S3, E59 - SEMA 2025, Part 2
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50:04
Car
Ford Bronco Raptor
The Ford Bronco Raptor is a special version of the Bronco that is built for off-road driving and has more power and features for tough terrains.
Car
Ford Door Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV designed for off-road driving. It has been popular for its ability to handle rough terrain and comes in different styles, like two-door and four-door.
Term
SEMA
SEMA is a big car show in Las Vegas where companies show off new car parts and accessories. It's a place for car enthusiasts to see the latest products.
Term
made to order
'Made to order' means that the product is built just for you, based on what you want, instead of being made in large quantities. You can choose colors and features.
Car
Ford Raptor
The Ford Raptor is a special version of the Ford F-150 truck that is built for off-road driving. It has a strong engine and special features that help it drive well on rough surfaces.
Term
decibels
Decibels are a way to measure how loud a sound is. When someone says something is 10 decibels quieter, it means it is significantly less loud than before.
Company
Bestop
Bestop is a company that makes soft tops and other accessories for Jeep cars. They are known for making good quality products that help make Jeeps more versatile.
Car
Jeep Gladiator
The Jeep Gladiator is a truck made by Jeep that is designed for off-road driving and has a bed for carrying things, like a regular pickup truck.
Term
wrap
A wrap is a special type of vinyl that covers the outside of a car, changing its color or design without painting it. It's a way to make the car look different while keeping the original paint safe.
Car
Jeep JL
The Jeep JL is the newest version of the Jeep Wrangler, a popular off-road vehicle known for its ruggedness and versatility. It has improvements in technology and comfort compared to older models.
Part
PRP seat covers
PRP seat covers are special covers that go over your car's seats to keep them safe from wear and tear. They can be made to fit your car perfectly and come in different styles and colors.
Company
Tuffy
Tuffy makes storage boxes that you can lock, which helps keep your belongings safe in your vehicle. They're especially popular for Jeep owners who need extra storage space.
Car
Ford Super Duty
The Ford Super Duty is a series of strong trucks made by Ford that can carry heavy loads and are often used for work or towing.
Part
Super Duty Axles
Super Duty Axles are strong parts used in Ford's heavy-duty trucks to help them carry heavy loads and drive on tough terrain.
Car
Jeep
Jeep is a brand of cars that are built for driving on rough and bumpy roads. They are popular for off-roading and can be modified with different parts to make them even better for tough terrains.
Part
control arms
Control arms are parts of a car's suspension that help connect the wheels to the body of the car. They let the wheels move up and down while keeping the car stable.
Car
Jeep JT
The Jeep JT is the model name for the Jeep Gladiator, which is a pickup truck version of the Jeep Wrangler. It's built for both off-road adventures and carrying loads.
Term
suspension kit
A suspension kit is a set of parts that you can add to your car to make it ride better and handle bumps more smoothly. It helps improve how the car feels when driving.
Term
lift height
Lift height is how much higher you can make your car sit off the ground. This helps the car drive over obstacles better when off-roading.
Term
bump stops
Bump stops are like cushions for your car's suspension. They help protect the car when it hits bumps by stopping the suspension from going too far down.
Term
springs
Springs are parts of a car's suspension that help it bounce over bumps. They keep the car comfortable and help it handle better on the road.
Car
Ford F250
The Ford F250 is a strong truck designed for heavy work, like towing trailers or carrying heavy loads. It's built to handle tough conditions.
Car
Ford F350
The Ford F-350 is a big truck that can carry heavy loads and tow trailers. It’s built for tough jobs and is popular among people who need a strong vehicle.
Part
E-locker
An E-locker is a special part in a truck that helps the wheels work together better when driving on rough terrain. It can be turned on or off with a button.
Term
rear locker
A rear locker is a tool that helps both back wheels of a truck turn together, which is really helpful when driving on bumpy or slippery roads.
Term
driveline
The driveline is the system in a car that helps move it forward by connecting the engine to the wheels. It includes parts like driveshafts and axles.
Part
14 bolt
The '14 bolt' is a strong rear axle used in trucks. It's popular for off-roading because it can handle tough conditions and heavy loads.
Part
Ford Sterling rear axle
The Ford Sterling rear axle is a strong part found in some Ford trucks. It's built to handle heavy loads and tough driving conditions.
Car
Ford Super
The Ford Super Duty Lariat Tremor is a fancy, strong truck that can do heavy work and also drive off-road. It has nice features for comfort while still being tough.
Concept
KOH car
KOH cars are vehicles designed for a tough race called King of the Hammers, which involves driving over rocks and through deserts. They are built to handle very rough terrain.
Term
4800 class
The 4800 class is a type of race vehicle used in the King of the Hammers event. These vehicles have special features that help them drive over very rough ground.
Part
sidewall
The sidewall is the side part of a tire. It helps protect the tire and keeps it strong, which is important for safe driving.
Concept
King of the Hammers
King of the Hammers is a challenging off-road race that takes place in California. It features both rock crawling and high-speed desert racing, making it a unique and difficult event for drivers.
Car
Suzuki Samurai
The Suzuki Samurai is a small SUV that is great for off-road driving. It’s known for being fun to drive and has a loyal group of fans.
Term
drive train
The drive train is the part of a car that helps move it. It includes things like the transmission and axles, which help transfer power from the engine to the wheels. Upgrading it can make the car perform better.
Car
Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a popular family SUV that has been around for many years. It’s known for being roomy and good for both city driving and outdoor adventures.
Car
Toyota Tacoma
The Toyota Tacoma is a smaller truck that people often use for both work and play. It's known for being tough and good for off-road driving.
Car
Toyota 4Runner
The Toyota 4Runner is a tough SUV that can handle rough roads and off-road adventures. It’s known for being reliable and is a great choice for people who like to explore outdoors.
Car
Toyota Tundra
The Toyota Tundra is a large truck that is great for heavy-duty work and towing. It’s known for being tough and reliable, making it a good choice for people who need a strong vehicle.
Car
Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a fancy SUV that is very good at driving off-road and is built to last a long time. People love it because it combines comfort with the ability to handle tough terrains.
Car
Ford Ranger
Car
Ford Raptor Ranger
The Ford Raptor Ranger is a special version of a smaller truck that is built for off-road driving. It’s powerful and has features that make it fun to drive on rough paths.
LIVE
Let's head down to the car show It seemed like time we got to go
Underneath the Vegas lights We are here for the auto sight
Trucks are lifted heaven high Burn out smoke drips to the sky
Homan has but one goal in mind It's to cover the show in the allotted time
It seemed like, it seemed like time
The truck show We're gonna show you what we know
We're gonna answer what the truck Cause truck rides with ****
The truck show We have the lifted, we have the lowered
And everything in between We'll talk about trucks that run on diesel
Electricity in our gasoline The truck show The truck show The truck show
It's the truck show with your host, Homan
Welcome back to the PodShed
In this episode, we'll be continuing part two of our SEMA coverage
So in this episode, you'll hear from some great brands like Bestop, Synergy Suspension, our good friend Scott Birdzall and the Heat Wave booth, Cobb Tuning and a trio of hand-cooked vehicle owners and the hand-cooked tire booth
But before we get into it, we have to thank our sponsors
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So here I am in the Bestop booth and I'm with Cassie and what's your job at Bestop?
So I am the eTop project manager and I handle eCom sales
And you also drive a Bronco Raptor
I do, it's my daily
And we're going to go see it?
Yes
Alright, awesome
Show us this two door Bronco right here
So at SEMA this year we are launching colors not only for our Jeep models for eTop but also two and four door Bronco
So this one here is our champagne color
We also have Merlot, Admiral and Smoke
These are made to order, so custom built as you ordered
About six to eight weeks but still same manufacturing, nine layers of fabric, sound insulation, all the good stuff you'd get with your black eTop
Green four door jail in front of us with the champagne color top, it has vibes of old school Sahara which I love
I'm totally down with that
Now when you talk about the night layers of insulation, one of the things that I'll tell you is that OVR, Mark Khan has a Bronco
He does
It's a very loud Bronco
It was so loud, his soft top Bronco that when I would answer the phone, not even on speakerphone, my wife would go, oh Mark called
Yep
Because she could hear it
Mark calls me one day and I answer the phone, I put on speaker and it's quieter
My wife goes, did you get a new car?
Yeah
And literally it was the eTop and I've written in it and I know it probably sounds crazy but it actually sounds a little bit quieter to me
At least in some frequencies in the hard top
It does
It's really amazing the difference
We have actually tested it, a like for like, we took my Raptor, borrowed a Raptor and it was about 10 decibels quieter than the factory hard top
Which is a lot
It is, yeah, even on the, I mean I was surprised on the highway, I was like, oh, semi is coming, nope
The nice thing about your eTop is not only the insulation for sound and obviously weather
But being power, you really aren't giving anything up over a hard top
No
Because you have the weather, it's quiet as far as the wind goes, it's quiet for ambient noise
And then you can push a button and then you're topless
If you're on the fence, you're like, oh I don't want to be a soft top person or a hard top person
And you like the idea of soft top but you like the livability of a hard top
This is probably the best in between product that you're going to get
That's going to give you the best of both worlds
And it's really good
Yeah, you really, you know, you pay for the convenience, we understand it's a high ticket price
But topless in seconds is worth it, right?
Like the rain comes in and you can close it up or nice sunny day, open it up and enjoy it
You don't even have to get out of the vehicle to get it in its place
It has access to the back with the top up
It's very similar to how it would be stock
Yep, exactly how it would be stock, your side windows will zip
And then you can kind of toss it up on the top and then you have full access
And even when it's down stacked and open, it doesn't sit inside the trunk area
So you still have full access to your trunk area
Yeah
And then the nice thing about your tops is the way that the roof is sort of sewn over the sides and everything
And that's one of the things I like about the best top product is the way it's constructed is really
I mean the materials are high quality but the way it's constructed is really good
Yeah, definitely overlapping in a lot of areas which help with the ceiling so no leaking
It helps with that noise dampening, everything
It's definitely a higher end construction and what you would expect from best top and their quality
I mean what was that, 3 seconds to go down?
Yeah
I'm gonna watch you while we're talking, you guys have it on this auto setting
It's just up and down, yes
And it's absolutely like, you didn't even finish the sentence and it was open
No, it was out, yeah, yeah, it's been great
Awesome
Alright, what's next?
Move to the Raptor
Oh, look at this Raptor
So this is my baby
This is awesome
Yeah, so I have a Jeep, I rock crawl and then this is my daily driver and I love it
You know, we put the E-top on back in March and I think I've used it every day since when it's not raining in Colorado
So it's every day after work, just pop it open and really enjoy it where I've worked for best top for 10 years
And never been a big like take the full top off because you know, you got to put the windows in
It's a process, yeah
Not that it's not, it just takes a while
Yeah, all the things
Yeah, every day, just pop it open, enjoy the ride home and get home and close it up and it's good to go
You can see as this one's opening the installation panel folding, you can see how thick it is
Yes
You know, as the top is folding, you can see kind of bow out in the fabric panel and you go, wow, that is really thick
Yes, it's the nine layer fabric, so thickest top on the market
On the Broncos, you do have a super suede lining, on the Jeeps it's kind of more of a microfiber
So just, you know, either one adds just that kind of light, classic touch to it
Yeah, just that upscales it a little bit
Yeah
You know, another nice thing is, you know, on the black tops, you know, with the inside of, especially the Jeep top being white
Kind of looks like a cooler sometimes
Yes
And it kind of, this adds a little bit of that more upscale vibe, a little more serious nature on the inside too
Yeah, exactly, exactly
Yeah, it's awesome, I wish I could be like, oh, I'm so surprised with having lived with it with the OVR Jeep
Yeah, right
Bronco, it's like, no, I know it and I'm totally stand behind this thing
Yeah
Many trips with Mark, way more comfortable
Yes, yes, definitely, it's, and they're fun to have, and he's in SoCal, I believe, right?
Yeah, so he probably gets to enjoy it way more than I did
The weather right now is like this, you know, it's the 75 during the day still, and it's great
Yeah, exactly
It's perfect top weather right now
Yeah
Do you want to jump over to the Gladiator?
Yeah, let's do it
Excuse us
So I love the Gladiator
And I've been driving one
And so, because I've had one sort of as a daily driver for a couple months, I'm appreciating it more
Yes
It's got a 2-inch lift and 35, so it's like, the way a Gladiator should be from the factory, right?
And so now I'm like, I've always liked the Gladiator, but it's kind of like been a, you know, tertially aware sort of on the
And now it's like, oh, now every Gladiator products, oh, that'd be nice, very nice
Yes, yes
So this thing is super decked out
Yeah, this
High-velocity color?
So no, this is actually a wrap
Oh, looks good for wrap
It's basic white, and then in previous theme, as we kind of had the four-service theme
Yeah
Decided to switch it up, because this is our main event vehicle
Yeah
We thought brighter the better
Why not?
And our doors are usually off, so we can show the sunrider, the seats, and then the tuffy lockbox
So we did the kind of the honeycomb, best hop bee kind of theme
So we really leaned into the neon this year
Yeah, it's bright, you won't miss it out on the trail for sure
No, no, but it really highlights our black twill on the sunrider
Yeah
And then the black twill on the super top for truck in the back
I had a sunrider on my JK when they first came out
Yes
And I loved it, because you could just throw the front part back and it was, that was it
Yep
And just like the top, it wasn't, you know, super loud or anything like that, which was nice
Yeah, the JK sunrider was actually my first product launch here at Best Hop
And I installed it myself, and those were a little bit complicated
And it was like, what do they want me to do here?
But we did it, and I think it was for four-wheeler magazine
And, yeah, I sold my Jeep with that thing when I got a JL
And I miss having that, because it just, it works so well
Yeah, we have literally done a contest at SEMA where you open it up
And I think someone was like 0.5 seconds, like flipping it back
So it's definitely another convenience, and then, you know, covers the freedom panel
So if you don't want to get rid of the full hardtop, you still have the option of open air
Oh, it's perfect, yeah, you still have some security, and you still have the full hardtop
Where you have to store it, and that's nice
And now, the seat covers, I know you guys have some different patterns
But I also know, like, on the rear seats, you do, like, more of a canvas-style cover
For, like, dogs and things like that in the back seat
Those are, like, really nice, because your version has, like, armrest pockets
And not all of them do, sometimes there's, like, the cheap Amazon ones that just lay over the seat
You actually wrap around and have the armrest, if you have the premium leather and all that
Which is a really nice feature, if you still want, you know, people to be able to use the seat
Separately on a trip or something like that
Yeah, yeah, our seat covers are, you know, your basic one colors, but they're gray
And they help, especially with the, I have dogs, we foster, so they're always in our vehicles
So, yeah, they're a great option
These ones are custom PRP seat covers, just for the show
But, yeah, our seat covers are nice with the pockets
And just that basic, but still great quality, great coverage
I like it because I can lay it down, and then I can put my kids' car seat on top of it
And not damage the seat, and the dog can go in the back, or gear, and it's not messing up the leather
And that's really nice
It's simple install too
You're not, like, crawling all under your Jeep, just to, like, tie something, yeah
It's great
And then locking under seat storage
Yep, that's our Tuffy lock boxes
So, in the rear we have the full length locking storage
And then in the front we have the center console locking storage
Tuffy's great, most of their products, you can either do the key or the coating
So it just really fits whatever your needs are
And then in the bed you've got a canvas soft topper, basically
Yep, super topper truck
So this is one of our top sellers for our Gladiator
The nice thing is it adds that storage room, but they can fully collapse when you have those extra large items
Comes in that premium quilt fabric
And the nice thing about the super topper truck too, which this is, you can take that top canvas off
And then there's an integrated tonneau that can be placed on it without having to take the bed rails off
Oh, that's cool
Yeah, so just, you know, whatever your needs are
And because it's kind of a canvas top, you're not taking it away from payload or anything like that
And the nice thing is if you've got items that might blow out
Yep
This is perfect because you still throw all that in the bed and you don't have to worry about it leaving you on the freeway
Yeah, you can zip up the windows, or if you have animals or kids you're taking to the river, right?
I'll do the windows, let them dry out in the back
Yeah
It's a fun time
Absolutely
Cool, that's kind of what we're showing for SEMA this year
Awesome
Well, I appreciate your time and I'm going to go poke around the booths to see what kind of trouble I can get into
Feel free to jump in, operate, you know, have some fun
You'll find the Utah button
Yeah, exactly, exactly
One of a hundred thousand to push that button this week
Yes, yes, right, but that's what it is, right?
And you got an experience to be like, okay, yeah, this really is as convenient as we're talking about
Next time you guys need to get one of those giant fans to make it blow it out
Yeah, right
And then we'll get the back screen so it's like you're driving, yeah
Just a full-on experience, it'll be good
Thank you for your time, I appreciate it
Yeah, I appreciate it
So I found my way into the Synergy booth with my old friend Dave Schlossberger
And he just showed me that he's got this cool Jeep inside his booth that has, I'm sorry, what?
Super Duty Axles?
Yeah, so 2005 and newer Ford Super Duty Axles are pretty legit
And for many years, guys have been putting those things into Jeeps and Toyotas
But the brackets are all wonky or the geometry is not great
Yeah, so the front ends have the big old radius arms on there
So they got the big old castings for the radius arm mounts and stuff like that
So guys will get the Axles and they'll spend weeks cutting all this stuff off
And get mismatching brackets from here and there and a bunch of different places
To kind of figure out how to put these Axles in underneath these Jeeps
And so what we've done is we've kind of watered it down and built a kit that includes all the bits
And pieces and parts and components needed to put the Axles in underneath the Jeep platform
So basically go to the junkyard, grab a set of Super Duty Donor Axles
And then you guys have the parts if you wanted to upgrade those even further
Ball joints, things like that
Well we do have those too, but the basic kits basically are modified long arm
Our existing JL and JT long arm suspension that we have
And then by using the existing brackets and some different control arms
We're able to mount the Axles up underneath
But you could essentially go crazy if you went to the Super Duty Axles
You could put them on your JL, JT with your bracket kit and arms
And then you could upgrade the Axles if you wanted to
And then you have suspension that's suited to the Axles as well
The kit's basically a suspension kit minus shocks, springs
So you can spec out what you want
Yeah, so you can figure out what lift height you want and stuff like that
Or if you have a lift on there and you want to reuse things that you already have
It's pretty seamless
There's a minimum lift height that you recommend with that
Because it's the size of the Axles
I mean it's just basically what shocks you want to mount underneath there
And where you want the bump stops to set up
How much up travel you want to have
So get the kit and start mocking things up there
And figure out where you want your bump stops set and kind of work backwards from there
What is this JL here sitting at?
Yeah, so this JL is sitting on our three inch springs
And 40 inch tall tires
So that's a F250, F350 Axle set out of the junkyard
What's really cool, some of the F250s came with factory E-lockers in the rear
So if you're lucky enough to find one of those
You know you can skip that part of buying the rear locker
So all you need is a set of gears, a front locker if you want
And you'd be in business
So again the kit doesn't come with shocks, it doesn't come with coils
And you're on your own to redo your driveline stuff
And then we do have an option for the rear axle
Some guys are pretty hot for the 14 bolts
So we have an axle bracket kit for the Ford Sterling rear axle
And then we have a different bracket kit for a 14 bolt
It's pretty much the same thing except the track bar mounts
A little bit different to make everything work right
What about integration, speedo and brakes and all that kind of stuff
Yeah, so that's a great question
And that was a hang up for a lot of people to make that part work
And so I know we're doing just an audio thing
Part of our display here
So this is our new, we have a new unit bearing that we're making
And we double drill them, so we have the 8 on 170 wheel pattern
And we're also drilled for 8 on 6 and a half
So if you want the front rear super duty axle
And you want to run the 8 on 170 pattern, you can do that
Or if you want to run the 14 bolt rear with the 8 on 6 and a half pattern
You just press the different wheel studs into the unit bearing that we have
I'm seeing a wheel sensor and wiring harness
So you've got it set up for the right tone ring inside
So basically factory tone ring, but what we've done is
We've made a new wiring harness that plugs into the factory G plug
That's awesome
That plugs right in there, no dash lights, no nothing
And all you need then is just the taser tool that most people have anyways
To reset the tire size so the speedo is reading out right
That's cool because to me that's the biggest thing
Because who wants to do the axles if you've got to have
Jeep drives wonky or has a bit of lights on it
That is the hard part and we did fix that
Right on it
And we will do the unit bearings with different tone rings for different applications
Like some of the Toyota stuff needs some different tooth count on there
And things like that
So that is the thing that we're working on
So that's a big thing that we're displaying in our booth here
And we've got some other stuff too
This is a Ford super duty high steer kit
So some of the big disco trucks
Basically super duty is lifted taller than six inches
The steering starts to get really out of whack
Is that because of the angle?
Yeah, so the angles of the track bar and the drag link
So we've got our new steering knuckle that's part of the Jeep swap kit
So you can use that on a super duty
And then we have a special super duty high steer arm
And a track bar relocation bracket here
So looking at your display, your angles are almost identical
They're perfectly parallel as it sits here
So we have one of our test trucks is a super duty with a 10 inch icon lift on there
Which a lot of guys are running
So this truck drives better than it did stock with our high steer kit on there
So you have to lift it because once you bring the steering back into geometry
You can fix the tie rod
You can do the adjustments and all that stuff
But until you bring the steering closer to stock
You've got to correct the geometry
And the best way to do that is always to raise the track bar mounts on the axle housing
That raises the suspension roll center height
That's always the best way to do that
Sometimes you'll see guys do the drop track bar bracket
And then drop pitman arm from the steering box
It's a less expensive way to do it and not as good geometry wise
So if you can raise it on the axle housing
That's always going to be ideal and the best way to do it
I'm sure there's a lot of super duty guys right now that are hearing this
And they're just drilling
I hope so
Is it SynergyMFG.com?
Yeah, it's SynergyMFG.com
All of our new products are listed right on the homepage
And we also have a link on our website for our new SEMA product
So go ahead, log in there, check that out
And let us know if we can help you out
Cool, thanks Dave
Hey, thanks for coming by
Oh my god, it's that other guy who rolled a bunch of times and lived it till the tail
Hello
Was that Scott Verzal?
You know, just here holding down the fort at Heatwave
Signing some autographs, giving away pins
Got a whole crowd here, do you sign your name on posters and stuff?
Something like that
So I've always wondered this question, I'm going to ask you
Is that the same signature that you sign your checks with
Or do you have like a stunt signature for this type of stuff?
No, it's all the same
I always wondered if people had like a big signature
No, I have like the lamest signature ever
I don't think so, I just saw it
No, for signing things
And I'm like, I need a cool autograph
Then I made the cool autograph
And then I sign everything with it now
So tell me about what's going on in the Heatwave booth
I see a bunch of glasses, I see you're wearing yours indoors
Yeah, cool, because these lights give me a headache
Plus you just look cooler with sunglasses on
Yeah, that's true
But we got full on display, we got the old school TVs here
The old school TVs is rad
I can't lie
Nothing's cooler than a TV-VCR combo
TV wall, yeah
Yeah, we got a TV wall, we got
13 inch TV baby, oh yeah
Bro, these are 19, don't try to short change me
I've seen it
So we got the glasses on display here
We got all the shades you could possibly want
And you can buy them at the show
Oh, that's cool
So it's not just a display thing, you can come get something
Which is good, because half the people left them in a cab last night
Yeah, I still got about 10 of these lean pins left
So if you're all hearing this, you can come by and get a lean pin
And a signed poster, but other than that
Just chilling and seeing them
Hanging out with my friends like you
Hey man, this is the first time I've seen you since
Well, you know, before
Since we both, almost a lot of ourselves
So I'm glad we're both here
And I'm coming your way
Yeah, being dead is not good
No, don't in a lie to yourself, that's not great
So I was sort of in your neighborhood
Because I had to do some stuff in Monterey
And I was like, can I take the extra few hours
To make the right turn instead of the left turn
And go to Santa Rosa
I'm upset that you didn't
And I just didn't have time
So I'm telling you, I'm making a point
I'm going to come out and we're going to have lunch
That's an amateur mistake
And it's on me
Because I keep telling you I'm coming up
We have really good tacos around where I am
Do you?
Yeah, that's sushi
Listen, I come up for you
But the tacos are going to put me over the edge
Yeah, tacos, I like tacos
What's the name of the best taco place in Santa Rosa?
Oh, push it in the spot
El Roy's
El Roy's is the jump off
They have the best shrimp tacos
Alright, I want to go to El Roy's when I come up
El Roy's is pretty good
And then if you like flies in your food
But the most amazing
But it tastes good
Yeah, then that's not El Roy's
And you go to this Taco Rito
Taco Rito El Faberito
Oh, I like it
So good
Alright, so it's like December
Your slow season
I don't have one
You don't have one
So if I just came up in December
So let's go to lunch
December's like a season where I'm not racing
But I'm doing other stuff
So if I just showed up on your doorstep
Like a wet puppy dog in the rain
So let's go have tacos
I'll be here
Brought out in Bushetail
Ready to go
Ready for some El Roy's
On schedule
Do it, let's go
Alright, I'm standing out here
In front of SEMA
And you can hear
I think the Hoonigan guys are going crazy
Right now in the background
Which is super rad
They're literally
Looks like the parking lot is on fire
And I hear a lot of
V8's and tire noises
And they're turning perfectly good
Tires into smoke
Which I think we can all get behind
Alright, I am over in the Handcook booth
And we've got a couple of rig owners here
So I figured we would go through
And talk about your build
And I'm standing in front of a KOH car
Who am I with?
My name is Jacob Bacheco
I race in the 4800 class
For King and Hammer
Slash Ultra 4 racing
So the 4800 class
Is basically a single shock car
Per corner
And then 37 inch tires
Are a max DOT
So we're running the Handcook Dynapro MT2s
This is our first year together working
And you've won some races on them, right?
Yeah, so kind of
Cool story is
First year with Handcook
Working together as a partner
And able to win two races
And win three championships throughout the season
That's pretty amazing
Especially when you just got together with them, right?
Yeah, so this is their first
As far as I know their first
Entry into the Ultra 4 series
Obviously with Dynapro
Being their first
Their new Dynapro 37 inch MT2
We got the tires
Two weeks, three weeks before
Hammers and been running them ever since
And have had really obviously good luck with them
Great performance out of them
The MT2 is a great looking tire by the way
Yes, I was extremely happy to
See the tread design they came out with
The side lug scalp on it
I think helps in the rocks
Beats up the sidewall
In my opinion a little bit more
Doesn't hurt the traction either
Because when we're in the rocks
We need all the traction we can get
And being on my third different tire manufacturer
In three years
Teaming up with Dynapro MT2s
And Handcook
Winning what I've won
Able to win championships and races
That's the best I can ask for out of a tire manufacturer
And you obviously have a pretty good back to back
With what other tires have done
And I think just to
Let's face it, there's a lot of good drivers
And there's a lot of good cars
But being able to win in that environment
Starts with the tires
Yes, so obviously that's the thing
As they say rubber meets the road
And if I don't have a tire that performs
Then I'm not going to be able to perform myself
So along with my team
Working as a unison
And getting the tires to work with the car
And everything else
It really starts with the tire
Because that's the first thing to hit
That's the only thing that hits the ground
Everything else around it
I've done it the other way
It doesn't work so good
But working with the Dynapro MT2s
Working with the Handcook company
This year has been
A very satisfying and rewarding year
I'm kind of curious
When you are out racing
What type of tire pressures are you running?
Is this a VA car?
So you've got a lot of torque going through there
And you've got real bead locks on here
So I'm curious how they hold up
Sidewall wise
Because you're putting a lot of torque through them
So that's
With them being a brand new tire
Brand new tire to me, brand new tire to the industry
We had to learn a lot of the stuff
As a team
On our own
With our past experience
And figuring out what tire pressures they liked
And believe it or not, at the end of the race season
38 pounds is what we ended up running
Really? That's amazing
We started with 32
At Hammers
And then we progressed
Up to 38
And found that they liked to run at
38 on a short course
Amazing
When we do short course racing
We run 38 because
Depending on the terrain
We will grow heat in the tires
And they'll grow up to about 40 to 41 pounds
That much
Yes, especially in the last race
We had to practice anything that I won
The track slicked out
What we call got a blue groove in it
So it adds attraction
But heat to the tires
So we started with a little bit lower air pressure
At the 38
Because I wanted it to be at 41
When we ran desert
At Loughlin
For our last race of the year, the Nationals
We ended up running 38
Because there's no rocks, it's all desert
And we wanted
A little bit more traction with a little bit lower air pressure
But not sacrificing
The durability of the tire
And the 38 is what we liked
How heavy is your car?
The car rolls around
About 42 to
42 to 4,400 pounds
So it's not light? No
And when I say dress, that means it's ready to race
We have all the spares on the car
Fluids, alternator, all that stuff
That we would race at Hammers
Is what we race at Nationals
Because
If there's a problem, we want to be able to fix the car
And not be broken down inside the race
I haven't driven on this particular tire
But I've been on Handcooked before
And some of their alterations
Which look a little bit pedestrian
And I was shocked at how durable they were
I thought, oh man, I know I'm going to get sidewall punctures
But specific to the MT2, not only does it have great looking sidewall
With the scallops and everything
But they actually designed
This tire for
Sidewall puncture protection and chip and tear
Which is something that you are
That's a huge thing when you're racing desert
In multi terrain
So the biggest thing that eats us
Out on the lake bed
Or desert racing or rock crawling
Is really the sidewalls
If you don't have a strong sidewall
That's usually the first thing that will fail on a tire
You get punctures once in a while
That's going to happen
I don't care what tire manufacturer you're on
But we've had the best looks
With the Dyna Pro MT2s
For durability, sidewall
All that stuff combined
Is what I think makes the tire
So good in my
Type of racing that we do
With the 37 inch
Tire and the 4800 class
Awesome, appreciate your time
And telling us about your race car
Man, congrats on all your successes this year
Are you, when does
I guess you're in prep
Mid-season now, right?
No, our season is over now
After this show
The car will come back to my shop
It goes down to Bearframe
And then we rebuild the car from the round up
And then we only have
I think about
11 or 12 weeks
Before we have to get ready
Before we go to Hammers
Because we actually will leave
For Hammers around January 20th
Will that be the first race of the new season?
The first race of the new season is always
King and the Hammer, so that's our Daytona
Indy 500 of off-road racing
For the King and the Hammer series
Well, we'll see you out there and wish you best of luck
Appreciate it, come and look at us
In the hand-cooked booth, 4812 car
Appreciate it, thank you
Alright, so now I'm standing here
With Joel Dulek
And you're a crazy man
Most crazy people, if I see them
Desert Racing, it's because they're in a Beetle class
You're crazy because you went out
In King and the Hammer in a Sammy
Absolutely
That's probably the funnest
To be able to race into them
I love Samurai anyway because they're just special
And they're rad
But you've beat the hell out of this thing
Oh yeah
Every single race, we come home
And we crawl underneath it and we find a new crack
In the frame, that's why you can see
All the plates in the frame
Every time we find a new crack, we add a new plate
And then you add more weld
And then you cut stuff out, re-put it back in
Let's not lie
We've got some more time
This is a little rough on the outside
It's been through hell and back
It's a crumpled tin can
But it's still like
What other place can you go
Where you have a completely roached
Vehicle like this
And everybody's like, that's rad
Because that's like most people would look at the hood
And they're like, oh that's trash
Throw it away
You like conditions
The hinges attach and it latches
And the body gaps aren't bad
And it still looks halfway decent
And if you go through a hillstorm, you don't care
So tell me a little bit about it
Why is Sammy
Why are you crazy
Did somebody drop you when you were little
What happened?
I've always had a thing
For Samurai
Ever since I was little, I always wanted one
But my mom always said they were unsafe to drive
So I could never have one to drive on the road
But
They're just so like
The right size
They're small, they're nimble
They in stock form
You can fit them in the back of a long bit pickup truck
They're pretty much
A mini side by side
Before side by side came out
Some side by sides are bigger than this nowadays
They are
They're just awesome because you can drive them on the road
So you can go beat them up in the hills
Take them down, go to 7-11 with it
And they'll still probably make it back home
So what class do you race this thing in?
So this we race in the 4600 stock class
Ok
And that class
It's a lot of fun
Because you're limited to 35 inch tires
And you can't really stretch it
So you have to be within 3 inches of factory wheelbase
So you can't
Just bring a stretched TJ out there
Well let's face it
I have a flat fender, so I'm a flatty guy
And so they're not that different in size
Everybody's like how do you crawl over
I just go around it
You can squeeze through stuff those other guys can't do
That's like so
Up in, we're out of Oregon
And there's a trail up there called quack attacks
One of the harder trails up there
And there's
And there's a big pinch rock
Where all the guys on tons in 40's
Had to put a tire up on, get all sideways
Crush their cabin, getting through
But this thing's so narrow
I just turn, drive through the middle of it
And then I just sit there and laugh at everybody else
Struggling to get through
There's something to be said of it
What have you done to put it into race form
Because that's not a stock axle
You've upgraded the drive train
You've double eaves, which is cool
Reservoir fuses, smooth bodies
It's rough stuff
Toyota 8 inch housing
With Toyota 8 inch third members
And so they're fully fabricated axle
And then
On the outers we're using a Chevy
GM Dana 44
Outer C's with
You know what's funny when you say that
Is everybody's like, dude the 44 is so small for racing
But then you remember it's a Samurai
And it's giant
And you figure this has 63 horse with the rear wheels
Still run the stock four cylinder
Yeah, so that's the other thing, you have to have stock motor
Is it a 1.4?
It's a 1.3
And so then
With all the 44 parts
Even Toyota guys don't break them
But this is just such little power
You don't break anything
And
Like
For a lot of the races
It's so underpowered
But that's why if you look in the back
There's actually a hundred shot of nitrous right now
So
For a lot of the short course races
We'll spray it with a hundred shot of nitrous
And
You pretty much spray it to the clutch slip
Then you back off a little bit
Now how did you figure out that
100 was the magic number
It was kind of just like a combination
Of different people
I don't want to build this thing up
But the head lifted
How does it respond
Does it feel like you have a little tiny turbo?
Yeah, it feels like a little turbo car
All of a sudden
It's like those old off-road games
Where you'd get the nitro button
And you'd be able to push it
So tell me about the handcooks you're also on
The MT2s
So
Pretty much
We did a photo shoot before Hammers
We put on brand new tires
And
We did the photo shoot
Pre ran for Hammers
Raced Hammers
And then raced the entire NorCal
Rock racing series on a single set of tires
And
They hooked up great everywhere
I have no complaints
We didn't have any flats
Like nothing no issues with them
Like
This thing was so light
That a lot of other tires
You would spin them on the rocks
And they won't heat up and smoke
These actually started doing that a little bit
This one only weighs 3,000 lbs
So what type of pressure do you run in these things
When you're racing?
Typically like raced
Hammers were right around 15
I think it would be less because you're so light
And then NorCal would set it up to 20
Because there's a lot of just smashing through
You kind of bounce up and over stuff
Pin it
Alright, well Joel
I appreciate you walking me through your
Sammy, I love Sammy's
And I love crazy people driving Sammy's
Yeah, they're a lot of fun
If I ever see you out in the desert
Can I get a ride? Oh absolutely
You might need a back raise
The sounds of SEMA
Well, it's just so good for a minute
I love it
I'm standing here with AIM
Loraeos? Yes
I got it right
My wife would be
Proud of me for saying that the right way
Okay, I'm looking, you're glad you're here
By the way, this is the cover truck
For our recent issue of OVR
And I'm looking at all the badges
So I want to see here
You've got a black tail, wild bill
Backway to Crown King, I've done that one
Look, Kipsey Gulch, I've done that one
Fun Run, Snake
Black Bear, I've done
Imogene, I've done, Engineer, I've done
Ophir, I've done
Monument, Vincent Things, I've done
Elephant Hill, I've done, Schnebley
Awesome, I've done that one
Metal Master, I've done
In a high rock cave
This is like the newest one
Yeah, because they changed the design a little bit
Yeah, it's the newest addition for the
Batchup Auto Trailer recently
So you've taken this Jeep
On all those trails? Yes sir
This one has been taken to all of this trail
And most likely it's like
Solo Rig, so I just asked the family
Of Vibe
That's awesome, so tell me a little
About your build, I know if you want to
Find out more about it, you can go to OVR
Because we have a feature in the latest issue
But I like Ladiators
I think this one's a really clean build
So my good deal is
I have like a 35 inch
Tire, I'm running
Dyna Pro XT
And then I have a super pacific camper
And in the back
I don't have any drovers and anything
Cause like
There's already 5 of us
I want to keep my rig lightweight
Yeah, cause like
My background is backpacking
So you're used to the lightweight stuff?
Yeah, I like lightweight stuff
When you go backpacking, the more
Light you carry, the more distance
You can go
You know what's funny about that is when
We were kind of researching the OVR stuff
Sometimes we'll go after some of those backpacking places
Cause there's like, you'll do a gear review
And they'll go, oh, this one is
8 ounces more, so it sucks, right?
But it's so lightweight, it's perfect for overlaying
Cause it helps keep your rig light
So a lot of times if you go to the backpacking
People, you can find a lot of gear
To help keep your rig light
Exactly, that's why
I feel like
My philosophy in
Travelling with these vehicles
Some people will say, what
Would I bring to go on this trip?
For us, we will
Our mind will be like, which
Equipment we don't need on this trip
Cause if you say, which one
Would I need on this trip? You have a lot of
Keep bringing more
So which one we don't need
On this trip, and then
We don't bring stuff that we can
Use at least like, three-port
I have to like, one stuff
That can use like, for three different kinds of
Or four different kinds of ways
Just keeping it light, and then like
I want to travel on like
At the gross, we can
Keep it safe, especially when you have five people
There's only five of us
Yeah
It's a beautiful rig, so tell me a little bit about
The XT tires I know
This is sort of like the tweener tires
A little bit more aggressive than the AT
A little bit more aggressive than the MT
It's really, they decided around
Highway comfort, but for long distances
But made it tough enough to go hit the trails
To get there, right? I mean, it's a good
It's a good all-around tire
So I have a great test with this tire
Last summer, cause like
We did almost a month long trip
Like a 26 days trip
We did a Colorado BDR
We did part of
Wyoming, and then the
Idaho BDR
So we traveled all the way to
And that's a lot of miles, good for you
So we did like 5,800 miles
And then like
2,800 miles of that one was off-road
So basically, we tested
These tires with all kinds of terrain
All kinds of
Environment, and so
I'm happy with these tires
I mean, you're literally, you're on rock
You're on sand, you're on mud
And everything, the only road condition
That I didn't encounter this trip was
The snow, so I had to test that one
Somewhere, and then like
You know, I tested this one
When we were in Montana, it's like
80 miles per hour in Montana
So I did only like 60
On a rain
I told my wife, there's this little car behind us
And I know, I was like
I want to like test that, like how
The stuff is
Stealth-stable, it is, it's hydroplated
And then it handles like
Really great for me, so I was like
Surprised at it, I mean like
I was surprised because it's my first time
Having with these tires, so basically
All my, um, especially
If you live in Sokau, like
You have to travel like a little bit farther
To go hit on the trail
This is a good driver
Basically, we're overlanding, because like
You have to travel like long distance
On asphalt, and then get on trail head
Now, your suspension kit on this
Is that a 3-inch lift?
So this is a 2-inch
I have 2F
Clayton, but I changed
The springs to
AEV
It's a 2.5
But
AEV says it's a 3
So it's basically like 3
It's a great looking rig
And I love that you use it
My last Spraygler, my 392
It had 30,000 miles on it
And I found
No joke, 5000
5000 to 7000 miles were off-road miles
Like I used it, and I do it on big trips
That were 1000 miles off-road
So I love running into somebody else
Who uses their vehicle like I do
And hopefully gets to see you out on the trail
Because you like all the same places I do
Yeah, I mean like we
Especially like, I listen to the podcast
When you always like
Telling me about the
So we only know before
The Mojave road
And then I hear about
That E-M-H-T?
So I was like, and then found
The group in Facebook
So I was like
This is an explorer village?
Yeah, so I do
Two section already
But we want to do it as like a one whole run
The whole E-M-H-T
Give yourself about, I would say
10 to 12 days
That's what I planned, we wanted like 10 days
Because I love photography
The photography out there
Your opportunities is so spectacular
Because it's some of the most
Remote regions of California
And that trail is near and dear to my heart
And I'm glad to hear that you've been
On part of it now, the part you've been on is pretty rad, right?
Yeah, it is
Also there's a lot of
Short hike in the area
That my kids love
Petroglyphs, a little slot canyon
Exactly, and the
The cave, I forgot the name of the cave
Oh, I know you're talking about
Yeah
You get
Lava tubes over on the Aiken mine
Side, and then there's a few other
Caves, and then Mitchell Caverns
Mitchell Caverns, yeah, that one
I don't think like
Most Californians know about
Mitchell Caverns
Most Californians don't know that the desert is full of amazing places
It's gonna surprise me
Some of my kids
Lessons about
Stalactites and stalagmites
And then like
I show it to them, like you wanna see it
Yeah, let's go to Mitchell Caverns
But I want to
Tell the listeners that you have to make a reservation first
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Before you're going there, so it's a guided tour
So how long have you been listening to the podcast?
Three years now
Oh, awesome
I appreciate that, thank you for your support
You got a beautiful gladiator
Thank you, sir
Thank you, sir
Houston Backus, what is going on?
How are you? We're at SEMA
Cobb Tuning Booth
What is going on? We are at SEMA
And it has been an incredible week so far
I will say that we started off with the manufacture
Of the Euro award yesterday
What?
And then I wrapped up last night with the SEMA woman of the Euro award
What?
So yesterday was too much, it's amazing my head fits in here
So it's today like
Can't live up to it, you just bring it over
Today it's just been a let down good job
Although you know it's not a let down
You're incredibly soft booth carpet
It's true, we got that cushy stuff here
Yeah, it's good
So when I was walking around looking at stuff
I saw somebody's new tunes are out
In the new product section that we talked about on
News a few weeks ago
When you sent me the pressure release
But maybe walk us through some of the new stuff for this year
Sure, yeah, so the two is
The two is newest
Two is newest, I like that
Those would be the Toyota Tacoma
And the Toyota 4Runner
For the 4th and 6th gen respectively
And they are
Taking a little Toyota world by storm
So tuning is fairly new for that market
It's been an interesting endeavor
And then we've got so much
New stuff coming on that front
So outside of
Inside of Toyota we've got
Tundra
LXGX
Sequoia
What else am I missing? Land Cruiser
Yeah, it's all coming
That's blowing up
Mostly on the tuning side or accessories as well
All the above, so as a standard better practice
Everything that we support is going to get tunes
And then eventually the hard parts that go with it
With the stage packages
With the off the shelf tunes to make it all spin
That's awesome
It's a cool set up and it's going to be
I know we've kind of teased it a little bit
Over the past year or two
To see you're sort of at that point
Where now you can talk about the stuff
That's been sort of teased, it's pretty neat
Yeah, oh yeah, so it's a
Development process, especially when we're talking
About dealing with emissions compliance and all of that
So we're dealing with all the internal development
And all the hang ups and set backs
That come with brand new platforms
That we've never touched before
And then as soon as we feel really accomplished
We go to the state of California and smack us
Back down to reality and humble us
And sometimes we have to go back to the drawing board
And make some changes
And we start slowly
Getting those iterations right
And so we have something that we can actually release
That's 49th state
And pending 50th state release
What are we looking at power wise
And is this on the standard turbo 4
Anything hybrid or just the
Yeah, so not hybrid quite yet
It's going to be that standard internal combustion
And right now we're looking
In the power range is about 50
And then off the shelf too
That's a lot
It's not nothing
That is, I mean in that vehicle
That's got to be
What is that thing
Like 280
Or something
It's pretty good
And once we get through
That and you take that off to a pro tuner
I mean I'll be thrilled to see what
They're capable of once they're
Off on their own dyno working specifically with your vehicle
And you also have some Ford stuff
Yes, brand new Ford things
So we have just
Gotten, well
Let me say this, we are just about ready
To release the 2425 Raptor
Toons, those are coming very quickly
We have purchased a
Raptor Ranger
Actually we've purchased two Raptor Rangers
Because Lance had a hand in the first one
And they're incredible
So cool to drive
We've got Raptor Ranger
We've got Bronco Raptor coming
Which is finally
It was him who cost it though right
And then we have
The standard Broncos
So the two three and two seven options
We are nailing down the last pieces of that
And those will be released much sooner
Rather than later, so that's all coming
In short order
Rapid succession
You've been busy
We've been busy as hell Sean
It's been an exhausting few months
But we are glad to be at the point
Where everything is starting to come out
How good does it feel that you put in all that effort
And it's like, now you get these awards
And you're like, okay, the rest of the world thinks we're as cool as we do
We always loved ourselves
But as it turns out, other people love us too
And that's pretty great, yeah
It feels like a real crowning achievement
Coming on the tail end of such a rapid fire
Variative development
What should we look forward to
Anything else that we didn't touch on that's coming
That we could hint at
Mmm
This is a trick question
We've got some exhaust components coming
We've got maybe some
Larger and more intensive exhaust components coming
We've got maybe some suspension components coming
These are things that are very much in development
I can throw on the cutting room floor immediately
Hold your breath, but not that one
Good to see you
Congrats on all the awards
And for all of our Toyota fans out there
I know you're stoked to hear about the tuning
And then Raptor people
Raptor people always want a little bit more
So I think those two are going to be great
Absolutely, yeah, we're looking forward to all the new releases
Thank you for coming by
You're welcome
Glad to see you here and up and functioning at the SEMA show
Thank you, as I've been telling people it's going to be seen
That's right
Alright, well cheers, we'll catch up later
Sounds good
Alright, that's going to do it for part two of our SEMA coverage
But stay tuned because we've got lots more coming
Thank you, Amsoil, Kershaw Knives and OVR Mag
For making the show possible
And don't forget to go to TruckshowPodcast.com
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Looking forward to doing it again soon
Some vehicles may have been harmed during the making of this podcast
About this episode
Continuing the SEMA 2025 coverage, this episode features insights from notable brands like Bestop, Synergy Suspension, and Cobb Tuning. Listeners will hear about innovative products such as Bestop's new eTop for Broncos, Synergy's Super Duty axle kits for Jeeps, and Cobb's tuning options for Toyota vehicles. The hosts engage with guests, including Scott Birdzall and various vehicle owners, discussing their unique builds and experiences at the show. The episode is packed with technical details, product launches, and the excitement of the automotive community.
Original notes
Holman continues his SEMA coverage with his first day on the show floor, grabbing interviews from Bestop, Synergy Manufacturing, Scott Birdsall, Hankook tire builders, and Cobb Tuning. The Truck Show Podcast is produced in partnership with AMSOIL, Kershaw Knives, and OVR Mag. Don't forget to check out truckshowpodcast.com for special offers from our friends and sponsors!
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The Truck Show Podcast
Sean P. Holman
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