The Truck Show Podcast Dec 24, 2025

S3, E66 - Justin Andrews

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73:09

Concept

SEMA

SEMA is a big event where car part makers show off new accessories and upgrades. It’s like a trade fair for people who want to customize their cars.

Company

Mopar

Mopar sells parts and accessories that fit Jeep cars, helping owners upgrade or repair their vehicles.

Brand

Jeep

Jeep makes cars that are great for off‑road adventures, like the Wrangler and Gladiator.

Company

JPP

JPP makes parts that help Jeep owners improve their trucks, especially for off‑road use.

Car

Gladiator

The Gladiator is a pickup truck made by Jeep that can handle rough terrain, like a small off‑road adventure vehicle.

Part

winch

A winch is like a big cable that helps pull stuck cars out of trouble spots.

Part

recovery bag

When a car gets stuck, you need tools to pull it out. A recovery bag keeps all those tools together and protected.

Brand

American Buffalo

These gloves are made from a tough material that can handle rough jobs, like pulling cars or working in the mud.

Part

ultra hook

An ultra hook is a strong piece you attach to your truck’s hitch so it can pull bigger trailers safely.

Part

hitch link

A hitch link is the piece that connects your truck’s hitch to something you want to pull, like a trailer.

Part

flat linkie

A flat linkie is a flat piece you attach to your hitch so you can put stuff on it, like a cargo carrier.

Term

OD green

OD green is a dark, earthy green color that looks like the paint on army trucks. It’s popular for off‑road vehicles because it blends with nature.

Term

limp

If your car’s computer sees a problem, it can put the car into a ‘limp’ state where it only runs at low power to keep you safe.

Part

quick release hitch pin

It’s a small metal piece that lets you hook up or pull off a trailer or recovery tool very fast, which can be life‑saving if you’re stuck on the side of a road.

Part

traction board

A traction board is a flat piece of material that helps race cars stick to the track better when turning fast. It’s like a small, hard patch on the road that gives tires more grip.

Part

rubber isolator

It’s a piece of rubber that helps keep the car from feeling too rough by soaking up bumps and vibrations.

Part

cross beam

It’s a metal bar that holds parts of the car together, making sure everything stays in place when you drive.

Part

snappering

Snappering is like a tiny hook that helps you fasten cables to your car so they stay in place.

Part

splicer

A splicer is a tool you attach to a winch so it can pull another car out of mud or a ditch.

Term

ISO quality certified facility

ISO certification means the factory follows strict rules to make sure parts are made well and reliably.

Term

O.E. partnerships

O.E. partnerships mean the parts are made to fit new cars straight from the factory.

Part

silicone rubber gasket

The gasket is a rubber ring that stops water from getting inside the winch parts, keeping everything dry and working well.

Brand

Warren's warranty

Warren’s warranty means if something goes wrong with the winch because of a manufacturing problem, Warren will fix or replace it for you.

Term

full size truck platform

It’s the basic frame that makes a big truck, like a Ford F‑150 or Chevy Silverado, able to carry heavy loads and tow trailers.

Part

clutch lever

It’s a lever you pull in the car to shift gears when driving a manual transmission.

Part

drum light

A drum light is a small lamp that shines on the inside of a winch’s drum so you can see how the rope is wrapped and make sure it’s even.

Brand

Toyota

Toyota is a car company from Japan that makes many popular trucks and SUVs, like the Tacoma and 4Runner.

Company

Amz Oil

Amz Oil makes special oils that help cars run smoother and last longer. They also sell kits to change the oil yourself.

Term

oil change kits

An oil change kit gives you everything you need to replace your car’s engine oil by yourself, saving a trip to the shop.

Term

UTV blocks kit

A UTV blocks kit is a set of pieces that you can attach to the front and back of an off‑road vehicle to keep it from getting dented or scratched.

LIVE

Hey everybody, welcome back to the pod chat. It is your host, Holman. And I'm excited for today's show because we're going to be catching up on content that's been sitting in the bank for a while. This is a interview that we did before SEMA, actually. And it's a great interview with one of my favorite people in the industry, Justin Andrews, from Warren in Factor 55. He hasn't been on in a while. And man, we covered a lot of stuff. And to me when I was editing it, it just sounded like two old friends catching up. And those are some of my favorite interviews.

And pieces of content that we do. So we're going to get through that. I've got some other stuff that I'm going to try and get through before the end of the year because we just have a ton of bank content. There's a lot going on. So please stay tuned. And outside of that, man, just been driving the Gladiator around collecting boxes or friends over at the Jeep brand. And Mopar and JPP have been sending me stuff from the catalog. We're going to do some kind of easy upgrades on it to show what you can do with a Gladiator for that kind of weekend warrior and daily driver bit.

I'm going to do some podcast. Stay tuned for that and been going through some boxes and getting some things installed on the 392 and keeping that build going. And after Christmas, I hope I have a lot more boxes to tear through because I'm going to be busy in the first part of the New York because I got a lot of installing to do. So bring you guys along for the ride on that. But before we get started, we've got to thank the companies that support the production of the truck show podcast from now until December 31st, take advantage of Amazon's holiday offer, spend $125 for more on synthetic oil, lubricants, greases, car care products. And yes, even merch.

And get the Amsoil Blocks UTV set for free. Use the promo code Holman 2025 at checkout on Amsoil.com. We use Amsoil products to protect our rigs. And you should too. Have you considered getting your loved ones or yourself a brand new Kershaw knife or 40% off MSRP? This includes automatics. And the code can be used more than once. Kershaw has an extensive lineup of knives ranging from EDCs. You won't be afraid to abuse to premium made in the USA knives you want to share with your friends. The code is to TSP 2025 and get that new knife today.

At kershaw.ki USA.com. If you want the latest in adventure gear and upgrades for your vehicle, go to OVR mag.com and use the code at truck show podcast or discount on print or a one year digital subscription for free. Please help me to keep the truck show podcast free by supporting our sponsors or leaving reviews on Apple or Spotify. And of course, don't forget to check truckshowpodcast.com for the latest deals.

We're going to answer what the truck because truck rides with the truck show. We have the lifted. We have the lower than everything in between. We'll talk about trucks that run on diesel. Electricity and our gas of the truck show the truck show the truck show it's the truck show with your host Holman.

Broadcasting today or actually recording today from a rainy so cal day a rare. Super storm coming through got the atmospheric river.

Getting it all wet but found a little bit of a break in the heavy stuff so I could record this. And instead of taking that rainy afternoon nap I'm here recording this for you guys.

All right. Let's hear from Warren and factor 55's guru of recovery. My friend Justin Andrews. All right. So with me on the horn today is my good friend Justin Andrews.

Justin Andrews from Warren and factor 55. I think your title now is brand manager for both. Yes for both. All right. Well, that's that's a lot of work.

Yes, sir. Yes indeed. You you got a lot on your plate. And that's why I wanted to get you back on the show because I had reached out to you talking about a winch for the new Jeep. And then we got to talking about the new winch lineup.

I'm just talking about some of the new gloves you have. And then we got to talking about some of the other factor. And I'm like, why don't we just have you on the podcast so we can just cover all of this and let everybody know because you've been pretty busy rolling out product and there's been some some little stuff that everybody should have.

There's been some big stuff for the next time that you you need a recovery gear or winch and kind of everything in between. So we'll get into that but first we got to play your jingle.

Prepared to die. Prepared to die. Captain. Captain, we're too deep. There's no such thing as too deep.

Okay, that was too deep. So we're going to go too deep with you with you with you today.

So, dude, that sounds like Pete Holmes, like the comedian doing his Batman impression.

Yeah, totally right. So I don't know what you, I don't know where to start. Maybe we'll start with factor 55 because I've got a huge thumbs up and then a bone to pick with you.

So I'll start there. And so the huge thumbs up is you guys recently came out with a new recovery glove. They're called the Roper X gloves and you did it in collaboration with the Sullivan glove company.

And these are rigging and recovery gloves that are made to essentially last. I mean, these could be heirloom gloves in your bag, depending on how much you use them.

I bought a pair because I love a good pair of work gloves. These things are so well, hey, they're made in the United States in Oregon, I believe, right? And.

Yep, and band, yep, yeah, been banned. So made in the USA, they're super comfortable. They fit awesome. I the listener can't see this, but we're on zoom so you can see me.

And I have used these just for like stuff at the at the ranch. I'm like, you know what? I stole I got these from a recovery bag.

I stole them from my recovery bag. And now I have to buy another pair to put my recovery bag because I love these things so much.

Yeah, I think just funny enough is that Max Dallinger, our good buddy from rock shock four by four. Yeah, I just had a smokey mountain jeep invasion a couple of weeks ago.

Max ended up buying four pairs.

I was like, he came and got a pair and then he came back and, well, you know, I got to leave him in the truck and now I get another pair with this.

I was like, dude, like holy crap, any about four pairs of gloves. They're only like 90 bucks. And 90 bucks isn't a lot, but you might think, oh, 90 bucks is a lot for a glove.

The reason I love these. So the palm is American Buffalo. And so if you know what American Buffalo, how durable it can be soft and also durable at the same time.

And it's tobacco brown, they're two tone. And then on the backside, it's it's like that gold color in American elk four ounce on each. And then they've got the fact or 55 logo.

And again, what I love about it is bison or buff American Buffalo is so good for abrasion resistance durability. It actually ends up being a really great material for winching applications.

Absolutely. I mean, you think about a lot of things, you know, like, you know, I was I was default back to this, especially grown up in Idaho that like.

You know, Cowboys had this stuff figured out a long time ago. Yeah. And and a lot of it, too, is like when you think about like even Native Americans making moccasins and things like this, I mean, they were they were using this for shoes.

You know what I mean? Like so it's the fact that how robust that that leather really is. And one of the things of what the mechanics gloves or synthetic gloves like that, especially with, you know, the polymers that winch ropes are made out of in general, they're really slick.

Yeah. And so they tend to slide. And then plus once you're like stacking rocks or just moving stuff around on the trail or touching hot exhaust or grabbing on a sharp metal things on vehicles.

You know, you also want to protect to make sure that you end up always being like the asset, not the liability because as soon as somebody's bleeding, the narrative changes and if you're the guy that understands recovery and you're there to kind of guide that process.

If you're out of the game, then that makes it dangerous for everybody else, right? If you're the guy who was brought along the other thing I would say is how many times have you been in the desert and you pull out a winch line in its synthetic and it goes through a cactus or something on the ground.

And then you get the synthetic gloves and those needles go right through a synthetic glove in your pocket through them. Yeah. Yes, exactly. And then I was, you know, funny enough, I was talking to Dave Wong of, you know, from like all the competitive rock crawling Dave does.

And one of the things that he even mentioned was one of his spotters, you know, he was going through a pair of mechanics gloves at every event just from stacking the rocks and stuff.

You know, I mean, so, so when you think about your spending 20, 30, 40 dollars, even on a pair of just basic gloves like this, you know, ask in 90 bucks for a premium product that can deal with the abuse and last a long time is more than I think more than easy to do.

And really part of the thing does been a big passion project of ours where we, you know, even when we made our recovery kits, you know, we're still one of the only companies that has every single kit that we offer every single component that comes in the kit, including the bag itself is USA sourced and made.

And so it makes it to where we didn't want to just throw in some crappy pair of gloves. Yeah. And so it became this whole thing like how are we going to go through this process and we started to reach out to all these like different leather people and different companies.

And then we ended up, you know, really connecting with Sullivan, you know, and do they've been in business longer than Warren has been in business, they, you know, they started their business in 1941 and just like as you can see the video on our YouTube channel.

You know, they talk about these equipment that's in their shop, they bought with a war bond from World War II like crazy, like, and they're still using it. Yeah, it's so, it's so fascinating to watch them.

And the patterns, I think they're still using some of the same patterns for gloves. Now they've expanded their line, but.

Yeah, man, it's the coolest thing, dude. Like they, and get into like, you know, get to see where like on the hides where flies like bitty animal.

You know, I'm saying it's so unique. You know, I mean, and it really was a, a real passion project to come up with because my problem specifically one of the one of the big features that I loved was, you know, you always should be wearing gloves.

And it's the number one thing you want to put on before you approach a vehicle recovery, do any things, totally protecting your hands. And so we went through this whole process where I was like, well, my problem is I never know where they are. Right.

I put stuff them in the door. I put them in the center console. They're in the bag. They're wherever.

And so every time I got in the trail, I was like, well, I want to have access to these. Well, if I put them in my pocket, they fall out of my pocket.

If I try to like put them on my belt, like they never seem to be that's never a comfortable fit. And so that's where that little stamped hole in the bottom of the wrist made it to where you could actually put a carabiner there.

And then clip them on your belt. So now you have easy access to where they're always there.

And then the other thing was is that when you put them on, then you also have a finger pocket to help pull the gloves on and keep them snug up into your hands.

So it's it's it's an incredible like purpose built idea on the same thing with the wrist flare being wide. So they're easy on and off in case you needed to get them off.

But you got the triangle there. So you can close up that gap and you've got the button and and that allows it to like fit around your wrist without like water or snow or whatever getting down into the glove, but they're easy to get on because of the flare.

And and also protecting your watch, right? Yeah. You got a nice watch on, right? So it's also protecting that. And then by having so you have that that real thick, you know, durability of the bison on the bottom and then the elk is super stretchy.

And so as you're closing your palm and grabbing on to things, it's not like tight on around your whole hand. Now that kind of thing like led into, you know, a further idea that was also because you have the gold on the top and that tobacco brown, that reddish color on the bottom.

It's also a visual indicator for when you're spotting on the trail. So when you have the hands up, it stops, stop, stop or turn them about, you know, your come, come, come.

Yeah, I did. You're trying to like spot people on the trail with it. So all of these things just worked out to be, you know, what I feel is like the perfect pair of gloves that, you know, that will last long time. And then because of that thick leather, you know, you can weld on the trail.

You can do all these things and you don't have to worry about, you know, risking your hands there in the pair that I've had, you know, so we just released these right, they just came out in August.

Yeah. But the pair that I've had from them, I've had for three years. That's how long it took to get this deal done. And so I've the three King of the hammers, three Easter Jeep safaris.

Three, you know, I mean, yeah, and you're one of those people that you're out in the field all the time, you're every show, you're working the races, you're doing, you know, you're not just like the guy back in the office and setting people out, you're out there. I see usually when I see you, it's, it's out in the world.

Yeah, so we do, you know, we do 50 trade shows a year, right. And now the semi being out on the road all the time. Like so in fact, I'm really bummed because this weekend is sans sports super show.

Yeah. I normally would have been there, but we actually have some new power sports managers and that kind of thing. So they're really taking over to do a lot of stuff for that particular event. But, you know, I'll be leaving.

Next weekend, I'm doing a winch training in Spokane, Washington, and then turn right around from that and then I'll be at trail here all week. So like these things get abused, right. I use them abuse them. And the fact that they look, they still look brand new.

And one of the things that got brought up from just at Windrock, because after Spokane Mountain Jeep invasion, we did wheeling with Warren at Windrock.

And it's been kind of going on for five or six years at this point. And one thing that kind of got brought up from that is we are showing some of the new products, which we'll get into here shortly, but we're filming and doing some stuff in the new products and using them out on the trail.

And, you know, the gloves got covered in that soppy.

Oh, dude, yeah, mud. Yeah, right. And then it made me realize, like, oh, well, now I got a whole not a content bit where this is how you wash the leather. This is how you condition it. This is how you take care of it and make them last and dude, it was amazing.

I ended up washing the gloves, getting all this thick ass mud off of there. And then I didn't have any leather conditioner, but somebody had some like churrell hand lotion.

And it's water based.

I've got the baseball glove conditioner for my kid. She plays softball. So that would be perfect for this stuff, you know.

Yeah, exactly. So it goes right in there. All of a sudden the glove is supple again. Yeah. And dude, it just even revitalizes the life of it because it is like a skin, like a second skin.

And it's like, man, literally really last forever. You know, I mean, they're so they're so great.

I know that's a lot of glove talk, but I'm telling you, I'm so impressed by these things that I have.

I've got this, this pair, which I stole, I put in my recovery bag and then I took them back out.

And I've been using them when I'm up at the property. And I'm just going to get a second pair. So I've got a glove, you know, gloves for when I'm up at the ranch and then gloves for when I got to do recovery.

And I also like how all the stitching's done on the inside. So they're look really good, but they're still really comfortable.

It's just a, it's a great glove. But the one area, the one thing that I have a bone to pick about it is I got these gloves.

Alright, I bought them that came to the house. I put them on. I even asked you about sizing and you're like, do this and they were perfect. Perfect size. Everything's perfect.

And so I went to factor 55 calm and I went to the Roper X gloves page and I scrolled down to reviews and says write a review.

So I wrote a review. I put pictures on their five star. I'm like, these things are awesome. It's been like a month and there's like no review on there.

Who's doing your website? Let's get some reviews up there because I personally have some.

Oh, man, I have to go check that out because so, so long story long here while I'll try to keep it short.

But what ended happened is when we got acquired by Warren industries, we we had a WooCommerce platform website, right?

So we did that forever. And then when we got acquired part of the part of the big thing was like with the, you know, combination of all the Warren family of brands, we moved that platform to not commerce.

And so there was a lot of stuff where like e keystone was actually fulfilling a lot of our website was because it was trying to get to the point where like, let's say if you're ordering and main, it was going to ship out of a place in Pennsylvania, right?

So it was just trying to eliminate lead time of getting parts to customers even logistically faster.

And what I'm happening is we finally just revamped everything on to a Shopify platform and brought that all that inventory and everything back in house here in Boise.

So we're basically back to operating the way that we did pre acquisition. And so because of that, this website is brand is brand new as of like the end of June.

Well, it's a great website, by the way, it's a great website. And and I, I, you know, just preparing for the show and I use factor 55, I love factor 55 products, all that stuff.

But just know that they're behind on some reviews and you can have some five stars up there.

I'm going to handle that as soon as we're done.

I'm so proud of it too. I'm like, I'm going to do this review and then I'm going to send you just it.

Totally. And I was going to be all proud. I didn't get a chance to do this. Anyway, love the gloves.

What else from factor 55 before we move to the big new products that Warren should we hit on while while I have your attention.

So literally this morning, I mean, literally this morning I made a post for we just released another five new products outside of the gloves.

So just this morning, we got a big announcement that we did for the ultra hook, the hitch link and the flat linkie.

We now are offering it into like kind of a deep purple color. So that was something we want to get a new color away.

So that adds into the suite of products that were there's like a 392 like bronze gold.

I have those. And so funny story about that is when it was at the Overland show, I think in Orange County.

And I saw Gary Whifter there and Gary's like, Hey, I noticed that on your Jeep, you've got everything's are the gray color way or the, you know, whatever the anti is mills back or whatever that is right.

And and he goes, you know, that we offer the 392 and it was like a limited run, but I have some here. So he got me a new ultra hook, the new easy.

All right. I think it's an ultra hook link and something on the hitch link. I think there's probably the hitch link. Yeah.

And so I had those and I was going to put them on. They were in my Jeep when I rolled it on the way to Moab.

And they survived in the bag and ended up coming home because I didn't have time to put them on before Easter Jeep Safari.

So I was going to put them on the garage at our Airbnb. So those are going on the new Jeep as soon as it gets home.

Oh, that's great. Well, awesome. Yeah. So like this is just expansion into some new colorways.

Just that, you know, because people have been asking for some, you know, from various other color options. So we just brought that we brought the OD green back. So we had that military color as well. So that's back.

And that's cool because that's more of a matte finish. Right. So if you look at all the colors. So you've got, you know, red, the blue, you've got the bright yellow.

You've got the silver, which almost looks like a polished aluminum the way it comes out. The actually in the silver is actually a type two anno finish. Yeah, it's a heart. Yeah. Yeah.

And then the the gray and yet the orange that matches the new Jeep juice color. You've got the green that's really close to them.

And then you start getting into the bronze, of course, they start getting into you like that flat green. And then now purple. So you've got this great color way of bright stuff of flat stuff of people who have more of a, you know, Jolopy like my, my desert colored flat fender.

And yeah, you know, so you have something for everybody. I love these products. And it's fun to see that you're making them available. You know, white variety of products and in colored ways, because people are, they love using these as the accent, especially if you take off the Jeep bumper and put on an aftermarket bumper, you lose the colored toe hooks.

And I feel like people are putting factor 55 back on to get those hops of accent color back on their vehicles. Yeah, 100%. So I mean, part of it is it's form and function. I mean, there's not very many things that we get in life.

That look good and go good, right? And so that was one of the, it was one of the biggest, like kind of fundamental basis when it came to like the precision engineering and the foundation of what factor 55 is.

And you know, honestly, if it was up to Mike, when we first started the company, he would have left everything gun metal gray and that's it.

Every one of them would be inventory or do anything else. And it just, you know, and for me, as being a, you know, a diehard Jeep or I'd be like every time we see a new color way from Jeep, we would just be matching the pink code.

Yeah. So it just is what it is. Right. But even if it's a short run or something, right? Like it's still worth it for that person to have that color match.

Well, and that's what we used to do with the OD green. So like that we would get these orders from like, you know, either like green berets or, you know, some special forces units or like the air force or things like this.

And they would order everything in that federally read regulated OD green color.

Yeah. And so, you know, you, you have to do a limp. You got to do a minimum, you know, rack of them when you're running them through powder coding and all these things.

And so we would fulfill these orders. And then then we would just put them up on the website because we were just in total control of all that.

And now it's just kind of point where between Toyota Jeep, I mean, you name it like there's those like the Sarge green. I'm like all these other colors are there that people are really interested in that color way.

And, you know, and I still think that we'll offer some other ones like we make the pink that like the Tuskegee area specifically for like top is for Tata's and supporting some of those organizations.

So there are those color ways are also widely available. And the neat thing like we tell everybody's like, you know, you can always take these parts to sandblast them and powder code them yourself.

And we're now getting to a place to where we're all we're almost ready to turn on a feature to have the end user be able to send the park back to us so we can re engrave it for you.

So you have a very specific color trying to match and trying to be, you know, connecting me cool with the end customer as well along that line.

Yeah, that's awesome. Oh, one of the products that I want to bring up. This is an old product. It's been around for a long time, but it's, it's one of the more affordable factor 55 pieces and probably an unsung hero in some sense. It's, it's so important.

Everybody knows how to go to Home Depot and get a Chinese hitch pin. And then they trust their entire recovery gear or their trailer hitch or whatever off of that.

And I've seen so many videos online where the hitch pin bends breaks flies out becomes a projectile or or allows the the hitch itself to be a projectile.

You guys still make the quick release hitch pin and it's right now on the website's 18 bucks and it's 303 plus high strength stainless steel.

And it has a 50,000 pound shear strength that it's made right here in the USA. And that's one of those things that should be in everybody's recovery bag. It's, it's affordable.

It's quality and it could save your life one day whether that means yanking yourself or a friend out of a predicament or not breaking and going through the windshield and hitting somebody in the head.

So I just wanted to point that out. It's one of those things that people don't really think about because I just go down to Home Depot and grab it.

Don't do that. Go to factor 55.com and buy their quick release hitch pin. It's cheap insurance to make sure that your system is in exactly along those lines too.

One of the other cool things that we did is that we even with the lockable version right those the tumblers are actually made in Chicago.

And the cool thing even about the lockable pins for those people that want some more security.

You that we they get batch made and batches of 50. So you can actually get multiple pins that use one key.

So not having to like, you know, you're not having to run around trying to find like, oh man, which key goes to what's car and the whole thing.

You know, so there's that was a lot of things that we put a lot of thought into like that. And so when we did the destructive testing for the for the for the hitch pins.

I mean, that was one of the biggest things that we wanted to put out is like look, man, like there's there's nobody else that's making and proving with the sheer strength on their hitch pins are.

Because for those part, they will work because the hitch links, you know, create the pin to be put in a double shear.

Yeah. But that's assuming they're using your product and not wrapping a loop from a to strap around a ball or putting the to strap in and just.

The pin to hold all that load because in that put in that place you're dealing with bending forces and starts to yield in the middle of it.

And just even you'd be surprised that the light loads that'll start to bend those and then you have to cut them out anyway. So that's really.

Yeah, it's it's kind of like one of those unsung heroes that that lingers on there. So yeah, pretty cool.

And even the locking hitch pin with the two keys, 53 bucks right now on the website. Like just.

That's how much a locking. Yeah, that might be the cheapest thing on your Jeep and it can save your life. Like why wouldn't you grab a $53 locking or a quick release $18 hitch pin.

Just go do that. That's truck show podcast says go do that.

Yeah. And if you come down like doing that and anybody that comes to CS at any of the events that we attend, we always have shows specials on those two.

And so they're even cheaper to buy them from us in person.

Like we're always doing the best that we can to like hook up the community. And then, you know, it also for anybody that listens to us now.

And by the time this this launches out, I mean, be looking forward to like, you know, our black Friday sale, which is the biggest one we have every year.

So like there's so much stuff that that we're going to be releasing.

So that's where part of this too, just like today, like we released a new color way for the purple.

We actually did these really bad ass thing where we now made the ultra hook and the hitch link in a keychain.

They're actually billet machines, little keychain.

That's right.

Dude, they're it's the coolest thing. Like I really.

We had we had talked about doing it forever ago because what we had done is from Mike for his 50.

I think it was his 55th birthday.

We had actually made a little mini ultra hook and then we had to get we called it the Mike grow hook.

We get it to him as a gift.

That's for years we had been talking about making these and kind of doing that, especially for like all the RC fans out there and all.

But they're really like we billet machine them there.

It's a billet machine hard and it dies like little unit.

That's this cool little neat kind of thing.

So that's like I think it's a pretty special little thing that I'm excited that we got those out.

Very, very cool to have those as a neat little like add on kind of product and for fans of the brand.

And then we also just released.

We're now selling USA made traction boards.

So sweet via action tracks.

So those are now available on the website.

So we have.

We really wanted, you know, in the world of traction boards.

There are a ton of options.

One thing that separates these apart that we really liked was the flexibility of them because it's a proprietary Dupont polymer compound.

They are essentially like a dude there.

They are damn near indestructible.

I mean, they are.

I am been more and more amazed every time I've gone to use these.

They really wrap around the tires.

They really fold and bend.

They're one of the only boards that you can actually bend them at a 90 degree and they snap back flat.

It's pretty amazing.

So you can.

The picture on the web are on your Instagram post shows a set of the traction boards doubled up on bridging one rock to the other.

So the Jeep doesn't have to drop down into the hole and they're bent.

You know, the deflection is probably.

Yeah, look at the six inches eight inches.

Yeah.

So now you think of the possibility of what those things can do.

And they do.

They just bounce right back.

So one of the video follow up that will have from the wheeling with warrant event from this last year.

Man, we used them out of wind rock, bridge and rocks doing all those things.

It's amazing what those things are capable of doing.

So and plus with.

The, you know, the winch training and the recovery training certification stuff.

We're working on the future, which we'll talk about later.

Like that, that's going to be a key part of this.

And it's a USA made product.

So we were really excited to have that available in the accessories that we have in mind that will also come.

To be released alongside of this is really key because especially for our military fire law search and rescue.

You know, we're really trying to turn it in for fact, 25 be one stop shop.

I mean, that's why.

It's not by chance.

Like that's why worn acquired the brand, right?

So it's.

And then.

We also just did that we released last year, our cross beam shackle, which is our permanent shackle that goes on like a bumper tab.

So it's meant to act as a permanent dedicated attachment point similar to what you find with some like master link things in the back to toast trucks or.

Even on humvees and that type of thing.

And so, and then a color matches right.

We wanted to do it to where would color match into matching whatever winch line shackle mat you had.

So that's what we wanted to do.

So we wanted to do that.

But the problem was that it's also because of how big they are and.

You know, they can claim on the bumper.

And so trying to get the right rubber pad to come up with that was pretty interesting to try to to solve that little problem.

So we now have a rubber isolator kit that's available for them.

What's really neat is if you look at that rubber isolator, you'll see that there's a valley around the center.

Yeah, circumference of that.

Because of the circle that's in the cross beam when you go to push that rubber pad in there.

It indents so it allows it to pop through the circle and then snap back into place.

Oh, that's cool.

Really the detail in the design of even just like a rubber pad like that to make it to be very functional is pretty cool.

The other thing is as those things are hanging on your Jeep or your truck.

If you get in the get bogged and get into the mud.

It'll also prevent that from packing into the shackle until you pop that rubber pad out of access to the shackle.

So it's a very cool piece that I think that will now pair very well together for those for the cross beams and really kind of help to move to move that out there as well.

So I'm really excited about that.

And it also allows you to have your shackle.

So a lot of people keep them in their bag.

They don't put them because people steal them off your Jeep or whatever.

But when you hit the trail, if you know you're doing something technical, a lot of people hang them for the duration of the trip on the trail so they don't have to go digging through a bag and they're ready.

This allows them to be at the ready on the bumper.

Not making noise.

Not damaging anything.

Boom.

Looking good.

Yeah, looking good.

Yeah.

And it just being this, you know, and being lighter weight and really ultra strong too.

So we still have yet, because one of the things that got into this, we still have some destructive test video to share of that.

So I have a bunch of stuff that's going to go.

We still have stuff to release to be talking about for the cross beams.

So there's a lot of that that we're going to still get into and best scenarios that uses and all these things.

And so very excited about how the nose and now the rubber pads to get in there really kind of promote those two products together.

And then we also just released us a made snappering pliers.

So all of a bunch of shackle mounts.

Yeah.

That one's not a shackle mounts all take us an internal snappering to attach from the winch lines.

The cross beam shackles attached to your bumper via a snappering as well.

And even for some of the new parts that we have coming out.

That, you know, so even upcoming new parts.

This tool will be very effective to be able to use that.

Yes, 40 bucks.

You know, you can get cheap snappering pliers from other places, but this is a USA made tool.

And people have been asking for it for a long time and it was really cool to get that across the finish line.

So, oh, right.

So we just released the gloves.

We just got five new products here just today.

We have another three that are coming up that are going to release.

No, no, no, no.

You're taking too much out of my bank account right now because I'm telling you like,

like it's rare.

Somebody says, oh, we launch five new products.

You're like, all right, two are giving and one I care about.

I actually could use and want all five of these ones.

Like, what are you doing to me?

I thought we were friends.

Well, the whole thing is like, you know, when we, when worn about the company,

we had over 150 new product ideas that Mike and I just simply never had the chance to like move through.

Yeah, 55 has always been this boutique little company here with our machine shop and everything in Idaho.

And it's been, you know, it was hard to, you know, try to get that grow sales.

Do you know, I mean, do all of the things do the events, do all the stuff that we were doing anyway.

And so then since worn acquired the business, that also opened up to, you know,

another few hundred products that still need to be done.

And so there's still, there's still 200 plus ideas that are on the table for things for us to develop.

So there, I mean, we are even, even, you know, 12, 13 years into doing this.

We are just, I mean, really, bro, we're like just getting started.

Well, I have a brand new Jeep.

And so like it, I have to start from zero on a lot of this stuff.

And so sometimes, you know, I mean, this is the way life works out, huh?

Yeah, you had to, you had almost died to be my test dummy.

That's right.

Well, I don't want to go back real quick to the USA made traction boards because there's a gazillion time types of boards out there.

There's all these Chinese companies.

There's the original boards, which are fantastic boards.

But the company is different today than it was in the distribution of how

it got to America and stuff is kind of different.

And so it kind of, I don't want to say left to bad taste in people's mouths.

But there was a way that it came to be that got changed.

That was kind of like a woof.

And having an alternative, I don't necessarily think is a horrible idea.

Does that sound accurate?

Yeah.

And so it's, and look dude.

And I love those guys.

Yeah.

And I have a lot of, and I have a, you know, a ton of friendship in this industry

and loyalty a lot of these days.

But when we're really, man, when it comes to like,

there's no skin in the game for those guys anymore.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, and for us,

for us, it's also about,

it's about USA made products.

Yeah.

And it's always been that theme.

That's kind of the hill that will die on at factor 55 for the integrity and everything we've done for our brand.

What we really feel the value for for,

you know, the life safety into the product line.

And this is just, you know,

this is a path forward for making a product that I really feel needs to be utilized because like, you know,

as an example, like one of one of the things I use the traction boards more for anything else,

because it's like, you know, when we're rock crawling, like, dude,

we're not really using traction boards.

No, I mean, like we do.

Right.

But what I do use them for is when I lay them down on the ground to run the winch line over top of it.

So it doesn't get a braided on it.

Or on top of what they're really good for.

And I've used them for this too is if you're using a winch line to pull yourself out of mud.

And you got mud in front of you.

You can run the traction boards on top of the mud and use them as like a pathway.

Yeah, absolutely.

And so there's so many,

there's so many other outside applications for this.

The same thing even where like when you take like your tree saver or a bigger strap that go around a rock.

You can put the traction board on the backside of the rock and wrap the strap around the traction board.

So it doesn't abrade your strap.

There's so many things that these things can take abuse up and be very helpful in such a multitude other ways.

And it was funny because even with my JK,

like I'll have I have a the gen right tire carrier right in the back of my JK.

And so I've got a set of boards that have always had that have been back there for years and years.

And people I was like,

what are you doing with those overland boards bro?

Where the hammers?

And I'm like,

yeah, man.

Watch me.

Not for me.

They're for like when the when it snows two feet in Boise.

Yeah.

And I got to get my mini van out of the driveway across the street.

You know, I'm saying.

So there's there's such a useful tool and product in so many other ways.

And so the accessories that we have in mind to pair up with these.

Some of the other things that will set that out that will start to set this apart, you know, for us.

And then also with the, you know, education and training programs.

We have coming up.

I think it's going to be such a key thing for the future moving forward.

And really make it in fact,

with the five again,

that one stopped shop kind of place.

Oh, totally.

For quality equipment.

I mean, you know,

keep OVR mag in me and mine because I am super curious about some of these product lines.

That you're moving into,

especially with the training aspect behind it too.

The thing I love about recovery is.

No two recoveries are the same.

And with the equipment,

you could have five different correct ways to recover something.

It's, it's a challenge.

It's a puzzle.

Sometimes you learn and you have to adapt.

It's dynamic.

It really,

it really requires you to take a step back.

Survey the entire situation and understand a little bit of physics.

Understand what's possible.

Understand limitations on vehicle, chassis, bumper, side pole, all that stuff.

And put it all together to have us the safe recovery.

And I love that about it.

And you on the YouTube channel and the things that you do on it on social,

showing all the different, you know, ways that there's always the learning opportunity.

You can never fully learn everything when it comes recovery.

And even some of the fun videos,

like I think it was that,

mountain west, maybe.

You were walking,

kind of a video walking through the parking lot and you had your splicer

and somebody had a hook there.

That was actually a smokey mountain.

Yeah, smokey mountain.

Okay, yeah.

And there was a broken winch line in a hook hanging by itself.

And you took the splicing tool for synthetic line, which you guys sell.

It's a kit that's been out for a little while now.

And then you did a video of splicing this guy's hook, fixing it's rope,

right there in the parking lot, and walking away.

Like, oh, this, this guy.

And then you did a video of splicing this guy's hook, fixing it's rope,

right there in the parking lot and walking away.

This, this guy doesn't need a new line.

He just needs it to be spliced and fixed.

I did it done.

Yeah, it's, it's so funny to me because I saw,

I saw that as we were walking into the event center.

And then, you know, and luckily I was able to hit the dude up on Instagram,

because he had his Instagram handle on the side of his cheek.

Oh, nice. Yeah.

It turns, it turns out he was actually at the booth buying the fast food.

Well, I was out in the parking lot.

And I talked to him about it beforehand.

So people are like, you see some of the comments.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I, I was like, I was going to be a stage and I was like, no,

this is like legit.

I literally walked by that guy and was like, are you serious, man?

Like, what is good?

Like, trying to not something like that.

When it's so easy, right?

So, yeah, I mean, like we're really trying to be.

You know, very engaging when it comes to the use of our products and really

more about the educational piece to that.

Because there's so much misinformation that's out on the Internet.

And, you know, people are like, yeah, seeing ways of doing it wrong.

And so we're really trying to get behind that value of like, you know,

The cool thing is you take the guest workout when you come to purchase products from us.

We are at four profit business, I'm not trying to sugarcoat that, but the thing about

learning about these things, it also helps you mitigate those risks so you know that you're

not going to have bad things happen in those situations when you're in the backcountry

for sure.

Well, with all the products and education that you guys put out there, I think you often

hear this, on behalf of off road enthusiasts and podcasts listeners everywhere, we appreciate

you.

Well, let's jump over to the other brand and that's worn and that kind of got this

whole conversation kind of fired back up and I had reached out and said, hey, rebuilding

the the Jeep, I got a new one and now I see you have a new line of winches that apparently

were released when I was on my force sabbatical for a while.

So I had to get up to speed and then that kind of got us talking about getting back on

the podcast.

So let's, let's hit up those new winches because they're pretty rad.

Yeah, man, we're, I'm really excited, dude, like I think that especially coming into

this, but now being the brand manager for worn and, you know, kind of, you know, step

it in here and taking over to do that.

It's been a very cool opportunity and also, like, you know, just like you, man, I'm an

ultimate diehard enthusiast and, you know, the only thing, everything I do in my life leads

me to try to think about when the next time I'm going to get to go Jeep in is, right?

I mean, that's just how it is.

I always just think about where.

Six months for me right now, since the last time I was jeeping and I am like, I'm having

the shakes.

I'm like, you know, Keith Chatters and, and, you know, I'm flying out to Michigan, grab

it from A.V. and I'm driving at home and everybody's like, so worried about me.

They're like, dude, are you going to be okay?

I'm like, yes, I'm going to be fine.

I need this.

I need the windshield time.

I need to get in a new Jeep.

I need to just, just roll down the windows and pop off the freedom panels and just drive

west into the sunset.

It's just what I need to kind of like feel like I'm back, you know?

Yes.

Absolutely.

Yeah, man.

And so, like, I think that that was one of the, that was one of the big eye opening things

coming into this before and because I think there was, you know, there, with, with worn

it, we had gone through so many changes, you know, especially in the last 20 years from

when Mike Warren finally, you know, first sold the company to Dover and then the company

was acquired by LKQ and then there was a lot, you know, then the mission changes, right,

from, from when it became, there was a lot of focus that was put on the manufacturing.

So now the Warren plant in Clackamas is an ISO quality certified facility, right because

of our O.E. partnerships with four Jeep Toyota, I mean, you name it, right?

So there was a lot of focus on the manufacturing capabilities that was there.

And then in order to deal with that and capital equipment and all kinds of things that happen

with a 500 person business like we have and 77 years of being in business, you know, there's

a lot, there's a lot of navigating that has to happen.

And, you know, it was, what are we going to be doing as far as getting the next generation

of these winches done and across the finish line?

And for what it's worth, a lot of these were kind of ready to go.

They were ready to go back in like, you know, even kind of pre-COVID, right, back during

that time.

And it just wasn't possible to get those done, you know, because we, literally for two

years, everything was like on hold, right?

Well, and then the other side of it was during that time, there were some other winch

manufacturers, some legitimate that are known throughout the world that are a really

good winch that other manufacturers kind of picked up if, if there was a hole in the

supply chain and they were able to grab it, right?

So people got exposed to some other brands.

And then there was a lot of Chinese knockoffs that came flooding into the market that were

really cheap, but had a lot of features on them.

And you kind of went back to warn was the brand that's trusted, premium, reliable, but

it might not have this crazy, you know, feature set, you know, with all this stuff.

You could add the Bluetooth controller and there's some, you know, there was the platinum

line that had a little bit of that.

And now you guys are fully competitive with some of the features people have really started

to ask for.

And especially on the XP lineup, I'm like, dude, dude, that's one of the biggest things,

right?

Because for us, it would, you know, really taking the feedback to from like all the real

world use and what it was to get some of the stuff across the finish line.

And just even for what is yet to come is the most exciting piece of that and to be able

to think, you know, like, look, man, I just turned 45 and I think that I, you know, I'm

going to be able to spend, you know, easily I could spend another 20 years like working

here.

And so to make that to be like, you know, that I get to be a part of this, this family's

legacy and represent this premium brand and the way that I get to is literally like the

biggest joy and pleasure in my life.

I mean, I cannot stress that enough of how much I love this and doing this.

And so now to have this product line to finally like step up to make it to where like,

you know, we finally got the Xeon XD release last year and the XD was the first, you know,

iteration to take it was a 10 years, man, since we released the first version of the

Xeon.

And a lot of people forget that even with the Xeon lineup, I mean, dude, that was the

first winch that came out that was symmetrical.

Yeah.

That the motor, that the gear, the, you know, the planetary gear set and the motor was

in the same casing with the control pack.

It looked good on the front of the vehicle.

There was all these things that was about it that was so much different that everybody

else has just followed the knockoff, what Warren sets the standard for.

And that goes back to like, there's a great, we just released our King of the Hammers documentary

just about a month ago.

It took that long if the thing you had it in released, but I mean, it's up on the Warren

YouTube channel.

And there's a good section in that video where we talk about the legacy and the history

of the company.

And one thing I always like to reiterate for everybody is that, you know, like in 1948,

Arthur Warren founded Warren Industries and he invented the locking hub.

And that's what started to brand.

And then by the early 50s, he was already supplying to every OE on the planet.

And then it turned into that right in 1959, Warren released the first electric winch.

So it starts here, like we go in and out of four-wheel drive and we're recovering our vehicles

in the backcountry because of this brand.

Like that's the history and the legacy that's tied up into Warren and why really, you

know, the championship for innovation and driving that kind of messaging forward is a real,

you know, passion and focus moving forward here.

And so for the Xeon XD, you know, it's literally the got the fastest, no load line speed of

any low-mount winch on the market right now.

And by the way, that's what we went with on my Jeep in case you guys were curious.

I did the Xeon XD, I believe the 12S, so I've got the higher ratings synthetic line.

And then the XP, which is awesome for me, because I'm not in a situation where I'm using

my winch all the time, I'm like, okay, I don't need all the bells and whistles for me personally,

but they're there and they're available.

But I have on mind the new XD and I am so stoked.

And if you're curious, the footprint is almost identical and in fact in some dimensions

smaller than the original Xeon.

Absolutely, yes.

So it'll fit.

Yeah.

So it'll fit.

So like for me on an AV bumper, you know how notorious they are for winch fitment.

And you know, I had to get the specs from you and I asked AV, we haven't even put one

on a bumper.

We don't know.

We always use the Xeon.

So I think mine's the first factory built AV with the new XD in their bumper.

So that's kind of cool too.

So in case you're curious, the footprint is the same or smaller and you can use that

in any place that you're currently using, currency on, which is awesome because people

don't have to go redesign for this new winch.

The platform is almost the chassis is almost identical, which I think is a huge win for

the industry.

Yeah.

And so there's some stuff that's carried over, like the aluminum winch drum for dissipating

the heat inside of there, the same thing with our patented winch line attachment to the

drum, all these things.

But one of the biggest improvements was that in between the motor, the winch drum, the

transmission and the planetary gear section, every single section of the winch has got a

silicone rubber gasket that is 100% water type.

Like there is no intrusion that's going into any of those.

There's no chance for that thing to break down.

It actually sits in a machined groove in the housing.

So when you tighten the bolts, it's compressed at the right pressure so you can't over tighten

in and blow the gasket out.

And the way that winch comes out of the box is the way that it will be working and functioning

10 years from now, it's sitting on the front of your vehicle.

It's really with such a huge improvement into the design of that.

Then it came into the motors being put in there and the line speed being added to the

motor is stepped down to the gear train, being in that smaller capacity, everything being

ISO, or, I mean, excuse me, IP68 and 69 rated, I mean, we'll also go back to real quick

the IP69 case spray testing.

That's on the entire unit.

That's not just on like the end caps or whatever.

That's the whole thing and your IP68 is for full submersion and corrosion resistance

is a 408 hour salt spray test.

So like it, you guys have done a bunch of, oh, and then also the OE grade bus bars.

How freaking cool they have bus bars now.

High quality.

That's, that's awesome.

And the same, like the, and the same little torx bolts that are on the tie bar place are

the, I mean, dude, they look just like the same little torx bolts that are on the outside

of all of our jeeps, right?

Like it's all OEM grade hardware.

There's like, we, you know, we really worked hard to eliminate any type of the sun fading

all these things, and then also backed by the Warren's warranty.

It's, it's, it's such a home run product and then we were able to make that thing now.

It doesn't come in.

There's no longer an 810 and 12.

It's now a 1012 and a 14,000 pound winch in that same size and capacity.

And if you look, anybody else that's trying to even play in that space in that same type

of, in a low mountain, that same type of size of winch, 13.5 is the best that they get.

And ours is a 14,000 pound rating.

So even for a lot of guys who, when you're in that, then this like, you know, you get mid sized

to one, the one ton truck option.

And you're like, well, that jump used to be from like the 12 to like a 16 5 Ti.

And that's a huge difference.

Yeah.

It's a huge difference.

So now to fit that other little gap right in there, especially with the overland vehicles,

Sprinter Vans.

You know, that's everything.

I can't even imagine Sprinter Vans are like the perfect example of that, right?

Because it's, they're not quite a full size truck platform.

And, you know, unibody and a little bit lighter, but the payload is crazy on them.

People way overbilled them.

So you have this sort of like full size, but not heavy duty size vehicle that can weigh

as much as a heavy duty truck.

Absolutely.

And so that's where this that 14 K just hits the sweet spot.

Totally.

And then it, but it also fits into the bumper easy, right?

So now it's also now it's making it easier for the end consumers, well, to do that.

And then the other big, the other big feature was to is that they, and now they're only

coming with synthetic ropes.

So we don't even have a steel cable option anymore, but, you know, so it's kind of neat to

see, you know, overall in the last, I mean, just, you know, the last 20 years, that adaptation

I was going to say 20 because I remember being at four wheeler, you know, back in the

early 2000s, when you SpyDura came out as an option on the racing winches and then they

said, oh, we're going to make it an option on the consumer winches and you're like,

I don't know.

And then we had to really dig down, explain to people, why would you want to go from this

amazing, you know, aircraft rope cable to this, you know, boat tie down system or whatever?

Yeah.

Right.

And I mean, that was a jump for a lot of people, especially in rocks and abrasion and UV.

But then there's so many benefits with flexibility and not having stray wires cut in your hand

and weight over the front end, suspension tuning or weight over the axles.

And the product has gotten better.

And I think people understand how to use it now, but it has literally taken 20 years to

get to this point.

Yeah, it's crazy.

I mean, we look because we look, you know, we're talking about this all the time, even

when it comes to some of the things that we've been, you know, working on in the background

for product development and everything, especially with our, you know, title sponsorship

of King of the Hammers and all, and all of our involvement with the recovery crews out

there and everything.

You know, it was only like, dude, it was only like seven years ago that Hans devices were

required.

Yeah.

And that's crazy.

And people threw a fit about it.

Yep.

Like I would never get in a race car without wearing a Hans device.

You don't even mean that.

Not me anymore.

Yeah.

So it's crazy to think about like, you know, it always takes time and, you know, and forward

thinking in the adaptation set, but it's, you know, it's really, I think this is, it's

not by chance, dude.

We finally got that thing out in the market.

And then we won best new product in off road.

It seemed the last year for the, for the 14k XD.

Yeah.

So we're very proud of that.

I don't even think about, you know, wire rope versus synthetic anymore.

I just thought I'd actually go to synthetic and it took me a long time to get there.

But it's just not even, it's not even a thought anymore.

Like that's how good it works and in my experience over time, you know, and I was, I wasn't

going to say I'm, and I was a naysayered in the beginning, but I definitely was hesitant

about thinking like this was the right way to go.

And now it's, it's not even a concern.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Especially when you, you know, it's problem solved some of these things when it comes

to like how to, you know, the maintenance of it, how to clean it, all these things.

And I think there's a bunch of, there's still a lot of that, like, I think specific content.

I mean, there's a lot of stuff that's in the blog post that are totally searchable in

the history on the Warren website, but there's a lot more stuff that we can also get behind

as a champion.

So we're going to do a lot of that coming up in 26.

There's going to be a ton more information that'll be coming out about that, that care

and maintenance thing too as well, just like I mentioned with the gloves.

So there's going to be, again, this is such a cool time that, you know, we have the opportunity

to even empower the community, even with more education about our products and even get

closer with those people.

Because I think there was, there was a time where, you know, Warren, Warren functioned in

a weird way because of so much internal changes.

And it kind of operated as like a faceless, nameless entity for quite some time.

And it was always existing and they had to champion stuff.

And, you know, God rest her man, like, you know, Jesse was such a champion for the brand

and the whole thing.

But, you know, where were the actual employees that are part of this that are doing, doing

the job?

And, you know, now they have the opportunity to be like the guy that's out there in front

of everybody.

And being so past about this industry and doing this man, it's, you know, again, it's the

most fun thing ever in the world.

Your passion is palpable.

I mean, it's, it's, that's one of the things I love about you is, is you could be talking

about the tiniest little thing or the detail on a product that, that the, the engineer put

in that totally makes the product.

And you could be talking about the most expensive, wildly, highest performance thing ever.

And it's exactly the same.

You're, oh, it doesn't matter what it, you're like, you're just as excited about a, you

know, a, a billet key chain from factor 55, as you are for the XP with, yeah.

So let's, let's talk about XP because XD comes out and it kind of starts taking the

place of, of Zian and you're moving into this new platform.

And then you go, well, this thing's pretty rad.

But let's just add like 50 things to it and call it the XP and make it even better.

You're going, I'm going down the list of like what that winch offers and what it can

do.

It's, it's silly.

It's silly.

How much awesomeness is packed into that package.

And I'll, and I'll make this, and I'll make this statement too.

So for me, like, I am, I, you know, I'm pretty classic when it comes to the use and abuse

of the winches.

I, I primarily only use 82 74s on everything that I build.

And most of that is because for when we get in a real world recovery, I'm also, I, you

know, you get 150 feet of a drum, you know, there's no, there's no heat in the drum

all these things.

So there's something to be said about just like classical things that just weren't right.

We need to talk about 82 74, but I'll, I'll do it after XP because I've got a question

for you on that.

Okay.

So when it came into the XP, you know, I'm, I haven't really, you know, I'm not, I've

never really been, I had a, I had a XD 9000 eye on one of my first jeeps I had in

which that was like one of the only low amount winches I had ever used.

And so, you know, I've never been a total fan of low amount winches in general.

But when this thing dropped for what it's capable of doing is just unbelievable, man, like

it has, so it's everything that XD is.

So it's all of the same features, the OEM hardware, the, the gas gets all of these things.

But then it's like everything that basically the platinum version of the zion, the original

platinum was, but improved because the problem with the platinum beforehand was you had

a dedicated wireless remote, it was not wired.

And then there was no clutch lever.

So everything was auto clutch and it was all through the controller.

Then it was the battery issue with the controller, right?

And then people were like, well, the controller already dies.

Because I love that winch.

I love the feature set, but I need to have that those touch points, that mechanical man,

machine interface.

It can't all be digital.

I still want to grab it and know that it's released, it's locked.

That's just, that's just how I am.

Yeah, 100% and it's also, and it's also kind of foolproof, right?

It also makes it to where like it's easier to deal with if you had an issue or a problem

on the trail to fix and all these things.

So there was, it was bougie for what it was, but now XP took every problem that we ever

had in the platinum line and has addressed it and fixed it.

So now you have all the same platform that XD was built on going into XP, but now you

get, there's a drum light.

So you have, so it lights up the drum.

So if you're, especially for the Toyota people, and when now all of those Toyota bumpers,

like the winch is buried underneath, yeah.

So you can't, you never know if the rope is stacking up on one side of the drum or not,

or if that could start to damage the tie plates in there.

So now with that drum light, it's lighting up the entire assembly that's inside of there.

So you can really see that make sure the rope is stacking evenly on the drum to prevent

the rope from diving between the fibers.

All of these things.

It was a huge problem solve that came out of that.

The other thing was, is that the brains of the thing are in the control pack.

And in that, in the control pack, the motherboard that's built in there with the contactor now

also has a dynamic lighting feature that's next to the worn logo.

So when the winch is pulling and you're winching in, it lights up green.

If it starts to overheat or it starts to get too much load, it flashes red to let you

know, give you those warning signs.

When the winch goes into free spool, the lights turn purple so you can actually see that

is in free spool that needs to be re-engaged.

And you can not only do this now via the remote, but you can all and do it via Bluetooth through

the hub app, but it also works, it also works manually where we still put the manual clutch

lever on the outside of the winch panel as well.

So now, you can disengage the winch, put it in a free spool from the hand remote that

actually plugs into the control pack so you don't have to worry about charging batteries

into this thing.

You can use the wireless option, which has built into the winch via the smart app through

the wireless hub app on your smart device, iPad, phone, whatever.

And then you can also do it completely manually and be able to disengage it that way as well.

And so, those smart features is just upping the safety aspect and giving you more real-time

feedback.

And the same thing with the hub app, it'll show you load, it'll show you amperage draw,

it'll give you all of this information right there in the palm of your hand, and it's

pretty cool, man.

It works so seamlessly.

It's like magic.

As a fan of one of the best winches, low mount which is you've ever made, the 9.5 CTI

that had the thermal feedback, it's so great to see a winch.

Take that feature set and expand it and do it in this crazy smart visual way to where

when you're away from the vehicle operating it, you know what's going on.

That is, to me, I love that.

Yeah, man.

And especially because every time that you really need to use it, it's always in the worst

situation.

Always.

It's raining.

It's at night.

You're tired.

You know what I mean?

It's always in all the things.

All the things.

To have that to be this new feature set to be built in there and the fact that this

entire product line is still built and assembled right in Clackamas, Oregon.

It's coming right out of the factory there.

It's not built in the same place that harbor freight winches are made, made right in Oregon

and come in straight to you.

And it's a very prideful thing for us.

I think, man, I am so excited to have this thing to be now starting to get out into

the market.

All right.

Before we let you go, I want to talk about the 82 74 maybe the most famous winch of all

time.

Maybe the probably the icon, if you think of a classic worn winch, it's that tall stacked

winch, they're beasts.

They came out in 1974 and on my flat fender, I have an original 82 74.

And it was bought in 1976.

It was built in, I believe it was, I had Andy back a long time ago look at the serial number.

I believe it was built in July of 76.

So it's within the first two years of production, I have the original receipt from when my uncle

bought it for $499, which was a lot back in 1976.

So cool.

So here's what I want to do.

It is completely roached from, you know, being almost 50 years old, 49 years old.

I'd love to figure out a way.

Get up to Oregon for the 50th anniversary of that thing, rebuild it and make it run again.

Hell yes.

Can we do that?

Let's go, dude.

100% we can.

All right.

You go because, dude, Fred Williams, our good buddy Fred, Fred, Fred actually just came

to the plant and assembled his own, like from start to finish, went through and assembled

his own 82 74.

So we would love to have you up there on the show.

So was it a new, was it a new version?

New version, yeah.

So how rad would it be?

The counterpoint to that is here's an original one and we can still, we have the technology

right?

We can still rebuild it.

I think that would be so freaking rad to come up there, bring you that wrench and make

it run again.

And even if we updated it with some newer electronics or whatever, I mean, that platform

is that platform.

Yeah.

So that's what's so crazy about us because just like as, you know, when you have, when

you have the drive shaft coming out of the motor and it hits that first gear set in

the top housing, like that's one, now all of the 82 74s, we still build at the plant.

Now come with the 9.5 XP motor and then the new all, there's no longer sillinoids, right?

It's an all bright contact that we have specifically made.

So there's an upgraded control pack and the whole thing.

So now it takes it modernized is the whole thing to make it working even that much better.

And like the main shaft, right, that your winch and like the old school 82 74s had an

external snappering on the outside that would hold the break of seven together.

Now it's a tapped machine screw that keeps the assembly together there.

And man, with the future of the stuff that we have in mind that is going to be released,

like, you know, even in 77 years of business, just like what I just was saying about factor

of it, the five in product development, like look, man, we're just getting started.

I got, I have, I have stuff that I want to do.

I love it.

And then change this industry and I'm very, very excited to be, you know, you know,

here with the, just the best people in the world be able to make these products.

I, I'm so stoked.

I haven't been up to clock a miss in a while.

I've had a chance to be up at the factory a couple times and watch winches go together

and literally watch, you know, the raw materials in one door go out as widgets out the other door.

And yeah, it's awesome.

And then all the, the World War two broaching machines and stuff that are there.

So dude, you know, we, we just got a second one a few years ago.

So now you have these two 18, they're 18 feet tall, man.

Like hogging the raw material, making the gears for the winches, shaking the floor and the plant.

Oh, you can feel it totally.

Oh, man.

Yeah, it is.

And so we have, we have broached Zilla and the new one called Kong.

Oh, dude, I love it.

Kong and broached Zilla.

They're there at the plant.

Oh, that's so cool.

Yeah, well, think about, think about how we would, we would make that happen in what

parts it would take to get this thing and do we want to do it as a restaurant or do do a

restaurant mod and make it with some of the newer part.

I'm down for whatever.

It's basically a paperweight on the front of the flat fender right now.

But I was looking at him like, this isn't original within the first couple of years of production.

It's been 50 years.

How rad would it be to rebuild this thing?

Show people how, how they were made.

What is the 50 year winch look like on the inside?

Maybe show a difference between this is the original part.

And this is the new part of how it's been upgraded for when you buy a new one today.

And use it as an educational tool to walk through, but then also rebuild this thing and get it, get it, you know, usable again.

Oh, I got an inch on.

Dude, all right, we are doing that.

All right, that is so rad.

I can't wait.

We love to do that.

And the fact that I have the original receipt, right?

Like, how cool is that?

I think just the story around this particular winch is kind of awesome.

It was, you know, stuck on a flat fender and it served its life in the ranch.

And, you know, all the plug wires are all, you know, are all UV roached and all that.

And it's a ranchy fresh.

But I just think like 82 74s are like Volkswagen beetles of winches, right?

Like, it doesn't take much to get them back in running and they should be back and running.

It's like a flat fender or anything like that.

It deserves to go back to the factory and have some life breathed back into it.

And I would just love to make you work with you and make that happen.

Oh, man, I can't wait, man.

I would, I can't, we will definitely get that scheduled.

And man, what a lot, what a cool video we could put together for that.

What a neat story for sure.

Dude, thank you.

Thank you for hanging out with me today.

And I mean, obviously you can have to come back on because we've only scratched the surface.

But, you know, I think we hit kind of the today things, but I know there's a pipeline.

And you're just, you're probably just champion at the bit right now.

Yeah, man, there's a, there's going to be a lot going on for, you know,

going into next year specifically.

We had some other big win.

You know, from after, you know, after we won best new product in off road at SEMA for XD,

we put it on the front of our race cheap.

We have a two-door JL.

We raced in the 4600 cloud as a king of hammers this year.

And, you know, for those of you that listening, you know, go check out the Warren YouTube channel.

We were, we were able to take, we actually just blew up our channel from 15,000 subscribers.

Over 200,000 subscribers in the last year.

So the amount of content that we've been creating and what we're doing as far as, you know,

really being better with the community has been such a, a passion project of mine,

but a really huge win.

And so you get this, the 30-minute documentary from King of the Hammers is such it was so beautifully done.

But it really shows also how we took our products and myself, you know,

my one of my best friends, Sergio, that got to race KOH this year.

You know, it was our third year doing it.

And we put the brand news, the ONXD on the front of that thing and then took it out there and beat it,

you know, beat it through KOH, winch 25 times during the race.

And we ended up taking fourth this year.

We, and we actually lost third place behind the Broncos by less than two minutes.

Me to right there, dude.

Seconds, man.

Yeah.

So it was like such a, such a cool thing, you know, to be like, you know, I mean,

we're not just building and making these things like we're telling the line to, right?

Like this is a real passion for everybody.

It works with any organization.

And so from there, it's now let out to, we now are working on a full warn

and factory-bid-5 training and education program.

So there's going to be a ton that's going to be released going towards that moving

into next year as well on top of all the new product releases and launches.

So I cannot stress the amount of thing that, you know, innovation and things that are coming out

of this organization.

And I am just so blessed and so happy to be a part of it.

Dude, I remember when, you know, you came on after they got, you know,

back to 55 and warned change, donorship and all that kind of stuff.

I mean, you know, I was worried about the future.

And not every, you know, BC or buying company has treated some of these legacy brands

right, but it, Warren has, as Warren is the same, Warren today, or even better with the

investment than it has been in the past.

And it's always been one of my favorite companies.

You've always been one of my favorite go-to guys in the industry.

So I appreciate the support and the time.

And if you guys are listening and you want to go check out the website, warn.com

and on access, Warren Industries, Facebook, Warren Industries, YouTube,

WWW, Warren Com, Pinterest, Warren Industries, and also Warren Industries on Instagram.

And of course, factor 55, not, you know, one stop shop for doing everything.

Safety, recovery, you know, all the things that should go with the

winching, the education, all that factor 55.com.

And on Facebook, factor 55, Instagram, and YouTube are also factor 55.

So again, thank you for your time.

I know you're smoking busy right now, but this is so great to have you on.

Yeah, and I can't thank you enough, Sean.

I'm so happy that, man, you're back on the swing of this thing, dude.

And again, you know, what you do for this industry is so phenomenal, man.

And especially even from the podcast, OVR, I mean, you know, just love you, dude,

and love having you back here, man.

So I cannot wait to get together with you up at the plant and to do more of that stuff.

It's going to be just what a, what a great experience that'll be.

Well, hopefully I'll see you before then, maybe at SEMA or at, I don't know,

there's a lot of events coming up and I'll, I'll track you down.

Can't wait, my man.

All right, bro, not wait.

Great talk to you.

I'll talk soon.

You too.

Thank you again to Justin Andrews for carving out the time to join the show

and catch us up to date on the latest products.

This was an interview.

I've had the queue for a long time.

As I said, the beginning and I'm so happy to finally get it out there.

If you're looking for high quality made in the USA, innovative recovery gear,

you got to head to warn.com or factor 55.com and check out the full line of products.

They are awesome.

And on that note, we reached the end of this episode of the truck show podcast, sadly,

of course, but don't fret because if you want to keep the conversation going,

you can follow us on social at truck show podcast.

And if you want to be a part of the show,

leave us a voice mail on the five star hotline 657 205 6105 or send us your feedback.

Truck show podcast at gmail.com.

I know you guys are listening.

I see the downloads.

So tell me what you're on to leave me a message.

I want to know what you guys got for Christmas or what your rigs got for Christmas.

They need cool.

Did you get a new rig for Christmas?

Did you get any products from the show?

Did you get any other products that you've been dying for and your awesome wife got you

something? Let me know truck show podcast at gmail.com.

Of course, keeping the conversation going is super easy.

If you're on Facebook, just join our Facebook group, the pod shed insiders.

Always good conversation and questions going on in there.

And we'll check in there in a couple of episodes.

It's been a while since I played one of my favorite jingles.

So again, the pod shed insiders is where you want to go.

So before I head out, I want to thank our sponsors,

the companies that make the truck show podcast possible.

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So those are our sponsors.

Those are the people that keep this thing going and I appreciate all of you.

I hope you're all having a great holiday break right now.

And if you happen to be on the road traveling or driving,

hopefully you're enjoying the truck show podcast.

And we're helping you get to your destination.

Anyway, that'll do it for this time.

Can't wait to do it again soon.

The truck show podcast is a production of truck famous LLC.

This podcast was created by Sean Holman and Jay Tillis posted by Sean

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And here's the hope in that Santa brings you all the accoutrema.

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About this episode

A lively conversation with Justin Andrews from Warren and Factor 55 dives into the latest in recovery gear and winches. The episode highlights the innovative Roper X gloves, designed for durability and comfort, and discusses new product launches, including the XD and XP winches that feature advanced technology and improved performance. Andrews shares insights on the evolution of winch technology, the importance of quality materials, and the brand's commitment to American manufacturing. The camaraderie between the host and Andrews makes for an engaging listen, filled with valuable tips for off-road enthusiasts.

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Original notes

Factor 55 (factor55.com) and Warn's (warn.com) own Justin Andrews returns to the show to talk recovery, innovation, new products, and bring us up to speed with everything going on in the world of recovery. Listen in as Holman and Justin catch up and concoct a plan to revitalize a classic winch and Holman reveals his favorite new product. 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.

AMSOIL

Use promo code HOLMAN2025 on amsoil.com until 12/31/25 to get a free AMSOIL UTV Blocks Kit with any purchase of $125 or more.

Kershaw Knives

Use promo code 2TSP2025 for 40% of MSRP and free shipping on great, high-quality knives from Kershaw.kaiusa.com.

OVR Magazine

Use promo code @truckshowpodcast for a free annual digital subscription or a discount on a print subscription on ovrmag.com.

The Truck Show Podcast

Sean P. Holman

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