Interview Natalie HighLift Off-Road

Natalie fell in love with the Jeep community when she got her first Jeep wave in her yellow TJ on her 16th birthday! She works with the team from HighLift Off-Road in Cincinnati,Ohio. She is part of the HL Expedition Team and Social Media and Marketing.

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 guest. Sometimes they have products you need for your Jeep. 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.

 

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Audio boys and girls. It’s time for another Jeep Talk Show interview. And tonight we’re going to be talking with Natalie. Natalie is with high lift off road. No, not the Jack. This is spelled out the whole word or the whole words high lift. So Natalie fell in love with jeeping community when she got her first Jeep wave and her yellow TJ on her 16th birthday. That was like three weeks ago. She works with the team from high lift off road in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is part of the H.L. expedition team and social media marketing. You can go over to visit their site right now, which we always recommend people do at highliftoffroad.com. Call it all out. Hi, the whole, the H I G H lift off road.com. I wonder how many high lift jacks you guys have sold because they misspelled the website. We sell quite a few and we will install them for you at wherever you want. That, you know, that’s a great question to start with. Where is the best place to install a high lift Jack on a TJ?

 

Well, personally, I think it’s under the seat, but that’s just my personal preference in my JK now.

 

You have the hood. Everyone loves to put it on the hood. Isn’t the hood a bad place? It’s not my favorite place. Um, you know, it could become a projectile and a crash. You’re going to scratch. I don’t care who you are. You’re going to scratch that hood when you’re taking it off. Cause you’re gonna be in a hurry and half the time you’re the person that needs it on your own vehicle. So how can you get to it if you’re in a sticky situation? So, um, definitely I do think under the seat or, um, in the back of someone’s gladiator is even better. Yeah. That’s where I’ve got mine.

 

Jack, uh, mounts for the, uh, the, the trail bed, the middle par trail rails and it’s mounted right there. I’ve been off-road several times. It hasn’t moved a millimeter. It’s a so solid back there and it’s out of sight. You need it. You have it. And there was one time I did not actually have it cause I took it out last minute thinking I’m just doing an easy trail. No big deal. Oh, blue and apex valve ripped it right off. Flat tire didn’t have the Jack to be able to get the job done. So always make sure it’s when you need it. Yeah. And a lot of people get winches, uh, and they, they don’t use them or maybe they pull out some, uh, some bushes and stuff from the front yard. Yeah. Because it’s a tool. You can use it however you want to do it as long as it’s safe. So, but, but having it, having the right tool for the right job is always very important. It is. It is. All right. Well, hi Tony. It’s good to see ya. Yeah. Hi.

 

So you were talking about, uh, the yellow TJ, like I said earlier, a couple of weeks ago, uh, yellow TJ, how did you get the yellow TJ? Yeah. My, um, my dad and my mom, they’re wonderful, wonderful people and very supportive of the Jeep community. My dad always knew that, um, he wanted his kids to be safe in a vehicle and I’m actually a twin. So, um, we were having to turn 16 at once can be a little of a, uh, yeah, especially a couple of weeks ago, you know? But, uh, we, I was very fortunate to be able to get the sport. My brother got a white Sahara and, um, we had a great time in high school, driving those things to school and messing with each other on the road. And, um, it was great. I really liked, and I had that Jeep for 19 years. Actually, there we go. There’s the age coming out. Um, but I put that thing and unfortunately I wish I would’ve known what I know now. It led me to what I’m doing now. Um, or I would’ve kept it. I didn’t realize the gem that I have with that solar yellow color. Was it a four cylinder or a six cylinder? It was the four cylinder. It’s a damn good thing. You got rid of it. I know. It didn’t have the half doors, which you know, the Mopar half doors are hard to find now. So, um, if you cap it, if you cap it, you could have had them installing a himmy in there right now and killed yourself on the first drive. I know. Hop and wheelies doing all the things. So I did drive across the country a few times with my mom. I used to work on dude ranches growing up. So, um, through college and I thought, well, you got to have your Wrangler. You’re going to be a Wrangler. So, uh, we did a couple of road trips to get out West in that thing, um, with the soft top and the half doors. It was a little noisy.

 

So we bought a TJ, I guess maybe 12 years ago is used. Uh, and, uh, when, when we got it, both my wife and I wanted a TJ from way back when the first Jeep that we got was a 98 XJ Cherokee XJ. Um, so we finally got the TJ and the first thing that we did was took all the top and everything off. Uh, and I can’t remember, I think we had two doors, maybe not. It might’ve been completely doorless and we took off, uh, on a run through, uh, around central Texas, nothing, no, really no highways, some highways, but mostly just two lane roads, lot of trees, a lot of cows, a lot of yelling moo out the, out of the other Jeep.

 

And it was so much fun, but we couldn’t talk. It was just too loud, 40, 50 miles an hour. Even it’s just, it’s just too loud. And yeah, I’ve never come up with a, uh, I’m, I’m, I’m, I never made it to get the license of a private pilot, but I did a lot of flying. So you know, and that you had to have a headset system, intercon system. If you wanted to talk to your passenger, and this is kind of the same thing that the Jeepers need if you’re, if you’re driving any distance off road, because if you want to, if you want to hell, if you just want to listen to music, you need a intercom system. So I’ve never found one that was cost effective because they make them all for airplanes. And if it’s airplanes, it’s very expensive. Yes, it is. I mean, that’s good though. Try once, you know? Yeah. Well, that’s true. All right. So, uh, anyway, yellow Jeep, you had it for 19 years. So you, so you got it when you were like a negative 20 or something.

 

So, uh, that was fun. Uh, how long ago did you, uh, did you sell the, the, the TJ and I’m assuming you sold it. Uh, I did know. I traded it in for credit. How long after you sold it, did you realize it was a mistake?

 

Um, within the first six months after I made it in for big red as I have now, um, which is the four door JK 2017. So you turned it into the dealership. What did they think about it? Were they going? Wow. Did there, were they really, you know, did they know what they had there or I think they did, but they downplayed it. I mean, cause it was pretty clean. There was a, so the only reason, I mean, it’s the rust was underneath a little bit. Um, and I didn’t know about, you know, you could restore these things. I feel so much more educated now. Um, so they were like, Oh yeah, we’ll give you X amount. No biggie. We got this. You’ll be so much happier. And now I just kick myself. So, well, I mean, the JK is a good Jeep, right? And I’m sure, and the, the creature comforts were so much nicer than the TJ. It is. It’s definitely very comfortable. And I’ve driven that to Boston and back and, um, and that was a really nice drive. It was a little bit different. It wasn’t as noisy. So yeah, the JK is pretty great too. It’s the tank of the Jeep world. I still always believe that. So the great thing about Jeep is they make vehicles, uh, they make newer vehicles quieter, more comfortable to ride, but they’re also, they’re still Jeepers, I mean, they’re still Jeepy. They’re very much still, they have the DNA of the original Jeeps. And so, yeah, so that’s the great thing now on the JK. Uh, what did, what did you get with the JK? What model? Um, I actually did the sport, um, because that’s what I have before. So I was a creature of habit and you wanted to be able to afford it. Yeah. And then, and then yes, the price was right. And I also, I just didn’t understand. No one really explained to me the difference between the Rubicon, Sahara sport. Um, like I said, sometimes you need to learn some lessons to really have that thinking, um, which I have done at this point now that I’m wheeling in the industry now, but, um, it was sports. It’s been great. I still, you know, I still, I have that still open, open. Um, it’s on a, you know, Dana 30, Dana 44 rear. And, um, I’m getting ready to do a little bit of an upgrade coming up, but lately, I mean, I’ve been wheeling it for the past four years, hanging with the big boys without lockers. Um, I mean, it definitely put some wear and tear on there, but, um, I just did a standard two and a half lift 35 all terrain, nitto Ridge Grapplers. Um, cause it was my daily at the time and love my two and a half JK lift, uh, JKS lift, um, with the quick disconnect. That was a life changer. I didn’t realize what I was doing when I did that. Um, but my first stop that helped me, um, they, they took extra care and really tried to educate me with the process along the way. Cause really all I knew I just wanted was, um, my Rhino black wheels. I just knew I wanted that brand and that’s all I cared about. And then they helped me build it from there. So, um, really good. You answered a lot of the questions I was going to ask you, uh, but the thing I want to make that I just keep going. No, it’s absolutely great. So the one thing I want people to hear from this is you’re taking it off road and you’re wheeling it and you don’t have lockers. You don’t have a six inch, seven inch, eight inch, 12 inch lift. You don’t have forties or 42s and you’re taking your Jeep off road. Did you take it off before he made any modifications to it? You know, I only on, um, the beach and, uh, right outside Boston, there’s Cape Cod right in the arm of the, of Massachusetts at the very tip, you can go, um, on the national seashore, which is part of the national park system, big band national parks, get out and see them the summer. Um, and you can go, um, on the, in the dunes there and go into the park and you just air down to 15 PSI. You watch a little video about how not to get too close to the shoreline. Um, and that was the extent of my off-roading, um, was that at the time. So, um, but I knew when I got back from that first trip, I go there every summer with my family and I was like, I want to be a little bit bigger. I saw some other jeeps there and I was like, well, those guys are cool. I can do that too. Yeah.

 

So, uh, but this is the thing that people need to understand. I mean, the great thing about having an, especially having a sport, you didn’t go with a Rubicon to start with. So it wasn’t just what did this button do? What does this button do? And then, and then you learned it that way. You, you’ve gone off road, you understand what the smaller tires and the, uh, the, the capabilities of the, the, uh, the vehicle is without all those modifications. Plus you get to have the excitement of making the modifications along the way. And it’s in experiencing what you just, uh, installed or what you just added to your Jeep and that’s fun to do. And it’s, it makes it, it makes the excitement longer.

 

So it does.

 

And I’m glad I did it this way. I mean, back, like I said, back when I bought this one in 2018, um, I, Oh, I knew about a Rubicon. I thought I met leather seats. Um, and I think there’s a lot of people out there that don’t know that. Same to say it. I wasn’t for a while, like, Oh, Natalie, you should have been smarter, but if you don’t know, it’s okay. And it just hooks people to take the time with me and share like, Oh no, this is why you have a sport and what sport means and what does Rubicon mean? And even Sahara, cause Sahara is still, that’s a different trim package. And what does that entail? Now the Willys is a whole new thing. The lobby. Um, I think there needs to be more education about the different trim packages because it’s more than just seats or Chrome or, you know, different interior designs, so, right. Um, and, uh, I personally, this is just my opinion. I like the idea of a sport. The only downside I can think of on a sport is, is the front axle being a Dana 30. It is a Dana 30. You almost always have to upgrade a Dana 30 if you want to go lockers. And although there’s, there’s things that you could do, I’m sure you’re familiar with the term, uh, polishing the turd, uh, which people probably come in to high lift and say, Hey, what can we do to beef up this, uh, this Dana 30? And the answer is replace it. But no, you can do chrome molly axles and weld stuff onto it. And that’s the polishing. It is the polishing. And I actually thought about doing that because I’ve, I’ve been pretty proud of what I’ve been doing. And I have some friends that I’ve been able to, I started teaching them when they were doing one-on-one classes with a group I was with, and then to see them grow, and they’re also on, you know, two and a half, 35, um, sports. And they put lockers in that Dana 30 and they are doing great. Um, and I know the whole reference about it’s like a matchstick and, you know, things like that, but

 

it’s really under your control and that, uh, and, and the, the go fast pedal. If you modulate that thing properly, uh, you can do a lot without breaking something. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. So I don’t think you should be nervous to lock a Dana 30. Just cautious.

 

And you can agree or disagree, but I’m thinking 35 is about the most you want to do on a Dana 30, especially if it’s locked.

 

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yes. Um, so you mentioned, uh, disconnects. So, uh, obviously the sport doesn’t come with a automatic disconnect, which is what the Rubicon comes with, uh, which is nice, but it has a tendency to, to break and have issues on its own.

 

And when you have a, uh, when you have disconnects that you manually disconnect and reconnect, you don’t have problems with it. No, you don’t. It’s fantastic. Actually. Just sometimes your pen will break. Oh no, just get a new pen. Um, or just throw his tie in there. The ties are a man and girl’s best friend. Let me tell you, I got, I got a bag of those, uh, those pins cause I went off and I don’t know that I broke it, but it definitely went off on its own someplace. Yeah, they do. Don’t say they walk off. It’s just weird. I guess it’s, I guess it depends on how rough you are off road. Very true. Okay. So we’ve talked about a lot of things having to do with modifications and having, uh, older Jeeps, newer Jeeps. I’m assuming, and you correct me if I’m wrong, this is all of what high lift off road does again, high lift off road.com. You guys can make dreams come true. We do. And that’s something we like to say a lot. So we’re not just online. Um, online actually became second. Uh, we are brick and mortar shop. Uh, we have a very expansive showroom fully stocked. Um, that’s something Michael Bailey, the owner truly believes in is being able to touch, look and feel at all your parts when you’re trying to shop. Um, because half the time we don’t know what they are. Um, you know, most people are doing modifications are new to the, to coming in and doing that. We were able to take the time, walk the whole showroom, touch every single thing from all the different brands, um, to be able to see what exactly you like, but also what fits within your budget too. Cause at the end of the day, do you think it’s all about a budget? Well, you can kind of see, you can kind of see the quality or the thickness or how strong something is or, or pick it up and feel the weight of it, which gives you something that you can’t do online. Um, and also too, I would imagine that it’s easier to, to not necessarily upsell them, but for them to be comfortable with, Oh yeah, this one is this price, which I can afford, but it’s not quite quality, uh, the quality and a heaviness or the thickness or rotor that I want. So yeah, that would be, that’s great. So, um, we have everything from bar taxi covers, uh, to worn soft shackles all the way up to Oracle lighting and rigid lighting. I mean, everything is in the showroom, um, beadlocks versus non beats, you know, standard wheels and, um, it’s really nice to be able to, and all the time we have a lot of tires in the, in the showroom. It smells fantastic. If you guys all like, it smells so good. Um, you know, we’re very lucky to be able to go through, um, wheel pros at Keystone. Um, to be able to get, um, all the latest tires that everyone really wants and you don’t really have to wait, which is nice. So how long did it take you to, uh, not be wandering around looking at the, uh, the parts and smelling the tires? I think it’d be funny. Stop smelling the tires. We need that for the customers. I actually thought about, you know, I thought about being the tire stacks like to do all this with you because it’s just so nice over there. It just smells so good. Um, but it’s a great place to put a phone, you know? Um, I mean, I got very lucky when I first started coming here. Um, you know, the team I’ve known for quite some time. Um, and I came in to upgrade my steering actually, um, because I was still working on Mopar, uh, steering parts, Tyrod drag link, um, after I did my first round of build with the two and a half lift, the 35 tires, and eventually those, those original parts are going to wear out. So, um, I came in with, you know, death wobble, the shaking, everyone knows the debt, you know, that dreaded death wobble. Um, so they were able to, you know, help me with the eddy steering and got all that upgraded and it’s been amazing ever since. Um, so I’ve been, you know, doing it slowly, which is great, but also, um, the steering actually might be my favorite upgrade. Oh, it makes a, it makes a huge difference in this, the, the quality feel of the Jeep, the drivability of it, the confidence, if you will. So this is, is the steer smarts, which you guys generally recommend. It is. You’re smart. Yes. Yeah. Can’t go wrong with them. And you know, they’re doing the ice cream truck right now from SEMA. That thing has been all over. Um, I’ve actually driven by our shop a few times going down to like, um, Daytona. I got to see on the highway and I can’t grow old as it was going down the road. I was free. Hell. Why would they, why haven’t they stopped and given you some ice cream? I know. Right. I was not happy about it, but it wasn’t really in the morning when I saw them. So yeah, maybe you can have pizza anytime of the day.

 

Very, very much. Yeah. Uh, that’s a, that’s a pretty cool rig right now what they built for SEMA and I’m a big fan of steer smarts. So very, very cool. All right. So we’ve talked about coming to the store, which is in Cincinnati, Ohio. Uh, where exactly in Cincinnati? Yeah. So we’re looking on Northland Boulevard to get very specific. Um, but we’re actually right, right outside the city. Um, so it’s really easy to get here from, you know, Kentucky, Indiana. Um, also while you’re in Ohio, we’re very centrally located in Southwest Ohio. Um, and we have people that come up, um, just about from anywhere. Uh, we did have a Jeep shift here from Texas to have some work done. Um, I mean, if you can ship it, we’ll receive it and we actually helped with that too. Yeah. We just picked up a Jeep the other day who’s having a PSC issue with her pump and she’s about an hour from here. So we just took the truck and trailer, went up and got it and brought it back down here for her to start working on. And you know, we’ll, we try to accommodate everyone because most of these rigs are their daily drivers and how do you get it down here? If it can’t be driven like, you know, a PSE pump problem or, um, you know, the tire issue. So we do try to do a lot of, uh, pickup if we can. Sure. That’s really neat. Uh, how far away has somebody sent in a vehicle?

 

Um, oh my gosh. I mean, are we talking States or, uh, definitely States for sure. Absolutely. I mean, I have a Jeep gladiator come in from New Hampshire. Uh, they just randomly walked in. They were visiting, um, some family in town and they saw the jeeps that they were driving by on a Saturday and were actually closed. Um, but Michael was here, um, cause he’s always here. He lives here. Um, but he actually left the door unlocked. So they just walked in, which I’m so glad they did. Big shout out to Amy. Uh, and she wanted to do a 392 Hemi swap on her brand new red gladiator. So we were able to get a shift here and worked on that. And then, you know, her first trip in it was in Moab last year on one of our expeditions and she just did our sand hollow trip that we just got back from last week and she just, she’s amazing. She’s our only female driver too on both those trips. So ladies don’t be afraid to do the expeditions. I know we spend money on other vacations, but vacations enhanced by jeeping and wheeling and Broncos. It’s, it’s an amazing experience. Yeah. It’s so, so, so nice. So, um, what did you guys do? I’m assuming the gladiator had a three six in it. What did you guys do with the engine that came out of it? You know, that’s a great question. And I actually wish I, I knew that’s something I’ve been wanting to ask, but it’s amazing. I had the answer to that. I know. It’s amazing. I go to ask that question actually to like my mechanics, Matt Moss is really mechanic and I will ask him like, you know, where these engines go. It’s amazing. He just turns around and walks away. I’m like, where’s he going?

 

So I’m not real sure, but I’m, I’m definitely can find out. He went and he was taking the, the Facebook marketplace ad down.

 

Very, very well. I was just curious because you roll in there, you know, you roll in there and now you got an engine. And I mean, do you guys just have to deal with it yourself or do you load it back up in the, in the vehicle? Yeah.

 

I mean, you could get quite a bit of some of, of, of money for a brand new three six. Yeah. And I’m sure the customer has a lot to do with it too. Oh yeah. But, you know, they probably look at you dumbfounded like, well, I don’t know what am I going to do with that?

 

Well, I mean, a lot of customers don’t want their wheels and tires back or other parts and we, you know, we’re good about helping them sell them if they want you to add, to help with their bill or things like that. So, but you know, it’s like Tony, I was so prepared, but not for that. See, this is what you got to expect. Expect the unexpected on the Jeep talk show interviews.

 

Don’t feel bad. There’s nothing wrong with the question. I mean, the answer of, I don’t know, but yeah. And you can, you can tell us what the answer is in the future.

 

So, do you guys have any friction with the high lift jacks about the name? Not that I’m aware of because it’s felt totally different. Um, and our logo, actually, when you guys look on our website, it’s actually four low, so it looks like an H, but it’s actually a number four L. Um, so now you’ll never unsee that. Uh, once you see that Javier, our head of marketing, he’s, he’s such a genius and such an artist and he came up with our new logo that we just rolled out last year. And, um, it’s amazing with the port low, but yeah, I mean, every now and then, um, I was down in river board. They had a group of people ask, Oh, you’re with high lift Jack. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, I would think that that would be kind of a, I mean, it’s, um, we don’t ever get confused with another, uh, another show, but, uh, we often get confused with who what, I don’t know who that is.

 

So that’s really not a confusion. Um, but, uh, but I could, I could well imagine that, you know, the name and marketing is very important. The name of the business is very important. And if you get confused with somebody else, yeah. And if you get confused with somebody else that, that hurts the marketability. Yeah, it can. That’s why offer is always said, I always make, you know, when I’m, especially because I do a lot of our social media posting, um, everything is always talked about high lift off road, off road.

 

No, I mean, you have to do it that way. Is there been any, I mean, it’s also a bad idea to change names, but has there been any discussion about changing the name to get the distance yourself from high lift? So actually this isn’t already a name change. So when Michael Bailey first started, he actually had zero lift, um, because he was working at import cars. So in Fast and Furious first came out, those were the vehicles that he was building. And then a shift started to happen after the movies came out, you know, times just changed people’s tastes. They changed. And then he decided to start pursuing more of the off road industry and community. And then for, you know, high lift was born. So it went from zero lift to high lift.

 

Yeah. Zero lift wouldn’t be good for an off road business.

 

Although there’s some people that like low center of gravity Jeeps. Um, you know, it’s funny that you mentioned Fast and Furious. I know somebody that used to work for Nexentires that worked on Fast and Furious. He was in charge of the, of the vehicles. Oh my God. Yeah. Uh, Paul from Nexentires formerly of Nexentires. So, uh, yeah, did, did, did Mike work on the, uh, work on the movie or like just work on the movie? He had, um, I feel like I don’t, I’m so sorry. I’m not, see this is another one of those questions I’m asking. Um, it was the second film and it was done at the end of the second film when they have their big garage area and all the cars start coming out. They’re trying to blend in and it was, um, one of the first cars to come out was a blue, I think it was a Camry that they modified. Um, and I, there are pictures here on the shop of it and it’s really, it’s really cool. Uh, so yes, he did do a couple of builds for that. So as an employee of Mike’s, how often do you have to fake interest in hearing the Fast and Furious story again? Um, it’s, uh, Mike’s not watching this, right? No, no, no, no. He may be looking through the window right now. Um, but, uh, you know, it’s like once a week. It’s once a week. I’m sure that was, it was, it was a good show. Even the second one was still good. The, the 15th one that they’re on now, I stopped watching after really the first one. How much can you do?

 

Have you seen Vin Diesel? He is really aged. And I think it’s all from these movies.

 

We still love to have you on Vin. So don’t, don’t take that as an insult. Yeah, we need you. All right. So, uh, high lift off road, high lift off road, high lift off road.com is where you want to go. Uh, so, uh, what kind of parts do you guys have? I mean, we know that you have a steer smarts. Oh, and, and we kind of glossed over this. You guys definitely are online and you can sell stuff online and ship it out to people. Uh, obviously that you love having them in the shop and installing it there and making sure it’s done correctly, but you guys are all are online, high lift off road. So, uh, steer smarts we know about, uh, what else, what else can you sell? TeraFlex. Um, that’s another one of our, we have a great relationship with TeraFlex. Um, we actually were on our last trip. We just did. Um, we, Dennis Woods was able to come out for a couple of days, um, and wheeled with us and got to work with our customers and guide them and talk to them and, you know, lead them and lead myself. Like I was so excited. I actually got to ride passenger with him a little bit. Yes. I did paying girl, just a tiny, I did. Dennis is a character, but I’ll let you know that in prior interviews we’ve done with Dennis. Uh, I surprise him sometimes with some of the questions and things that I say. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta watch it. It’s funny.

 

Cause he, he’s a character.

 

So you know, TeraFlex is a great partner with us and also nemesis industry fits another, you know, the Utah based and just, um, armor industry. Um, nemesis is fantastic and we actually had a representative from them out wheeling with us and guiding for a couple of days. Um, so, you know, ARB is here. We, we, we really love ARB. Me too. Um, we really are, Mike has done a great job of developing relationships with all of these brands to be direct, which is nice. Um, as much as possible, um, even down to ARE smart caps. Um, we do a lot of the caps for trucks and gladiators. Um, and we customize them for everybody. You can either do it over the phone with us or you come into the shop to do it. Um, and we install as well, or we ship to you. Uh, what about goodies for the gladiator wheels, tires? I think you’ve already mentioned that stuff. Uh, what, what wheel manufacturers do you guys cover? So, um, you know, the, well, Rhino, Rhino wheels, those are my favorite along with KMC. Um, and honestly, dirty life is really stepped up. Um, we’ve had a big run on dirty life wheels. Um, and we’re able to do a lot of different things with them, which is nice. Um, their bead locks have really stepped up and we’ve had a lot of people getting dirty life. So,

 

how do you balance the assuming you guys do mounting and balancing, how do you guys balance the beat locks? We have, um, we have a machine that’s in the back. That’s amazing. I love that. Whole machine is fantastic to be able to watch. And I do some filming for us and make videos of like how things, it’s kind of like, you know, how is it made? Everyone, that’s my favorite part is the behind the scenes. So, um, I will do, I really see a lot of videos of watching our mechanics do what they do back there and doing the balancing machines. And, um, we are, we have one person, uh, dedicated to wheels and tires. Tom is fantastic. Um, and he’s, it’s the love of his life. It’s what he does. Wow. Um, so, so no, uh, no beads, uh, the it’s all weights that are put on the, uh, the, okay. So that’s the only thing, all that’s always the thing that concerns me about a beat lock. So few people actually need beat locks, but they really look cool. And it’s just like that tool we were talking about. It’s nice to have the tool, uh, before you need it, not getting out there, go out, damn it. I should have bought some beat locks. Okay. So, I will say being able to air down to that PSI that low, um, right. A Jeep I was guiding, um, in San Hollow, he was, uh, we called him the goat because he was, he was, they, they were the smallest Jeep. They were on 38th. Everyone else is on 40s and 42s and 392 engines, Hemi swaps still with them. And this couple came in from Tennessee and they did everything those big boys did. And I really contributed to his being able to go down to APSI. And I was really watching his tires. I really enjoyed filming his tires because you can really see the area where it would cover and squish. And I love seeing the squish. Um, and I couldn’t believe the stuff he made. He made it look so easy, so easy. So really proud of Matthew from Tennessee. And I think most people understand that you air down for increased traction, more friction. The tire literally will conform to the rock or the shelf or whatever it is that you’re going over. So it makes it, uh, the, the tire works better basically moving the Jeep forward. So that’s the reason why you do B locks. But whenever you get down that low, you always have the possibility of popping the tire off the wheel. And then all the air goes out and all the fun goes away instantly.

 

Or if you, uh, rip up a Apex valve off, that also can ruin your day. I did that recently and I didn’t even realize like what had happened. Um, and I’m just like, why do I not have any PSI? Am I front passenger? Like, no, I can only, it doesn’t look flat. Oh, she was, who she was. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I could, cool. So, uh, how about Warren? Do you guys carry the Warren factor? 55?

 

We do big fan of Warren. Um, we actually, we just, um, we, we had a big, um, we call it a Mount winch more, uh, because we had so many winch boxes stacked up. Um, it’s almost gone now. Um, we’re, we are going to get another shipment in, we do have plenty of warm products and factor 55. I cannot speak enough about the hook and the hooks are so important. Um, and that company itself is just so great to work with.

 

So what do you have that maybe, um, is the, the unusual or something that you sell that is not probably, uh, the common thing that, you know, the, the best shops have that you guys have found is, is really cool to have. And you guys have a, uh, put this out there for people. So, you know, knee jerk response. Um, we have a, we have a great relationship with RockSlide. Um, and those dropdown sliders are absolutely fantastic. They can be, I know they’re a little bit more on the, um, fatter wallet side, but it is extremely worth it. And they stand behind their product behind the motors, everything. Um, and I see Jeeps really, they, they, they rest on those and those things will still drop down perfectly every time. Uh, cause these Jeeps get higher. I think I can keep getting shorter. Um, and that’s been one of my favorite products to really watch in action because it looks like such a, it’s definitely a higher end product and it looks like a luxury item, which it is, but you can still trust it, go out, feed on it, uh, use it for what it’s made for, which is that rail. Um, and I, I’m a big, big fan of them. And plus the company is, uh, everything’s made here in the USA and they’re just a fantastic, um, operation out in Salt Lake.

 

Um, so let me ask you this, and I’m glad you brought this up. And people who listen to the show know that this is a pet peeve of mine and they’re going to reroll in their eyes. So you got a customer that comes in and I, and I’m not saying, I don’t think that you deal with customers, but I’m sure you hear about it. Um, people come in and they want a, um, and they’re not going to say rock rail. They’re going to say they want to rail with side steps that hang down six to three feet.

 

Yes, they do. How do you handle that? Because you don’t want to upset a customer, but you know, they don’t know. And I think I, I believe that any, uh, anything that you put on there should be sliders. They should be able to hold the weight of the Jeep, even if you’re not going off road, because you never know whenever you might need to use that. I agree. I agree. Um, you know, it can be a delicate process.

 

Um, because I know with the way social media is now you have so much access to photography and to, you know, different images that where you’re following what people are doing and all, I really liked what that person did or I liked what that person did. Um, but you don’t realize what you actually need. Um, I have a lot of guests I’ve taken out on rides and before we even get started, I’ll tell them like, do you love your rock? Do you love your step rail that you have right now? Cause you’re not going to like it once we’re done. Um, and I do pride myself, especially on our one-on-one rides or entry level rides. We really do work hard to make sure that, you know, limit damage. I mean, when you leave the payment anyway, right? There’s a risk. There’s always, no matter what you do, even if you just drive in a field, Oh, one of those, uh, those restaurants that are on wheels is a risk.

 

Never. I say never trust a restaurant that has wheels because you don’t know where they’re going to be. No, definitely not. Um, so, you know, the, unfortunately, you know, it is, the customer is almost always right, but we always just try to give the best education possible with options. And that’s still what you want. That’s fine. We’ll be here when you’re ready to replace them after the first use. Right. Yeah. I mean, that’s all you can do. And you’re right. People see it online. They think, Oh, this is an off-road vehicle. I need steps because it’s going to look cool. They may not even need the steps to get in. So, so this is where companies like rock slide come into the, the view and, uh, and it’s going to look like you’re trying to sell them a bunch of something. That’s really expensive to increase the cost and the profit for you. But they, they don’t understand that the, the rock slide, uh, engineering, uh, rock sliders, rock sliders, people think of it rock, rocks are hard. So if it’s a rock slider and not a rail. So anyway, so this thing is going to allow you to get in and out of your Jeep. And frankly, I mean, well, you know, Julianne from wrangle her, she can get in and out of her Jeep without a stirrup or something, not a ladder or that she needs to climb up in that thing. And she’s like five foot. So it can be done that you don’t need one, but some people do need that or feel like they do need that. So the rock slide engineering is a great alternative to do that. And it also too, when, when you hear the 25, 28, a hundred dollars, whatever it is now, you’re going to go, well, maybe I can, maybe I can get my fat ass up in there without a step.

 

I can say that because I’m fat when you get it done.

 

Yeah. But there’s alternatives and there’s good solid engineered stuff that you can do to get that step if you really want it. There is, there really is. Um, so, uh, very, oh, I bet you know this, the answer to this. If not, it’s fine. You get to say pass. Uh, what, uh, Jeeps are the rock slide engineering sliders available for, did they go to, did they go down to TJ’s and some of the earlier ones?

 

They’re working on that. My understanding, but definitely the gladiators, JLs, JKs for sure. So JK for sure. And I think the majority of people these days have the JKs and the JLs and the JTs. So yeah, very, very nice. All right. So you mentioned a little bit about San Hollow while we were talking here, I’d like to circle back to that and tell me now you did not take your Jeep to San Hollow, correct? No, I did not. So we provide experiences for anyone. So either you’re a high lift customer or you’re not. Um, and that’s totally fine. You can be from anywhere and do one of our trips as long as hopefully my marketing makes it to you when we’re promoting the trip. Um, and it is an all inclusive experience out of Cincinnati. So your, your rig itself has to make it here before the trip because we actually transport them by train. So they will leave from our shop, um, be transported to the rail yard. Um, and we work very closely with union Pacific. Um, they’re fantastic to work with. Um, we have our own rail car that we’re able to solidify. This is so cool. I had no idea. About the drive because that’s where you get so worn out from the drive. And you know, if this is when we do, so do people, do people get snacks while they’re in the rail car when they’re sitting in their jeeps?

 

Definitely do. Uh, no, but, um, you know, the jeeps get sent out about, um, two weeks ahead of time. And then we all fly out either from Cincinnati or from where you’re from, like Amy from New Hampshire, they fly out of Boston. Um, and so, you know, wherever you’re coming from, you will fly and we have a meeting location. So with San Hollow, um, it’s actually Las Vegas.

 

Twist my arm, uh, to have that be our meeting point. Um, so everyone met in Las Vegas. Um, and we have transport waiting for you and it takes you to the rail yard where your jeeps are waiting, already running, ready to go. Um, and then you caravan the two and a half hours back East into Utah to San Hollow. And I think San Hollow, it was my first time going. It’s a hidden gem. Um, very much a hidden gem. And I was just so impressed. Um, cause I’ve only been to Moab. That was my only other Southwest experience with Moab last year. Um, and I was in awe every day, every day of the scenery, of the obstacles. If anyone’s done Pritchett Canyon, it’s literally Pritchett Canyon eight hours every day, uh, for six days. Um, and it’s just absolutely incredible.

 

So you went out and who came up with this idea? This is, is this the mic idea? Cause this sounds really cool. I have no idea. I had no idea what this was. You made, you made the comment about you had some equipment. We were doing the interview today and you had some equipment coming in for the train and the train. I was like, train, train right now. Uh, yeah. So it is his brainchild. You know, he wanted to make sure when people do these bills or if you build something, you want to be able to go actually use it. And everyone’s dream. I know for me, I always dreamt of Moab, um, but I never really knew how to get there. Like how do you get there? Like once, okay, yeah, you can drive there, but then, then what? Um, you know, and to be able to have the confidence of the shop behind you and our lead mechanic, Matt comes as well. He checks the jeeps every night. We bring parts with us. Um, and Mike’s contacts as well. You know, we had a couple of PSC issues out in the sand, so we were able to get parts overnighted, um, to be able to fix, you know, certain jeeps at the end of each day. And, um, the sand can be a problem. Um, if your roots are tailing too much, I learned a lot. So, um, you know, it’s, it’s just such a great experience. And also we provide the food as well. So your meals are cooked by Michael and myself, which that’s his own reality show that you get to watch, um, Mike and Nat in the kitchen. Um,

 

I’m sorry. Who’s the, who’s the better cook? Oh, Michael Bailey for sure.

 

I like my job, Tony. Come on. Uh, no, he’s, he’s, he’s great to cook with. And, uh, he just, he takes so much pride. We all do in these trips and we want to be able to show people out West and what, you know, where the G what, what we can do, um, with what you built. So, um, we had about 4,000 horsepower on this trip. It’s definitely one of the biggest engine wise we’ve ever put on. Um, it was very, um, we brought our three 92 as well. We have a three 92 gladiator, um, but it’s a collaboration with a rock crawler from Albany. Um, and some other products are on there too. And I finally got to drive that for a while and it was a lot of fun. I don’t want to, I don’t want to slow you down here, but I’m on the, the high left off road.com website right now. Where do I look for this, this event that leaves from Cincinnati, Ohio? And is there more than, has you had more than one? So, um, we do the out West trips are normally once a year. So we try to do the spring is out West and then the fall is on, in the, on the East, because of our fall colors and it’s just absolutely beautiful back here. Uh, so, but we are getting ready to, we’re, we’re still, um, brainstorming. Colorado seems to be popping up a lot in our brainstorming sessions right now. Um, we are still recovering from San hollow is taking about a week. Um, but I mean the, the, we had about 20 people the entire time out there and it was, um, you know, the house was fantastic and the house itself was like another, um, staff member because they had a pool and had a great kitchen, bunk rooms. I mean everything, this was definitely a vacation enhanced by wheeling. Wow. You guys are really kicking this thing. I are not kicking, hitting this thing out of the park. I mean, we’re trying, you know, cause we want to try to build the experience for people. So then they know they can do it because you, there’s so many people that they’ll build up a Jeep, but they’ve never gone off road and they’re concerned about going off road. Cause they don’t want to break it or they don’t want to do it wrong. And you guys are giving them the ability to have a somewhat controlled situation where they can go and use these, um, uh, several hundred thousand dollar vehicles or 150 or 200,000 other vehicles. So, uh, that’s really, really cool. So is this something that you just have to see on social media or is there a, on the website, can you sign up for newsletter or something? So that you know, you can definitely sign up for the newsletter and our rewards program as well. And, um, definitely social media, as we all know, that is the beacon, I feel like for everything, we can use something out there right away. Look at everyone’s stories. You look at posts, um, Instagram, Facebook, all the things. Um, and you know, these trips, they, we want them to be approachable for everyone. Exactly. Um, that’s the biggest thing. So yes, this last trip, we just did a sand hollow. Um, a majority was the three 92s. Um, it’s just honestly, it’s what signed up. Um, so, you know, these are the approachable trip. I really want to make that clear because I want to see all different types of Jeep signup for these. I think it can be a little intimidating, um, because it may be the price tag and I totally understand that, but, um, it’s definitely something that should be, um, on everyone’s list to try to do a wheeling experience or expedition, um, because it really will show you a lot more about yourself and what you can do. Well, yeah, absolutely. Cause you’ll find out that Jeep is so much more capable than you are. Yup. And you’re in the people you get to meet along the way. Cause everyone is so different, different backgrounds. And, um, that was my favorite part with Mike. So we’re in the kitchen, but everyone’s hanging out at, you know, in the kitchen. Cause where does everyone go? That’s a big thing for he and I, we make sure there’s a big Island, lots of seating because we love to have people there with us. Um, and listening to everyone talk and get to know each other. Cause all these people, they don’t know each other. They’re just coming in. Um, but the key is to have your own bathroom. So that’s something that’s very important. We always make sure every room is non-suite so you can get away if you need to. Um, so yeah, I mean, it’s just something that you build relationships, you build, you start a strangers leave as a family. So then this is a really good point. I was going to mention this. I had not realized that what we’re doing here at the Jeep talk show is we’re building a community, a family.

 

There’s a lot of people that have met on our discord server and then plan trips together. They didn’t know each other before they just listened to the show and got on to the discord and so on and so forth. And that to me is more important than listening to the stupid stuff that I say on the show is bringing people together and letting them enjoy the Jeep and community and their Jeeps that much more. And you guys are doing exactly the same thing. Yeah. And I mean, we don’t want to limit, I mean, yes, it is our customers, but also you become a customer after you do our trip too, because we want to keep working on your Jeep. We want to be, and that’s important. You do not have to be a customer to do this. Correct. Correct. So we went and we want all make a models. I mean, I would love to see a Bronco come on Broncos. We are waiting for you. Uh, the Bronco is slow to get to our area. It feels like, I mean, the West coast are, uh, is always a step ahead. It seems, um, we, this is becoming Bronco nation around here and we’re ready for you. So this is a great idea. Just have them sign a waiver in very small print that their, their Bronco can be used as a drive over vehicle for the Jeeps. And then you have now you got an event. So that was the only thing I was going to ask you. So I think you just answered it, but, uh, it’s not just a Jeep event. It’s anybody that can go off road and handle San Hollow. And I would say handle San Hollow because based on what I’ve heard about it, you do need a, uh, modified Jeep to go a lot of the places. And like I said, we did have a Jeep on 38th. Um, and you know that, and it was a JK, uh, front rear locker. Um, and you know, and that Jeep was amazing. He did it. And, but he’s been, he’s been willing for a while, but also I do believe it’s also about the confidence level that your spotter gives you. Um, and also your group, because without, I mean, the group was always cheering them on. They nicknamed him baby Jeep. And with San Hollow, you get out of your rigs a lot to walk your other friends, you know, your new friends, uh, do the obstacles. And so everyone’s always cheering each other on and the camaraderie that happened right around me as I was filming was just, it was so amazing to watch. Yeah. It sounds like a lot of fun. So any, any model Jeep is available or is welcome to go. Now, you will have qualifications on what they need to be able to accomplish off-road, but, uh, and, and, uh, other manufacturers are welcome to go. And, uh, yeah, this sounds like a wonderful thing. Was this the first time that you’ve gone to, I don’t know if it would qualify as Moab, uh, but is this the first time you’ve been to Utah off-road? Uh, so Moab I did last year, uh, for our spring trip. Um, and that was right when I first came into view of high lift. So I was working with a different group that Mike was supporting. Um, it was called trail team off-road adventures. And we take people off-road, we take, you know, take the first step to go off-road. And that was with us. We have a class that we teach at an off-road park in Indiana called Badlands off-road park. Um, and Mike, um, loves, he’s very, very good about investing in the right people. And he did. Um, and so then that’s how I got to know high lift actually was through that experience. Um, and he said, well, have you ever been to Moab before? And I said, no. And he goes, well, if you want to go, just fly out. And I was like, okay. So I did. It was amazing. It was amazing. Wasn’t it? Just the views and stuff. It’s definitely changed my life. I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve been to Arizona before, but never to Jeep or anything. And, um, it changed my life and be able to see the experience that the guest was having. Um, you know, I used to wrangle out West and work on dude ranges. So it felt very similar. So I felt like I was kind of coming home again, uh, you know, working with the guests, but just trade out the horse for a Jeep. So different horsepower. I got my wife to go to EJS this year. She wouldn’t do it last year. And, uh, I, I literally said, so do you wish you had gone with me last year? She goes, yes.

 

I love that. Moab is so nostalgic and it’s just so, such an energy there. Yeah. Um, and, but definitely the next time for that, you’ve got to make it. It is another planet. It is absolutely a different planet that you go to, wherever you go to. And they still have good places to eat. So that’s, that’s the nice thing. All right. So we’ve, I think we’ve only scratched the surface here. Um, but, uh, we’re, uh, we’re going to wrap this thing up, uh, because, uh, you know, you got things to do. You’re at work. Um, you know how the kids love the social media. We’ve mentioned social media here a few times. There’s a high lift off road, spell it all out. Uh, high lift off road.com is the website and you can go and look and see, uh, about parts thing. Oh, and I would assume that, uh, that you don’t just sell Jeep parts, do you? You sell parts for other vehicles as well. Broncos trucks, forerunners, Tacoma’s, um, we don’t have taco Tuesday, every Tuesday on our social media, which is all about the Tacoma trucks. That’s something I started. I really enjoy it. Does that hurt you personally to talk about other vehicles at work? Yeah. You can’t say yes.

 

Um, but I’m very, you know, it is fun to see all these different vehicles come in. I get to film all of them at before they leave. And, um, I just love how excited the customer is and they see what they’ve done, even from the smallest modification of grab handles is still fun. Oh yeah. Absolutely. You know, it’s something you get to use every day. Making the vehicle your own is really what it’s all about. Uh, for Jeeps anyway, I don’t know about those other vehicles, but it’s, it’s neat to be able to do those things and that includes stickers and decals and all kinds of stuff you can put on there. Okay. So anyway, social media, where could people find a you or high lift off road or both?

 

Yeah, both. So high lift off road, um, on both Facebook and Instagram, um, all spelled out. And then also in Shavoni on Instagram for me and my page, it bleeds blue. Um, it’s very intertwined, which is totally fine. Uh, cause this is my life. I love it. You know, you turn your passion into a career and it’s fantastic. You don’t, I don’t feel like you work any at all when you do that. So, uh, yeah, please give us a follow and I’m constantly putting stuff on there as well. Lots of women empowerment, but people empowerment. So we have rides coming up on a local level in classes. So stay tuned. Very cool. And this, this is a good dovetail into an announcement I’d like to make. Natalie is going to be joining us on chick chat. She’s going to be a chick chat guest host. So you will be seeing Natalie and hearing Natalie here directly from the Jeep talk show shortly. Actually, you probably will be hearing from her before you see this interview and I say, see this interview, uh, Natalie, I don’t know if you know this or not, but your interview is going to be on YouTube.

 

Oh boy.

 

Thank you so much for being with us here today and making the time for us. And of course joining the team. Thank you. Can’t wait. Very excited. Everybody.

 

Hey, thanks again to Natalie of high lift off road. Uh, and also too for being a new guest host for chick chat. Uh, it’s, she’s just doing great straight out of the, uh, of the gate, uh, so to speak, not that she’s a horse, but you know what I’m saying. She’s doing a good job.

 

Hey, come up next week. Adam of Jeep in the saloon, uh, check out their Facebook page for, uh, an upcoming event. I think that you’ll find this very interesting, especially if you are in the Alabama area or, uh, within driving distance, a reasonable driving distance. I know reasonable is a, it just depends on how good the event is. Right. Uh, and if I didn’t mention, Natalie is with high lift off road, high lift off road.com.

 

The Jeep talk show. We talked to our chiefs just in case they’re transformers. It’s funny cause it’s true.

 

Hey Josh, this is Matt over here at the house of gong. Want to let you know that you’re 12 inches back order, but did you know your way around gong? I will go ahead and up your order to a 15 inch and get it right out to you with no extra cost. I know you’re going to love it. Power cut it black for free. Once you see the way this deluxe model swings, once you smile, you’ll never go back. I know being a famous guy, you can get any kind of gong you want. I’m proud that you chose ours. So thanks a lot. Be seeing you. That is hilarious. And that’s a wrap for today’s episode of the Jeep talk show. I want to give a big thank you to our special guests for joining us today and sharing their knowledge and experience with the Jeep community. I want to take a moment and mention some of our sponsors. Consider shopping at these vendors because they help support the show. You love the Jeep talk show. Uh, they are real truck, and this is in no particular order. Real truck trails off road, Tyree lights, glue tread, G tops, Toledo, Jeep, fest, but warion call me valve extreme terrain and more to come. A very, very big heartfelt thank you for helping to support this show. It’s a, after doing this thing for 13 years now in our 14th year, it is wonderful and a scary thing to ask for advertisers. And it’s wonderful to have people and businesses say yes. And thank you listener for saying yes to listening to our show, uh, five times a week. So until next time, keep on jeeping and we’ll see you on the trails. Hey, remember Fridays are red. Remember everyone deployed. Broadcasting since 2010.

 

You’re my friend. You’re my new friend.