Episode 910 – Matt AEV-Conversions!
Matt Feldermann
Matt Feldermann is the Marketing Manager at American Expedition Vehicles. Matt has been with AEV for the past 12 years but has been in the aftermarket industry his entire professional career. Matt’s favorite things about working in this industry are meeting new people, visiting new places and seeing how innovation has changed the landscape over the past decade. Matt currently drives a 2023 Jeep JLU. Matt’s off-road experience is not only in Jeeps but other AEV conversions as well like the Chevy Colorado Bison. You can learn more about AEV, their products and turn-key vehicle conversions at aev-conversions.com
AEV: From Jeeps to GM Partnership
The Jeep Talk Show talks about all things Jeep from trail riding to overlanding
Matt: Bunch of other places and that’s how we really found out. Like, okay, you guys did the ZR two, let’s go do the types of trails we do. All right, here’s what we need. And we showed them that skid plates were essential, steel, bumpers, all the stuff that we were telling them, we showed them firsthand why you need it, and then that kind of sealed the deal.
Tony: and hi, I’m Tony and welcome to the Jeep Talk Show. The talk show where we talk about all things Jeep. From trail riding to overlanding, and everything in between. Every Friday we have an interview with a new and exciting guest. Sometimes they have products you need for your Jeep, and sometimes they just have a great story to share. So sit back, grab a cold one, and get ready for another great guest right here on The Jeep Talk Show. Oh, and keep listening to the end to hear your name as a patreon subscriber.
Matt: Are you ready?
Businesses need ways to have customers, uh, contact them
Tony: It’s time for the Jeep talk show with hosts Tony, Josh, Wendy and Chuck. So I think many of you will ask, what the hell does this have to do with Jeeps? Well, indirectly it does. the Jeep Talk Show is a small business, very small. And businesses need ways to have their customers, contact us. And that’s you. so we’d love hearing from you, by the way, and as we always say, we really mean it. That sounded insincere, didn’t it? So, email is a pretty simple thing to set up these days, especially if you just use a service like Gmail. Not meaning to talk bad about any businesses that use Gmail and their personal cell phone for a business, but that kind of screams small potatoes to me. A little knowledge can make your business look professional and much bigger than what it really is. And I have heard it multiple times now. Fake it until you make it. The Jeep Talk Show has the domain Jeeptalkshow.com and email addresses with that domain. Like Chris and Julianne and Bill and Larry. They all have email addresses, on the Jeep Talk Show domain. And that they can use that whenever they’re sending out stuff, emails and stuff to people, as the Jeep Talk Show, team members that they are. It’s just a professional way of doing it. And there’s no doubt who it is that you’re talking to. You’re talking to somebody from the Jeep talk show. So, getting that domain set up and using that domain is fairly simple. And most sites want a website. And the website provider that we have actually provides email addresses. So it’s just another thing to set up along, with the website. But anyway, there’s another thing that we do. We have a PBX system. Do you guys remember these from work or maybe even worked on a PBX system? It’s basically a bunch of phones connected to a box somewhere. In the past, it was something that was there a physical box at your office. And now a lot of them are virtual out in the cloud, so to speak, out there on the internet. and there’s pluses and minuses to both of those, by the way. but it gives you an extension number and the ability to make calls. And when you make a call, the call either goes out as the number for the business or it goes out, as a number. That’s one of many numbers that are assigned to your business. Again, whenever somebody receives a call from that number, they know that they’re dealing with a, ah, certain business and it probably even shows up on the caller ID as the business name. So I set up a PBX for the Jeep talk show and we kind of made a big deal about it, about our new number to contact us. and we went from using a free Google voice number to actually setting up an 800 number or in this case an eight eight eight number, for people to call in. I mean, it was a nice thing. Toll free was nice years, ago when everything was expensive to make phone calls, especially long distance ones. Not so much now. So the eight eight eight is this kind of, I don’t know, almost like a tongue in cheek. Because people know that 800 numbers were toll free. And that was always something that was like oh, okay, this is a big time company doing that. So we’ve got it set up where you can call our eight eight eight number. And actually I’ll just tell you, you can always find this information@jeeptalkshow.com contact, but eight eight eight, 119550 and you can call an extension when you call, that number or even leave a voicemail. Which is, this is one of the ways that you leave a voicemail for the show that they play on the flagship episodes. So the virtual PBX system I set up allows me to take calls on my desktop computer or laptop or on my cell phone. All I have to do is have Internet access. I mean, EGS 2024, you could literally call the PBX number that I’ve got set up and put in my extension number and it’s going to ring me out on the trail as long as there’s cell service. But hey, if there’s not, you can leave a voicemail message. So it’s just kind of like a good one stop place that you can go. And I’ve got all of our Jeep Talk show team members, set up for that. Now, whether they use it or not is up to them, but it’s certainly available to you know, just keep in mind it’s easy to do this with just a little googling or YouTubing, I mean, YouTube will tell you exactly what you need to go through to do it. my years of It experience certainly helps me understand some of the things they’re talking about easier. But a little effort, a little trial and error, you can do it too. And I think this is, important for current businesses or businesses you may want to build. And it really is something you can do all by yourself and not have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to have somebody else do it from around the world or from your city and sometimes just down the street. Howdy, neighbor. It’s the Jeep talk show.
Matt Felderman is the marketing manager at American Expedition Vehicles
Tony: Interview Audio boys and girls, it’s time for another Jeep Talk Show. We’re going to be talking with Matt. Matt is an old friend of the show. He’s been here before, way back on episode 578. Matt Felderman is the marketing manager at American Expedition Vehicles. Matt has been with AEV for the past twelve years, but has been in the aftermarket industry his entire professional career. You lucky bastard. I mean, I’m seriously, that’s just got to be a blast. I know it has its ups and downs, but still, Matt’s favorite things about working in the industry are meeting new people, visiting new places, and seeing how innovation has changed the landscape over the last or the past decade. Matt currently drives a 2023 Jeep JLU. Matt’s offroad experience is not only in Jeeps, but other AEV conversions as well, like the Chevy Colorado Bison. You can learn more about AEV products, and their turnkey vehicles at AEV. minus sign conversions.com. You guys got to get rid of that minus sign. That just gives a negative connotation. You see what I did there in.
Matt: The English language, that’s called that.
Tony: Oh, here we go. You’re going to tell me about that pound sign, being a hashtag now? Personally, I like pound jeep talk show better than hashtag jeep talk show.
Is Jeep still your main focus at AEV, or other brands have caught up
Tony: All right, so, obviously we’ve mentioned it, just now, but you need to go over to Aev.com Aevconversions.com right now and you know, you’ve been there, you know, you’ve gone over there and just, watered your mouth all over the accessories and stuff they had, Matt, how long has, AEV been around?
Matt: since 1997, so I think was it 22? Yeah, 22 was our 25th anniversary.
Tony: Wow, that’s a bunch. And you’ve been there for quite a few years now. How has it changed since you’ve been there?
Matt: Well, when I started there were about twelve people split up between Michigan and Montana. a lot of people wore a lot of different hats.
Tony: Oh yeah.
Matt: At the time we were only focused on Jeep Wrangler, which is what we started with. And shortly after I came on board is when we released the Fruit Double Cab. So that was the stretch. JK Wrangler with the bed not, a gladiator.
Tony: Right.
Matt: Brute double cab. Ah. and then we made the big leap into full size trucks. That’s when we added the Ram platform to our selection of vehicles. And that kind of snowballed into now the stuff that we’re doing with GM. So we’ve really expanded our platforms, but not by a still, you know, all in. For argument’s sake, do four or five platforms.
Tony: Right. Would, you consider Jeep to be the heart, the start, the focus still with these other brands that you’re going in? Is Jeep still your main focus?
Matt: They are a big focus, but other things have caught up, really? yeah. Removing the programs that we are doing with Jeep, specifically, but like our traditional Jeep builds that we are doing only with select dealerships, we’re building almost the same number of Ram trucks as we are.
Tony: Well, I like, I like Ram trucks as far as trucks go, full size pickups. I think Ram has a really good product.
Matt: so that’s come a long way.
Tony: Yeah.
Matt: Jeep, is still a big part of our business. Obviously, it’s always going to be, but, yeah, we’ve added a lot of employees. We’ve expanded our design departments, engineering departments, so now we can handle now we can be fully vested in multiple platforms. So it’s not like we’re, sharing time. And some get forgotten about why you deal with one platform.
Tony: Well, it’s good to have experts on, brands and specific models. So that’s good. That’s really good.
You guys have a huge area dedicated to vehicle production
Tony: Now, Chris, he gathers our, interviewees. he was, at AEV the other day, and he sent me a picture. And I don’t know exactly, I don’t know if it’s one room or one of many, but you guys have a huge area to work in. Unless you actually see it, you don’t have an idea for the scale. But you guys are paying a hell of a lot of money for rent, or paid a lot of money for the building. One of the two. But it’s a huge, big time area.
Matt: Yeah. And the area that he was in, that’s a production floor. So that’s where we’re building all the vehicles. and there’s some warehouse space to hold the inventory for those vehicles we’re building. But addition to that, we have another 80,000 square foot building across town that’s purely a warehouse. So if you would order a suspension system off our website, it wouldn’t leave from our headquarters, it would just leave from our warehouse.
Tony: Right. Yeah, that makes sense.
Matt: So where Chris, was that’s, like, dedicated solely to vehicle production?
Tony: That was the area where whenever you guys are working on AEV conversion, that’s where it’s done.
Matt: Correct.
Are you still doing conversions for the JKU or other platforms
Tony: So I mentioned this, I think every time I talk to you or somebody from AEV, my, intro into AEV was the brute, the TJ brute. And I think last time we talked, you let me know. I did not know that there was a JK Brute. Am I remembering that correctly?
Matt: Yeah, that’s right.
Tony: I had no idea. I thought the Brute ended with the TJ.
Matt: no, the TJ platform phased out, and I want to say 2013, I believe, is when we rolled out the Brute double cab.
Tony: So cool.
Matt: Such a great while to get there.
Tony: Yeah.
Matt: But, yeah, we ended up making about 400 throughout the production cycle. at the time, they were expensive because we were hand making the whole thing. so they were very slow builds, very time consuming.
Tony: Well, that was the cool thing, though, because if you had one, you weren’t going to see another one, probably ever. Unless maybe you’re at EJS or something. And everybody loves that they want a Jeep. That’s special. we do a lot of modifications to it, but not like that. That’s a huge modification.
Matt: And the way that we did it was so well executed from a design standpoint. The way that Dave Harridon, our know he’s the one that starts all the design. Oh, very, oh, yeah. Still super active in he the way that he executed it, it was so difficult. It did not look aftermarket, like, the fender flares, the body lines, everything looked so factory.
Tony: Yes.
Matt: That was the number one question I would get when I was driving one around, is when did Jeep start making that? We did our job.
Tony: Oh, absolutely. That’s just a great shot in the arm. It’s been done right that way.
Matt: Yeah.
Tony: The TJ brute was just amazing. And I think last time we spoke, I went and looked up the JK brute, and it also is very nice, and I’m sure I asked this last time, are you guys still doing the conversions for, the JKU?
Matt: I guess it would be no. with the general business model of AEV, the one thing we do devote all our time and energy to is staying on the current platforms. And with building all these Jeeps and Rams and whatever else, we basically had to turn the page on Brute. And also with the gladiator. We knew the Gladiator was coming.
Tony: Yeah. Jeep kind of ruined it for you, didn’t it?
Matt: No, not at all. Not at all. It all worked good. Exactly how we thought it would. Ah.
Tony: Do you think the Brute had anything to do with them coming out with, the Gladiator?
Matt: They bought one from us. Of course it did.
Tony: Very nice. Well, I’m glad.
Matt: But we ultimately wanted to make parts for it. That’s what we’re good at. We’re good at making parts. Can we build complete vehicles? Yes. Well, do we want to? No.
Tony: I would assume parts are really where the big money is, because everybody can buy a part. Not everybody can buy a conversion.
Matt: Exactly. These were expensive vehicles. We did it. It worked. Now there’s a Jeep truck, and now we can focus on upgrading that and making it more AEB.
Tony: Right.
Most of our bumpers are now modular, so so much of what we make is stamped
Tony: So let me ask you this. You mentioned about the TJ brutes being handmade. how did that change? Obviously, or I would assume that you’re not doing handmade modifications now, although I’m sure there’s some, what do you guys do for your conversions? You have a place that stamps metal for you guys, or how exactly does that work?
Matt: Yeah, so we operate much like the OEMs do, where we’ll design a product, send it out, prototype it, validate it, and then basically connect with the right supplier to make it for us. when you get into stampings the tooling, cost alone is so expensive, there’s no way a company like us could get the actual presses and all the equipment. So it’s much easier to let the pros do that. We know how to design it, validate it, test it, all that good stuff, and let the pros actually stamp the stuff.
Tony: Sure.
Matt: And that’s like a direct result of working with the OEMs, because knowing the consistency, because very few of our metal components are fabricated, we’ve gone away from welding things on bumpers. Most of our bumpers are now modular, so so much of what we make is stamped, coded, and then assembled.
Tony: Would you consider, your components to be OEM or OEM plus better than OEM?
Matt: Depends which OEMs you’re comparing it to.
Tony: I’m thinking about the metal Jeep bumper. I get the feeling that’s A plus than the OEM. I mean, Jeep makes a good metal do they do.
Matt: but that’s a great product to talk about for a second, because that bumper would not exist the way it exists today if we didn’t do the Colorado Bison package. Chevy, because that’s where we found the material that we’re using to make that bumper. that’s when we got into modular bumper designs. the bumpers that we’re currently installing on the Wranglers and Gladiators, that’s a result of our partnership with Chevy. The stuff that we learned through that exercise, we applied to a design that we wanted to achieve, but now we had this new wealth of information on how to execute it even better.
Tony: when I think of GM, I don’t think of off road vehicles. So I’m wondering, when you say working with them got you to come up with this modular bumper. It wasn’t their design. I get the feeling it’s y’all’s design that you’re coming up to put on the Bison.
Matt: Is that I mean, I know this is a Jeep show, so I’ll keep it brief.
Tony: No, we like more than just Jeeps here, so go right ahead.
Matt: The Colorado ZR Two came out in 2016 or so, and that was a good truck. They made a lot of headway, but they realized that they really wanted to solidify their name as a legitimate contender in the Overlanding Market. They saw this was growing, and they wanted to be a part of it. But they also knew they had to bring something to the table that was going to rival the Coma Gladiator whatever. So that partnership, it was really a very mutual exercise where they said, hey, we want to take this truck, which we think is already really good, and we want to know what you guys would do, how would you do it, and what would your ultimate vision for this truck be if you were to build it the way the AEV builds it? And then we went to the drawing board, steel bumpers, skid plates, unique styling details. We had all these things we wanted to do. And then they said, here’s the thing, you can only add a couple of hundred pounds to it.
Tony: Okay, we should have started with that. Sorry.
Matt: Yeah. So that’s where we came across hot stamped Boron steel. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard us throw that terminology around. Sounds familiar, but in layman’s terms, it’s heat treated stamped steel. So we’ve been stamping steel forever. That’s typically just cold stamping, just mild steel in a press. Hot stamping is when they take a glowing piece of metal and put it into a press, comes down, stamps it, and then cooling, lines are cycled through the tool so it quenches the metal. cools it down real quick. And then you get a heat treated product so it’s even less weight than traditional stamping.
Tony: Right. But you get the strength because of the quenching.
Matt: Yeah. And so that’s how we got around the weight requirement. Because we weren’t going to not do any of these components, we just had to figure out a way to do it within their box.
Tony: Right.
Matt: And then we were like, well, that worked out well. Why would we want to make a Jeep heavier than we have to? So we did that on the bumpers. And our full width front bumper weighs 110 pounds.
Tony: Yeah, that’s very nice. it had to been very exciting having a major corporation like that saying, teach us we are a sponge. What would you do?
Matt: What would you do? Intimidating?
Tony: Oh yeah. No, absolutely.
Matt: Because you’re like this little company meeting with GM executives and it’s still that way. A couple months ago, we had the VP of the GMC brand out for a meeting and it’s like, never in a million years would I have thought that that would be happening when I joined AEP. But yeah, it was exciting. It was intimidating. Stressful. The validation and criteria that you have to meet to get your part shipped into a production plant is unreal. and the list of requirements, consistency, testing, your parts are picked apart in every way possible. Because when that part comes into the plant, that robot or person only has X amount of seconds to get it on the vehicle. So it has to fit exactly right. Everything has to be where it needs to be. It’s not just making the parts, and then you sign the contract, and then it’s all gravy. It’s like you’re consistently monitoring this. It’s a lot. We have a really good team behind it.
Tony: So does AEV personnel actually go to the line and make sure things are going the way they’re supposed to?
Matt: the the light duty Chevys they’re made in Salau, Mexico. The heavy duty GM trucks, the Sierra and Silverado, they’re made about five minutes from where I’m at right now in Flint. The mid size are made in Wensville, Missouri. So all three of those plants we’ve had people to countless times.
Tony: Yeah, I would. Well, imagine. And that’s got to be kind of cool, too, because you’re walking in there as a, supplier for, OEM, which to me is I mean, I know it’s done, but it’s just cool. There’s a cool factor to it. Yeah. I’m here because we’re selling stuff to GM. so, would you say that, and I think this is probably a Doug type question, but getting in with GM, they had to have known about you from either the Jeep or the Ram or both before they even considered talking to, you.
Matt: Know yes. The short answer is yes. That is how they came across us. I don’t know which one or what actually was the I’m betting it’s Jeep.
Tony: I really am, because there’s a lot of closet Jeepers out there. Ah.
GM calls Jeep to show off new Colorado-based ZR Two
Tony: Ones that have always wanted a Jeep. And I suspect I’m sure there’s several Jeep owners at GM. I don’t know at the upper levels or not that might be frowned upon.
Matt: Yeah, something definitely caught their eye. Yeah. I admit I don’t really exactly know what that was.
Tony: Yeah. No, but that’s going to be a wonderful call to get. I mean, not only is it potential, big business, but it’s also recognition for the great job that’s already been done.
Matt: Yeah. And that’s pretty much how it went. Dave Herridan, he woke up one morning, had messages on his phone. Hey, GM, the guys from Chevy wanted to show us this. Cool. Because at the time, the ZR Two wasn’t out yet, so we didn’t even know about it.
Tony: Right.
Matt: It’s like, guys want to show us this Colorado? And we all kind of roll our eyes. All right, well, let’s hear them out. But here, it ended up being the ZR Two. All right, now we’re interested.
Tony: Now you got our attention.
Matt: Did some development trips. We ran the Rubicon in those trucks. We took them to Moab, bunch of other places. And that’s how we really found out. Like, okay, you guys did the ZR Two. Let’s go do the types of trails we do. All right, here’s what we need. And we showed them that skid plates were essential. Steel, bumpers, all the stuff that we were telling them. We showed them firsthand why you need it, and then that kind of sealed the deal and also took some of our, platforms at the time. Like, we brought a Wrangler with us and the stuff that we were doing so people could see how well it worked.
Tony: Oh yeah, because you need to see that. You need to see that. Oh, wow, this looks like it’s factory. It looks like it came from the OEM. Like that.
Every Jeep dealership in the country can now order an AEV vehicle
Tony: Now you mentioned something earlier speaking of factory, you mentioned something earlier that I wasn’t fully aware of. I was chatting with somebody the other day and I did not know this, because my question to the individual was, AEV makes really nice stuff, but how do they actually get the word out, about their product? Because I just accidentally happened upon the Brute one time and I was looking at go, what the hell is that thing? And then I started researching it years ago and, the comment was made, well, they sell at dealerships. So there’s some dealerships that you guys will have, an AEV vehicle, or they can order the AEV vehicle from the dealership. Tell me more about that.
Matt: Yeah, that’s been a program that we’ve had since probably 2011. and that’s really the only way that you not the only way, but that was the most common way of obtaining one of our vehicles is we would go out and prospect dealerships, try and target enthusiast owned dealerships, the Jeep dealerships that the guys are going to Easter Jeep Safari just for the hell of it. Not going to sell Jeeps or anything. They’re enthusiasts.
Tony: Yeah. They have a love for Jeep.
Matt: Yeah. So we really targeted those types of dealers. and just over time it grew. Now I believe we’re about 100 dealerships across the country that we partner with. but to a certain extent, now every dealership in the country can order our Jeeps because of the level two program with, ah, Jeep. Where the level? Two Wrangler? First vehicle on 37. that’s essentially a JL 370. It’s a factory authorized upfit package. So that’s really cool because when we had a very small number of dealerships, everyone thought M, the program made sense. But there were big barriers of entry because of the geographic location. We had dealers in La and Denver, all the major cities, but then everyone else in the country, they’re like, man, I’m not going to drive 500 miles to order a deal vehicle right now. Because the level two programs, literally every dealership in the country can get you, an AEV vehicle.
Tony: Now, is the level two on the Jeep site, or is this something you have to talk to somebody about?
Matt: Yeah, no, if you look at the 2024 Wrangler, I don’t know if they got Gladiator up there yet because that was just announced at Detroit Auto Show. but we’ve been doing the level two now for two years. Well, this will be the second year. The first year was for the 20th anniversary of the Rubicon. That’s, when we did 150 unit run for Jeep, sold out within seconds. And so they said, let’s make it a permanent fixture for 24. So now I don’t want to say it’s unlimited, but there’s not like a finite amount like there was for the 20th anniversary.
Tony: Right. Are you guys building these L two S, or are you providing the parts?
Matt: No, these are different than the GM program. These we are still building. Jeep is just helping us facilitate it.
Tony: So you guys can only be so successful because at some point you go, oh, please make it stop. Yeah. So if you get a level two vehicle, you guys build it in your, facility, and then it gets shipped out to, whatever dealership ordered it. Yeah. That’s really cool.
Level two is available only on four X E and 392. And now it’s expanded to Gladiator
Tony: Now, are you guys doing anything with the four X E?
Matt: Yeah. So level two is available only on well, the first round, it was only available on four X E and 392. Now for 24, they opened it up for V six as well.
Tony: Oh, I did not realize this. Yeah, that makes sense. And I’m sorry, what was the tire size on it?
Matt: 37. 37, 30, 712, 50 BFG.
Tony: Yeah. What gears are in the differentials? Is it 410? 456-4560. Very nice.
Matt: And they take care of that. So they build these things with 456 for us to make our life easier. Then we kind of finish out the build at our facility.
Tony: Very cool.
Matt: Yeah. 456, front and rear bumpers, tire carrier. Winch is standard.
Tony: it’s ready to go.
Matt: Yeah. It has a pair of our driving lights on it, has our two and a half inch suspension. And you can even upgrade your level two with, like, our, higher end shock package if you want. Yeah. So it’s a really cool, really cool package.
Tony: Yeah, it really is. That’s amazing.
Matt: And now it’s expanded to Gladiator. And on both platforms, it’s available on Rubicon and Willys. The Willys thing is new this year.
Tony: Yeah.
Matt: First, time around, it was only Rubicon.
Tony: And this is on the 2024s?
Matt: Yes.
Tony: Okay. So you’re probably not going to find a level two 2023. you were doing some 2023 level twos.
Matt: Oh, well, we did 150 of them, but it was a very finite amount.
Tony: Oh, yeah.
Matt: That’s going to be hard to yeah, we did those 150 for 23. I don’t know if any dealerships might still have one, but that would be probably not.
Tony: But it’s really simple. Just get a 2024 level two package and there you go. So that’s really nice. So, 37 inch tires, 456 gears. and I would assume they do all the Jeep, handles all the eco programming for all the changes.
Matt: we recalibrate. Jeep doesn’t calibrate it. We calibrate it, which is simple.
Tony: Yeah. Just going to put the gear. Ratio in for the diffs. Yeah, I’ve got a Taser mini, so I have some idea how that works. I’m sure you guys aren’t using anything like that, but that’s how I did it on mine, so that’s really cool. And a big shot in Arm for AEV. ah.
So do you anticipate how many of these things you’re going to sell
Tony: So do you anticipate how many of these things you’re going to sell? I mean, I know that’s a hopeful number.
Matt: We’re the limiting factor right now. We can only build so many vehicles. We only have so much room. I don’t know what number we’re going to end. We kind of look at it like, by month and our goal is to maybe get up around I don’t even know because I guess anything could happen. Well, the plant’s on strike right now, so who knows?
Tony: Yeah. So you got a breather before all this?
Matt: No. I don’t know what we’re all envisioning for the end number to be, but our goal right now is just like we’re looking at ways to add more lifts, more people. So we don’t want to be the limiter anymore.
Tony: Right. Are you guys having a hard time finding folks? Because this is kind ah of ah, it’s gotten better.
Matt: It was weird last year.
Matt: It was super weird.
Tony: Do you get people that want to be, remote, mechanics? They want to work from home, not mechanics.
Matt: But never in my life have I heard about people, like, applying for a job, getting an interview, and then not showing up for it. It would happen all the time. And I felt so bad for Dave’s, our job, manager, and the guy’s already overworked and they have to stop what he’s doing, go sit in this meeting expecting to have an interview and just get ghosted by the people. So that was weird. And that carried on for about a year and then for some reason it ended.
Tony: People ran out of money, they got to work.
Matt: I guess that’s the reality of it.
Tony: I don’t want to go to this interview, but damn it, I got to.
Matt: Yeah, so we hired some really good people. now it’s just the physical limitations. So we have to find room, we have to move some things around in the production.
Tony: It’s just horrible. It’s a horrible problem to have to be successful.
Matt: Yeah.
The Overland Expo events are my favorite. EJS is probably number two
Tony: So, let me ask you this. Were you at, EJS last year? Or this year, I should say?
Matt: I keep saying that. Last one of my favorite events, the Overland Expo events are number one. EJS is probably number two.
Tony: Oh, really? So at the Overland, event, is there any wheeling or is it just stand around, talk to it’s?
Matt: Just to me, it’s all about the vibe. The people that go to the Overland Expo events are so just different. The community is so nice and just like everyone’s just so chill and there’s no brand bashing or anything you can get you know, hanging out with Jeep guys, hanging out with some guy who drove his, you know, the tip of South America up to Overland Expo. It’s just such a cool group of people. but you don’t have that wheeling element, which is what’s really cool about EJS. That’s why I like that event.
Tony: Yeah. It’s literally a week of just every scenery is amazing. And getting out there and driving around and seeing all the beautiful rigs that are out there is just a lot of fun.
Matt: it’s breathtaking. It’s one of my favorite places in the country.
Tony: I can understand it. I went for the first time this year, so it was really nice.
Overlanding is another way for people to get out, enjoy their time
Tony: So tell me, I’ve asked this question many times and you may not have an answer, but I’m going to ask anyway. What is overlanding?
Matt: Our camping, basically. I think of it as instead of, going on a vacation and hopping on a plane and flying to Disneyland and doing that, overlanding is another way for people to get out, enjoy their time with friends, family, or by themselves. And just basically you’re relying on your vehicle. You’re living out of your vehicle, you’re traveling with your vehicle. so that’s really what it represents for me.
Tony: So it can be wheeling. It doesn’t have to have wheeling. It can be, off road, but just mild off road going to, just.
Matt: Camping, just taking your kids and hitting some logging roads. But then it’s all about finding that it’s doing something that isn’t just a common trip to the off road park. There’s some element of adventure or something that you’ve always wanted to do. And now you take your Jeep and it’s basically you and your Jeep and you’re trying to get to where you want to go. And some nights you’re going to be sleeping out of it, some nights you might be fixing it. it’s just the way it goes. Ah, that’s what I like.
Tony: Yeah. My definition is, you’re going someplace in your off road vehicle and you take a sandwich. If you’re going someplace in your off road vehicle, off road and you take a sandwich, you’re Overlanding. I mean, that’s what I’ve come up with because back in the, seventy S. Eighty S, it was just called camping. And you didn’t have to have this built up rig to go. It could be the family station wagon and a pop up tent or.
Matt: The need for a highly built rig. I think that that just comes out of human nature.
Tony: Oh, it’s just fun. It’s just fun to do. Yeah.
Matt: Because yes, you’re right. There’s no reason that anyone needs to well, very few people truly need to build up these rigs into something amazing.
Tony: Well, you have to have two shovels and, one of those, treaded, little things in case you get stuck. And two axes and yeah, they look really cool. You see them going back and forth to work every day and you wonder, does this thing ever go anywhere except I ten?
Matt: People probably say that to me all.
Tony: The time, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It all has to do with what you want and what you want to do. But you see these things that are so built up and you know, it’s just fun because we’re all guilty of that. You got to get something to go on there because it looks cool.
Matt: yeah. And you can always tell what area someone really is. Kind of like what someone really nerded out on. If it’s the red arc electric system in there, everything just done up. Or some people will do like they’ll build out if they have a truck and they put a topper on it, they’ll build that out beautifully, like a place to sit and they got an area for their fridge and they got mood lighting and stuff and it’s just really cool to see that personalization. And there are people that literally they don’t have a house.
Tony: Oh really?
Matt: their address. Like you ask them for their address and they’re like, I don’t really have one. I work some of them own businesses, some of them whatever, and they just basically work on the road and literally live out of their truck and love every second of yeah.
Tony: Yeah. Well, I know you’re familiar with Dan Greck and Dan Greck always getting these rigs. He builds up these rigs and he go places. I think he gets antsy whenever he’s back and not traveling. He’s, he’s ready to get back in the rig and go.
Matt: Yeah man, I’ve known Dan for so long. yeah, I met him when he was trying to put that Mercedes diesel in his JK years ago. Years ago.
Tony: Yeah. So he’s supposed to be at SEMA this year. I know Chris is looking forward to, ah, I’m hoping he’s going to have his new Overland rig at SEMA. I’m almost certain he will. Chris is really looking forward to seeing that. Chris, Julianne, Larry and Bill here from Texas, are all going to be out there representing the Jeep talk show at SEMA this year.
Matt: I don’t want to blow a band spot, but I can guarantee that that Jeep will be there because I helped him get the booth spot.
Tony: Oh good. Excellent.
Matt: It’ll be in the Overland Experience area.
Tony: As well it should be because there’s definitely got to be a sandwich.
Matt: Yeah, at least one.
Tony: Yeah. Dan’s a good guy. I think he’s been on our show three or four times.
Matt: He’s a great guy.
Tony: So polite. I mean, I just kind of want to irritate him to see if I can get a negative word from him.
Matt: I think that’s why he’s never had an issue all these trips because I just flat out asked him. The last Overland Expo I saw him at I said, Dan, have you ever had a moment where you were truly scared? No. Telling me that he’s getting held up for money and he gives a guy a banana and they just laugh and he goes away. It’s like, what?
Tony: Well, those border crossings. I remember asking him about the border crossings in Africa and he says, but they got AK 47s. He goes, yeah, a guy came up and let me hold one to kind of get the feel for it. Okay.
Matt: I don’t get it. That’s not in my mind how I picture it would go for me.
Tony: Well, it’s all movies. It’s like I told, oh, you see all this stuff in the movies. You can see Dan fleeing the border patrol and they’re shooting at him. Bullets is whizzing by now. It’s just like, here, you want to hold it? Yeah. Here, hold it. It’s funny. It’s great, though. It’s good to hear. It’s nice to hear the reality of yeah.
AEV will be at SEMA this year, first time since 2019
Tony: so I’m assuming you’re going to be at SEMA this year.
Matt: I will, yeah.
Tony: It probably is something that you don’t have a choice. You have to go because you have to represent AEV out there.
Matt: Well, honestly, this is the first time we are going to be back since 2019. Pre pandemic. 2019 was the last year we went I guess they didn’t have it for a year or two and then we didn’t go last year. so, yeah. Ah, we’re coming back.
Tony: What are you guys going to have out there?
Matt: We’re going to have a Jeep and a Ram and something else. Can’t really go into much detail.
Tony: Oh, no. So let me fill it in, bronco, because that was like last year was the year of the Broncos.
Matt: Not yet.
Tony: There’s no surprise.
Matt: I apologize. That laugh was not at the vehicle.
Tony: No. Bronco is a nice vehicle. Yeah, they’re nice vehicles. I’m just not a big fan of ifs, but they’re real comfortable on the road, so there you go.
Matt: Yeah. But no, we’ll have something really exciting. oh, we were talking about level two. That is what our Jeep will be.
Tony: Good.
Matt: yeah. So we’ll have a built up level two.
Tony: I’m going to tell, the game come by and bother you and maybe get a little video and stuff because.
Matt: We’Re trying to put yeah, we can do an interview.
Tony: Yeah. Put some of a little video up. Not quadradeck on, the, social media stuff like Instagram.
So, uh, do you know where you’re going to be located
Tony: So, do you know where you’re going to be located? What booth, you’re going to be at?
Matt: Oh, lord. The booth number. it’s not a big deal. I just thought you might it’s a 40 x 50 booth, so it’s pretty big and it’s almost in the center of West Hall. Okay. That’s pretty accurate. Cool. Go to the center of West Hall and look for one of the booths with some big stuff in it.
Tony: You guys going to be doing any handouts there stickers, Lanyards stamped, steel bumpers that you can carry with you.
Matt: We are going to be handing out unlimited information.
Tony: There you go. I like that. you should be in market.
Matt: You can stop by multiple times and we will give you all the information you can take.
Tony: And I bet you you’re fine with a few pictures, a few selfies with folks.
Matt: Absolutely. Yeah absolutely. We love it. That to me is because I’m not in sales, so I don’t really get to talk to real people too much. I mostly talk to internet people.
Tony: Right.
Matt: And it’s just cool having face to face conversations with the guys who have been selling our stuff and people that I haven’t seen in years. So that to me is the redeeming part of seam.
Tony: That is probably the most fun, that’s probably the most fun I had at EJS. I’ve interviewed a lot of people and I really had no opportunity to meet any of know I’m down here in Southeast Texas. Nothing happens down here that’s off road, for shows and stuff. So going to EJS and actually getting to go and meet folks that I’ve spoken was really a lot of fun. I got to wheel with a few of them too, so that was great. Yeah.
The Jeep Talk Show Team does several events for the dealership world
Tony: so you’re doing the SEMA thing. You’re going to be out at, EJS 2024. what else you got going on? I mean, more Overland stuff or is that kind of done for the year?
Matt: Yes, we’ll do all four Overland Expos next year. they do one in the west, which is Flagstaff. And they do a northwest up in Oregon, mountain west in Colorado. And then east, which was the one I wrote back last night, Virginia.
Tony: Those all sound like great locations, especially.
Matt: The north are all outside beautiful. Like each location you can plan like a pretty epic drive to get. Yeah, we do that and then a lot of smaller regional events. So if we have a dealership in Texas that says, hey, there’s whatever jamboree going know here, do you want to partner up and do it with us? So we’ll come down and support it. we’ll do a lot of events like that on a much smaller scale, but our big ones are EJS, SEMA, the Overland Expos, and then there’s another show, it’s Nada, which is that’s more for the dealership world. That’s the only people that care. It’s like all dealership related stuff. The OEMs go there, all kinds of business services. So it’s almost like SEMA, but it’s more for the dealerships. And obviously not nearly as wild a vehicle, right. But we go there. That’s a great place for us to sign up dealers. So that’s how we found those original dealerships.
Matt: We brought some vehicles to Nada. Some guys come up, you know, I’m the owner of this dealership. We love Jeeps, and we’d love to find a know company that can provide us with these. You’re our guy.
Tony: Well, you know what? it’s funny because the Jeep Talk Show Team, we’ve talked on several occasions about we need to hit up the dealers. And I keep explaining to them that we have a good reach, but our problem is that it really isn’t good for a dealership in Texas, like in Houston or Dallas, because our reach isn’t very big, and there’s no reason for them to be interested in doing anything with us for five downloads a week or know.
Matt: Right.
Tony: But I, was thinking what we need to do and I don’t know how to do this what we need to do is, like, what you guys are doing, which is how cool is it if a dealership selling a Jeep goes, oh, and there’s a podcast you can listen to in your Jeep about Jeeps? And it’s kind of like a value add for them, because that’s kind of like especially for the new Jeep owner, somebody that’s just getting into it. My God, there’s a podcast that’s designed just for Jeeps. Oh, absolutely. So I’m trying to think of, something we could do there. Maybe we can hit you guys up or figure out a way where we could partner up on something like that. And I’m not asking for an answer a yes or no, because I don’t want to put you in that position, but just, kind of came to mind that would be, really cool to be able to do that.
Matt: Yeah.
Tony: I don’t know.
AEV designed snorkel for dust, primarily
Tony: Do you guys get any grief from people about snorkels? It seems like, when I put the snorkel on the Gladiator that it was like, oh, well, you can’t just put a snorkel on there. You got to do this, you got to do that. What about this? What about this breather. What about your diff breather? What about all of a sudden this, that, and the other? Do you guys run into it?
Matt: I guess we don’t really get a lot of brief for it because we’ve always had the snorkel with, like, an education campaign that, hey, we designed this thing for dust, primarily. Yeah, that’s exactly the second benefit. But dust is why we designed it from personal, experience driving in a line of vehicles in the Southwest where it’s dusty or sandy. I mean, you will clog an air filter within hours. Putting on a snorkel. You’re bringing in air above that massive dust.
Tony: Well, it’s truly a cold air intake. That stuff that goes under the hood.
Matt: Intake, whatever you want to call it.
Tony: Yeah, I switched to that round thing, that hurricane Prefilter. Thank you. Yes, I switched to the Pre filter when I got to, EJS for that exact reason. So, yeah, they’re great and I like it. I didn’t see a lot of snorkels out there. And I think a lot of it is, people, look at it like, I’m not going through water, but it’s nice. Like you say, it’s for dust, it’s not bad for water. It can help you get right.
Matt: That’s an added benefit.
Tony: Exactly.
Matt: Anytime we do a show, there is always at least one person that’s like, you can take that thing and water up to that snorkel. It’s like, no, that thing’s going to be a permanent fixture on the bottom of whatever river you’re trying to cross.
Tony: Yeah, it’s just like well, it really is, depending on how long I can hold my breath and if I’m doing a water crossing, if I’m doing a water crossing, I might be a little, short on breath because I’ll be really excited at the time.
Matt: Yeah. And I guess aesthetically snorkels, I personally think they look good, but I think they’re also somewhat polarizing. Really into this. They probably don’t think it particularly looks good. I think it looks cool, but it’s just another tool.
Tony: It’s just another tool that you can use and it’s the way I look at it. well, very cool. Great information. Good luck on the level two stuff. I hope you guys don’t, get so busy you’re having to work 100 hours a week and was it Dave that’s doing the interviews? Yeah. Hopefully Dave all his interviews show up and you guys can hire some great people to continue the great work you guys do. I mean, just beautiful builds every time. I know about AEV. Known about it for years. Always great builds. You have some of the best looking bumpers for jeeps. They look factory. I mean, that’s the thing you have to say about AEV. It just looks factory. But it’s better than factory because you can’t get it from the factory unless you go into a level. So that’s really cool.
Matt: And that’s always been our thing. If you look back to the very first vehicles dave built out in Montana, up until today, every single product vehicle, everything really looked to an untrained eye that it could have rolled off the assembly line that way. I don’t think we’ll ever change.
Tony: Yeah, I tell my wife, she does how the women like to do scrapbooking. She got big into that. She makes cards and stuff. And I tell her, I said, you need to make sure that you let people know these are handmade. Because she has gotten so good at it. It just looks like she bought it and gave it to somebody. People need to know it’s handmade because it has more value, to it, at least to me. And that’s what I think of the AEV. I mean, you guys might be stamping it and stuff, but this isn’t the normal, everyday thing that rolls off the assembly line. This is something that somebody had to work hard at making it look factory. And that means a lot more to me. That’s like having an autographed book. That’s like having a, ah, handmade card. So it has more value simply because of the way, it was created.
As a marketing person, you have to love social media
Tony: Well, you know how the kids love the social media these days. And as a marketing person, you have to love social media. I’m sure it’s a double edged sword sometimes. I like it when people sword.
Matt: Have three, four edges to it.
Tony: Well, you know the one that the little dagger they had back in World War I in the trenches, it had three sides. It was a tri blade that way.
Matt: There you go.
Tony: You weren’t going to heal very quickly from that, so yeah, absolutely. And I, could just well imagine people love to speak their mind on social media too. So those have to be very fun.
Matt: There’s so many people that are engineers too. I had no idea that there were that many engineers.
Tony: That’s right. Absolutely.
How do people find out more about AEV? We, uh, mentioned AEV
Tony: So how do people find out more about AEV? We, mentioned AEV. I want to say hashtag minus. No, what is it? Hang on a second.
Matt: Yeah. So our website AUV conversions.com.
Tony: Yep, that’s one place.
Matt: And then obviously social, know, we do a lot on Instagram and Facebook. We’re also on LinkedIn if you’re trying to get a job with us. YouTube put up a lot of great trail footage up there. And we’re even on TikTok now.
Tony: Very cool. Oh yeah, I like that. That’s the last thing ah, we’re on TikTok.
Matt: Well, I call it I held out for the longest time. I’m, like, I really don’t want.
Tony: It’S a lot of fun. It is a lot of fun being there.
Matt: It is. And I cheat, basically. Whatever I post on Instagram goes right over to TikTok.
Tony: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There’s no reason to do double work.
Matt: I’m not going to sing and dance either. I’ll leave the trends to the pros.
Tony: That’s great. So, M, you got to go look for AEV out at SEMA this year. Go and bother Matt, especially if you’re bothering Matt, let him know that you’re a Jeep talk show listener and you came over there to bother him and you want some of that unlimited, information that they’re handing out. Matt, thanks a lot for being here and we’ll have you on again, I’m sure.
Matt: All right, I’ll look forward to it.
Matt Felderman of AEV Conversions talks to Jeep Talk Show
Tony: Hey, thanks again to Matt Felderman of AEV Conversions. Always fun to talk to Matt. Always fun to talk to anybody from AEV Conversions. It’s a great business. And wow, you can literally get these literally order, Jeep, AEV Jeeps from several dealerships across the country. How cool is that? I mean, if you’re going to get a Jeep, you might as well get one that is different than everybody else’s. You can visit, their website right now, AEV or, minus sign, which matt hated conversions.com. AEV conversions.com. Hey. Coming up next week, marvin Stammel of YouTube sensation flex Rocks and Rollovers. How did I not know about this YouTube channel? I watched YouTube. I watched Jeep videos. I don’t know how I didn’t see this. It’s a very popular YouTube channel. Maybe it’s new to you. go and check it out. It’s really cool. They do a lot of good work there. And you’re going to hear, why the videos are so nice, after you’re listening to the interview next week. So I’ll remind you guys, we’re going to have a large group of, JTS, team members and listeners out at SEMA this year. Boy, coming up in just a couple of weeks, they’re going to have stickers. they’d love to shake your hands and say hello to you. Chris is going to be out there. Julianne from Wrangle Her, and, Chick Chat will be out there. and Larry from, Jeeping ah, O co host is going to be there as well. So, you need to keep up with us on Instagram and find out where they are, where they’re located at, or maybe some way of you, can contact, me. And I can tell you where they are at at any given moment so you can meet up with them. So, follow us on Instagram. If you’re not already following the Jeep Talk Show on Instagram, get over there and start following us right away.
The Jeep Talk Show welcomes special guests to share their Jeep knowledge
Tony: And that’s a wrap for today’s episode of The Jeep Talk Show. I want to give you a, big thank you to our special guests for joining us today and sharing their knowledge and experience with a Jeep community. Remember, we have four episodes a week, and it’s understandable if you have missed past episodes. You can always find us on your favorite podcast platform or on our website. With over 900 episodes, there’s plenty of Jeep Talk Show to entertain you while driving to your destination, working out at the gym, or mowing the grass. Improve your day by listening to more Jeep talk show. Like I said earlier, we’d love hearing from you, our listener. Reach out to us via, email, phone, social media. We even use your voicemails on the show. Just go to Jeeptalshow.com, contact to fill out to find out how to reach out to us. Until next time, keep on Jeeping and we’ll see you on the trails. Oh, and remember, Fridays are red. Remember, everyone deployed.
This segment is brought to you by Lug Nuts. Get yours now
Tony: Broadcasting since 2010, this segment of the show is brought to you by Lug Nuts. There’s nothing like lug nuts to secure a wheel to a Jeep. Get yours now and be sure to ask for genuine lug brand nuts for your Jeep wheels. That’s lug nuts. And now a big shout out to our Patreon subscribers steve Martin.
Speaker C: Mike Hoobler. Owen Kubisak. Tom Parsonu. John Earl. Bob Vaughn. Patrick Miller. William Wyatt. Tad Jennings. Jim Miller. Ryan Gurley. Dusty. L dunn. Rick Turner. David Greenwalt. John Wooden. Adam Poole. Keith Brenner. James Holston. David Key. Brent Mendoza. Andrew Prather. Josh Norris. Joshua Southwick. Brent Smith. Matthew Hinaline. Julianne Devoket. Gary Perkins. Andrea Job. James Tomchick. Kevin Briggs. Mark Zabalotny. Hunter Clark. Randy Francis. Larry Holmes. Craig Daly. Don Swinner. Roger Madro. Chip Holmes. John Lee. Bill Alvarez and Matthew Johnson.