then we'll go around the
12:33
back and look at it but
12:34
they always notice that
12:35
front bumper it's a beautiful thing.
12:38
I've had a few emails on it.
12:41
Well I certainly talk about it a lot so
12:45
that's cool lots of publicity on it.
12:48
So you mentioned Connecticut is that
12:50
where you're originally from?
12:51
Yep born and raised in Connecticut a
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little cow town um eighteen miles
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northeast of Hartford
12:59
which is the capital but yeah the cows
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outnumbered the people and so
13:03
on and so forth used to walk
13:05
to school all the time every day.
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Doesn't sound like a bad life I mean I'm
13:09
sure it's nice to be it
13:11
would be nice to be in
13:11
a different environment since that's what
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you're used to but
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the times were different
13:16
back then.
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Yeah the country life is can be a very
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nice one of course
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except when you're a young man
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and looking for a girl to go out with.
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I didn't ever had any problems there.
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So so you were in Connecticut until you
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went into the Air Force
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and then when you got out
13:34
of the Air Force you were back in
13:35
Connecticut up until what
13:36
just a couple of years ago right?
13:38
Yeah Connecticut then the Air Force I
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spent a year down in
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Texas and then I spent about
13:45
four years up in northern Maine up near
13:48
Caribou and that was
13:51
pretty cool once you learned
13:52
how to enjoy winter it's pretty cool up
13:54
there and then came
13:55
back to Connecticut and did
13:57
my thing for years and you know then the
13:59
little one came along and
14:01
we were we saw the bubble
14:03
being bursted didn't know how bad it was
14:05
going to be but we
14:06
saw and we scouted this
14:08
area here in Kentucky a year in advance
14:11
and decided to make the
14:12
move out here back out
14:13
to the country.
14:14
Well from the pictures that I've seen
14:16
it's very beautiful
14:17
country that you're living
14:18
in and what a great
14:20
place to raise a small child.
14:23
It is it's got its challenges sometimes
14:27
you know I'm busy I'm
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busy 10 hours a day 7 days
14:32
a week if I want to be in if I'm not
14:34
working I confess I'm
14:36
mentally working but you know
14:38
it can be tough when the wife doesn't
14:41
have a whole bunch to
14:41
do and you know Junior is
14:44
looking for something to do himself so
14:46
but it's I hope it all works out.
14:49
Well the I know that's where my bumper
14:52
was born my the front bumper.
14:55
So you're in Kentucky now and you're
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still in business you
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actually have a shop that's
15:01
right there by the house.
15:03
So yep we want to put everything on the
15:05
same property that way I
15:07
wasn't really an absentee
15:09
dad well well oh and our son is in his
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little years you know
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later he won't want to hang
15:16
around with dad but we'll see.
15:18
Oh I suspect he'll be out
15:19
there wanting to help you.
15:22
I mean actually being a place is a
15:23
playground right now but I
15:24
mean actually being a help
15:26
I bet you he'll be out there working the
15:27
work on the equipment
15:28
before long another five
15:30
years or so.
15:31
He can actually work the iron worker
15:33
because it's pedal
15:34
control I don't let him hold the
15:35
steel but he will apply the pressure to
15:38
the pedal and punch the
15:40
steel and yeah he likes
15:42
goofing around with the big saw but we
15:44
all know what kind of
15:44
damage that can do so.
15:46
Well that's I mean that's wonderful stuff
15:48
I mean that's things
15:50
like that have always
15:51
interested me and my grandfather actually
15:54
had a welding shop
15:55
for 47 years I think in
15:58
a little town just west of where I am now
16:02
and it was just a
16:03
blast when I would go over
16:04
there and spend time there in his shop
16:07
and he did a lot of
16:09
welding a lot of a lot of
16:10
cutting of metal and I would get to take
16:12
the metal and go put it
16:13
in the water to cool it
16:14
off.
16:15
Yeah there you go.
16:17
My grandfather was actually a shop school
16:20
teacher a metal shop school teacher.
16:22
Well that's interesting.
16:23
I actually have his old drill press
16:25
sitting over there on
16:25
the corner that I use every
16:27
day.
16:27
Do you think that affected your decision
16:29
to become a metal fabricator at all?
16:33
It might have been in the blood.
16:35
I don't know.
16:35
I don't know.
16:36
You know that direction I don't think.
16:37
Yeah well I thought maybe it hung out and
16:39
you know found it interesting.
16:41
No I know my dad did some metal work when
16:44
he was in the army but
16:46
nothing really structural
16:47
or anything like that it was more ornate.
16:51
So when was the first time you started
16:53
working on Jeep Cherokees
16:55
or fabricating things for
16:56
Cherokees?
16:57
Jeeps.
16:58
Well I started with YJs.
17:00
My oldest products are the incline
17:04
equalizer for the old 258
17:06
with the Weber carburetor
17:07
swap.
17:08
I knew there had to be a way of getting
17:10
that carburetor to perform
17:12
off camber and I actually
17:16
found it and then from there drop kicks
17:19
that's probably the
17:19
second oldest product.
17:22
It is the second oldest product and that
17:24
started with a YJ and
17:25
then went on the TJs.
17:27
I offer them for CJs for a while but CJ
17:31
frames are just too,
17:33
let's just say they've been
17:34
around too long.
17:35
Yeah so that's why the drop kicks are
17:38
what are those sliders or what?
17:39
Drop kicks are a slider type of item for
17:43
the Wrangler bunch but
17:44
more or less designed to
17:46
kick you off an obstacle.
17:49
My original wheeling experience was in
17:52
the northeast where you
17:53
have a lot of trees and
17:54
a lot of rocks so the trails can become
17:56
tight and as we all know
17:58
our rear ends don't always
18:00
want to follow the front ends so they're
18:03
basically designed to push
18:05
the vehicle off the obstacle
18:06
and they work well.
18:07
So that was your first modifications or
18:11
third party add-ons for the Jeep or YJs?
18:14
Well actually a lot of
18:16
things I never even advertised.
18:18
I was actually working with Thule,
18:21
T-H-U-L-E which they're
18:23
in the rack business, their
18:25
competitor is Yakima and we were actually
18:29
working together on a
18:30
rack system for Jeeps
18:31
and that kind of fizzled for no other
18:35
reason than dealing
18:37
with the corporate world.
18:39
I did do a lot of store displays and
18:41
things of that nature for that
18:42
corporation but then
18:45
eventually the Cherokee came around.
18:46
My first Cherokee was bought from my
18:49
brother-in-law and
18:50
sister-in-law and that immediately got
18:53
lifted so on and so forth and I pulled up
18:56
in their driveway one
18:57
day and they're like
18:58
this is my Jeep.
19:01
It makes a huge difference in
19:02
the way it looks doesn't it?
19:03
It sure does.
19:04
I mean one looks like a grocery getter,
19:06
the other one looks
19:07
like a gosh I don't know.
19:09
They just look amazing whenever they're
19:11
lifted with large tires.
19:13
That wasn't the one you
19:14
had in mothballs was it?
19:15
No.
19:16
The first one is a silver one and you can
19:18
see it in a number of
19:19
pictures with the, got
19:21
a round tube sectional bumper on the
19:23
front kind of Jeep speed
19:26
kind of looking and that
19:28
one dates back the furthest and then
19:30
there was numerous in
19:32
between that one and the mothball
19:35
one.
19:36
Most of those ended up getting cut up or
19:38
resold or chopped and sold
19:40
or things of that nature.
19:42
So apparently you prefer the XJs over the
19:47
YJs or the TJs and I don't believe you're
19:51
too thrilled on the sheet metal that's
19:55
being used on the JKs.
19:57
JKs are going to be the next CJ5 or CJ7.
20:02
I really want to look at it.
20:04
I think they're going to be pretty prone
20:05
to rotting myself but
20:07
that's just my opinion.
20:10
The XJ is very versatile, the extra
20:12
wheelbase is extremely
20:15
beneficial over a TJ.
20:19
I like TJs.
20:20
I think TJs were the best Wrangler style
20:23
Jeep ever made myself.
20:28
But yeah, the Cherokee is very versatile.
20:30
I've camped in mine, I've done trails,
20:34
I've done hill climbs,
20:35
I've done things that other
20:36
Jeeps struggled or couldn't do and they
20:38
paid a heck of a lot
20:39
more money for them than I
20:40
did.
20:41
Yeah, that's the thing that really amazed
20:43
me and my dumb luck
20:44
in picking one because
20:46
as I've told the story numerous times,
20:48
that's what the wife
20:49
and I went to go buy was a
20:50
TJ, a 1998 TJ.
20:53
TJs are fun.
20:54
Yep, we'll get one
20:55
too and that'll be hers.
20:57
No, I'll probably end up with another one
20:59
myself or even a YJ
21:01
and do a coil conversion
21:02
but yeah, they're just fun.
21:05
Yeah, I mean take the top off and put it
21:07
back on and take it
21:08
off and put it back on.
21:09
I mean you can take the top off an XJ but
21:11
it's generally not something you take off
21:12
and put back on.
21:14
The other thing that pointed me towards
21:17
the Cherokees was I had
21:19
a Greyhound for a number
21:21
of years and she was a large Greyhound,
21:23
an ex-racetrack dog and
21:26
you never could fit into
21:28
a YJ, a TJ or any of
21:30
those type of vehicles.
21:31
Wow, she really must have been big.
21:33
And actually our daily drivers at the
21:35
time were bought around
21:37
the dog, conversion vans
21:40
and things of that nature.
21:41
So you mentioned Owen getting involved in
21:45
the business so to speak.
21:47
This may be a little
21:49
indirectly helping Dad out.
21:50
I think your wife gets involved in the
21:53
business as well, doesn't she?
21:55
Erica, Erica's a big help at times.
21:58
She used to be.
22:00
Well, I remember as Owen
22:02
it kind of consumes time.
22:03
Gotcha, okay.
22:05
I thought that was a dig at the wife.
22:06
You wouldn't believe
22:09
what that girl used to do.
22:10
But yeah, she does all the paperwork and
22:14
the processing and things of that nature.
22:16
And now that Owen's in school I think
22:19
she's going to be coming
22:19
out to the shop and doing
22:21
some cutting for me and things of that
22:23
nature, you know, the repetitious work.
22:25
Wow, that'll be great.
22:26
I'm sure doing the paperwork and stuff is
22:28
a huge benefit to let
22:31
you concentrate on the
22:32
things that have to be made in the shop.
22:34
Yeah, the paperwork
22:35
is, it can be cumbersome.
22:37
I'm not a real good at
22:38
the, I'm not a paperwork guy.
22:40
Put it that way.
22:41
Very tedious.
22:42
Yeah.
22:42
Lots of detail.
22:44
So I know that you have the, you
22:47
mentioned some of the
22:47
stuff that you were making for
22:48
the YJs and of course the products that
22:51
you make for the XJs.
22:53
I'm well aware of and
22:54
I'm sure audiences too.
22:56
Do you make products for other things
22:59
that you don't have on
23:00
the site or is it, do you
23:02
make custom work for other vehicles?
23:04
I think I remember seeing some stuff,
23:07
Chevrolet truck or something
23:09
in one of the customs you've
23:11
done.
23:11
Do people come to you for all sorts of
23:13
things or are you pretty
23:13
much focusing just on Jeep
23:15
stuff?
23:16
They do, not as much as they used to.
23:19
Walking traffic in this kind of
23:21
environment is almost counterproductive.
23:24
When you're doing, when you're promoting
23:28
a product line and
23:29
you're trying to manufacture
23:31
parts, basically the business comes from
23:35
the net or over the phone.
23:37
Now when you get walk-in traffic,
23:39
everybody wants to shoot
23:40
the bull and the, can you do
23:43
this, can you do that?
23:44
And then you spend time with them, you
23:46
throw them a number and
23:49
they can turn around and
23:49
walk away.
23:52
And it's just the way it is, it's the
23:54
nature of the beast.
23:56
They don't all walk away, don't get me
23:57
wrong, but you pretty
23:59
much consume that hour and
24:00
a half that you could have applied to
24:02
fabricating your existing
24:04
clients or you can apply it
24:07
to shooting the breeze with somebody who
24:10
might want something.
24:12
As far as other vehicles, yeah, but it's
24:14
all done on a custom basis.
24:16
Gotcha.
24:17
So there's no other products that you
24:18
have really other than
24:19
what you see on the site?
24:21
No, there is not.
24:24
Honestly, eventually, someday, I really
24:28
wouldn't mind doing custom furniture.
24:30
Oh, that's interesting.
24:31
Yeah, it's just something to let the mind
24:33
wander a little more
24:34
than working in the jigs.
24:36
Well, I'm remembering back whenever you
24:38
were telling me how
24:39
somebody was, some of your
24:41
friends up in Connecticut, competitors or
24:44
friends or whatever
24:45
was saying that you don't
24:46
make bumpers, you make furniture that
24:49
goes on vehicles
24:50
because it's so well done.
24:51
I've heard that.
24:52
I can't tell you where I
24:54
heard that, but yes, that's true.
24:56
I've heard that.
24:56
So when you said about making furniture,
24:58
I remembered you
24:59
telling me about that and I
25:00
thought that was pretty funny.
25:01
I had one guy who put a bumper, he said
25:03
he put his bumper in
25:04
his living room under his
25:05
coffee table because he
25:06
just wanted to look at it.
25:07
He had a glass top coffee table.
25:10
I'm like, okay.
25:12
You know, some of that stuff, I mean, I
25:14
don't know how the wife
25:14
would handle that stuff,
25:15
but some of that stuff is very pretty.
25:17
And if I made it myself, I think I may
25:19
have to do the same
25:20
thing, at least for a little
25:20
while.
25:21
Well, you're either going to maintain or
25:23
increase the value of a
25:24
vehicle or you're going to
25:26
go the other way.
25:27
And if I'm going to be in business, I'm
25:28
not going to put people the other way.
25:30
Sure.
25:31
So, you know, you have to
25:33
put out your best effort.
25:34
So I know that you've spent a little time
25:38
working on the tailbone for the XJ.
25:42
And I remember seeing some stuff on NAXJ,
25:46
a picture of a test
25:47
unit, and it seems like
25:49
it was a year or longer before you
25:52
actually came out with the tailbone.
25:54
Two years.
25:55
Wow.
25:56
And it's been two years since.
25:59
Well, it was January 2009.
26:03
We introduced the tailbone.
26:05
And the initial prototypes are actually
26:08
still on the trail
26:09
today, and they're not half as
26:11
stout as what we're producing now.
26:13
It was a wonderful idea.
26:16
And it really is great from the
26:18
standpoint of shipping, because, you
26:21
know, I know personally
26:21
how much it costs to pay to
26:24
have a full bumper shipped.
26:26
The first one from Connecticut, then the
26:28
second one from Kentucky.
26:29
Right.
26:30
And although it wasn't
26:32
that expensive, it does...
26:34
I think it was like 10%
26:36
the cost of the bumper.
26:38
And that's substantial.
26:39
Frankly, I was surprised that they ship
26:42
things that big and that heavy.
26:43
But you do and you learn.
26:46
So it's a more secure package to ship.
26:50
Every time I ship a full bumper, I had
26:54
some bad experience
26:55
with one of the carriers in
26:56
the past, and it ended up
26:59
costing me a lot of money.
27:01
Well, I know you spend a lot of time
27:02
wrapping those things and packing them.
27:05
Yeah.
27:05
Because I spent a good 15,
27:06
20 minutes unwrapping it.
27:08
It's fun, isn't it, though?
27:10
I just wanted to see the damn thing.
27:13
Is this the daring of
27:14
saying happy birthday to me?
27:16
So anyway, where I was going with this
27:18
was you spent two
27:19
years getting the tailbone
27:23
into production, so to speak.
27:25
Is that your longest
27:27
duration for a product?
27:29
And how much design and build and testing
27:31
do you do on these things normally?
27:33
Anything that's going to hang off a
27:35
vehicle I'd like to see a year on.
27:38
And actually daily use and trail use, the
27:42
backbone, that is the
27:44
front winch mountain
27:45
recovery.
27:46
That was pretty stout
27:48
right from the start.
27:49
And I think we put like
27:51
six months into that one.
27:53
But any of the rear items that involve a
27:55
tire carrier or that can
27:57
fall into traffic, I like
27:59
to see them used for a year.
28:01
Well, that makes sense.
28:03
And of course, there is the
28:04
responsibility of the owner
28:05
to maintain it and make it part
28:08
of their normal maintenance to look it
28:10
over and check things out.
28:12
While it's going to last longer than the
28:14
Cherokee, it is prone to
28:17
vibration and being hit and
28:19
so on and so forth.
28:20
Well, I know that my slimline bumper is
28:25
very stout, and that
28:27
tire carrier that I got with
28:28
it has never moved from day one.
28:31
Well, my wife didn't latch
28:32
it back one time and it moved.
28:34
I remember that.
28:35
When it was latched
28:36
properly, it's rock solid.
28:39
I mean, I haven't done a lot of
28:40
off-roading, but what
28:41
I've done, it didn't move.
28:43
It's man, it is solid as rock.
28:46
I'd love to do a secondary latch, but
28:49
honestly, I think a lot of
28:51
people, probably 85% of the
28:53
crowd would forget about the secondary
28:56
latch because it's just
28:59
more cumbersome, human nature
29:01
to do the short cut sometimes.
29:03
Right.
29:04
So was this your longest design and
29:07
build, or is that
29:09
typical for your type of...
29:12
No, it's absolutely the very longest.
29:16
The whole thought process, I probably had
29:19
two months of thinking
29:20
about it before I even
29:21
started to pick up a piece of steel.
29:24
But no, it's something.
29:27
It really is something, but it's a lot of
29:31
tolerance involved as
29:32
far as assembling all
29:34
the parts.
29:35
A lot of work with a
29:35
number of different vendors.
29:37
I think, well, now I'm up to six vendors
29:39
on that item, six
29:40
separate vendors to make
29:41
that happen, the tailbone.
29:43
It's a real nice product.
29:45
And I've said it before, and I'll say it
29:46
again, if I was going to
29:47
build another XJ, I would
29:50
go with the backbone and the tailbone.
29:53
There's something to be said for an XJ
29:56
that has a stock look
29:57
to it, but you still have
29:59
the recovery points and you still have
30:01
the ability to carry a
30:02
spare tire and have a winch
30:04
on the front.
30:05
Right.
30:06
There's definitely a crowd out there that
30:07
appreciates the factory appearance, and I
30:11
actually do pair them up quite often and
30:13
sell them to an
30:15
individual at the same time, front
30:16
and rear.
30:17
Of course, we give them a little break on
30:19
that, but we're just
30:20
happy that they think
30:22
that much of the product.
30:23
Yeah.
30:24
Well, the quality, I've just been blown
30:26
away by the quality.
30:27
And whenever I find a vendor that gives
30:31
me a good product and
30:33
also to a great customer
30:34
service, I try to promote them with
30:37
people that I talk to.
30:39
And of course, I have the benefit of
30:41
having a surprisingly
30:44
popular, in my mind, website.
30:47
And I'm more than happy to promote those
30:50
vendors on my site as I do your stuff.
30:53
And I always tell people where I got the
30:56
bumper and who to talk
30:58
to and so on and so forth.
31:00
Well, it's appreciated on our end.
31:01
And I remember that day, I think I was
31:03
building your front
31:04
bumper when you said you think
31:05
you were going to start a forum.
31:09
Right.
31:09
And actually, I was going to...
31:10
And I think I said, "Huh?"
31:11
Yeah.
31:13
A Jeep forum?
31:14
Are you sure?
31:15
Are you sure?
31:16
Did you actually...
31:17
Did you actually know how many Jeep
31:18
forums there are out there already?
31:20
But there's no talking to you, so...
31:22
No, no.
31:23
I do what I think's best.
31:25
And I think that's the way most
31:28
successful or
31:29
sometimes most losers wind up.
31:32
They do what they think's best.
31:34
Hey, it's a kind of a challenge and
31:36
you're doing good with it.
31:37
So hats off to you.
31:38
Thank you.
31:39
And that's actually the other thing I was
31:40
going to bring up is you've actually been
31:42
an XJ Talk member since almost day one.
31:45
And I think that, like you said, we were
31:47
talking and I told you
31:48
about it and it was...
31:50
Yeah, okay.
31:51
I'll come over there
31:51
and see what you got.
31:53
But actually...
31:53
Actually, I used your family forum, if
31:56
you remember, to lay out
32:00
the install instructions
32:01
for the tailbone.
32:02
Oh, that's right.
32:03
And we took them from your family forum
32:06
and we started putting
32:08
them on different websites.
32:09
That's right.
32:10
I had forgotten all about that.
32:11
See?
32:12
So you're a helper in the community.
32:16
It's good to not be a
32:17
taker for all my life.
32:21
But just wanted to say I appreciate the
32:25
eventual words of
32:26
encouragement on the site.
32:31
At least you didn't say, "Oh, this is a
32:33
bunch of crap and I'm not
32:34
going to be anywhere associated
32:35
with this."
32:36
Maybe you just wanted
32:37
to see the train wreck.
32:38
I don't know.
32:39
I just come over, have a little fun and
32:41
try to liven up the place now and then.
32:43
Yeah, well that certainly is the case.
32:45
I think that the thread that you started,
32:48
random picture
32:49
thread, may not have been an
32:51
original idea, but it certainly has been
32:53
the most popular one on the site.
32:55
I think we have certainly in the maybe
32:58
20,000 views of that,
33:01
literally 27,000 views on that
33:04
one thread or that one forum.
33:07
It wasn't original, but I did that on
33:10
another forum that was
33:12
trying to come around at one
33:15
point and it actually helped pick things
33:18
up once people caught
33:20
on to what was going on.
33:22
Every now and then, other than the funny
33:25
stuff, I'll try to sneak
33:26
in a little product now
33:27
and then.
33:27
Sure.
33:28
So what the heck?
33:29
So do you have anything that you might
33:32
want to tell us about
33:33
that you're coming out with
33:34
for the XJ?
33:36
Anything you maybe
33:37
you're just thinking about?
33:38
Well there's a lot of
33:39
things being thought about.
33:41
But I've had a recent customer, again a
33:46
custom rear bumper, who
33:48
came back, shoot, I don't
33:50
even think it was a matter of days after
33:53
he, I don't even think
33:54
the bumper was finished
33:55
yet and somebody was producing a pillar,
33:59
which is your very front
34:00
pillar that retains your
34:02
windshield light brackets.
34:04
But they had gone out of production and
34:07
no vendors were making
34:08
them and I kind of shrugged
34:11
it off at first and started looking
34:13
around on the forums and it
34:15
seems like a lot of people
34:16
were wanting them but
34:17
nobody could get them.
34:18
A few guys out there were trying to make
34:20
them but quite frankly
34:21
they weren't really up to
34:22
snuff.
34:24
So I kind of got involved in that and
34:26
that's very, very recent.
34:28
Actually I've got pictures back from the
34:32
install this morning from the individual.
34:35
I sent them off to him for a Christmas
34:36
present because it was his idea.
34:40
So I guess A pillar lighting brackets
34:43
similar to the TJ look
34:46
are definitely in the works
34:47
probably by the end of the month.
34:49
I think that would be a big winner.
34:50
I did sneak a picture on the random
34:54
picture thread today.
34:55
Yeah I did see that.
34:56
I was wondering because you've done that
34:58
before with the tire
34:59
carrier that you were actually
35:00
working on one that clips on
35:02
the back of the door of the XJ.
35:06
We can talk about that and that will
35:07
relate right back to
35:08
testing and why we do it for
35:10
or I like to do it for a year.
35:13
So I know that you occasionally come out
35:15
with, I mean you'll post
35:17
like little teasers and
35:18
you won't say this is what I'm working
35:19
on, this is what I'm thinking about.
35:21
It's just like here,
35:22
you know, here you go.
35:24
I'm just looking for a
35:24
public reaction at that point.
35:26
And always the public reaction is, oh my
35:28
God, where do I get that?
35:30
Where did you get that?
35:31
How do I get that?
35:31
So it's actually, and I'm sure you built
35:34
yourself quite a market
35:35
with the tailbone letting
35:37
it hover out there with these with one or
35:41
two random pictures and people wanting to
35:42
know where the hell is
35:43
this thing for two years.
35:45
Yeah, I was asked for two years pretty
35:47
solid and in all fairness
35:49
we did take with the move
35:51
and the house sale and
35:52
all that and the shop.
35:54
We did take about four months, five
35:56
months off because you
35:57
know you have to prep for
35:58
the move and you have to do
36:00
the actual move and then...
36:01
Oh, moving is horrible.
36:03
Move in and then you're so tired from
36:05
that that you take a
36:06
week or three off and then
36:08
you sit around and you say, oh I gotta
36:11
get a shop going again.
36:14
So we did have a small break in there.
36:18
That was actually a
36:19
good size break I'd say.
36:21
Yeah, I focused heavily once things were
36:24
back up and running and
36:26
got that going and it's
36:28
actually been refined since its first
36:32
introduction and I think
36:33
it's about as good as it can be
36:35
at this point.
36:36
Now the flames that are on the tailbone,
36:38
they've been there
36:39
since the beginning, right?
36:40
Flames are on there from the beginning.
36:42
People could always do the delete option
36:45
on them and it got to the
36:47
point where I was getting
36:48
so many deletes that I'm
36:51
not doing flames any longer.
36:52
Ah, okay, I didn't know that.
36:54
So I mean I haven't altered anything on
36:56
the website and I can
36:58
add flames if need be but
37:00
really nobody seems to be missing them
37:02
and in my original
37:04
twisted thinking of the design
37:06
it needed something to do something in
37:08
that area, you know?
37:09
But visually it looks great.
37:13
I'm looking at a set from
37:15
here hanging on the wall.
37:16
Maybe that's that old muscle car style
37:19
that you used to do.
37:20
Oh absolutely and who
37:22
doesn't like flames?
37:23
I mean one out of twenty-five people.
37:25
Right.
37:26
So I thought it was a win-win and a lot
37:28
of guys did want them.
37:29
Well I'm sure it's a lot easier not to
37:31
have the flames on it,
37:32
a lot easier to make.
37:33
Um, really that was all laser cut so my
37:37
hands weren't in that portion of it.
37:40
That was one of my vendors.
37:41
Gotcha.
37:42
They'd be responsible for
37:44
the programming and stuff.
37:46
So really what it does is it offers a
37:50
much less sharper edge for
37:52
rust to create or chipping
37:55
you know and things of that nature.
37:57
So I don't really miss
37:59
the flames that much.
38:01
You were talking about the A-pillar light
38:03
mounts and that's
38:05
something that I had been
38:05
interested in a while back but with my
38:09
current mindset with the
38:10
four lights, four six inch
38:12
KC's I have on the front bumper and I'm
38:15
thinking of some overhead lights.
38:17
I just think the A-pillar lights would be
38:19
just an amazing overkill of lights.
38:23
Yeah.
38:24
I'm a big flashlight fan from when I was
38:26
a little kid and I
38:27
think that's also morphed
38:29
into the off-road thing
38:31
because I just love lights.
38:32
Lights and watches.
38:33
So I probably can't do that but I was
38:36
thinking I don't know if
38:37
you saw the post that I put
38:40
on there to yours whenever
38:41
I saw the A-pillar lights.
38:42
Yeah you gotta submit that drawing and
38:44
I'll take a look at it.
38:45
Because I was kind of thinking that you
38:49
know this would
38:50
actually be perfect for what I
38:52
was wanting which was overhead lights but
38:55
kind of like the overhead lights that are
38:57
the TJ's and you know the Wrangler crowd
38:59
where it's not on the roof rack mount.
39:04
It's a bar and has a loop that goes
39:06
around the lights and I
39:08
thought you know a pair of
39:09
those A-pillar mounts with either a bolt
39:12
hole or where the tube
39:14
could mount onto those
39:16
would be might be perfect.
39:17
Yeah actually I was thinking about doing
39:19
a drawing and shooting
39:20
it over there and letting
39:22
you pick it apart like you did my drawing
39:23
on the front bumper.
39:25
I actually I mean it doesn't relate to
39:26
XJs but one of my
39:29
original products that I was
39:31
geared up to do but never advertised or I
39:34
don't know I never
39:35
got my feet wet with it
39:36
was an actual cowl light bar for YJs and
39:41
TJs that would go and
39:43
down and it's not the same
39:45
style that's being advertised in some of
39:47
the catalogs now but the
39:49
lights would be in front
39:50
of the driver and I actually had exterior
39:52
gauges on the bar as well.
39:54
Visually it was a perfect shot right in
39:56
front of your eyes but I
39:59
never really pursued that.
40:01
So you're looking at the A-pillar mounts
40:03
anything else that's on
40:04
the horizon that you care to
40:05
share or just too far down
40:07
the thought process right now?
40:10
FSCs which stands for front shock
40:13
cheaters we just got on
40:15
the website two nights ago
40:17
and you can use those for much like the
40:21
STMs for the rear but if
40:24
you keep increasing your
40:25
lift and you don't want to go out and buy
40:28
new shocks all the
40:28
time you can use that item
40:30
to cheat your shock and you can also use
40:33
it to tune your shock
40:34
and by tuning what I mean
40:36
is if your wheel is stuffed into the
40:38
wheel well and you look
40:41
at your shock and there's
40:42
still two two and a half inches of shock
40:44
shaft exposed you can
40:46
use that going in the
40:47
other direction so it's kind of a wasted
40:50
shock with that much
40:51
shaft sticking up out of it
40:53
so if you were to tune your shock to
40:55
where your wheel is
40:56
stuffed or up against your bump
40:58
stop and take that dimension and let it
41:04
work downward for you I
41:06
think you're ahead of the
41:07
ball game by doing that and that's where
41:10
the front shock
41:11
cheaters or the FSCs I should
41:14
say can play a role for you I am kind of
41:19
rethinking the design a
41:20
little bit I know the design works
41:22
but I think I can do it as a bar pin
41:24
eliminator as well so I'm
41:26
going to look into that as
41:27
an alternative.
41:28
Oh I see what you mean putting it up top
41:30
instead on the bottom.
41:31
No it'll still be in the bottom but you
41:33
won't have the bar pin
41:34
going through the shock you'd
41:35
use a 5-bit roll.
41:36
Okay okay I didn't
41:38
understand what the bar pin was.
41:40
Yeah so I am I'm thinking of that as an
41:43
alternative to the current
41:46
design because there's machining
41:47
involved with the current design which is
41:50
a little bit time-consuming but I think I
41:51
can get the price down further if I do it
41:54
bar pin eliminator
41:55
style so as time permits
41:59
I'm going to be getting into that.
42:01
Way way back I posted or snuck a picture
42:05
in or two of the
42:08
reinforcement for the front
42:10
of the rear spring packs this would apply
42:13
to the front portion
42:14
of your leaf spring on
42:16
the XJ which if you study it long enough
42:19
it's not hard to figure
42:20
out how weak that area
42:22
can be that's a product that's ready to
42:25
go it's just a matter
42:26
of developing the webpage
42:27
for it basically it involves a bridge of
42:31
sorts that acts as a
42:32
gusset and another filler
42:35
piece which can also be used to restore
42:39
that area because it's
42:40
prone to rotting out on
42:41
Cherokees so the the snow belt crowd
42:45
could use it for re you
42:50
know rebuilding that area
42:52
at the same time so it's kind of a
42:54
multi-functional piece.
42:56
And it's the only downside of it if there
42:59
is a downside it's
43:00
absolute welding so that's
43:03
going to limit its marketability.
43:05
True.
43:06
There's no getting around the welding.
43:09
Okay Mark one of the things I like to do
43:11
is ask people what they
43:13
love or what they hate
43:15
about XJtalk.com.
43:17
XJtalk I don't hate anything about it per
43:20
se got a couple of
43:22
features I really don't
43:24
use that often I'm not prone to using
43:26
them and the chat but
43:28
it's fun once in a while
43:29
I do jump in there every so often just a
43:32
good group of guys really
43:34
no picking on each other
43:38
straightforward answers when we can it's
43:40
fun got a good mix
43:42
there guys from all over the
43:43
world actually just a good place to be.
43:47
Well thank you very much.
43:48
You're doing a good job.
43:49
I'm leaving it alone
43:50
mainly I'm staying out of it.
43:51
You might be better off.
43:55
I try to keep my hands out of it just try
43:58
to put some features
43:58
in and and you know not
44:00
tell people what to do and you know
44:02
unfortunately me staying
44:04
away from it has been a success.
44:06
So Mark I want to thank you very much for
44:08
the interview and it was very interesting
44:10
learned a few things that I didn't know
44:13
about you from our
44:14
conversations on the phone over
44:15
the years from the various projects that
44:19
you've done for me and
44:21
just very interesting
44:23
and a lot of fun.
44:24
Thank you very much.
44:25
Hey it was my pleasure I
44:26
enjoyed it very much Tony.
44:31
Well there you have it guys that was our
44:33
interview that we
44:33
recorded last night and I thought
44:36
it went very well Mark kept remarking
44:40
after we had completed it
44:41
he goes that was so easy
44:43
that was like just two guys talking and I
44:45
said well yeah I mean that's kind of what
44:48
I expected but I don't know I don't know
44:52
what Mark had in mind I
44:53
think he was a little concerned
44:56
from past shows that I was just going to
44:58
you know wing through
44:59
it and I probably would
45:00
have if he hadn't prompted me to actually
45:04
get a little more active in it.
45:06
Hang on one second
45:07
that's Mark calling now.
45:09
Okay we press this button.
45:11
Hey Mark you there.
45:12
Hey you feeling okay?
45:14
Yeah I'm alright.
45:15
Good I figured Owen got you sick because
45:17
that's what kids do.
45:19
Not this time I don't
45:22
know where I got it.
45:23
Could be all that rapidly changing
45:25
weather they have there in Kentucky.
45:28
Yeah I'm still trying
45:29
to listen to the show.
45:31
Oh do you have it on?
45:33
Yeah.
45:33
It's going to mess you up because there's
45:34
going to be like a long echo.
45:36
Oh we're talking right now.
45:38
Yep so hey guys.
45:40
Alright let me kill the signal.
45:41
Yeah do that and I'll just tell the guys.
45:44
Mark's here on the line if you guys have
45:46
any questions or
45:48
comments that you'd like for
45:49
him to address any of the products that
45:52
we talked about I think
45:54
there was some questions
45:55
about the A pillar mounts or some shears.
45:59
I think that's a great idea there's just
46:00
not nobody makes those
46:02
things for the for the
46:04
Cherokee it's all Wrangler.
46:06
Rock Blizzard was making
46:08
them and stopped making them.
46:11
I used to have communications with him we
46:13
haven't spoken in
46:14
probably a year and a half
46:15
and typically if he was still making them
46:19
I would not even
46:20
address the subject I would
46:22
just direct a customer to him.
46:24
But it seems he got out of it so no one
46:29
else is making them so
46:31
if that ball game opens
46:32
up I'll go ahead and step in I don't have
46:34
a problem with that.
46:35
So I know that you've just made those and
46:39
they're not
46:40
necessarily available for prime
46:41
time do you have any kind of price in
46:43
mind because that seems
46:44
to be the common question
46:45
out there.
46:46
Between me and another guy who was trying
46:50
to develop them at the
46:51
same time he was saying
46:53
45 I'm going to say 46 shipped USPS rates
46:58
just went up and I can get them in a USPS
47:01
box flat rate box so flat rate for lower
47:05
48 let's say $46 shipped.
47:08
Okay so there you go guys $46 shipped.
47:11
And I got something from Dalton here
47:13
Haymark well those FSCs
47:16
work on a stock XJ till a
47:19
lift is installed basically they're
47:21
cheaters so on the front
47:24
end you're to lift you know
47:27
if you're utilizing or adding to an
47:29
existing lift that's when
47:30
you can use those FS and
47:33
cheat your shocks and not absolutely have
47:36
to replace them if you follow me.
47:38
How much are those Mark?
47:39
You know I don't have my website even up
47:41
in front of me I
47:42
couldn't even tell you right
47:43
now.
47:44
Oh look I've got it I was grabbing some
47:47
pictures because I had the
47:48
wrong pictures for the tailbone
47:49
I think I focused on the slim line
47:51
because that's what I have
47:52
and I started copying those
47:54
so I could show them.
47:55
It wasn't until I pulled them up that
47:57
pulled the pictures up
47:58
during the show that I realized
47:59
that it wasn't the right thing.
48:01
If I can get them and I think I can with
48:04
the right gusseting into
48:05
the bar bar pin eliminator
48:07
style I think I can get the price way
48:10
down on those that I
48:12
have in the put parts in the
48:14
bridge port and machinum and stuff.
48:16
All these by the way guys and everybody
48:19
listening on the the recorded show or
48:21
watching the recorded
48:22
show all these products that we've talked
48:24
about tonight are
48:26
available with prices on
48:28
Mark's site detour USA.com.
48:34
So it's like detour like you're taking a
48:36
detour with an S detours
48:38
and then USA.com and looking
48:41
at his site the front shop cheaters the
48:45
well let's see I'm
48:46
thinking I'm looking at the
48:47
wrong thing I thought I had
48:48
pulled up the right stuff.
48:49
Actually the STMs for the shock
48:54
relocators on the rear are 4450 plus
48:58
shipping and handling.
49:00
If you're not seeing it you need to hit
49:03
the refresh button
49:04
because it's the new page on
49:06
the site.
49:07
Yeah it's not coming up.
49:08
When I select the FFC's
49:10
it's showing me the STMs.
49:14
So guys what you need to do is just you
49:16
know check back I'm
49:18
sure Mark will make a call
49:21
to his webmaster and find out why this
49:24
isn't set right and you
49:25
can probably find out on
49:26
the site.
49:27
I got it right in perfect view Tony.
49:29
Well I'm doing products and
49:31
then front shock cheaters.
49:34
And refresh.
49:36
Yeah I did and it shows me the STMs.
49:38
Right above the STMs on the site.
49:41
So either way it's there.
49:44
Well somebody said 55 bucks.
49:46
That sounds about right.
49:48
Do the machining involved.
49:50
Yep 55.
49:51
And I can flat rate those as well for I
49:54
think 6 bucks in the lower 48.
49:57
61 dollars.
49:59
Yeah in that range.
50:00
Yep.
50:01
And I just paid for my shocks I think I
50:03
paid and trust me they're nothing fancy.
50:06
I paid 78 dollars a piece for them.
50:11
Yeah I paid 80
50:11
something for my rear shock.
50:13
I mean sorry for my front shock.
50:14
So yeah that's cheaper
50:16
than a pair of shocks.
50:17
And they are not as
50:19
advertised the shocks I bought.
50:21
I mean I had two inches of droop left.
50:24
Once you start getting the calculations
50:26
it's like I had all this
50:28
updraft and nothing for
50:30
droop.
50:31
So you know what's the point you know.
50:34
Right.
50:35
It's getting a little silly so it kind of
50:37
forced me into pushing
50:38
these a little further
50:39
along.
50:40
But like I said if I can get it in a bar
50:42
pin, lemon air style
50:45
that's worthy of fabrication
50:48
and marketing then I think that price can
50:51
come down quite a bit.
50:52
Well and also too the FSC's allow the
50:56
allow your front end to
50:57
drop a little bit further.
50:59
Your shocks not going to be limiting your
51:03
the drop of the suspension as much.
51:05
That would be the aspect
51:06
of the tuning side of it.
51:09
If you're stuffing your tire into the
51:11
wheel well or up against
51:13
the bump stop there's still
51:14
shaft exposed that's just wasted shock.
51:18
Get it going the other way.
51:20
Exactly.
51:21
Do you guys have any other questions for
51:23
Mark or comments or etc.
51:25
The chat room has fallen silent.
51:28
Oh it always happens.
51:29
I got to give a call out to one guy, a
51:32
good friend of mine over in Afghanistan.
51:34
His name is Ben and if he's actually up
51:36
this early and
51:37
listening Ben make up your mind
51:40
and shut up.
51:44
You know I was expecting some heart felt.
51:46
Thank you for your
51:47
service etc. etc. but no.
51:51
Ben's a contractor.
51:52
Okay.
51:53
Ben gets well paid for his duties but
51:55
thank you Ben for your duties.
51:58
Yeah that's still dangerous work whether
51:59
or not he's being paid well or not.
52:01
Exactly.
52:02
He should be.
52:03
If no one has anything to talk about I
52:06
have something to talk about.
52:08
I'll just mention this real quick.
52:10
Punisher that's for a
52:11
pair of the A pillar mounts.
52:13
Everything's a pair.
52:17
Okay go ahead Mark.
52:18
Up and coming build we got going on.
52:21
We've got it working
52:22
with Hellwig Motorsports.
52:52
Hellwig is a suspension company out in
52:54
the ground. There's plug out there then. product when it comes out of the forage.
53:08
So we're doing that in conjunction.
53:12
We are also passing along parts to them
53:14
for their build for the
53:17
Moab Jeep Safari, Easter
53:20
Safari build.
53:21
We're doing Backbone and
53:23
Tailbone system for their vehicle.
53:26
And you're also going to be able to see
53:27
that at the 2011 CINA show.
53:30
So I'm really excited
53:31
about that, working with them.
53:34
David over there, he
53:35
seems like a real great guy.
53:38
They seem to have
53:39
their poop all in one pile.
53:40
So you're thinking about sway bars.
53:43
And once you get into long arms and three
53:45
lengths and seven inches of lift, you've
53:47
got to start rethinking sway bars.
53:50
So that's where I'm at right now.
53:51
Well, I'm hoping you're going to share
53:52
some of those pictures
53:53
with us on XJTalk as well.
53:56
I'm trying to pull the
53:57
build over to the site.
53:59
I started on another site.
54:01
I attempted today again to start bringing
54:04
what I started over
54:05
to XJTalk and couldn't
54:09
muster it all over in an easy way.
54:11
So if I have to, I'll take the time and
54:14
break it all down over there as well.
54:16
Well, I mentioned I'd help you with that.
54:18
I just haven't got to it yet, but I'll
54:19
have a look and see what I can do.
54:21
Yeah, I know.
54:22
That's cool.
54:22
Totally cool.
54:23
Actually, guys are
54:24
getting a kick out of it.
54:25
So you got to keep it interesting.
54:28
Okay, guys.
54:29
Any questions?
54:31
Any more comments about how much
54:34
something is or what's
54:35
available, what's not available?
54:37
How much NyQuil I've had?
54:39
Yeah, how much NyQuil Mark said?
54:42
I want some A-pillar mounts.
54:43
Yeah, I don't blame you.
54:44
I want some too.
54:45
You want some who?
54:48
Metallic353 says I
54:50
want some A-pillar mounts.
54:51
Okay, yeah.
54:52
No, they're coming out.
54:53
Actually, Tony, when you have your next
54:56
get together, I'm
54:57
actually going to send some
54:58
down to you so you can hand them out as a
55:00
little raffle gag or something.
55:02
Oh, great.
55:04
That ought to bring
55:04
more than three people.
55:06
It's all dye work and take welding.
55:09
So I mean, it's not a huge deal.
55:12
And that's kind of what
55:13
I'm starting to lean towards.
55:15
I've got so many fabrications that
55:16
involve hours and hours
55:18
and hours of work that I'm
55:20
starting to lean towards a little more,
55:21
towards the easier stuff.
55:23
Just as a break and I squeeze it in
55:25
between the larger projects.
55:27
So it works out well.
55:29
But yeah, once you start getting your
55:31
spring coming around and
55:33
get your roundups going
55:35
again, we'll send some stuff down to you.
55:38
Well, great.
55:39
We'll talk about it.
55:40
Maybe we can do something.
55:41
I don't want to break the bank or
55:43
anything over there on you,
55:44
but maybe we can do something
55:45
for the guys as a
55:48
whole on the side as well.
55:50
Yeah, we can do that.
55:51
Hey, it's your wallet.
55:55
Well, gosh, I guess if I hadn't of, maybe
55:58
I can edit this out and just deny that it
56:00
was ever said and I'll
56:01
just keep them from me.
56:02
Next thing you know, there's an alien
56:06
light bar on the Texas freeway.
56:09
Okay, I don't see any more
56:10
questions or any other comments.
56:12
So I think that's it, Mark.
56:14
I think you can rest a little bit now.
56:17
I sure appreciate the
56:18
interview once again.
56:19
I think the interview went very well.
56:21
And Mark and I have already discussed it.
56:23
We're going to have some more interviews
56:25
because he has a lot
56:26
more to share with us.
56:28
We didn't even touch on any of the stuff
56:31
that he's done to his own XJ.
56:33
And if you've seen any of those pictures,
56:36
he has some very interesting pictures and
56:39
even more interesting stories, I'm sure.
56:41
That was a good time, Tony.
56:42
I really enjoyed it.
56:43
And I look forward to further discussion.
56:46
I still, it still bothers me that you
56:48
were surprised that it
56:50
worked out as well as it
56:51
did.
56:51
I'm just, I'm hurt and insulted.
56:54
Oh, you know how I feel about that.
56:56
You and I, we've talked a lot in the past
56:59
over bumper fabrication.
57:01
Yep.
57:03
Quote unquote, your bumpers.
57:05
But it's just good, me and you have a
57:08
good thing going between
57:11
us as far as discussion
57:12
goes.
57:12
We know how to talk to each other.
57:14
So it made it really easy.
57:16
Yeah.
57:17
I encourage anybody else who wants to
57:20
participate in this
57:21
program to contact Tony.
57:23
Easy guy to talk to.
57:25
Thank you very much.
57:26
Mark, go get some rest.
57:28
I'm gonna.
57:30
Got another cold day
57:31
ahead of me tomorrow.
57:33
Yeah.
57:33
I hope you get feeling better.
57:35
Thank you.
57:36
Good night.
57:37
Y'all have a great night.
57:38
Okay.
57:38
Well, I think that that
57:40
worked out really well.
57:41
I sure appreciate Mark being in there
57:44
coming into the chat
57:45
room tonight and also being
57:48
on the phone with us because he had sent
57:50
me a PM earlier telling
57:51
me that he wasn't feeling
57:52
very good.
57:52
And it was great that he got in there and
57:56
you basically work
57:57
the new show format that
57:59
I was telling you guys earlier that we
58:02
were going to try to
58:02
do have the interview.
58:04
And by the way, I can tell you now the
58:07
interview that we did
58:08
actually went about 15, 20 minutes
58:11
longer than what I had intended.
58:14
The idea I had is the first 30 minutes of
58:16
the show will be an
58:18
interview that I've recorded
58:19
with somebody and then the final 30
58:22
minutes will be question
58:23
and answer and any other
58:24
things that we want to
58:26
cover during the show.
58:28
Other people's questions that have been
58:30
left on the voicemail or through email.
58:33
And but like I said, that interview I
58:37
thought was so good and so
58:39
interesting that I didn't
58:40
want to trim it back
58:42
any more than what I did.
58:44
So it did go a little long and we're
58:46
going a little long tonight.
58:47
But I think that overall it's a good, it
58:53
was a good balance for
58:56
the entertainment value
58:57
and the information value.
58:58
So real quick here, because we're a
59:00
little over, I did want
59:02
to, there was a member that
59:06
sent a message, an email today and I
59:08
wanted to cover that
59:09
because he was kind enough to
59:12
send the message.
59:13
It was an email and by the way, if I
59:15
haven't mentioned it
59:16
already, we have an email set
59:18
up in case you do not want to call the
59:22
voicemail number and leave
59:24
a voicemail message to be
59:25
played on the show.
59:26
You can send an email with your question
59:28
or comment and it
59:30
potentially could be on the
59:31
show.
59:32
And that's what the big dog did today.
59:35
His question in the email was, I was
59:37
wondering if you make a
59:40
section, I'm sure that means
59:41
could make a section, in the forum for
59:44
pics and videos of runs we have been on.
59:47
Well big dog, we can certainly do that.
59:49
However I think we have some forums now
59:52
that kind of fit that.
59:55
There's a rig, you know,
59:59
let's see your rig pictures.
1:00:02
There's a random video thread and you
1:00:06
know, it's open, I don't
1:00:09
mind adding stuff if that's
1:00:11
what people want and it makes sense.
1:00:13
But I think we have some forums now where
1:00:17
that already fits and
1:00:18
we don't really want
1:00:19
to duplicate things and make it confusing
1:00:21
for people to find stuff.
1:00:23
There's another section on various areas
1:00:27
of the country like,
1:00:29
let's see, what did that
1:00:30
just put up there recently?
1:00:31
It was, I think it was the northeast or
1:00:35
southeast region, Midwest region.
1:00:40
And those might be good
1:00:41
areas to do the same thing.
1:00:42
If you want something that's more
1:00:43
localized, if you're just
1:00:45
trying to show off your stuff,
1:00:46
there's the rig pictures.
1:00:49
Actually let me just pull it up here real
1:00:50
quick and I'll, instead
1:00:51
of me trying to remember,
1:00:54
I can hopefully speak
1:00:56
more intelligently about it.
1:00:58
What do we got here?
1:00:59
Just looking at the forums, it says,
1:01:03
there's member rigs,
1:01:05
there's a section that says member
1:01:06
rigs, my build, rig pictures, stuck
1:01:09
pictures, scenery pictures.
1:01:11
No videos there but you
1:01:12
know, we could do videos.
1:01:15
That might make sense to do.
1:01:16
And there is another section that I want
1:01:18
to make you aware of.
1:01:20
At the very bottom of the forums, it says
1:01:23
user suggestion slash assistance.
1:01:26
And there's a section there that says
1:01:29
comment, suggestions and help.
1:01:31
That's a great place to put suggestions
1:01:35
like the one that you
1:01:37
made in the email today.
1:01:39
There's nothing wrong with the email and
1:01:40
I'm not telling you that
1:01:41
you shouldn't have sent
1:01:42
the email.
1:01:43
This posting it there in the user
1:01:45
suggestion assistance will
1:01:48
hopefully get it taken care
1:01:50
of a little quicker.
1:01:51
And the thing that we kind of do from
1:01:53
time to time is have a
1:01:54
poll so we can see what
1:01:56
the interest is of the group.
1:01:59
I very much try to make sure that the
1:02:01
site is something that people enjoy.
1:02:04
It's not there for my benefit, it's there
1:02:06
for the members' benefit.
1:02:09
So it doesn't really
1:02:10
matter what I think about it.
1:02:14
I mean, of course, ultimately I can say
1:02:16
yay or nay but what I
1:02:17
try to do is to say, what
1:02:18
do you guys want to do?
1:02:20
And if that's what you
1:02:20
want, that's what we do.
1:02:22
So if it's in the comments and
1:02:23
suggestions, we can quickly
1:02:25
add a poll to it and get some
1:02:27
votes from people and then go from there.
1:02:29
Just looking here at the chat room, Rene
1:02:32
or Argunard says, "How
1:02:33
many peeps do you need
1:02:35
to okay something?"
1:02:37
It really doesn't have to be, I mean,
1:02:39
it's really the people
1:02:40
that want to vote in it.
1:02:41
I like to keep it open for a long enough
1:02:45
time for enough people to see it.
1:02:48
You don't want to have a vote that lasts
1:02:50
five minutes and it's
1:02:52
because people weren't
1:02:54
there in that five minute time frame,
1:02:56
they didn't get a chance to vote.
1:02:57
So I don't know, I
1:02:59
think a week or two weeks.
1:03:02
Again, I don't know, that's
1:03:04
kind of up to you guys too.
1:03:05
How long should we wait to make sure
1:03:07
something is, you know,
1:03:11
that people have had time to
1:03:13
look at it?
1:03:14
I don't know.
1:03:16
So 72 or five, six.
1:03:23
Okay, I don't know, six people?
1:03:27
I don't know.
1:03:30
Certainly something we can discuss, that
1:03:32
we can discuss on the forums.
1:03:35
And I did get a voicemail and let me see
1:03:39
if I can pull that up
1:03:41
here and play that real
1:03:42
quick.
1:03:43
Got that kind of late
1:03:44
tonight, but let's see.
1:03:47
That's the wrong one.
1:03:48
Here we go.
1:03:49
Let's see if you guys can hear this.
1:03:51
Maybe a little low.
1:03:53
Hey, this is Wellman.
1:03:54
My first name is Kurt.
1:03:56
Anyway, my question is, does anybody know
1:04:00
if the U-joint front
1:04:02
axles are compatible with
1:04:05
the CV joint axle shafts?
1:04:07
Because that would just make life a whole
1:04:09
lot easier due to the fact that they're,
1:04:11
you know, sealed and have a bit more
1:04:14
flexibility and you
1:04:15
don't get in cornering.
1:04:17
So that's my question.
1:04:18
Are you guys able to hear that at all?
1:04:20
Because the audio on that
1:04:21
just sounds horrible to me.
1:04:22
Yeah, no, I didn't think so.
1:04:24
I'll have to process that and we'll have
1:04:26
that on for the next show.
1:04:29
I'm very sorry, the gentleman that called
1:04:31
in, if you need an answer before the next
1:04:35
show, please post that up on the site and
1:04:37
we'll help you out in
1:04:38
having some technical
1:04:40
difficulties with that.
1:04:42
So let me throw the
1:04:42
couple of things up here, guys.
1:04:45
I'll remind you about what we have
1:04:47
available here on the show
1:04:49
and other items that we have
1:04:52
available on Facebook and Twitter.
1:04:55
And then we'll call it a night.
1:04:57
Did you know that
1:04:58
xjtalk.com is on Facebook?
1:05:00
Just go to facebook.com
1:05:02
slash xjtalk and friend us.
1:05:05
We're also on Twitter,
1:05:06
twitter.com slash xjtalk.
1:05:08
Do you have questions or comments that
1:05:10
you would like played on the air?
1:05:11
We've set up voicemail
1:05:13
just for that purpose.
1:05:14
All you have to do is call 530-675-4102.
1:05:21
Just leave your name, your location and
1:05:23
your question or comment.
1:05:25
Chances are good it'll
1:05:26
get played on the air.
1:05:27
That number again is 530-675-4102.
1:05:34
We look forward to
1:05:35
hearing from you today.
1:05:37
Are you interested in
1:05:37
being a guest on XJtalk?
1:05:39
Well, you can contact me
1:05:40
via email, tony at xjtalk.com.
1:05:44
That's tony at xjtalk.com.
1:05:47
Hey, how would you like to advertise on
1:05:49
XJtalk Talk Show and reach
1:05:50
a worldwide Jeep audience?
1:05:53
Just send an email to advertise at
1:05:55
xjtalk.com for more information.
1:05:58
This segment brought to
1:05:59
you by detoursusa.com.
1:06:02
10 years of innovating
1:06:03
not imitating XJ products.
1:06:05
Check out www.detoursusa.com.
1:06:10
And Detours wants to remind
1:06:12
everyone to practice safe sex.
1:06:14
No pig-borking till you wrap that rascal.
1:06:16
Ha.
1:06:20
Yeah, I still like that one the best.
1:06:23
That's funny.
1:06:24
Well, guys.
1:06:25
Just want to thank Mark
1:06:26
again for the interview.
1:06:28
We're gonna have more interviews.
1:06:29
I've got two people lined up.
1:06:33
4.3 LXJ, Steve.
1:06:38
And we're gonna have I believe that one's
1:06:40
scheduled for next week.
1:06:42
I may have some promos
1:06:45
for that prior to next show.
1:06:50
So you keep an ear out for those.
1:06:52
I'll probably post them up on the site.
1:06:54
And then I have at least one other person
1:06:58
scheduled for the following Wednesday.
1:07:03
And I've got a couple of people that I
1:07:04
still need to contact about future shows.
1:07:08
Mark is already
1:07:09
committed to doing future shows.
1:07:11
And Steve, 4.3 LXJ, also is one of those
1:07:16
individuals that has done a lot of
1:07:18
modifications to his
1:07:19
XJ.
1:07:20
So I'm sure he's going to be a repeat
1:07:22
customer or offender,
1:07:24
depending on how you look at
1:07:25
it.
1:07:25
So I think that this is
1:07:26
going to be very interesting.
1:07:28
I've learned a lot.
1:07:29
Even though I had spoken to Mark numerous
1:07:32
times on the phone, I
1:07:34
just have the ability
1:07:36
to be in the position of asking questions
1:07:39
allowed me to learn a
1:07:41
lot more things than
1:07:42
what I had known previously.
1:07:44
So hopefully the same is true for you
1:07:48
guys that listened to it.
1:07:50
Hopefully answered all
1:07:52
the questions that you had.
1:07:53
And if not, don't forget, you can email
1:07:58
questions to the show.
1:07:59
And it's a real simple email address.
1:08:02
Show at XJtalk.com.
1:08:05
And of course you've got the voicemail
1:08:07
line that I've plugged numerous times.
1:08:11
So I want you involved in the show.
1:08:13
I'm glad you're here.
1:08:14
I'm glad you're in the chat room.
1:08:16
But hey, be a guest.
1:08:18
You've got something to share.
1:08:19
You've got something
1:08:20
to talk to people about.
1:08:23
Come on.
1:08:24
Let's talk about it.
1:08:27
Let people know what it is that you're
1:08:29
doing with your Jeep.
1:08:30
But I mean, that's the idea behind all
1:08:32
this is getting people involved.
1:08:34
Anyway, guys, thank you very much.
1:08:36
Have a very good night and we'll see you
1:08:38
again next Wednesday.
1:08:51
I just wanted to say XJtalk is the best
1:08:55
f***ing sight in the f***ing world.
1:08:57
And if you think you know a better
1:08:59
f***ing sight, f*** you.
1:09:01
By the way, this is Big M350.
1:09:03
Bye.