Speaker 1: 0:15

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. This is Overland Weekly, episode number 26. If you're new here, my name is Davey and I am your host and I am super excited for this episode. If you have been listening to past episodes, probably for the past year, you've heard me talk about the Great Smoky Mountain Trail Ride, or G Smitter, GSMTR as we affectionately refer to it. I don't know where that got started. That's a good bit of G Smitter history is where the nickname came from. But with that said, g Smitter came.

Speaker 1: 0:49

It was this year, a couple of weeks ago, and we've all kind of got recovered from it, physically and emotionally, and maybe not our vehicles, but that's another story. And tonight I reached out to all of our trail leaders and tail gunners which there was 29, I think, different individuals that were either trail leading or tail gunning as volunteers at this event and we had at least 10 guided rides offered each day. We ended up not having to run that many every day, which was a good thing. It meant some smaller groups got to go out many every day, which was a good thing. It meant some smaller groups got to go out rather than having 15 or 20 in a pack, but we had all those volunteers.

Speaker 1: 1:31

So I ask anybody that wanted to come and join me today on this episode, and we're just going to take a few minutes and kind of let you get, as the listener, get some different perspectives on the event and who comes and why they come and what they like about it, maybe what they don't like about it, but we're going to talk about all those things. And so we had 10 or 12 of the trail leaders that agreed to come on and a couple more that weren't able to come tonight, but I was able to speak to earlier this week, so I'll kind of patch it in tonight. But I was able to speak to earlier this week, so I'll kind of patch it in. So if part of this episode seems a little bit cut and paste or chopped up, that's why it is, but I just want you to hear everyone's story. So, with that said, my first group tonight is a group affectionately known as Team George, led by the man himself, george, along with Mackenzie and Brandy. Welcome y'all, howdy.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Hello, hi, excited to be here.

Speaker 1: 2:40

George, I think I know just we've never had this conversation, but I think I know just we've never had never had this conversation. But I think I know, from the three or four years that I've known you now, what Team George is about, which I would say is 100 percent the community, and anyway you can contribute to making that community and making these events better. But give me your official Team George motto.

Speaker 3: 3:06

Well, our official motto is safety.

Speaker 1: 3:09

third, I've heard that too.

Speaker 3: 3:12

Yeah. And that boils down to you have to have a plan, you have to execute your plan, because if you don't have a plan, you're not going to do anything anyway. If you don't execute the plan, what the heck let's go out and have something to drink, but if you execute the plan, you have to do it safely. So safety third, you all, safety third. Now, having said that, these two hooligans I don't know if you're seeing them in this- picture or not.

Speaker 3: 3:36

Right here are the ones that came up with that with the Team George thing I showed up at I believe it was G Smitter a few years ago and Mackenzie walked up and said here's your.

Speaker 3: 3:51

Team. George shirt, you're the leader and that's how it became to be. But what we do as a team is we try to make sure that everybody has a good time, first and foremost, and then we try to pass on what little knowledge that we gather, and we've gathered over the years to anybody that doesn't beginners and intermediates and people that that that want to know more about the, the sport of off-roading. It's just we get together, we, we have a good time, you know, meeting with it, jabbing and ribbing each other and pulling winch lines and getting people unstuck and, if you're a leader, getting people stuck. But the main thing is that we don't leave anybody out on the trail. Everybody that goes out comes back. Now Davey started a thing this year that he counts the people because usually if you lose somebody.

Speaker 3: 4:51

You can pick up somebody and you have the same number.

Speaker 1: 4:53

Now.

Speaker 3: 4:53

Davey's counting names.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Everybody was coded. We were scanning in riders this year, so George couldn't cheat me and bring back a rando.

Speaker 3: 5:03

Yeah, I was a little leery about taking the trail lead out, but it still worked. It was a good thing to do and other than that I'm going to let the other two talk for a minute and see if I missed anything.

Speaker 2: 5:14

Just a few. You're up, girls. Ladies, what do you want to know? What kind of you know juice-smitter secrets do you want to know? What kind of you know G Smitter secrets do you want to know?

Speaker 1: 5:26

Well, well, first off, let's let's talk about this, Because you guys are not in the same, in the same town. Where does everybody come from?

Speaker 4: 5:34

We're not even in the same state.

Speaker 1: 5:36

Yeah, to make it to G Smitter yeah.

Speaker 3: 5:39

Yeah, I'm, I'm myself. I'm two hours up the road in East Tennessee, in Jonesboro.

Speaker 2: 5:46

I'm in the Florida Panhandle near Crestview Destin area.

Speaker 4: 5:51

And I am just outside of Atlanta Georgia.

Speaker 1: 5:54

Yeah, so Kenzie has a drive every year.

Speaker 4: 5:57

Yes, she does. I go up there a few times a year. I am her halfway point. She's always welcome to stay with me.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Yeah, and let's talk a little bit about vehicles. George, you have an FJ Cruiser that has become quite recognizable. It helps, when you bolt one of the first set of portals in the country on it, to recognize that red FJ Cruiser.

Speaker 3: 6:29

It's a 2012 FJ Cruiser, the Trail Teams Edition, which is red. My wife actually named the vehicle Since it was an FJ. She thought it would be nice to call it Frederick James and we shortened that to Fred. So Fred is up on portals from can I mention the brand? Absolutely yeah, up on portals from 74, well down in California, and on 37. So he's got 16 inches of ground clearance under the rear diff, although that won't keep you off some rocks. Nope, not at all. You still have to pinch.

Speaker 3: 7:06

It won't keep you off some rocks, which is evident. But yeah, it's pretty far off the ground. I've got some work to do on it still yet.

Speaker 4: 7:18

He's a sight for sure. I won't put necks to him anymore.

Speaker 2: 7:22

Yeah, we're a little jealous. He makes us look like really small.

Speaker 3: 7:26

Yeah yeah, 33s and 31s look kind of small sitting next to it.

Speaker 2: 7:32

I'm on 35s and I look small. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:37

Mackenzie, give us the rundown on your rig.

Speaker 2: 7:40

I have a 2016 Toyota 4Runner. It's the Trail Premium Edition, which, if anybody's in the 4Runner world, it's basically the TRD Premium or, yeah, premium Edition. No, trd Pro under the Pro, I don't know, I'm getting confused. Anyways, it came out in 2016. That was last year they used that name. It's just a step below the Pro. I've been building it for five years and I've been taking it up to Windrock about three times a year for the last five years and adding more to it every time I go up.

Speaker 1: 8:14

Yes, it is quite well equipped, and what I'm going to do for the people that are listening to this, they'll have to picture it, but if you're watching this on YouTube, I will go in here after the fact and we'll put some pictures up of each of these trucks that we're talking about.

Speaker 2: 8:30

Perfect, just like put them all together. I'll make sure.

Speaker 4: 8:38

You can get Kenzie and I together, but George needs to just be in the picture.

Speaker 1: 8:44

All right, Brandy, give us your rundown.

Speaker 4: 8:47

I'm running a 2010 FJ Cruiser. That little baby has seen all four corners of the US. I bought it in Washington State in 2015, and she had one owner and I think the guy was a kayaker. And she had one owner and I think the guy was a kayaker. She had never seen mountains. She had never seen dirt. So we remedied that very, very quickly. First mod I did was putting brush guard on it, because in Washington state we have a lot of suicidal deer. So, yeah, the winch wasn't so important then. But I then moved to Connecticut, took her with me and she started getting upgraded a little bit more. I started going out to Roush Creek. Off-roading up there Obviously needed a couple upgrades, which I didn't do until I came to Georgia in 2019. Went up on Trail 2 in Windrock on street tires and OEM skid plates and busted everything. So that year I actually won some skid plates from Bud at Bud Built there you go.

Speaker 4: 9:57

Happiest day of my life. I still have the message from Bud when he called me to say they were ready. So now I'm full under armor because then george and I took it out on what g6 that one time and got stuck and I took out my gas, um, my gas skid, so got a new, ordered that while I was up on the mountain from bud, and so now it's fully armored underneath all the way and uh, yeah, still a few more things to do. Um, when I bought it it had 16s on it and 16 inch rims. Um, running 32s, I bumped them up to 33s. I'm at the biggest I can go with those 16s. So hopefully, right after atr, I'm going to be getting, uh, my hopefully going up to 35s. I'm bumping it up to 17-inch rims. The tires are done. My tires have been such good tires since I switched over to them, but definitely time for some new ones. So this end of year she's going to be getting some love.

Speaker 1: 10:56

There you go. I like it. So what is the history of the three of you meeting? Did you meet on the trail?

Speaker 2: 11:11

Or I don't know this backstory. It started with the one above me my very first time to Windrock and very first time even putting a vehicle in four-wheel drive. George saved my hiney, I think more like my brakes.

Speaker 2: 11:26

Yeah, I feel like I almost died going down P1, not knowing how to downshift and I had apparently very used brakes on my used 4Runner that hadn't had very long. It was squealing and smoking and burning and George kept going. Someone's riding their brakes too hard. Yeah, come to find out they were. They were toast at the end of p1 that day.

Speaker 1: 11:48

That was my very first time out for those, for those that don't know, p1 is kind of the main, uh kind of half gravel, half dirt uh road into the the main part of uh wind rock. But it is quite steep and coming back down it brakes can get hot if you're not letting the transmission slow you down.

Speaker 3: 12:09

Yeah, we actually had a working session with Mackenzie's truck at my daughter's house, putting brakes on the front of it, yeah, and in between runs, yeah.

Speaker 4: 12:22

There's a fun piece of trivia too, that George's daughter is named allison and his granddaughter is kanzi and mccansey's daughter is named allison. So there was like this natural kismet that these two needed to come together oh this, yeah, that was a little spooky yeah, it's confusing sometimes, especially when he's talking about his granddaughter.

Speaker 4: 12:54

I'm sure that Brandy wants to go out to Moab with me again. Yeah, yeah, that killed me out in Moab, but we made it back. I think I changed my 13th CV axle in your Airbnb parking lot, getting really good at that.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Well, you know, they make a lot of nice solid axle kits for those FJ Cruisers now. So you've got to stop changing CVs. If you buy 13 CVs, you could have bought them.

Speaker 4: 13:30

I probably could have gone straight axle by now, yes, and probably should have my vehicle does not leave without two spare.

Speaker 1: 13:41

CVs in the back, although one's on it right now. You have to replace the spare. I know that game. Yeah Well, all right, you guys were talking. So you've wheeled in different parts of the country. You've been to other events. Talk about what it is about G Smitter. That makes you say, okay, we are making sure this is on the calendar again for next year. We're not going to miss it. Not everybody at once.

Speaker 3: 14:14

Chief Smitter is one of the events where Davey, working hard, working himself to death, gets all the vendors out there. We have a tremendous, tremendous raffle. Dave, what was it?

Speaker 1: 14:26

$ one thousand dollars worth of raffle. I think we were pushing on 55 by the end of it, because we had some vendors that that were attending the event as well and brought more stuff with them, uh, for the raffle that we didn't even know was coming.

Speaker 3: 14:39

So yeah, so that yeah that's one of the premier things is is the, the raffle that that you have brings a lot of people in the camaraderie that at the event, after the trail ride, everybody's around the pavilion having a good time. If you don't know somebody by the end of the afternoon, you're going to know them. You get to see different rigs from different parts of the country that people haul in, drive in, drive in, haul home. It's just a great experience. People having a good time at the event. It's just a great event. If you don't come, you need to come.

Speaker 4: 15:23

I like the organization too. I was going to say that too. I love going in in the morning and checking to see how many people are on our ride list and then checking to see how many show up. I think a lot of people make friends up there and just you know, just like we did, they form a group of people and they love to go out together. I mean, it's fine, you go with us. You get to hear a bunch of stories from George, you get to take at least one wrong turn if not two.

Speaker 3: 15:54

I'm allowed two wrong turns per trip.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Well, it's one thing. We were talking about that, brandy. So this year was record attendance from a registration standpoint 301 registered trucks, and so, planning towards that, we added more guided rides and got more volunteers and had everything lined up. And then the rides were not filling up like they were before and, to your point, that's not a bad thing. That meant people are making friends, growing their community and going hey, we've kind of done this before, we're going to take our group and go do this today, and that's, that's a good thing.

Speaker 4: 16:37

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's how we started, mm hmm.

Speaker 2: 16:41

It is yeah, yeah, actually, mackenzie. Mackenzie led her first trail. This year Did my first official.

Speaker 1: 16:48

Oh, is this your first one? Okay, this was my first official trail yeah. Trail lead, so she did a great job.

Speaker 2: 17:00

Well, we had practice today. Did you have to unofficially?

Speaker 6: 17:02

lead one before.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Well, just with our group, like at other events, like I've I've led, but I have never done an official one with people I didn't know joining the group. So I'm like, well, I better not screw it up. But and I was very nervous because these people didn't know me, most of the group didn't know me, and I felt like everyone was like looking at me, like oh, there's some you know, you know, dumb blonde that's going to lead our trip, some girl, she doesn't know what she's doing, and I was like super nervous. But then at the end of it I had multiple people come up to me because we ended at the state penitentiary and they kept coming up and saying you did such a good job. Like you were clear over the radio when you were going, you kept the pace, great. Like I was like, oh, thank you.

Speaker 1: 17:40

I wasn't really worried. Now let me clarify something for people listening that may not be familiar with Windrock and Oliver Springs. The state penitentiary is now a tourist destination. They did not just happen upon the penitentiary.

Speaker 4: 17:53

Yeah, no, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:57

It's the former Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary that's now you can tour the prison and they've got a restaurant and bar and all kind of stuff in there to check out.

Speaker 1: 18:08

So we always have a few rides that make it over that direction. Speaking of making it over towards the prison, so for folks that have been doing this for a long time or coming to G Smitter for a long time, we always have prison guided rides on Saturday and they followed the same course for several years, which is through Windrock, and then there's a final section, a couple of miles that you actually go on to the state of Tennessee on the Frozen Head State Park property before you come back out on the highway going to Windrock, and the state does not maintain that section of trail, as everyone's starting to find out, and so this used to be what we call the green run and easy run over to the prison, and so last year I think we had decided to modify it into a blue run and then we had a another alternative easy run there, but you guys decided you were going to just kind of pre-run it, put tires on it just to check it out, and and it's become a black run in about a one mile section.

Speaker 2: 19:19

It was so bad Last mile. It was so bad, obstacle after obstacle, they did not stop.

Speaker 4: 19:28

Are there winch lines that?

Speaker 2: 19:29

used? Yeah, all three of us, all three of us in one trip. None of us have used our winch lines, I don't think, since we've been wheeling together. Well, george and I have winched together.

Speaker 4: 19:40

Fine, it was the first time I used mine, but it was the first time I used mine, but it was the first time all three of us well, that was george's winch, though at that time that was, that was before I got mine. So now that we all have them, we've all used them, and we all used them in the same weekend they all work yeah, they do work so.

Speaker 1: 19:58

So they got themselves into a little bit of a pickle, but they got themselves out of out of the pickle as well, and you, you ran in. I don't think you planned it, but you ended up running into Jamie Murphy in that section as well, right?

Speaker 4: 20:10

Oh yeah, he was great I forgot his dad on the trail too, you forgot, mr Jimmy.

Speaker 3: 20:18

Yeah, jimmy, I'd ride with Jamie anywhere.

Speaker 4: 20:22

We forgot Jimmy. We forgot Robert Startup. Yeah, we got going down the highway. It's like wait a minute, where's Jimmy? Where's Robert? Did somebody grab him? We'll get to go back and they're walking down the trail. They were doing our photographs and, if you don't know, Jimmy does amazing photographs. So he does Very worth having him outside the vehicle on that trail.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Yeah, well, there are. Yeah. So there's plenty of photos of that section and I'll throw a few of them up here for the folks watching this, because that was interesting. I saw you guys that evening when you got back and you were like, let me tell you about that one little section which it's gotten progressively worse. Chase and Joey had kind of run into it last year and said, yeah, it's definitely not a green anymore, and now it's definitely not a blue anymore. So I just hope it'll stay open. Hopefully the state doesn't just gate it up and we have to go another way around. But who knows how that's going to happen, because apparently they have made it clear that the state is not going to maintain their portion.

Speaker 1: 21:35

If anybody has a pull at the state yeah.

Speaker 3: 21:38

They maintain the portion where it runs out on 116 because all that mud they have to stand a skid steer out to get the mud off of 116. Well, that is true.

Speaker 1: 21:46

Yeah, you can see where this portion of trail is. If you're taking Highway 116 over to the prison, you come around the curve and the highway's covered in mud where it's been scraped off.

Speaker 2: 21:57

So yeah, yeah, yeah, that was us was us.

Speaker 1: 22:10

Well, that wasn't the last adventure on that trail. There were some folks that ended up out there for a long time, I believe later that same night I heard like one in the morning.

Speaker 1: 22:15

Yeah, I think we've got another group that went on that rescue mission. That'll talk about that here a little bit later. So there's your tease. Yeah, all right. Well, team George, thank you all for taking the time to come on here and share your thoughts on G Smitter and man. We appreciate you guys. You make it such a fun event to put together and organize, knowing that we've got volunteers and trail leaders that are always like yep, yep, just tell me what to do and I'll be glad to do it. So, thank you.

Speaker 3: 22:45

Big hand to you, Davey, for what you do out there. You've done a fantastic job on Cheesemeter this year. Hopefully you can keep it up for next few years.

Speaker 1: 22:54

We'll see. I'm going to commit to one year at a time.

Speaker 2: 22:57

It's a great event. You do such an awesome job, Thanks guys, no offense every year.

Speaker 4: 23:03

Thank you, davey, appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 23:05

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 23:11

All right. Well, let's see if George D is back with me. Oh, george is here. He is solo. I'm looking at my schedule and Zach is supposed to be here. You heard anything from Zach, george?

Speaker 6: 23:31

This feels just like what happened at G Smitter. We're having a recourse here. What happened during that week? Yeah, I don't know. I sent him a text. Hopefully he get on soon, but we'll see where that.

Speaker 1: 23:45

All right. Well, for folks that don't know George, he hails from Huntsville, Alabama, part of the heart of the South cruisers down there. George, do you remember how many years you've been coming to G Smitter?

Speaker 6: 24:02

Yeah, so I've been coming ever since 2019 was my first year I started, so I've relocated a lot across the country I started off in Texas and then at the time I was running with the Lone Star Cruisers and Toyota Trail Riders at the time.

Speaker 6: 24:17

And then I moved up to northeast in Connecticut and I was with I would have some of the guys with the Gotham City guys for about a year and a half. And then I moved here to Huntsville, alabama, for work and got into the Rocket City group out south of Cruisers and it's been awesome ever since. These guys are a really tight-knit community and a lot of the guys are saying you know, there's this event called G-Smitter and I'd known about it for years. I just could never attend because I was always in Texas or.

Speaker 6: 24:43

Connecticut for years. I just could never attend because I was always, you know, texas or Connecticut. It was always a hole for work for me to come out here. So now that I was here, it's just a few hour drive. So I started coming and, yeah, I fell in love with the event and been coming ever since. Then, eventually, as you guys started to get bigger and needed more trail guides, I fell into the into that trap and I've been a trail lead for, I guess, the last three years or so.

Speaker 1: 25:07

I think it's been about three years because that's when I really started bugging you guys, Because we were short about three years ago and Heart of the South really stepped up and I think you guys represented about half the trail leaders that year, which was great.

Speaker 6: 25:21

Yeah, we've got a real active group here, so it was fun for us to join in and be part of the event, so it's been worth it.

Speaker 1: 25:28

So you've experienced, bouncing around the country, several different chapters and events. Then right yeah, you've been doing this for a minute.

Speaker 6: 25:37

Yeah, yeah, I've been doing this so I started back in 2005 going to. You know all the events down south, even the ones in the northeast, for a while. So definitely G Smithers stands out. It is by far the biggest I would say the best well-organized event that I've gone to on the East Coast. For sure, it's just the community of people that show up. I know it's an off-road event and people show up to come and do trails but honestly, for me it's an off-road event and people show up to come and do trails but honestly, for me it's more about the people. You know, when I get home I end up talking more about the experiences I've had at the event than you know the wheeling or the wheeling or the adventure that we have on it, even though there's plenty of them.

Speaker 2: 26:19

Like for example there was.

Speaker 6: 26:21

you guys will meet Lee later. But there was one night we were all at the night and Lee was telling us a story and it was the craziest story I'd heard in a long time that I broke into a laugh. I'd never been in before. I was in tears and I crumbled and, like that type of experience is something I just, you know, I'll never forget. And you know it was all because of just the community, the people that we that come to this event that are they're looking to just have a good time, whether you're out on the trail or whether you just want to sit down and just relax and take a break from you know your your daily routine. So things like that are really what drive me to come back every year.

Speaker 1: 27:05

So it's, it's, it's a event. I I always put my calendar to 10. That's good to hear, cause we I mean you'll hear us say that like a broken record, that it's about the community, but it really it really is. And one thing you know we try to get these rides started on time every morning excuse me, depending on the day nine or 10 o'clock, so that we can get out. Now things happen and sometimes we don't get back when we want to, but but the goal is to get everybody back to camp by mid afternoon, because that's when the real socializing starts. I mean, riding trails together is fun and that's an experience, but you don't, you don't necessarily get to know people the same way that you do hanging out at dinner or hanging out at the campsite.

Speaker 6: 27:44

Correct. It's going through the experiences. I mean, the trails are what kick off the ability to kind of break the ice. You know, you help each other out, get into the trail, you do the small talks and that makes everyone just be able to just relax and break that that strangerness between everybody. And by the time you get back to the pavilion you're like, oh, you drove that truck, you did this, and then it starts that conversation and then you know, it just evolves from there and then you do that day after day and then years after year with the, with these same people, and it's just, it's just a show. It becomes a family and then you guys just enjoy the event for the few days that we're all together.

Speaker 6: 28:17

So, uh, it's always worth it. There's it's never the same every year. There's always new stories, there's always new adventures, there's always something that you know that's almost the fear of missing out. You know you want to make sure you're there. Uh, one year I I literally broke loading my truck on the trailer head out there and I got so much drag for that and yeah, it's been one of the years I I live in infamy because I missed. So, uh, from now on I've got a couple rigs to make sure I can make it up to every time.

Speaker 1: 28:47

You know it's funny You're talking about. It's different every year because one thing that we'll hear from people is people will say I ran those trails before, I don't want to run those trails again. Well, windrock, like many places on the East Coast, what you ran last week is not going to be the same as it is this week, and so you know it's. Everything evolves, especially those, those trails and the the group you're with the conditions of the trail. It makes it a unique experience each time. I've never there's trails out there that I've done 15 or 20 times but I never say I'm bored of running this trail.

Speaker 6: 29:30

Exactly. No, it changes almost daily. So there was one year at G Smitter we were trying to get a little smarter and we were going to try to do these pre-runs and we went up there like three or four weeks before the actual G Smitteriter event and we decided to run the trails, get an idea of what all the trails are going to be like. So when we'd actually lead them on G-Semiter we'd have a better understanding and can communicate that to the rest of the drivers what it's going to be like out there. And that weekend we went, it was snow and ice and rainy and it was just, you know, all the trails were just beat to hell. And so you know we ran them thinking and we were all jackets and coats just running to the trails because it was cold that week.

Speaker 6: 30:13

And then we come to the g summer event and it's 100 degrees outside. It is complete polar opposite of what it was and it was dry and it was hot, muggy and you know everything. We all that pre-running that we did went out the window. The trails were completely different than what we expected. So essentially we're telling everybody on each of the trails you know, say hey, it's going to be dry, it should be easier. But this is kind of what we saw a few weeks ago, but don't expect to be the same. You know, some trails, some spots change daily, just because the way they're they're right, or some of the rocks, the way they move. Uh, there's, there's a rock we call refrigerator rock and it moves time, you know it's never there at the same point.

Speaker 6: 30:45

It changes so much that every time someone comes up, it moves the rock and the line changes.

Speaker 1: 30:50

That's on for those listening. That's on Trail 35. And that is a rock that Patch has single-handedly moved a couple of times, so yeah.

Speaker 6: 31:00

Again. But 35 is a hard trail, a black trail. So we tell folks you know there's going to be a rock, you've got to get around. We don't know how you're going to do it because it changes where every time you move. You just got to figure out your way to get through it. Whatever your way can do, just do it. But again, that's part of the adventure.

Speaker 1: 31:40

Even though you may run the trail you know a dozen times were talking about. Yes, 35 is a hard trail. With that said, we've taken 100 series open-open with A-Track on 33s up that trail and gotten them out with a handful, you know, a few scratches. So one thing that I always try to instill in people is this isn't if you're, if you're a little nervous maybe you've been, you know you've been running easier stuff or you hadn't been wheeling with a group. You're kind of new to this, you didn't grow up in it. This is a place to come kind of safely explore what you can do and what your truck can do, Because the guys like yourself that have been leading these trails and doing it for a long time, there's nothing that makes us happier than helping somebody learn how their truck works, how to drive it, how to get through the obstacle safely.

Speaker 6: 32:19

Correct. Especially in the Land Cruiser world there's a lot of wagons and these wagons are very capable, more capable than people realize, and so we'll find people who've never been on these trails that are black trails that want to go and then they ask is this capable? And the answer is yes, it can definitely do it with the mild updates that it requires. But it's also the driver. You've got to have the mindset that you're going to put your truck on a hard trail. There's going to be a lot of uncomfortableness with, with hitting, possibly body damage, getting off camber, you know if that scares you and it's going to freeze you up, you know then. Then then you say, maybe try my moderate uh.

Speaker 6: 32:56

For example, we had a guy who did 35 uh at this event and he had a fairly stocked. He actually had a lift with a rear locker and he did amazing. He had super confidence. He's like I've wheeled all over the country this thing. I know how to drive this thing. I've done it on, I've done multiple block trails. It's a clean truck, clean body. You know it is a wagon but it you know he had the confidence to push it and he did On the trail. He wasn't afraid to get that truck in an uncomfortable situation and get it through with a little bit of a help. You know, maybe some type of stack of rocks, maybe pull a little winch, but you know the assistance he needed just to make sure to keep him off the rocks and then keep his truck safe. You know, he was all, he was fine with that, as long as you know he could get through it.

Speaker 6: 33:35

And you know just just that, having that mentality that you know your truck can do it, you just got to let the truck do the work to get it through the trail. And having that confidence is huge. It makes a difference all the time in some of these trail rigs. So, uh, it's definitely, you know, and having the trail leads out there, that we've got, or have been, you know, done these trails a dozen times. They know what the hot spots are and then the capabilities and we try different ways to get those wagons through these trails. So all that helps with the experience of the trail leaders to help those folks who haven't done it before. So, so again, so again, it's a great, it's a great event to come through to bring your event, your rig that's got the capability and really test it. You know, and don't have the fear that there's going to be people around you to guide you through it and you're going to get through the trail and you're going to have a good time, so it's all worth it.

Speaker 1: 34:15

Yeah, and the other thing I was thinking is you know this is a, this is, and so you can always kind of baby step your way into it If you're not sure, if you want to sign up for a difficult ride. Because what we? We do our best to describe these trails and we've got some pretty generous descriptions that describe them as best they can be. But what somebody considers a blue and somebody else considers a blue or can be two totally different things. And if you've wheeled in other parts of the country where they use a numbering system, that kind of goes out the window over here. So you know you can come out Thursday, friday, you know, get on a green trail. Then you know, go out on a blue on a moderate run, do 26, 27. I think George normally leads that one each year and then if you say, ok, I'm good with all that, I'm willing to push it another level, then Saturday by all means we'll get you on some hard stuff.

Speaker 6: 35:11

Yeah, yeah, it gives you that flexibility and a lot of these trails to your point we run multiple times.

Speaker 6: 35:18

You may want to wait to come back.

Speaker 6: 35:20

Instead of starting doing the hard trail on Thursday, wait till the Friday trail to hear what the response is, the feedback is from the trails that were done previously, the day before, to get you more of an idea of what you're comfortable doing and you get everybody aware on the trail leader side on what the trails look like, so we can give you better you know advice on what you're looking forward to getting into if you decide to do some of these trails that are there.

Speaker 6: 35:40

So again, every every day is kind of built upon the previous and we're always scrambling, we're always changing it up. I mean, as you can see, like you said earlier, a lot of these people are coming back to you around getting comfortable on doing their own trails. They're not having the need us to guide them and so they're able to go do those trails without us. And then the people that are joining the trails are folks who are new to the event or new to Windrock and just trying to get a little more guidance so they can get comfortable, go out and do their own thing.

Speaker 1: 36:21

So it really helps to just be a participant and then you can. Your vehicle came up in the conversation because he was like there's this guy, it's like a 40, but it's like a buggy and I'm like oh. I know Now, folks, there's a running joke that grinds George's gears on referring to his truck as a buggy. But I'll put a picture up here for folks.

Speaker 3: 36:48

If you got it, pull it up.

Speaker 1: 36:49

I'll overlay it later, but give us a rundown on your rig.

Speaker 6: 36:53

Okay, so this is back in about 2019. I've had an 80 Series since basically 2005,. And that was always my trail rig and and I used the forever as a daily driver and and it got to the point where I just got tired of beating on it. I was trying to keep it. It's a clean body truck. It's got all cool stuff to it. I won't go into my 80, but I was like I want something else, so I was looking for 60. Uh, I've always wanted a 60, and then I was buying a 60 that can just be as a trail rig, and so when this 40 came up on, uh, available, like it's a, it's a great 40, it's a, it's a stock 40. I say stock. This is where this is where we we we start the argument right there. So I what I mean by stock it? It is a full body 40. It's not cut up, hacked up, it's a full body 40.

Speaker 6: 37:42

It's got a stock drivetrain, so it's a 2F with a four speed and a 40 transfer case. So stock drivetrain, right, stock chassis, no tube anywhere in the chassis. Stock axles. It's got a 40 series in the front. It's got a 60 series semi floater in the rear. So even though it is a 60 series, it's still a semi floater. People want rear. So even though it is a 60 series, it's still a semi-floater. You know, people want this, use a full floater. So again, we're not talking big axles, big drivetrain, right, but what it does have is a great suspension. It's got four-linked front and rear. It's got uh, oris uh, if you're not familiar with those, they're a nitrogen-based shock. They mainly are used in high performance trucks, so it is. It does have full hydro steering, so it's.

Speaker 6: 38:25

So again, it is it uh, it's also, it's also propane it is a propane truck, but I don't look at it as a plus. It's because it is lower on power. It does help the carburetor. I think it's just a feature. I mean, there's okay. There's plenty of cars around the world that run on propane. If you go to australia there's.

Speaker 6: 38:44

It's an alternative fuel. It's not anything that's performing. It's not an adder. It's not like a supercharger or turbocharger where I've gained a ton of boost out of this thing. It's a high octane but I lose horsepower in the 2F, right. So I just think it's alternative fuel. It doesn't really add to the bugginess of it, right to the bugginess of it, right. So when I bought this truck, that's what I saw I saw a stock 40 with a cool suspension. Now, I was looking for a truck, I wasn't looking for a buggy. When I think of buggy, I'm thinking full exoskeleton, big engine, big axles, big tires. We're talking 40s. My truck has 37s. So when you say buggy, that's where my head goes into the world of buggies. When I, when you look at this truck, I see a stock 40 with the cool suspension on 37s, I nothing about this truck says buggy other than that the suspension is it is a buggy-esque suspension?

Speaker 6: 39:43

yes, I'll give you that. It is a very cool suspension, but the the word I've always said it's an aftermarket suspension. Every truck out here, a g-smitter, has an aftermarket suspension. Does that mean it's a buggy? No, but it's a 40 with a cool suspension. So in my mind that is not a bug, and so we've gone around with folks on this. It looks 10 feet away it looks like a buggy, but when you see what parts are on it it's a stock 40 with a cool suspension.

Speaker 6: 40:13

And so in my mind in my world that's not a buggy. So we've had to explain it and gone through battle with plenty of folks over it. We'll see At the top. We'll hide the beholder in this situation. I'm not going to change everyone's perspective and say that's a buggy Well, all right, that's your perspective, but for me it's not a buggy. If I was going to buy a buggy it would be way over the top buggy, not a stock 40 with a two after I train on stock.

Speaker 1: 40:50

It doesn't read buggy. To me, when I first saw it, when I bought it, I was nowhere near in my head that this was a buggy. Now here's the cool thing. George was talking about that 80. So if his 40 with a buggy suspension was to fail him, that 80 is one of the few 80s in the country that is. 2uz swapped correct.

Speaker 6: 41:04

Correct. It is a 2UZ swapped. I pulled the drive frame out of a 100 Series Land Cruiser. I got it from Chicago. It was a rusted out 100. It was running, driving. It was a soccer mom truck, but it was just all rusted to hell. The frame was gone. Anything metal on it was just corroding away. And so I got it for hella cheap, brought it back, I drove it for about a month or two and I took that drivetrain out and swapped it.

Speaker 6: 41:36

Now, before, like I said, I've had my 80 since 2005. And it had a 3FE. If any of you in the Land Cruiser world know what a 3FE is, it's a boat anchor. It just doesn't have any power. But I loved it.

Speaker 6: 41:54

I had it forever and then one year we went to Colorado, we went to a Solid Axle Summit and when you get up in the mountains the truck's already gutless. I'm running 37s with 48s, I'm geared, I've got tires. I mean it's a heavy truck with all your gear. You know, when you're driving cross country and it was just gutless in the mountains, like you're, literally, you're flowing it and you're just trying to get 30 miles an hour out of this thing coming up the hill. You know, and my wife was driving it and she was like this is ridiculous, like it's dangerous, you know. So it was a miserable experience getting to there, but the benefit was that my wife was like we need to change the engine, like I get it, like it's time to swap it out. So that led to the tuzi swap.

Speaker 6: 42:30

We brought it back home, uh, rock city cruises, which is a a shop here. Uh really helped me out a lot and and starting that, that swap, and and finishing it up and uh, it's been an amazing transition. I highly recommend the tuzi swap. Uh on an 80 series. Uh, and again, it just it's, it's, it's definitely my dream drug. It's been an amazing transition. I highly recommend it to use the swap uh on an 80 series. Uh, and again, it just it's, it's, it's definitely my dream drug. It's got everything I've ever wanted in my 80 and uh, all that thing, whatever you're into.

Speaker 1: 42:52

Yeah, folks have have heard me talk uh before on different episodes where two uses come up and and those guys from Huntsville are big fans of the two UZ swaps and George is one of those guys, so he shared some insight there. If you didn't pick up on that, you have to take this. It becomes not a performance but it's a safety issue that the truck wasn't quick enough to get out of its own way and then it became his wife's idea for him to 2UZ swap the truck.

Speaker 6: 43:26

It was a perfect situation that came out of that. It was like, see, we have to do it now. It was game on. After that it's been an amazing swap. The only thing I regret is I didn't do it sooner.

Speaker 6: 43:39

It always been on my agenda to do it, I always wanted to do it and I just, you know two easy swaps aren't common. It's not like you find a ton of literature out there. There's not a lot of, you know, plug and play parts that you do an LS swap. You know you really got to really manufacture a lot of the parts. You got to do a lot of the wiring at the time by yourself and work those little details that just aren't completely available. And you know it really helped with, again, rocket team cruisers. There's Zach Johnson. He, he did his, he did his two easy swap and I helped him out with that and just watching him put it together, I all the all the fear I had with doing the swap just went away. Like he knocked it out in like a winter season and I'm like what am I doing? Like I need to get on it, like that's, that's it. It's doable if it's that easy to do. It's not as complex as I imagined it.

Speaker 6: 44:26

Let's just jump in and do it, and so that started the exhibition to find a 2UZ candidate and it took me a little longer but we got there and I guess it's been worth it.

Speaker 1: 44:43

I love, I love the 2UZ. Well, the irony is, as we're talking about 2UZs, is that Zach was supposed to be on this segment here with George and we don't know where he's hiding. But Zach is Sorry, broke, he broke again.

Speaker 6: 44:54

That 30-amp fuse took him out again.

Speaker 1: 44:59

He's been on me for months, me for months. He wants to record an episode specifically about he would tell you it's about reasons not to LS swap your cruiser, but it really it's him being a proponent of the UZ swap. So anyway, if he ever comes on, then maybe we can talk about it.

Speaker 6: 45:22

You should have Cruiser Matt on that. I thought about that and let him let him debate it.

Speaker 1: 45:27

That'd be like a crossfire episode for folks.

Speaker 1: 45:31

I believe a lot of words now, cruiser Matt, out of Florida, does a phenomenal job on on LS, all things LS swapping your, your cruisers, and, and so, yeah, your, your cruisers, and uh, and so, yeah, all right. Well, uh, george, uh, thank you. Thank you for uh, for volunteering again. Uh, you and, and all the folks from Heart of the South. Uh always show up and support the event in multiple different ways, including uh trail leading. So, uh, we appreciate it and, uh, I can't, can't wait to do it again next year. Can't wait, should be fun. All right, buddy, thanks, see you. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome up next Mr Aubrey Swenson to the program.

Speaker 5: 46:19

Aubrey, how are you doing? Doing?

Speaker 1: 46:20

well man Doing well, thanks for having me how you doing, doing well, man Doing well. Thanks for having me. So for those that don't know, this year at G Smitter Aubrey kind of filled multiple roles. He was a first-time participant, he was a trail leader and tail gunner, yes, trail leader, I never tail gunned.

Speaker 5: 46:44

Okay, never needed to tail gun, uh and uh trailer. I never tell you.

Speaker 1: 46:46

Okay, never, never needed it to tip the trail uh and also uh representing uh firestone as a platinum sponsor at the event. So you were, you were busy uh the entire week yes, but it was fun.

Speaker 5: 46:59

It's it's everybody's like. You got to go to these events like it's the most fun I have with my job. It it's awesome, I love it.

Speaker 1: 47:06

Yeah, there's. There's a lot of people, I think, are jealous of these, these perks, of your job. I'm sure there's real work, that you have to do it at times, but you know we, we don't see that side of it. We just see a dude that just gets to go out and wheel and talk about tires.

Speaker 5: 47:23

So yes, there is real work that has to be done. So the couple of nights that I kind of skirted away early, it was to go back and have my date with my laptop to go see what orders had come in for customers and what fires had come up with different customers. But it's all good. I mean, I've figured out how to balance it after 15 years doing this.

Speaker 1: 47:44

Well, you know what's funny when Aubrey talks about it. He had to skirt away early.

Speaker 5: 47:47

Aubrey booked this cabin and it was a literal cabin.

Speaker 1: 47:53

We were calling it the murder shack it had no power, no water, no nothing.

Speaker 5: 47:58

It was just this spooky-looking shed in the woods, oh yeah, but this is prepared like a boy scout my jackery and then my little um, the usb rechargeable rope lights. Like I had light, I had power to to run what I needed to and the bathhouse was 100 yards away if I had to. You know when I went to go shower or go do anything like that. So it wasn't bad. I will not. I probably won't rent it again. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1: 48:31

Yeah, did you leave a Yelp review?

Speaker 5: 48:38

No, I told the folks that are the folks that Winrock are out of this world. Awesome, yes, samantha Collins is is the marketing rep that we work with, since we now sponsor the park. And when I told her I was like, hey, I booked this. She's like, are you sure you want that? I'm like, yeah, it'd be fine. It's, it's three nights, it's not a huge deal. So she messaged me and was like so, so, how's, how is it?

Speaker 5: 48:59

And I said it is as close to being in a tent without being in a tent as possible. And I'm so glad that I got it, because every other time I've come like when I've come to other events this year, I've been in it. I've either I've been in a hotel room in town because everything's been booked up, and I'm glad that I had those, because it would either be an ice storm or a rainstorm or we had some rain. You know, one of the nights there at G Smitter, I just need a dry roof over my head. Man, I can be fine with sleeping bag on the bench thing that's in there as a sleeping platform and rock and roll. It's not a huge deal, g.

Speaker 1: 49:35

Smitter works well for camping or primitive cabins. When it's not one of the years that it's 95 degrees, yeah, what we see is when it's one of the the 95 degrees degree years, then the next year there's a spike in cabin rentals because people are like I'm not doing that again and then and then the temperature is good and it comes back down, so yeah, yeah, well, and they're, they're doing so much with, like the yurts, like a previous event, windrock, yeah yeah, previous event, one of my colleagues.

Speaker 5: 50:07

He got a yurt and he's like, man, it's 85, 90 degrees outside, but man, this thing's, it's cool inside, it's got everything. I need no power, no water, but still whatever. And then the tiny houses. That's what I've got for an event coming up And'm I'm really, really, really excited about, about trying those out, so yeah, those are cool. Gc was a was a fun event, uh, on a lot of levels. The uh, the notorious murder shack was was part of it.

Speaker 1: 50:36

So and then, uh, the, the lovely late night ride was another yeah, there was, uh, there was a few, uh, a few late night rides, but Aubrey took the keys from our buddy Lee on one ride, and that was an adventure.

Speaker 5: 50:54

Yeah, that was a bad idea for everybody involved. I'm sorry, Lee. Every time I talk to him I apologize, and I'll continue to do so all the way through. Crockies and Crozos on the Rocks eternally.

Speaker 1: 51:09

So, if you don't know, lee and Aubrey and I are recording this during the week and I think I'm going to record a segment with Lee here later. So we'll see how this all times out when we edit it together. But Lee put the blower, put the supercharger on his 200. And, being the nice guy that he is, he really wants everyone to experience it from the driver's seat.

Speaker 5: 51:35

That thing is freaking awesome. It's amazing.

Speaker 1: 51:39

So he's just kind of passing out his keys like candy to anybody that will drive him around in this thing during the event, and Aubrey wasn't going to turn it down. So they had a little night run up 35. And 30. Oh and 30. Okay, I didn't know. You called both of them. The word is that there was a uh, an awning uh, from, uh, from the rack that that may have been left on on 35 inadvertently so it was donated to the?

Speaker 5: 52:12

uh, it was donated to the gods of the trail as a, as a peace offering for allowing us to get underneath the tree that was blocking the trail. Um, and, and it was a learning opportunity for me, um, when, when Lee says, hey, you got to put your foot in it from like, from the start, you really got to put your foot in it from the start.

Speaker 1: 52:32

Um, I was a little tentative and it cost us, so yeah, oh, all good, uh, but that wasn't the uh, that really wasn't the holdup of uh of you guys getting back to camp. That night Our buddy Zach in Never Fails Camo, camo, let him down and a 30-amp fuse caused a couple hours for you guys waiting to get off the trail that night is my understanding. It did my understanding it did.

Speaker 5: 53:03

But. But the conversation on the trail while we're we're, while we're standing at a, a safe distance from Zach, who was very, very interested in getting his truck fixed fast, folks, you know.

Speaker 1: 53:20

Zach, you can, you can picture how this went.

Speaker 5: 53:23

Yeah, oh yeah, it's all went. Oh yeah, it's all good.

Speaker 1: 53:28

Well, let me pull up. I've got a few pictures I've borrowed from your Instagram. I believe these are all from G Smitter. Yeah, probably when you were trail leading here. If folks haven't, you can go find Rosa, the LC100. That is Aubrey's Instagram account. Check the rig out. Here we are up on.

Speaker 5: 53:54

Carrival.

Speaker 1: 53:54

Flats.

Speaker 5: 53:55

Yeah, caught an elk up at Carrival Flats, that's the first time I've been up there and been able to see one and been able to see one really really cool, Really really cool.

Speaker 1: 54:13

How, how, how did your truck perform for the week?

Speaker 5: 54:17

Oh great, I didn't. I didn't really push her too much, yeah, when I did that. So I did the the twenty seven, twenty six run with with Chase Morrow on day one. So, actually, no, I did, I did tell you. So I did because I tell you for him that day, and you know that was a little there were a couple of questionable moments, but it was really more with me not having sliders at the time. It was just trying to keep it off the doors more than anything else. So but, yeah, it's a fun ride. Truck did great, I really.

Speaker 5: 54:58

If you see the pictures, it's got the frigging spare tire on the roof. I hate that because it makes it too tall and I feel like it makes it too top heavy and so I am uh, trying to trying to fix that piece of the equation now, um, by moving it down. And then, um, I mean the, the tires did what the tires do. I love the destination MT2. Uh, I think it is really really the best tire out there for East Coast wheeling where we've got a good combination of rock and mud. Obviously, with some events that I have coming up out West, I have switched out to a different tire, more of a traditional all-terrain, and I'm really excited to see how well that does out West, as well as how it does on the drive across the country to get there. But yeah, the truck did great. She's not leaking anymore. She was leaking at a previous event through the sunroof, and so I've solved that problem, at least on a temporary basis.

Speaker 1: 55:54

Yeah, those sunroofs are a little notorious for water intrusion. Yeah, yes. So all right, uh. So yeah, like I was like we started uh first time attendee, trail leader, uh, sponsor you. You saw the whole thing. You go to a lot of these uh events across the country. So give us uh, give us, your unbiased review on uh, on G smitter as an event, as a representation of the Land Cruiser and the off-road community at large and specifically over here east of the Mississippi.

Speaker 5: 56:32

Yeah, so, I love that. It's a lovely balance of vendor focus and community focus. Like I I I'll probably get in trouble for saying this from firestone, but I don't know that I spent more than 20 minutes a day in my booth and but it wasn't that I was like not in the booth, not having conversations about tires, it's just that I may be standing in line for breakfast like talking with with Bud from Budville and that turns into a tire conversation which then spins off into three or four more tire conversations and then on trail you know we're having we're talking about well, why is this tire doing this or why is this doing that while we're going around the trail and it's, it's a lot of fun. And then back for dinners every night. It was a lot of just. I feel like it's a really big family and I love that there's so many people that come to and I'm going to shamelessly plug a couple of other events. You know that come to Windrock for uh, for Venture Unknowns event, and then come to Shamrock and then come to G Smitter and then come to ATR, um, and you know, and come to CroR and come to Cruisers on the Rocks. It's fun to see that and I love seeing the variety of builds, even within the 100 Series community and the greater Land Cruiser community.

Speaker 5: 57:52

You talk about Camo. That thing is. I called it Godzilla Because I mean it is. What is it? It's a 60 series frame with a with 80 series undercarriage and 100 series steering rack or something. It's weird. It's like all of well it is.

Speaker 1: 58:12

It's yeah, and a four point seven liter to use the under the hood. Yeah and yeah.

Speaker 5: 58:17

And the big differentiators yeah, but to me that he's got all of that going on and it works and and he wheels the mess out of it. And then seeing you know folks that are doing you know stuff like Patch with 37s, and everybody knows Patch and he's he's a wild man and all that with how he wheels his truck. But then you look at, then you look at Alex with at Lumberjack Engineering, yeah, with a very, very looks like it's just a daily driver, very I hate to say vanilla, because it sounds like I'm cursing the man, but I'm not. I promise it's the coolest compliment ever is his. It's a sleeper, his sleeper. Triple locked LX. That just it's like. It's on Velcro, for God's sake. It just no matter what, it just right up through every rock garden you ever wanted it to go through. It's awesome to watch all the different vehicles do everything.

Speaker 5: 59:09

I think the, you know, the organization of trail signups is really really I really like how you do that, versus, you know, having folks sign up ahead of time and then potentially they're not being enough room for folks or or they're not be. You know, hey, somebody's volunteered to lead this trail and nobody shows up, kind of thing, and they're kind of, they're kind of sitting there on their thumbs, so to speak. And then the raffle is the raffle was awesome. The raffle is the raffle at every event is always one of the big highlights. But just how you did it and having the kids raffle up front where they, you know the kids are getting the kids involved because they're at some point going to be the next kind of generation of leading this. So it's fun to see that, yeah, and then just the variety of trails.

Speaker 5: 59:56

I mean you had folks that were hitting 15, which is I can't walk up 15, much less drive up it. You had people hitting that. You have people hitting 30 and 35 and hitting Panther Rock, which very soon you will get to see a lovely firestone sign at Panther Rock. And we're going to go through and have a cleanup day some point in the next few months to go through and clean that trail up and make sure that it looks as good as it possibly can for that. Really really good picture, picturesque view for everybody. So it's a. It was a great event. I loved. It was my first time. It was my first time being trail leader for any event.

Speaker 5: 1:00:33

Okay, so there was an extra set of nerves, like when I'm trying to pick out my trails. What I was going to do, like, all right, I don't want to do something that's going to be trying to pick out my trails. What I was going to do, like, all right, I don't want to do something that's going to be stupid, stupid, I want to do something fun. So I chose to do the inside the park route up to Kerryville and 90% of that trail. I'm like, all right, this is pretty easy. There were a couple of guys with me that I feel like we pushed their vehicles a little further than they wanted to be pushed, and so I felt personally responsible for some of that. But nobody got hurt, nothing got damaged. It was just maybe a little bit more than they were looking for, but we made it out, had a great time and we got a couple of good pictures.

Speaker 5: 1:01:12

That's the one thing I think I need to probably figure out, and either that's going to be bringing my 13-year-old with me, who's going to do the photos and biography stuff, or I need to figure out like a tripod or a little, you know one of those tentacle things with a camera so I can go through and get pictures of my rig and get pictures of everybody else's. So I feel like we didn't get a ton of that stuff, except for when we're stopped at a couple of places.

Speaker 1: 1:01:37

It's hard to remember everything and it is hard when you don't have you're talking about pictures and video when you don't have somebody else, when you don't have a co-driver in the vehicle and you're trying to lead a trail and take pictures and spot people, and yeah, it's tough. So, speaking of photos and forgetting things, I'll take the blame here I had ordered this really cool red carpet looking photo backdrop with the G Smitter logo and the Windrock logo and also we could take pictures at the event, and it never made it to the event. Not only did it not make it, I didn't think about it all week. Now the rain kind of changed up what we were doing at night, so it shifted things. But Zach texted me after we got back home and said whatever happened to that photo backdrop thing you bought and I said, oh, you mean the one sitting in my garage. Yeah, it didn't make it there. So next year, next year, we will have a proper photo backdrop for your photos, and I will be there, lord Willard, and the Creek, don't rise.

Speaker 1: 1:02:56

All right. Well, thank you, aubrey. I know you're fixing to to head out west for Lee's event, for Crockies out there.

Speaker 5: 1:02:58

So safe. Safe travels that's quickly approaching, I appreciate it. So safe travels that's quickly approaching, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me and look forward to being involved in however we can to help grow the growth, the segment, grow the community and, obviously, ultimately grow the brand.

Speaker 1: 1:03:17

Awesome. Thank you, sir, but Chase, I see you. Yeah, man so so we're going gonna buzz you right into this. Yeah, glad I called in when I did, yeah, and we're gonna send out a text to see where the rest of the guys are. Chase, we've known each other for probably three or four years now. Uh, that's about right. Yeah, I don't know if it was G Smitter or maybe the first Cruisers on the Rocks where we met, but do you remember how long you've been coming to the G Smitter event?

Speaker 8: 1:03:50

Yeah, the first G Smitter I came to was in 21. I think that was one of the big anniversary years.

Speaker 1: 1:04:02

Yeah, the 30th anniversary.

Speaker 8: 1:04:04

Yep, that was it. I had been to several events before, but none done by STLCA. I was always a forerunner guy before did the TTORA takeovers. Some of those were at Windrock, some of those were at Teleco. Some of those were at Windrock, some of those were at Teleco, some of those were out in the Cove, but the first G-Smitter I came to was in 21 and haven't missed one since.

Speaker 1: 1:04:35

Yeah, so you make sure it's on the calendar each year and you are now a 100 series guy primarily. You also added a 200 to the stable, but it's on the calendar each year and you are now a uh, uh, a hundred series guy Primarily. You also added a 200 to the stable, but it's due in highway duty. I'm not allowed to touch that one. You can't even drive it at all, yeah.

Speaker 8: 1:04:50

Yeah, only, only for chauffeur duties. That's, that's it.

Speaker 5: 1:04:55

Yeah.

Speaker 8: 1:04:55

Another, the. Uh. So that's how the 100 originally started. Um I. So that's how the 100 originally started. I mentioned I was a 4Runner guy. So we bought the 100 to make way for all the kids we were having and then got rid of the 4Runner and I didn't have anything to wheel there for a while. And then we bought my wife a GX and then the 100 became mine right before that G-Smitter in 21. I had, when we got it I'd already put the 33 ATs on it, but right before G-Smitter I took it to Maryville and had that guy put sliders on it and that was the first event it came to. And then now the 200 is the chauffeur. But yeah, it's funny Like I said I uh chases.

Speaker 1: 1:05:48

Is a uh uh 99 correct, 98 or 99 that's correct 99, no no a track for me, no a track, but a factory locker but yes, I do have that. That's the, that's the give and take. Uh on the, the hundred series, uh, those 98 and 99 on the LCS, not on the Lexus. You got the rear locker but you didn't get the a track, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 8: 1:06:13

Yeah, I am a fan.

Speaker 1: 1:06:16

Lee, I see you down in the in the waiting room. He has graciously made it a few minutes late, but he's in there?

Speaker 8: 1:06:22

Did you have to text him to get him in here?

Speaker 1: 1:06:25

No, he showed up. It looks like I can't tell. Yeah, he's in the green room, folks. So Chase took your slot. So you're going to Chase's slot, Lee, All right. Go back out, yeah All right, go back back out, so All right. So your first time was coming in in twenty one and then, I believe, in twenty two. You text me and I don't remember if you were trail leading or you volunteered to tail gun that first year, but you raised your hand pretty quick to get in.

Speaker 8: 1:07:04

Yeah, I had originally signed up to tail gun, Kind of wanted to just get involved. Yep Raised my hand to tail gun and for the life of me I can't remember who was signed up as the trail leader on that ride. But he was a no-show, so I graduated quickly.

Speaker 1: 1:07:25

Oh, that's how that happened, okay.

Speaker 8: 1:07:27

That is how that happened. Yeah, and that was where my easy Saturday motto came from, because I picked up that easy prison run Back when it was still easy. Back when it was still easy. Yeah, when it was still easy.

Speaker 1: 1:07:42

yeah, so we had this conversation earlier before you were on with Team George, because they got over there on that section of 43, and we talked about how all that's changed over there.

Speaker 8: 1:07:54

But yeah, it was last year whenever that got gnarly. So it was two years ago. We still were able to take folks that way. But last year was the year that me and Joey and I'll shoot, remind me of his name again Bishop Eric, bishop, bishop, bishop Me, joey and Bishop ran it and came back with the good news.

Speaker 1: 1:08:20

Yeah, I was going to tell folks, chase, that you know, if you because there may be folks listening to this that have been coming to the event for a while and are wanting to get plugged in and volunteer put you to work in some form or fashion, because at 300 trucks we had over 600 people and feeding those people and kind of all the logistics of it and getting them checked in and all that, it takes a lot of folks to do it. But if you're interested in trail leading and you're not sure if that's really what you want to do and and you really want to commit to it, uh, then normally I say jumping in as a, as a tail gun, uh, for the for the first year, is a good way to kind of get your feet wet, unless it becomes like Chase's situation and you immediately get promoted. So yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:09:13

Yeah.

Speaker 8: 1:09:14

The quickest promotion I've ever had. Davey, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 1:09:22

Yes, lee, we see you, he is. He is holding up his, his beverage. Yeah, uh, all right. So, uh, but uh, chase, you talked about um. You talked about you got the hundred. Uh, because your family was growing. Uh, you're a family guy. Uh, you've had your dad at this event. You've had the kids at the event. Uh, talk to us about the event from a from a family guy. You've had your dad at this event, you've had the kids at the event. Talk to us about the event from a family perspective, because, while there's obviously a lot of adulting that goes on, this, 100% at its core, will always be a family affair, and I want folks to feel comfortable with that when they come to G Smitter.

Speaker 8: 1:10:04

Yeah, yeah, sure thing. So that first year that I came I brought my let's see, he would have been six brought my six-year-old son with me. My daughter would have been two at the time. She didn't make that trip, but he came, he had a blast, made friends immediately. There are always every kid that I've taken, there's always kids around their age there and they've always been able to make friends.

Speaker 8: 1:10:33

And those first two years that we came, before I started doing any kind of leading or gunning, that pretty much dictated what rides we were going on the next day. It was just kind of the, the, whoever had the, the six, seven, eight year olds, what have you, would kind of band together and go on that ride and, uh, the, the kids got a little bit of the, uh, of the say in what we did next. Sometimes, whenever trail 11 gets a little long, they, uh, they decide that we're not going anywhere else and we'll head back to camp. But, um, yeah, man, it's always been. The kids have always had fun.

Speaker 8: 1:11:07

Uh, this was the, my, uh, my daughter had come maybe two or three years ago, um, and ran, the, ran the easy prison, run, had a good time, uh, but it was this past year that she made her first trip, came for the entire time. Uh had a good time. Uh. But it was this past year that she made her first trip, came for the entire time. Uh, had a blast. Um, you even mentioned having having george on earlier. She was one of the one of the winners of the team george rc car and that was that. That was really big bragging points on her end towards big brother for the for the rest of the trip. But, yeah, and you guys do a good job involving kids in the pre-raffle festivities. I can't remember how long y'all been doing that, but every year that you have it's been great. Yeah, for a minute, kids get involved and get excited.

Speaker 1: 1:11:55

And this year we had to kind of be flexible on Friday night because the rain kind of pushed in on us so we had some more kind of kids games and activities planned for Friday night. That didn't work out. And then we had a swimming pool run planned for Saturday for folks that if the kids were tired of being on the trail and you just wanted to go into town and and hit the pool, normally the weather would have been perfect for that. This year that didn't really didn't really work out, but we may look at that on the agenda again next year. But you were talking about taking the trail and this is one thing.

Speaker 1: 1:13:02

When we do these guided rides, I want folks to be comfortable in that. This is not. We do have a time convoy is going to stop and we're all going to wait and then we're going to leave again together. You know if you're going in and it's not just for just the kids. I want to make that clear about all these guided rides is you know, if you get to a section and the three trucks in front of you have rolled through it and you say I'm a little uncomfortable, I need a spot, all you got to do is ask, and we'll be right there to help you with that. So don't think that these guided rides are a super regimented thing in that you're going to be forced into things that you don't want to do.

Speaker 8: 1:13:39

Right, and that's what I experienced the first year bringing the 100. Never wheeled anything that big before coming from small little first and third gen 4Runners the 100.

Speaker 1: 1:13:54

And George Dominguez was just talking about that, about getting the wagons through there. It's a challenge, but it's something that a lot of our trail leaders kind of take pride in is getting these big wagons through these type trails.

Speaker 8: 1:14:07

Oh, yeah, yeah, and that that those first two years, whenever I I wasn't leading or anything like that, if I ever felt uncomfortable I don't know that I even had to raise the flag to stop it was always hey, I'm rolling through this, if you need a hand radio in and it's that. That's something that I've tried to implement going forward whenever for the ones that I'm out leading and it it tends to work out great.

Speaker 1: 1:14:34

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, if you're, if you're thinking about it, if, if you've looked at cause, you know, I know there's some folks that they just you're nervous, you're nervous about coming to a big event. You think you're going to be I don't know what the word is judged or it's going to be an uncomfortable situation or hazed, but I promise you any of that at this event, uh is in good fun. I know those, those. There's some of those things that go on at other events, uh, and people feel excluded, uh, from different things, and that that will not be the case if you, uh, if you come to the great smoky mountain trail, right, no, the only hazing we do is we just thought first-timers in a cabin would leave for one night, right.

Speaker 1: 1:15:26

Or that murder shack, that Aubrey stayed in.

Speaker 8: 1:15:29

I didn't get to see the murder shack. Where was he staying?

Speaker 1: 1:15:34

I've got to insert his little interview in, so I'll put a picture of the murder shack for folks. It's a nice little primitive cabin at Windrock. It just doesn't have power or water or anything, it's just four square walls. But he had a picture of it and man, it sure looked like a murder shack.

Speaker 8: 1:15:56

He didn't take his lighting and set it up right.

Speaker 1: 1:15:59

No, it wasn't an influencer shot.

Speaker 8: 1:16:03

yeah, yeah yeah, no, I didn't get to see the murder shack. Uh, no, no for anybody listening that. That was heavy sarcasm on my end. We won't lock you in a cabin with lee.

Speaker 1: 1:16:15

That's for second year, people, that's that's first, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's once we get you back then you get to hang out here, uh, yeah or or trail leaders that don't show up yeah, right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 8: 1:16:28

If I remember that name, I'll let you know all right, uh, well, thank you, chase.

Speaker 1: 1:16:34

I appreciate you, uh, making time to get on here. I know you had some things going and you hustled back to join us, so we certainly appreciate it.

Speaker 8: 1:16:43

Sure thing, man Happy to help out.

Speaker 1: 1:16:46

All right, brother, we'll talk to you later. Yes, sir, have a good one, see you, see ya. All right, folks? Uh, well, I'm driving this, uh, this ship, solo here and trying to watch the, the green room, uh, and wrangle these cats as, uh, as we do this show, so I can cut down on the editing, uh and uh, and next up, uh, oh, look where he is.

Speaker 6: 1:17:14

Hey, hey, hey can you hear me?

Speaker 11: 1:17:19

uh, we can hear you yeah that email I got said 855 Liam Bush. What happened? Well, okay, we'll talk about the email later, okay but yeah, I'm in the cruiser, you are in the cruiser yeah, I'm not cruising, but. I'm in the cruiser. Now you are in the cruiser. Yeah, that's right, I'm not cruising but I'm in the cruiser Now.

Speaker 1: 1:17:44

are you headed west or you're sitting in your driveway?

Speaker 11: 1:17:47

No, I'm sitting in the driveway. I've got so many cats. It's hard to do this type of thing inside, so I come outside and here I am. Yeah, so it's my happy place. Anyway, there you go.

Speaker 1: 1:18:03

So she kicked you out of the house again. Pretty much, yeah, that's about right. Yeah, folks, if you don't know, lee Sumner, this is Mr Lee Sumner, lee has. We have tried to do a show together a couple of times. One time we might have actually recorded an entire show minus any audio. That was a dude impersonating me, I think Well there was some debate as to whether that was actually you or your Dope-O-Gay or Desco.

Speaker 1: 1:18:45

For folks that don't know, lee's been very involved in this Land Cruiser community for going on several years now five or six years that I'm aware of anyway and puts on a couple of events of his own Cruisers on the Rocks and now Cruisers on the Rockies, which is one happens at Wind Rocks, same place as G Smitter. The other happens out west and he's headed out there. Is it next week?

Speaker 11: 1:19:11

That's right, I'm leaving Wednesday actually. Yeah, Event starts officially Monday. We have a Sunday night overnight run before then. But yeah, I'm leaving out Wednesday. It's kind of a haul.

Speaker 1: 1:19:28

It is. It lives a little haul and I keep telling him one of these days I'm going to, I'm going to make that haul with him, but alas it's not. Not this year again. But Lee and I met at his first event that he did at Windrock, going on five years ago now, and you know I remember you talking, lee, at that time, that you had come, I believe the year prior to G Smitter.

Speaker 1: 1:19:59

You'd been to some other events, you'd been to some events out west prior to that, but then you came to G Smitter at Windrock. To G Smitter, you'd you'd been to some other events, you'd been to some events out West prior to that, but then you came to G Smitter at Windrock and East Coast event and you kind of had the epiphany of uh, of putting together, uh, your event and uh, you and I have talked several times over the years and and shared ideas and resources to to grow both of these events, because a lot of people see events as competing and we've never seen it that way. Not only do you attend, but you volunteer and dive in in a lot of ways to assist with this event as well.

Speaker 11: 1:20:59

Yeah, that's right. I mean, you know and you've heard me say it lately, davey, over the last year or two you know I try to put on a great event, but I think G Smitter, at this point, is probably the best. Well, I know, it's the best event Toyota event that I've attended in the United States and I've attended quite a few, and I really think that G Smitter has grown to be, in my opinion, the premier, the number one, the best all-around event in the States, and that's what I wanted my events to be. But wow.

Speaker 1: 1:21:40

But it's two different things and let me clarify that for folks. But it's two different things and let me clarify that for folks. What Lee does with Cruisers on the Rocks, which is limited to 100s, 200s and 300s. Now you can get mad about that all you want and that's another conversation. But there's plenty of events across the country that are segmented by vehicle types and it makes a very niche, almost boutique experience. That's really cool when you've got 15 very similarly equipped vehicles rolling down the trail together versus G Smitter, you may have 100 on a stock 100, and you may have George in his in his right in front of you.

Speaker 1: 1:22:30

So two different events, two different kind of atmospheres, but both need to be attended.

Speaker 11: 1:22:37

Exactly, you know, and I think it was ATR that was that really showed me that we kind of if I wouldn't say needed I mean it could definitely have a full-size IFS event like 200, 100, 300. Because at ATR, you know, I went in my 200, and I think I might have been on 33s at the time. But you know, I signed up for a moderately difficult run, or dark blue, something like that. And then I get on the run and I'm the only IFS truck on the run Everybody else is running 37s and 40s and find out that the run is actually kind of dark blue for those guys, but it's definitely a hard black for me.

Speaker 11: 1:23:27

And so by by having an event like mine where it's just IFS wagons, um, everybody can you know? They, the trails, the runs, everything is designed for those trucks. Uh, they know, if they're, if they're on an easy run, it's going to be easy. If they're on a moderate run, it's going to be moderate. If they're on a difficult run, the trucks can do it, but it's going to test them as a driver and it's going to test their trucks as well, but they should know that they're never going to be over their head.

Speaker 1: 1:23:59

Yeah, absolutely Well. So you came to G Smitter back I think it was 2020. Then your event started in 21. And, like we said, you've come back to G Smitter since then and you volunteered and raised your hand to get in and lead these trail rides and you've helped me in a lot of other ways as well. This year, lee put on our volunteer dinner on Wednesday night. I don't know if he remembers hosting it, but there were ribs on the smoker.

Speaker 11: 1:24:41

Right, right, I remember all of that, and it got a little hairy later, though, when Aubrey took the wheel. You know, when the dinner broke up and Aubrey got behind the wheel of my truck, yeah, but there's definitely parts about that that I remember.

Speaker 1: 1:25:01

So I interviewed Aubrey earlier this week and're going to that'll get spliced in somewhere before your interview here and we talk about, we talk about that. I was telling the listeners how generous you had been in that you've got this new blower on your truck and you want people to experience it from the driver's seat as well, and so maybe we strong-armed Aubrey a little bit into taking the keys and making that night run Well he's definitely better for it.

Speaker 11: 1:25:34

You know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right For sure.

Speaker 1: 1:25:42

Yeah, well, it didn't kill the truck anyway. Right, right, it was all cosmetic for sure.

Speaker 11: 1:25:48

Yeah, well, it didn't kill the truck anyway. So, right Right, it was all cosmetic. Well, the awning the pre-cleaner. But yeah, you know, yeah, small stuff, small stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:25:57

Yeah, uh, uh, lee, you uh. You have a reputation, uh, for being rather hard on your vehicles. Lee and I both wheel a 200 series, but our style of wheeling might be a little bit different. Right yeah, might be a little bit different. Right yeah, did you? Aside from that cosmetic damage, did you leave with any broken CVs or driveshafts this year?

Speaker 11: 1:26:35

No, yeah the driver's side CV, which was actually an OEM Tundra CV. A lost sit-up there on that night ride when Aubrey was driving, but you know it was still pulling. It was just under a heavy load. It would make some noises. Under a heavy load, it would make some noises. I disassembled it when I got home and found out that the retaining ring you know that holds the balls in place, holds the inner cage had dislodged but everything went on beyond that yeah, I mean I could put it back together and I think it would be fine.

Speaker 11: 1:27:23

I'm not going to because I'm not going to rebuild a oem tundra joint that I can get salvaged for, you know, 60, 70 dollars, but uh, but, yeah, uh, you know I'd say that's pretty awesome that it withstood the.

Speaker 1: 1:27:40

I mean you weren't there, aubrey was giving her some help, he likes the rev limiter he said that the problem was he didn't stay in it enough, that that he was nervous to get in it.

Speaker 11: 1:27:53

So well, yeah, I'm sure he was, but when he did he did. I think zach will tell you that that was like the first time he's ever seen me say whoa, you know?

Speaker 1: 1:28:07

uh, because I've never done it quite like that well, zach has has slid into the to the green room. I see him down there with his little man uh in the corner. Um, you know, speaking of uh, of people that like to to stay on the rev limiter. Another um memorable uh event from this trip was a little night run, another night run. That happened when you were riding shotgun uh with Mr Bush. Uh, lee was riding co-pilot for jason bush up uh, up trail 15. You want to give us a little replay of that ride?

Speaker 11: 1:28:47

well, you know, that was actually eye-opening for me. Uh, I mean, I ride on trails with bush and zach and george and and these guys, um, but uh, I've never been out with them on a truly difficult run Well, because my truck won't do that, you know. So this was the first time I'd actually been out on a truly difficult run and, yeah, it was eye-opening. I mean, it definitely shows me, you know, when I think I'm giving my truck hell. No, no, I mean that's an entirely different level.

Speaker 1: 1:29:31

So there's video. There's a reel on the Overland Weekly Instagram channel of Bush going up 15 on that night run, of Bush going up 15 on that night run, and what you don't see is when he slams down on that driver's side and takes the glass out. Yeah, that's right, but the glass was down right. The window was in beside the door.

Speaker 11: 1:29:58

No, I think it was up, because I think Lolo was over there and she got showered with the glass and the whole rest of the run she kept saying I got glass in my butt. I got glass in my butt. I'm pretty sure it was up. It was wild stuff, man, and I noticed, you know, looking at that, that reel, that video, you know one thing you don't hear is me Right, Like I don't think you had nothing to say.

Speaker 11: 1:30:35

You know why? Because I'm just like speechless the entire time. Looked over at bush and has bush been on tonight?

Speaker 1: 1:30:45

no, we don't know where bush is okay, well, he'll, he'll tell you.

Speaker 11: 1:30:49

You know, at one point I looked over at him and I was like man, is this, you know the? Do you do this every time you go out on these runs called? It was just, it was just unbelievable that, uh, that showed me a different side, because it's not a side that I'm normally on, because my truck just won't do that. And that's not saying that you know, 200s, 100s, 300s, ifs trucks aren't good trucks, but they're you know they will not and they don't need to be doing that. They're big, they excel at a lot of things, but not that. That was crazy stuff, crazy time yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:31:31

Lee, before I let you get off here, we were talking about your reputation on the trail. You also have a reputation that we've discussed before in your online persona as the Triple Locked Troll himself, and I have had people say you know, I don't know why you hang out, why you go to that event with that guy, he's a bully. To that event with that guy, he's a bully, and you know. I think I'd like to give you the floor to explain to people that not everything you read online needs to be taken so literal.

Speaker 11: 1:32:16

Exactly, and you know all of that stuff to me it's in jest, it's in fun. You know I never attack anybody personally. You know I'll talk about how a certain platform is a piece of junk or maybe even a piece of shit. You know, I'll say that, you know, but when I bring it up it's probably the truth. But when I bring it up it's probably the truth. Certain limitations of certain platforms, certain limitations of certain suspensions or motors or whatever. I'm going to give you the facts, because I know that it's going to get under your skin. You know, because you're claiming this, you're claiming that, but it's just not the way it is. Um, it's just, it's just fun. And people that know me, that's my personality, uh, I'm, I'm, I guess a bit of a, uh, a smart ass, I guess. Smart Alec, is that how you know? Um, but I love everybody, I love every platform. You know I'm, I'm really.

Speaker 11: 1:33:21

I think I got banned from a 100 series Facebook group just because I was giving them so much heck. You know, I think I did one post, davey, where I posted like this wet plumbed nitrous plumbed intake manifold, like a picture of this, what would have been probably like a $6,000 system, and I was like, has any of you guys with these two UZs thought about trying to do something like this, maybe to be able to keep up with the far superior three? You are on the trail, you know. Definitely anybody that sees that should know that it's a joke. But some guys just see that and they take it seriously. But at my events, people that come to them, people that are around me, they know that I love everybody and I just like having a good time and I do. I do haze people. You know, if you hang around me, if you're one of my inner circle, you're probably going to have to have some thick skin, but it's all a good time. So yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:34:39

So there you go, folks Straight from the horse's mouth himself. That's right, yeah.

Speaker 11: 1:34:47

Yeah, sorry about the 8.55 thing, man, I don't know what happened.

Speaker 1: 1:34:51

No, we've been jumping around a little bit trying to keep this train on the tracks here, but you know, with our crew.

Speaker 11: 1:35:01

You knew we were never all gonna show up at the right time at the right place you know, I thought about like checking in, like in the group chat or something, uh, to see what was going on. But I've been so busy with things that, uh, I was like, well, davy sent that email, so that's got to be it, right you know me if I send the email.

Speaker 1: 1:35:21

That's what we're doing.

Speaker 11: 1:35:25

I have my Overland weekly koozie here. I ran out of cold beer earlier. My wife Joy wouldn't let me go to the store to get cold beer, me go to the store to get cold beer. So I've got, I think, 20, 30 boxes of bush light that I'm taking out to Colorado in the trailer now, and they're hot, so I just had to get them and put them on ice. Um, so I was. I was gonna drink a cold one in the can, but they were warm and I had to put them on ice.

Speaker 1: 1:36:02

Are you pouring the beer on ice? Yeah, have you never done that? I can't say that I've watered down beer that way.

Speaker 11: 1:36:12

Well, there's worse things Like no beer Anyway.

Speaker 1: 1:36:19

Well, all right, I wish you the best of luck with uh, with your event, Uh next week should be, a good time.

Speaker 11: 1:36:28

I know we're going to get you out there, uh, next year it's going to happen, yeah. It's a lot of fun. You know we've got uh, so it's three days, like I guess G Smith is three now, right? Yep, um, we've got've got over 60 runs that I'm dealing with in those three days and you know, being 2,000 miles away, it's definitely interesting, but I really I think you'd enjoy it. You will enjoy it when you finally make it out and we'll be happy to have you.

Speaker 1: 1:37:02

All right, my friend, all right. Well, lee, uh, have fun in the in the driveway. Uh, maybe she'll let you back in the house, uh, right before the night's over, so, uh, but believe me, I understand her position on it. So, all right, brother, talk to you later, all right. So at this point I'm going to go ahead and roll in the interview that did a little bit earlier this week with Mr Patrick Perry and let you guys listen to that. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the program, mr Patrick Perry. Patrick, it's been a year and a half since we did our episode together, if you can believe that.

Speaker 6: 1:37:54

It's hard to believe. It feels like it was yesterday.

Speaker 1: 1:37:57

It feels like it was yesterday, but there's a lot that has happened for Perry Parts in the last 18 months. And we're really, really proud to watch this success unfold.

Speaker 6: 1:38:08

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Yeah, I think last time we talked we had just gotten the new manufacturing process up and running. We've been doing a whole bunch of contract work lately, as well as growing on to a lot of new vehicle platforms, and then the next big push for us is going to be releasing a new generation of the product, so new product categories, as well as Gen 3 coming out later this year.

Speaker 1: 1:38:34

Awesome, Awesome. Well, speaking of your product, I've noticed an abundance of your product on the rigs at G Smitter uh this year and I'm hoping that you, as a first time attendee, a trail leader, uh, and again also a platinum sponsor, noticed, uh, noticed some of your product around as well too.

Speaker 6: 1:38:57

Yeah, um, I was actually really surprised at how many were out there. Um, I was walking around the parking lot with my camera just getting photos of just content, and then I started to see, oh yep, that looks familiar, that looks familiar. And toward the end of it I was seeing we must have had 20 or 30 vehicles there running our parts, which was pretty awesome. I got a whole bunch. I started crawling around like getting photos of them on people's trucks. Yes, I have.

Speaker 1: 1:39:25

Let me see if I. Yeah. There's a bunch of pictures that Patrick put in the photo album that look like similar to this.

Speaker 6: 1:39:37

Yeah, I did just do a photo dump into the photo album and then after the fact I was like, oh shoot, like there's just a bunch of photos of parts on trucks out here and I'm sure someone who didn't know like either didn't recognize my name or didn't know what that was like what is this dude doing?

Speaker 1: 1:39:52

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 6: 1:39:54

So anyway All right?

Speaker 1: 1:39:58

Well, you know, patrick, you have. I'm going to go to your scoreboard picture here with all of your, your broken heart awards from from Patch, I know at least one that you added to it on this one.

Speaker 6: 1:40:17

Yeah, I'm running out of window space. I'm running out of window space. One, okay, I'm running out of window space. Uh, so edgy smitter is just one taillight. Um, okay, and I think what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna follow in patch's footsteps where he just started doing tally marks, because otherwise you run you just you're gonna cover your window.

Speaker 1: 1:40:36

Yeah, yeah, exactly, let me roll this. Roll this video for those that hadn't seen the reel.

Speaker 10: 1:40:55

Oh, there's a taillight popped out, oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:41:08

That was a good one, that's Trail 30, if you don't recognize that trail and that tree at Windrock, it's kind of infamous and it seems like those GX taillights are molded with just the right little lip to catch those trees.

Speaker 6: 1:41:24

A hundred percent, yeah. And you notice the guys that had the bumpers that stick out a bit more. They were nice and safe. I definitely would love to add some, either a little hoop or just something poking out from the side of the bumper to get a little bit more width out of it for protection there, from the side of the bumper to get a little bit more width out of it for protection there. And yeah, so that passenger side rear taillight is. I've broken that twice now, I think partially just because it's so far from the driver.

Speaker 1: 1:41:52

Yeah, you're like oh, don't worry about that. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 6: 1:41:55

That day, though, everything it had rained, I think two days at that point, everything it had rained, I think two days at that point and it was slick. Everyone was bouncing around hopping. We had a pileup on Trail 22,. Even which that obstacle when it's dry is a cakewalk, but it became a mess in the wet, so it makes a big difference 22 has a reputation for that, uh, for for changing with the weather very quickly.

Speaker 1: 1:42:24

The uh uh, the boys from Birmingham, uh, will tell you about that. There was a group that spent the night on trail 22,. Uh, a couple of years ago just, it just changed that fast, so yeah that's wild, you know.

Speaker 6: 1:42:38

It's funny too, cause, um, one of my favorite trail runs of the weekend was 35, with Patch, Alex and a couple other guys I don't remember their names. I just met them that day and we got halfway up it. We're just getting up to the really challenging section where it kind of opens up and there's a bypass on the right and it started pouring and it started pouring, um, and, interestingly enough, I actually think that that that one section of 22 might have been more difficult just because it was so muddy and slick, whereas 35, there was a good bit more rock and the rock got washed, and so you could still hook up on it, right.

Speaker 1: 1:43:14

So anyway, yeah, well, uh, so this what you'd been to Windrock before because you'd been to to Cruisers on the Rocks there before, but this was your first G Smitter event and you know the two events are are similar in that it's a lot of the same faces and same community, but because it's not just hundreds and two hundreds, it's G-Smitter is a much larger event. So we've got everything from, you know, 40s, 60s, 80s, hundreds, two hundreds, two fifties. We had a mega cruiser this year and then you always get a handful of Tacomas and 4Runners and other Toyota makes, but you get a handful of Jeeps, a handful of Fords, a handful of this and that, friends of friends that come as well, because registration is open to any manufacturer, make and model. So give me your thoughts on kind of seeing the diversity of trucks and builds and what that was like 301 registered trucks at the event this year.

Speaker 6: 1:44:22

I think one of the things that stood out to me was how incredibly capable all the solid front axle stuff is. You know, like you go to Cruisers on the Rocks and it's an awesome event and I'm always looking up to the guys in the 200s because the 200s are more capable and beefier than the GX. I think the only thing the GX really has on the 200 is weight. Everything else beefier suspension, I guess, maybe breakover angle, but depending on how you got everything set up. But the 80s and there was an FJ40 there on old pneumatic suspension there was a bit of a debate going around about whether it qualifies as a buggy or not, because it was, you know, like was that?

Speaker 1: 1:45:07

was that George in the?

Speaker 6: 1:45:08

tan one.

Speaker 1: 1:45:10

I think so, yeah, so he doesn't like to refer to it as a buggy, but we but we like to to to refer to it as that. He'll tell you it's a, it's a 40 with a lift kit.

Speaker 6: 1:45:19

Yeah, Well, and, and his argument is sound because it's still on the stock frame, but if you look at it from 20 feet away you're like there's no way it's on the stock frame, right. Anyways, it was really cool to see some of those folks running the red trails on seeing it after the fact, right, Obviously, the GX wouldn't have made it down any of that, Actually it might have made it down once, but it wouldn't have made it up right.

Speaker 1: 1:45:52

So, yeah, it was. It was really neat, yeah, and of course let me pull these pictures back up here. You had your, you had your uh, you had your tent, uh set up uh, and uh got to meet some new folks and it looks like uh Manny took over your tent here at one point. I don't know what he's cooking, but I'm sure it's good.

Speaker 6: 1:46:12

Yeah, he was cooking up pork, belly and, um, some tacos. He had like a um, uh bunch of different meats that he brought with him and he's like I just have to cook it all. Just come hang out at the tent and eat with me. Manny from Tampa Cruisers is actually one of my resellers down in Florida. Really awesome guy. It was really one of the most rewarding things about these events and I experienced it at Cruise on the Rocks. I experienced it a lot more at G Smitter, just because the number of folks that attend is getting to put a face to the name right. You get to meet some of these people and talk and, like you, realize that you know these. These conversations that you have via email translate into real life interactions right.

Speaker 1: 1:46:53

I know that sounds surreal, but like yeah. Yeah, and I noticed because it's so hard to miss is is Blake's solid axle swap Tacoma in the picture there behind you, yeah, yeah. All right, well, and you did some. You did some trail leading as well. Do you remember which ones you led?

Speaker 6: 1:47:17

Sort of um, sort of um. So the very first day, which I think is this photo, um, I did, and I don't remember what we ran- uh, well, well, following following lee uh is always an adventure on on the trail you get.

Speaker 1: 1:47:57

You get several photos. Uh, yeah, with him from behind there.

Speaker 6: 1:48:00

So I was actually surprised he didn't go up the steps on the right on that run yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:48:07

Yeah, those are some pretty famous steps. Yeah, they will sneak up on you. You look at it and you're like, oh, I can walk right up up this, but they're spaced, just right that it'll start pulling you and, yep, yeah um.

Speaker 6: 1:48:27

And then the last day I was tail gunning for lee again um up 30, if I remember right.

Speaker 1: 1:48:32

Okay, yep um, and you had a little, uh, a little tire issue. Is that correct?

Speaker 6: 1:48:39

A couple times twice actually, and one on each side. So, yeah, so this was up at the top of 35 on that run that it got super wet and everything was going pretty well until we got to the very top and there's a pretty long off-camber section with a really deep rut, and I had my tire planted in the rut but in order to keep from flopping we kind of turned into it a bit, so that way we were walking up on that wall and it just popped the bead. It was actually surprisingly loud and that was the second time that I db'd that same day. So earlier that day I was coming up at the very top of 22. I was coming up at the very top of 22.

Speaker 6: 1:49:25

I was cooking and I got dragged slideways in the mud and the height of the rut was literally perfect. It must have been like five or six inches tall and it just completely like you didn't even hear the air come out of it, it just lost the beat completely. So I aired up to 20 psi, ran 35, got three quarters of the way up it and then this happened. Um, the fun part is so the mud is so slick and so dense that it actually it was easy to seat the bead because it worked almost like uh, like rib, like a lube, yeah, yeah so. So it took a bead, just fine.

Speaker 1: 1:50:05

That's good times. Well, you know we've talked about this in the past, but I think, if not bead locks, some type of bead retention system may be in your future.

Speaker 6: 1:50:17

Yeah, I really agree. So, yeah, I really agree. In August or September this year, depending on where shipping pans out, I'll be putting the truck on portals and then probably 37s or maybe 40s TBD and with that I'm looking to either do those icon, the bolt style beadlocks where they come in behind the bead, or true bead locks.

Speaker 1: 1:50:42

So one or the other. So in case you missed Patrick casually sliding that in there, he's been on the list with our friends at Portal Pros to get these GX portals when they come out, which hopefully is soon. I know you are anxious, my friend.

Speaker 6: 1:51:02

I'm very excited. Yeah, I used to work with those guys. I think some of the things that they're adding are going to be super cool, particularly central tire inflation it's huge. And, and yeah, just a little bit more ground clearance, you know. And actually they just got rid of state inspections in New Hampshire, so now I can drive on the road too, which is going to be great.

Speaker 1: 1:51:21

Oh, I didn't know, you still had inspections, well, congratulations yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:51:29

Thank you. Yeah, I found out about that like a couple of days ago. It really made my week. Well, speaking of drive, not only did Patrick, like I said, first time coming leading trails, sponsoring the event, but you also took home the Globetrotter Award. I did For the farthest distance driven to the event. Do you remember the mileage from New Hampshire? Just about 1,100. 1,100 miles. So if you're listening to this and you won a shot next year at taking home some hardware, you need to put in more than 1,100 miles to come to G-Smith.

Speaker 6: 1:52:04

It was my first time doing the drive in one shot too. Got up at four, hit the road, got in by about 9.30 or 10. And honestly, if you're looking to do a drive like that, just do it in one, go, get it over with, because if you get a hotel, get breakfast breakfast. It turns it into a two-day thing.

Speaker 1: 1:52:22

So well, hopefully next time you're uh, you're making that drive, it'll be on portals.

Speaker 6: 1:52:27

So there you go. Yeah, I'll get even worse gas mileage all right, my friend.

Speaker 1: 1:52:32

Well, thank you for taking a few minutes to uh to share your thoughts with it. It's always good to talk to you, my pleasure davey take care all right, see you and so now I will have spliced in that interview and uh, zach, you're down, there are you. Are you ready for prime time?

Speaker 10: 1:52:51

uh you can hear me, I can hear you yeah, you got a a pint size attendee as well. Uh, I got daddy daycare for a minute, so I'll try to keep you out of frame to keep the topic measured, but background noises.

Speaker 1: 1:53:11

It's all good. There he is, I'll just be on the side of frame.

Speaker 1: 1:53:17

However you want to do it, Not an issue, Zach. Your your name's come up a couple of times in this recording tonight. Talked to George earlier and we had a lot to say about you, and then Lee had some comments as well, so I'll let you go back and watch it later to get caught up on all that. Okay, All right. So folks, Zach Johnson is on with me. Zach has been on the show before. He co-hosted with me when we had our friends from Portal Pros on just a few months ago which, again, if you haven't been following along, this is totally a side note, but I just kind of squirreled for a minute because portal pros is finally about to to start shipping out some of those first sets, so so good for them.

Speaker 10: 1:54:12

Excited to see that For the Danny guys or the rest of us. What's that For the Danny guys or the rest of us?

Speaker 1: 1:54:20

Not, not for us, yeah All right. Fair enough. All right, zach. What year G Smitter, is this for you? Or was this, do you remember?

Speaker 10: 1:54:33

I was trying to talk to somebody about it before. I can't remember if it was the 5th or the 6th. I'd have to go back and start figuring out the trucks, but once the same trucks started coming here every year, they Well, that's probably about right, because George Dominguez said he came in 2019 for the first one so it might have been around that time. One's about the same frame. Yeah, they were still doing the blind driver race around the pond at that time, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 1:54:57

It was the last year for that. Okay, yeah. So the the blindfolded driver's race is the tradition that if you came to the event for some time, some people really, really miss it. Some people don't as as much, but as of right now, you can thank the insurance companies for killing off that that event force. So Always the fun, yeah for killing off that event for us.

Speaker 4: 1:55:21

So if anybody's wondering, Always the fun.

Speaker 1: 1:55:24

Yeah, so all right. First year that you came, do you remember what rig you were in?

Speaker 10: 1:55:32

I was in my first 60. So it was at that time in it. I guess it still is. It's just a stock 60 on, I guess, probably two inch lift and 33s, like most people that come to the event. Um, the long run was. That's the only time I've ever been up to carrival. That was a long trip up g1 banging around on on leaves and way too stiff of shocks. But it was a good trip. Had a long run and had a good time flying some tires, so it it was a good trip for that truck and I was cutting my teeth in that park, so it was a good time.

Speaker 1: 1:56:07

All right. So you went up to Carrival. Did you get in any of the more precarious runs early on in that 60? Do you remember?

Speaker 10: 1:56:16

No, so that truck only went once, and then the next year is when my other 60 got built. But that first year I went I was only there for a day or two. I had a buddy's wedding to go to, so I didn't get to enjoy the full extent. But the next year is when Camo got built and everything changed.

Speaker 1: 1:56:36

Zach was talking about going up to Carrival and if you've never been to the park, carrival Flats needs be on on your list. It is a uh. It is a moderate run. It is a uh. It's one of the easier uh, moderate runs, but it's just a long. It's a long run. It's a long ways up to the top, but once you get up to the top it's worth it. But he was talking about going all the way up P1 from the general store and if you ever visit Carrival Flats just trust us on this Just go start off Highway 116 on the other side of the highway and follow the signs from there, because P1 will just beat you up all the way. It'll take an hour and a half to get up it and there's no enjoyment in it no, you need.

Speaker 10: 1:57:24

You need a lot of good, good shocks and good suspension if you're going to be able to keep up, because it's a highway for the side by sides and everybody else is 10 miles an hour. Just shake your coffee around yeah yeah uh, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:57:36

So then, uh, zach, you, uh. So then, zach, you're known for you've got several vehicles in the fleet, but I think most people know you for your camouflaged 60, wz Swap, known affectionately as Camo, which, if you follow Overland Weekly on any of the socials, you've seen some reels of some smoke shows before. What was Camo's first year at G Smitter? Do you remember?

Speaker 10: 1:58:08

It had to be so. I got it the first year of COVID and then they got built the end of that year, so 21, 22. So I must have missed a year after 19 if that was the first year that I went.

Speaker 2: 1:58:22

Oh, no I.

Speaker 5: 1:58:22

I must have missed a year after 19 if that was the first year that.

Speaker 10: 1:58:24

I went, yeah, so I don't remember specifically.

Speaker 1: 1:58:26

Well, I tell you what, Zach, we've had. A lot of folks kind of share their experiences and why they choose to come to G Smitter year after year, and I want to talk about that with you as well. But, uh, why don't you give us, if you don't mind, the uh kind of the, the short story on the evolution of of camo? Uh from, because a lot of people wouldn't believe uh, where that truck originated and what condition it was in when you got it? Uh versus what they see now yeah, I mean I I got.

Speaker 10: 1:59:00

I got it as a. It was a reasonably straight body. I mean it really wasn't that bad of shape. I mean it had been in a. So it came out of Mont Eagle, tennessee two or three owners before I got it. That's when it had a. Really the paint job used to be uniform and complete all the way around it. Over the years it's just faded, but at that point it was still a 2f 35s. I mean it was a normal spring over, hadn't been done the best in the world. Um, it functioned but it wasn't ideal, um, and then I'd already been planning a v8 swap for my other truck and it just kind of it turned into okay, well, maybe we grow and there's like we'll just throw the money out and just have the truck that we can go do what we want to do with Our little group.

Speaker 10: 1:59:44

There's three or four of us here in town that just kind of happened to be a perfect storm at the time. One dude bought a truck that really worked as it was. George got into his and was ready to go. Another guy was going to build it. It all worked into where we were going to go out to run Fordyce and the big stuff out in the Sierras. And it was a yeah, buddy, you're okay. And it turned into where you had to be able to run a particular trail here locally without any problems to go run Fordyce. I had some money at the time, so built the truck and let it rip and that was four years ago now, I guess working on it. So yeah, but then as far as how G-Smitter plays in, that truck's been all over.

Speaker 10: 2:00:27

Yeah, dude, you can get water everywhere. It's been to Colorado two times, Texas a couple times. It goes everywhere. I put 50,000 miles on it since the swap.

Speaker 1: 2:00:39

It just goes where I want it to go and does a really good job at it. A lot of people think that that truck always travels on a trailer, but that's not always the case. More often than not, you drive that thing.

Speaker 10: 2:00:48

It's only ridden a trailer twice and that was the G-Smoother each time. First time, for when this guy was still cooking and the fuse was short, if he gets born, then you got to get home. Yeah, we'll go home in a minute, buddy, we'll go upstairs. And then that turned out great, no dramas. And then this last time I got another one. He's two months old. Same situation, so I had to get back soon.

Speaker 10: 2:01:14

But otherwise yeah, that truck drives, drives, goes up, runs the redss and whatnot, and then air it back up and drive home. It's only given me fits one time.

Speaker 3: 2:01:23

Yeah, I know it, buddy Let me put you down.

Speaker 10: 2:01:28

Okay, maybe not yeah, but it's a good little truck. And then G-Spitter is nice because I can run it hard, but then I can also go run with everybody else. Most of that crowd is the everyman, and I think that's what makes it so nice. There's only 10 or 15 of us that are Buddy it's okay, here you go.

Speaker 10: 2:01:47

There's only 10 or 15 of us that are really getting stupid and everybody else is enjoying the trip for the right way. And so we have stupid guys Saturday, where everyone I'm not trying to mess the show up, so Saturday gets big. But then Tuesday through Friday we run with everybody else. We try to help people, try to educate people, get people out of a pickle when they have to, Otherwise we have a good time.

Speaker 1: 2:02:11

Yeah, that's. That's one thing we've kind of talked about and with each of these is that we, we offer these guided rides there. There's easy rides, there's's easy rides, there's moderate rides, there's hard rides, there's stupid rides, uh, that we classify these into and uh, because a lot of people, uh, especially if they haven't been to wind rock before, they they see the youtube, they even see, uh, they may see our reels, the stlca reels, uh, which is often the stupider stuff, and say I'm not putting my truck in that. But fact of the matter is, if we put the easy trails on the reels, nobody click on them, so that the algorithm doesn't pick those up. So so we got to get your attention. But to Zach's point, you can. When I say that you can come up here with a stock truck and have a great weekend, I really mean that yeah sorry, all good and I think that's really the best part, because we talk about it to a lot of people.

Speaker 10: 2:03:15

We travel a lot. We talk to customers all across the country. Um, you know, I don't know, I've probably been to half the TLCA calendar. I prefer G Smitter over all the rest of them. Some of us kind of were biased to it. But the people is a good mixed bag. It's not an all buggy thing like some of the other events are in Southeast. It's not all 30, 31 gravel roads. It's a good mix. It's a good crowd of people. It's a lot of good mentality. Now I get it for the family friendly side. I didn't really that wasn't saws all at two o'clock in the morning, like it was four years ago. But you can still do that. I mean, I think that's part of the thing, that now that we're some of the family, people are coming in and having the big evenings and whatnot with dinner, and then they go into town or wherever. You can make it what you want. Yeah, if you have questions or if you're curious, jump in, ask questions. There's a lot of guys that have been around for a long time.

Speaker 10: 2:04:11

There's ways you can do it at the campground, even the Airbnbs. The area has a lot to offer.

Speaker 1: 2:04:17

Yeah, absolutely. I'm glad you touched on that because that's one thing we didn't talk about. There's always primitive camping included with the event registration. There's a big field there and it's first come, first serve to set up, and there's a bathhouse, but it can get loud and it can get warm. But one of the benefits of Windrock Windrock as a park has added more and more accommodation options. They've got everything from yurts to the little tiny homes to cabins, to hookups if you're bringing your RV, and then there's more and more Airbnbs popping up around the area as well. So however you want to handle the family and the accommodations, there's an option.

Speaker 10: 2:05:01

Yeah, and good ones. Based off what everybody was saying Yep exactly, all right.

Speaker 1: 2:05:07

Well, zach, I appreciate it. I will let you resume your your daddy daycare. And I was telling the listeners earlier when, when George was on and we were talking for a minute about two UZs, that there's an episode that has been primed for some time on. I don't know what the title is going to be, if it's 10 reasons not to LS swap or if it's 10 reasons to UZ swap your cruiser coming up. So George was trying to start a rivalry and get get Matt Balfair on to to debate you on it.

Speaker 10: 2:05:45

So we'll see how that would be an interesting conversation for sure. I mean, we're both looking at it from both sides, but from a technical perspective we're on the same page, so it would probably be a good conversation.

Speaker 1: 2:05:57

All right, buddy. Thank you. Talk to you later. Thanks for having me. All right, buddy. Thank you, Talk to you later. Thanks for having me All right and Chase. I thought we were done talking, but then Bob popped in here. Better late than never.

Speaker 7: 2:06:17

It's all good. Welcome to the program. Yeah, thanks for waiting for me, Davey. So I understand we want to talk about the eventful trip down 11.

Speaker 1: 2:06:26

Yeah, so, chase, were you leading that ride?

Speaker 8: 2:06:31

I was. I was leading the group going up 11, and Bob was leading the group that took a wrong turn somewhere and had other plans and came down 11.

Speaker 1: 2:06:41

Okay, because I didn't think that I had a scheduled ride coming down.

Speaker 2: 2:06:46

You did not, because you know I try to.

Speaker 1: 2:06:49

I try to plan those things so that we're not running into each other on the trail.

Speaker 7: 2:06:55

Yeah, so so your trail leader, me, we were coming back and we're like, okay, let's do 11. So we had gone on 82, I think, and we had done the waterfall and it was supposed to be a blue and there was nothing there, there was no obstacle. I think parking at the waterfall was the obstacle. And so we were coming back and we're like, well, let's do 11. Sure, Great idea. Well, I turned one turn too early on 11.

Speaker 1: 2:07:18

So we came down. So 11 for folks that don't know, 11 is like a horseshoe shape and you can hit it from either entrance, but one you're going down and one you're coming up.

Speaker 7: 2:07:28

Yeah, right, and so normally you would go up 11 and the the rock garden obstacle is the nice obstacle right, and so we're we're coming down and chase's group is coming the other direction and they're kind enough to wait on us. We're like, yeah, we're just going to buzz down through here. We hadn't really had any problems so leading off. Of course I don't go far enough left and I end up kind of turtling Right and so both my front and rear passenger wheel are off the ground spinning, can't go anywhere.

Speaker 1: 2:07:58

And Bob's in a 200, by the way.

Speaker 7: 2:08:01

I'm in a. I'm in a trail wheel.

Speaker 8: 2:08:04

What size tires were you running, Bob?

Speaker 7: 2:08:06

They're 34s. They're almost big enough. I'm no Davey or Lee. One day I'll graduate to 35s and 37s.

Speaker 1: 2:08:16

My 37s are still sitting in the garage where they were before the event. One day I'll find time to cut them up and get them on there.

Speaker 7: 2:08:25

There you go.

Speaker 1: 2:08:26

There you go.

Speaker 7: 2:08:27

And so Chase was lucky enough to meet us on the way down and told me not only did I have to winch, I had to be winched downhill.

Speaker 8: 2:08:37

Bob had to be winched downhill by another group. Yeah, bob had to be winched downhill by another group. So, davey, you had handed out the winch pink sashes for trail leaders to give out for whoever had to be winched in their group.

Speaker 1: 2:08:52

Which I will overlay that picture of right now for folks that are watching this.

Speaker 8: 2:08:56

Perfect, so I didn't have to give mine out to anybody in my group, so Bob got it.

Speaker 5: 2:09:04

Yeah.

Speaker 7: 2:09:05

It was wonderful. It was a wonderful day.

Speaker 1: 2:09:07

So if you're listening to this, we had these pink sashes, like beauty pageant sashes that said Winch Me Baby One More Time on them, winch me baby, one more time on them. And if you had to pull cable you had to put the sash on and you had to wear it until the next person had to pull. And if there wasn't a next person then you had to wear it for the rest of the night. So it worked well.

Speaker 7: 2:09:35

Luckily, jake ended up having to pull cable, and so that was their sash.

Speaker 1: 2:09:44

I got to hand it off. Yeah, all good, bob, you've been coming to the event for several years, right?

Speaker 7: 2:09:51

Yeah, since 21,. I think was my first one.

Speaker 1: 2:09:55

There's been a lot of folks that 21 was their first year. That was mine too, Bob.

Speaker 7: 2:10:01

That's when the date shifted, because it had been Mother's Day. Also, that weekend coincides with my wife's birthday. It was never an option.

Speaker 1: 2:10:14

You've wheeled it in your 40 and in your 200. Is that right?

Speaker 7: 2:10:20

Yeah, I didn't bring the 40 this time because I thought it was going to rain all weekend. I kind of feel bad that I missed that one, because the weather was perfect, aside from the moments of rain that we had in the evening. They're different beasts Wheeling the 200 versus wheeling the 40, there's AC, heated seats, music, all the creature comfort. Yeah, cooled seats, windows, windows are a big plus.

Speaker 1: 2:10:50

Windows are a plus. I don't know anything about that music part because I bought a replacement. This is a side note. I bought a replacement amplifier after my amplifier fried and I put the replacement amp in and everything fired up and I had music for about two minutes and then it started blowing the 30-amp fuse for the amplifier in the fuse box and it'll blow it immediately now. So anyhow, I don't think it's destined for me to have audio in the truck for the time being. You just get radio chatter. Yeah, just turn the GMRS on and listen to it.

Speaker 7: 2:11:29

Just don't start singing to yourself.

Speaker 1: 2:11:33

Well, that's Lee, that's Lee we have to worry about with that.

Speaker 8: 2:11:37

Maybe Lee was one of the guys that we kept picking up on GMRS. While we were there, there were two guys chatting about their uh, their upcoming bromance trip to uh, to Dollywood, the guy's on the repeater, yeah. Yeah, I had a lot of people asking if we could change channels and not. I was way too into the story at that point. I was too invested to to want to give into that request.

Speaker 1: 2:12:02

You will pick up a few repeaters uh up at windrock. That's just part of the game, so yeah where are you? Well, I'm over here in pigeon forge yeah, there's that and there's some company there and they're telling you you know, the loading dock is clear, now back up up, and that kind of thing.

Speaker 7: 2:12:22

The occasional Morse code beeping.

Speaker 1: 2:12:27

Yes, that too, all right. Well, bob, I'm glad that you made it in and could join us here. You know I talked with Chase a little bit earlier. This event is. It's a very diverse event as far as the people, as far as the vehicles, and it's a very family oriented event as well. So kind of give us your, your perspective, if you will. You've been to other events, other trail rides. What makes you come back and sign up for G Smitter each year and also now raise your hand to volunteer and lead these rides?

Speaker 7: 2:13:22

so I would say the other events that I've been to have have primarily been at Windrock, also at Colmont, uh, but this year, davey, I think y'all did a bang up job it's. It's probably been the best organized G smitter that I've been to out of the the four. Um, as far as family oriented, bradley has been coming with me. He's my, he's my now 13 year old son. He has been to as many as I have, and so I've had to start getting him t-shirts. I actually start letting him drive a little bit like doing the connector trail and some other things that he's comfortable with.

Speaker 8: 2:13:53

I got all those questions from my 10-year-old this time, bob. He was mad that I didn't get him a shirt this time and he's been wanting to drive through the campground, yeah that never happens.

Speaker 1: 2:14:04

We never have any underage unlicensed drivers.

Speaker 8: 2:14:07

Yeah, I told him no, yeah, I told him no, Of course you did.

Speaker 1: 2:14:10

yeah, yeah, I'm good.

Speaker 8: 2:14:12

Dad.

Speaker 7: 2:14:15

I told Bradley no too, this year, though, what he really graduated to, he wanted his own raffle tickets. Oh, had to. This year, though, what he really graduated to, he wanted his own raffle tickets. So I had to buy some extra raffle tickets for Bradley. I think that was the real benefit. And what was the other question, davey?

Speaker 1: 2:14:33

Well, we were just comparing it to other events around the country, the country you know. One thing that we've talked about is the different types of vehicles that you see. There. You're a prime example because you bring your 41 year, you bring your 200 the next year and you're comfortable in either rig and I mean comfortable on the trails because you will go on a ride that inevitably there's a guy in a 200 and there's a guy in a 40 on 31s and there may be a guy in a mega cruiser behind you. We had a mega cruiser there this year. But that's what kind of makes it exciting, because some of these obstacles let's take on just kind of a moderate trail, for example, right Like a 26 or something there's sections that, depending on your wheelbase, depending on if you're IFS or solid axle, something that is not challenging for the guy in front of you can be totally challenging for the next vehicle.

Speaker 7: 2:15:37

Oh, absolutely. I think 22 is another good example right, oh, absolutely I think 22 is another good example. Right 22 is a blue and depending on whether or not it's raining or what's happening, it can get pretty crazy. We got stuck. We got in some pretty severe trail traffic. I guess it was Saturday, we went up 22 and we probably got stuck for three hours. I mean, it was long enough that there was lunch.

Speaker 1: 2:16:03

Yeah, I heard about that.

Speaker 7: 2:16:05

Yeah, let's eat lunch. And then you had people walking back up and they're like, oh yeah, there's 15 trucks behind you. I'm like, well, there's at least 15 trucks in front of us too, and you know that can change, because you saw you had 100s out there, you had 200s, I think I even saw a Sequoia out there that was going up 22. And so it's all skill levels, it's all types of trucks, and I think that's what makes it fun.

Speaker 1: 2:16:37

I mean, that's part of the fun of parking at the pavilion in the evening and everybody kind of walking around looking at trucks, talking about what you did to your truck, what you did to your truck that day maybe. But well, that's part of what, for me, makes it fun as a trail leader is when, when you get your group lined up and you look and you've got all kinds of different uh different rigs behind you, because if you've got any, any challenging spots, it's it's going to be a different line potentially that you got to set people up on each time absolutely, there was one.

Speaker 7: 2:16:59

I think was it the group with you, chase? That was the colorado, or was that the group ahead of us? There was a like a chevy colorado out there.

Speaker 8: 2:17:07

That was no, that was the group that would have been ahead of you. They, uh, they came uh. No, sorry they were, they were ahead of me. I think didn't you guys pass them, or were they?

Speaker 7: 2:17:18

yeah, I think they came up in front of you guys and then we came down but he was was, I mean, he drove like a little Chevy Colorado up through there, yeah, and was just banging it all over the place and you're like, okay, so it's everything, and I think it was taped up and I think it may have even had tape on it that said Toyota. He was at G-Smithers, right, he was attending G-Smither, but I think it had the Chevy emblem taped up and I think it said Toyota on it in Sharpie.

Speaker 1: 2:17:43

Well, I'm glad you brought that up and I brought this up on other episodes, but if you happen to be stumbling across this at some point in time, listening to it, while this is a Toyota event, registration has always been open to all makes and models. So while we have 300 plus trucks this year, 275 of those were Toyotas and the other 25 was a mixed bag Some people that just came on their own, that didn't know anybody which was cool, they made friends and also people that brought their buddy with them, that had a Jeep or a Dodge or whatever. So you don't have to own a Toyota to attend the event. You do have to own a Toyota to be a STLCA club member, but you don't to attend the event.

Speaker 7: 2:18:31

And you know, davey, that's another great example. So you said, they came and they made friends. That first year I came, the only person I knew was Joel, right, and I think I had met tone at that point. Okay, and that was, that was four years ago. And now you go, hey, how's it going? You know, you see everybody that you know, uh, both at g smitter and other events, and so it's nice, right, it's a nice community awesome.

Speaker 1: 2:18:57

all right. Well, bob, thank thank you for jumping in here and Chase, thank you for coming back on for segment two, for us to get this recorded here, so when we get this all edited we'll see how it all flows together.

Speaker 7: 2:19:14

Thanks guys, there are pictures of that. If you need, in the Google photos there are pictures of that and if you don't find find one, I can send you a picture to go along with the segment, if you want to I've got those saved, don't you worry about that he's done his homework. Yeah, yeah, oh wonderful, yeah, all right, okay all right, folks.

Speaker 1: 2:19:37

Uh, welcome back. So if, uh, if my background looks a little bit different than it did earlier, if you're watching this, I have changed locations. We fast forwarded a few days. We recorded most folks over the weekend and our next guest had a little bit of technical trouble, so he got a special time slot during the week. Jake, how are you buddy?

Speaker 9: 2:19:59

I'm doing well. Like I said earlier, have you ever typed Gmail into the Google search? That's how technically savvy I was moments ago.

Speaker 1: 2:20:13

Well, you look good. You've got a nice background set up there. I mean, that is one of the cleanest 2UZ engine covers I've seen in a long time.

Speaker 9: 2:20:24

Yeah, actually this is a client's cover. I was actually no joke cleaning it in the kitchen sink Well, the bathtub and then let it dry over the kitchen sink, so that's why it's in here. But I just installed some Doug Thorley headers and they do sound really good. But he was actually a G Smitter participant, believe it or not.

Speaker 1: 2:20:51

So folks, if you don't know, jake from Jake of All Terrains, jake of All Terrains is the name of his business.

Speaker 9: 2:20:59

It's also the name of his Instagram account, he is easy to find my persona if you will, it's his persona, but if you are looking for a Toyota mechanic four-wheel drive mechanic in East Tennessee that will take your parts into his bathtub to clean them for you. I think there's only one. It's one of those, though you know you're not the first to have your cylinder head in my bathtub, so no, but yeah, it's a pretty serious Toyota love over here.

Speaker 1: 2:21:33

Jake is showing his Toyota shift pattern tattoo. If you're listening to this, this is one of those episodes. We've had a lot of pictures and people on that. If you're listening, it's really good. Go back after you're done on your podcast app and pull it up on YouTube and see it in person.

Speaker 9: 2:21:53

I honestly watch all your stuff on.

Speaker 1: 2:21:55

YouTube. Well, that's the best way, Jake You're getting the full experience.

Speaker 9: 2:22:00

I'm paying for that premium. I'm trying to give Google the money from every angle.

Speaker 1: 2:22:10

Jake, you've been coming to G Smitter for a few years. You've been wheeling for a long time. Do you remember maybe what year your first G Smitter was?

Speaker 9: 2:22:24

My first G Smitter, I believe was 21, which would have been.

Speaker 1: 2:22:30

That's so interesting. You say that that's like the year that so many people started coming.

Speaker 9: 2:22:37

Well, I'll tell you what happened to me.

Speaker 1: 2:22:56

Well, I'll tell you what happened to me, Davey. I actually am a longtime music festival goer here in Tennessee. There's another big old thing that attracts hundreds upon thousands of vehicles.

Speaker 9: 2:23:01

You're kidding, jake. You were a Bonnaroo guy, I would have never guessed. Yes, my college friends and I we got a gig where we would work the gates. We're essentially like traffic cones they give us the shirts as traffic and we would basically just make sure everyone got all their ducks in a row and stash their grass or whatever it was. You know, throw out your glass, because they're not going to let it come in the gate.

Speaker 9: 2:23:25

Sure, and then COVID happened and Bonnaroo was just all kind of weird, and so I took that as my opportunity to start going to G Smitter. And so in 21, that's been the only year that I actually came in like a normie, got online and registered for my then girlfriend maybe fiance she would have been fiance at that time and got our tickets and we showed up and, um, I'll never forget, uh, my wife and I don't have kids or anything, but it's just I don't know. I got into this as a kid like we never had cool four-wheel drives. My dad liked the two-wheel drive truck, like it was going out of style, but uh, just seeing them and stuff. And so seeing the, uh, seeing kids, um, you know, their eyes light up at like, oh man, did that guy just drive up that thing? So, uh, I guess I don't know if he was president then, but, uh, bush, uh, his, his daughters were there and I, you know.

Speaker 9: 2:24:41

Again, it was my first thing meeting everybody, but it just felt like a real family atmosphere and somewhere in a drawer I've still got it, but I believe the girls worked on it together. They had some rubber bands and some beads and I chatted with them for a second and was telling about, you know, toyota. I don't know, I got a Toyota shirt on but it doesn't have delivery. But I was telling them about red, orange, yellow and all that, and so they started making bracelets for everybody, and so I just remember that as a cool uh gift that I got. It was well, I guess this is my Toyota family now.

Speaker 1: 2:25:22

Well, that's, that's interesting. Yeah, You're. You're talking about Lola and Claudia. Yes, Girls, and yes, which they? And you know which? The oldest, just I'm sure Jason won't mind me saying just just turned 15 this week and officially has the learner's permit. Yeah, I believe I saw her driving, so the pet trial is a more skilled driver than most men that I know already on the trail.

Speaker 9: 2:25:47

Well, yeah, it's good, their truck, you can drive it by the Braille method, which any good off-roading vehicle. You should always kind of have that idea in your head that you may bump into something, and then that way you've kind of already accepted it and it's not going to ruin your day when you scuff a wheel or lose a taillight or something.

Speaker 1: 2:26:13

Well, speaking of running trucks into things by the Braille method, give us the rundown to things by the Braille method. Give us the rundown Now. You've got a driveway full and some other properties full of various Toyotas, but your primary G Smitter vehicle has been Large Marge, the party barge. Yes, Tell us about Large.

Speaker 9: 2:26:35

Marge Well, large Marge happened in 2018. Uh, I was headed. I used to have this, uh, toyota Celica covered in hail damage that I've referred to as the cellulite. Uh, I gave 200 bucks to a guy in my local beer running group. Uh, cause it, the motor had blown up. He ran it out of various fluids. Because the motor had blown up, he ran it out of various fluids and he was going to scrap it. Like, ask me to haul it off. And I was like, whoa bro, let me look up what scrap is. And so I was like they're going to give you $167. I'll give you $200. And he was like, okay, and I loved it because it had it was crank windows. There used to be windows called crank windows, kid and manual and all that stuff. I put a pull apart engine in it. I'll get to the point. So I ended up. I had left. I used to be a manufacturing engineer for the pistons in Camrys and Tacomas For a little company called Ice and Sakey, and in 2018, I left there and ended up going on a big trip, a road trip, in this car, and when I stopped at my sister's place out in Leapers Fork, tennessee, on the way getting off the interstate, I drove past a pasture and there was this Land Cruiser sitting out there under the tree.

Speaker 9: 2:28:05

And I got this car with the mountain bike on the roof I look like a freaking gypsy and you know I'm like, pull in there. And you, you never say Land Cruiser. And I said, hey, somebody was there, some boy cleaning his uh Z71 truck? And I said, hey, somebody, was there, some boy cleaning his Z71 truck? And I said, hey, what's what's going on with that Toyota under the tree, you know? And he's like that's my dad's. You want me to go get him? I said yes, please. And so he comes out these people actually follow me on Instagram, believe it or not. And so he's like, we talked about it, um, it ended up being it was his parents, um, and uh, he told me a thousand bucks and I said, okay, um, large marge, uh would become her name, uh, but it's a 40th anniversary. So that's like the Lexus of the land cruisers. It's 1997, specific Um, and its number is 615, which is the area code in Nashville, which would add a whole slew of value to it if I was intelligent, uh, and I could sell it as the music city Cruiser to somebody that had you know, money, but instead I've had a bunch of adventures in this truck.

Speaker 9: 2:29:28

I bought it. I told the guy I'd be back in three weeks because I went on this 5,500 mile road trip. I came back in my Tundra, what I call my Toyota um, and the guy's first response for a good dude he was like nice truck, which I took as, uh, hey man, I really thought it'd be like a u-haul or something you know, but I had my own stuff. He thought the car you know. I was like nah, this is my beater um. So my group of friends prior to g smitter, uh, my college buddies, they have one or two eighties uh, each Um. And so I ended up getting an engine from a guy um, and ended up immediately after putting it together with an engine Um, it at the time had no locking differentials. We went did an event called red clay rally, which I would recommend. It's a cool team event. Uh, that's enduro timed um. But at that point, uh, the gas tank was leaking like a lot uh, because I'd never put gas in it like, I literally put gas in it and then just left Uh, and so there was no smoking near that anyways. So that was 2019.

Speaker 9: 2:30:49

So, flash forward, uh, throughout the years, I've just found pieces and parts. Uh, I put electronic lockers in it. Um, uh, this suspension, that suspension, this set of used tires, that set of used tires, uh, found deals on like a winch 8274, you know, og, the good stuff like down in Florida where there's no trees, so there's no value in having a winch, um, but yeah, so that's a large Marge. Also, um, I put some tubing on it. I've got a tube bender from JD Squared with different dyes, and through having those friends that also had 80 series, I learned that you've got to protect the quarter panels on an 80 series.

Speaker 9: 2:31:40

Shout out, there's a kid Excuse me, kid, I'm 40. So, uh, kid, there's a grown man who's younger than me. Uh, hunter, hunter. G matthews is his handle on instagram and I would recommend you go look at his high quality photos of the new body lines of various people's Land Cruisers. So, yeah, I put some tubing on my quarter panels and so I still got the same taillights that came in it and yeah, so shout out to learning how to fabricate and buying a welder.

Speaker 1: 2:32:26

Awesome, yeah, no, uh, and I'm going to put some pictures up here of of large Marge when I go back and overlay it, so everybody can, can, uh, can, get a picture, uh, especially with those fancy new wheels you got.

Speaker 9: 2:32:40

Oh yeah, the wheels, and I spent innumerable hours cutting the fenders to make the real estate. I had 37 1250s on FJ Steelys with no spacers. The tires would rub on the radius arms at full crank in the front and then in the rear when it would flex. I mean you could hear the sidewall polishing the inner fender like and the frame rail. So these new wheels and everything they stick way out Uh, and so I've really been able to get off camber. Um, most recently I think you saw that, saw that uh video up at the sand mines. I know you're one of your last podcasts. Uh, what's their names?

Speaker 1: 2:33:27

uh, jack from jack off road and uh, jack and robert uh, were on, yeah, and they'd been to the sand mines and I was telling them, yeah, you were trying to get a trip together and and you did, it was just you and stan, but, uh, but you guys went up there and yeah, we put the's some good footage.

Speaker 9: 2:33:46

I did the old they call it the Toyota Wave where there's a front tire in the air.

Speaker 1: 2:33:50

Normally that's an IFS thing, but Jake's out there doing it in the 80s.

Speaker 9: 2:33:54

Well, yeah, we were off camber. The video never does it justice. They say, with these new offset wheels. It was really my first time getting that off camber. That additional security was definitely there. I think I let an expletive out in that shot for sure.

Speaker 1: 2:34:22

But I think I let an expletive out in that shot. For sure, jake, I think the last couple of years you've volunteered as a trail leader at G Smitter and I have to give you credit. You've led easy rides. You've led some more challenging, difficult rides, but you always get rave reviews, my friend. People come back that are new attendees to the event and they're like I had so much fun with him today and I know you pretty well and I'm not going to say at times you don't make me a little nervous, but you continue to get rave reviews on your trail guiding. So you know what is it about that, that obviously you get a big enjoyment out of taking people out and helping them learn their vehicles.

Speaker 9: 2:35:18

I don't think it's just the vehicles. I mean some of it's that. But uh sometimes you gotta get out of the truck Right and um, I know from experience, uh, sometimes you get nervous. I mean, uh, everyone gets nervous.

Speaker 2: 2:35:42

And.

Speaker 9: 2:35:44

I think that's the thing with this event is realizing that we're all weird in our own kind of cool way. Or, you know, like this is the event where it's cool if you can rattle off a part number associated with some little O-ring or something on the vehicle off the top of your head. This is the place you will shine. You know, like this year, in reference, I guess, to the trail leading, I had finished up my truck and you know I literally put it together that morning and had not gone to bed and I honestly signed up for the Thursday trail ride to light a fire under my butt to make sure that my junk was done, and there were a lot of you know things on the list that didn't. You know it was like no, that's if we got times.

Speaker 9: 2:36:48

Um, so, like you know, like I was peeling the tape off that morning from the primer and you know the Rust-Oleum paint job on the edge, but so, so I signed up for a blue ride. So I think the first two days I led blue rides because this is my first trip on these wheels. I still managed to scuff them on all the days, but we did. I believe it's 88. There's a nice waterfall, and so I just decided mostly just because it's probably just because I was loopy and I just wanted to stand around and look at the flowers, because I'm that old now flowers um, there was this super cool waterfall and the guy behind me ended up being a photographer and had, you know, uh, uh, creep your neighbors out kind of lens, you know yeah, mr chad king yeah, chad king photography right, isn't that his handle?

Speaker 9: 2:37:55

uh, yes, but yeah, chad uh has a very nice tacoma, and so I was watching him in the rear view the whole time. Because I'm into this like, like the same thing with my business. People are nice, but I really just like Toyotas, and so this is an opportunity to see cool Toyotas doing cool stuff, and when you're in the front you can kind of coerce like this is the line, the front. You can kind of coerce like this is the line. Uh, I have a spoiler alert on the back of marge, like a sticker. The joke is like spoiler alert, uh, you know. So it says I drive over stuff. So even on the blue trail, like if there's a rock that's like hip high or like below hip high, you know. But you know, on an otherwise flat trail, you could, you know, traverse that and not do anything dumb, uh, but it's gonna look cool. So I ended up getting a super cool shot. Throw that up, um, from chad. It's like uh, check out the sweet pooper on marge. And uh, but prior to that, when we came up to that waterfall, I just got on the radio and was like listen, uh, we're all gonna take turns, uh, pulling in front of this waterfall, and take as many pictures as you want, and then let's move up out of the way. And that gave us an opportunity to get out and stretch our legs a little bit, because we had been on the trail for some time that morning. And then it also gave us a time to chat with one another.

Speaker 9: 2:39:33

Um, and I'm real big, uh, as a young man, uh, like I've got this lily white skin and it's sensitive. And as a young man I had a lot of poison Ivy run-ins and poison Oak run-ins and Sumac before somebody was like hey, it looks like this. So I took it as an opportunity to teach these people that are not from this area. You know it's the great smoky mountain trail ride, but it doesn't mean you're from Appalachia. So there were people from you know Florida that they don't have poison ivy, it's not out there. So you know, teaching them, I remember. And blackberries, there was blackberries. So it's like here there was this little girl that wouldn't eat blackberries but she was eating Sour Patch Kids. Girl that wouldn't eat blackberries but she was eating sour patch kids. It was like no, these, these are sour patch kid, what? Oh? So that was entertaining, I don't know, um, I think it's the like, I'll get out and spot um, and I made sure to let everyone know that.

Speaker 9: 2:40:39

You know, you, winch, don't be afraid to use it. That's why you got it. Spotting one another, oftentimes a lot of people it becomes the peanut gallery this guy's yelling left, this guy's yelling passenger guy's, uh, just yelling. And so I said that we would make an effort. You know, we, there was some slip-ups, um, but make an effort to not spot unless you specifically request us to spot. You know, and there'll be some areas where it'll speak for itself that you're going to, we're all going to be spotting one another. Um, I think on that day we got a little bit of fender flare damage on is that still 88 when it comes to that wash, and there's kind of some rock outcropping on the right Like you're going uphill.

Speaker 1: 2:41:43

Yeah, I know that I don't those trails run together. There's three or four. It's real gravelly yeah.

Speaker 9: 2:41:49

But we had one guy no real damage, superficial, just a little, what'd I say? Scratcharoo Right Like on his passenger front fender flare. And that was on that blue ride. But then I also exploding fire extinguisher aside was the only trail leader to lead Trail 30 without anybody losing a taillight or getting any body damage.

Speaker 1: 2:42:16

Well, you know what? That's a great point, Jake, and because earlier in this episode, when people watch this, I will have had Patrick Perry on and during Patrick's segment we played that little reel where we're like six taillights got busted. That's a great clip, yeah, and and then, yeah, two days later, Jake took his group through and everybody cleared the tree. Or Jake took his group through and everybody cleared the tree.

Speaker 9: 2:42:41

My wife did get a great shot of me smashing my passenger rear beadlock like to the point that it touched the bolt. You know, like the ring got that much carnage to avoid that tree like going way high on the left. So no one else did that kind of nonsense. To avoid that tree like going way high on the left. So, um, no one else did that kind of nonsense. There was a guy in my group, though I guess it's back to why is it uh? To your earlier uh thing, which that's a great compliment. I don't know if I said anything, uh, but I do want to say hey, uh, new friends, thank you for the uh you know, for the uh reviews.

Speaker 9: 2:43:24

Yeah to say hey, new friends, thank you for the, you know, for the compliment, the five-star reviews, yeah. But on that spot, this very nice gentleman with a white 80 Series he was from Maryland, okay, and nice-looking truck, outfitted had manual hubs on the front, which 80 series don't come with manual hubs. So the thought process was like dang, that's a built truck, manual hubs. So he's coming up that spot, you know, near that tree, and I say hey, is your front locker on? And he says I don't have a front locker. Which I replied oh, we probably should have talked about that at the driver's meeting, but like he hadn't had any issues at all, like he's about to clear it, so whatever, bro, that was good.

Speaker 1: 2:44:20

Yeah, I heard that story. No, it's all good, good stuff, jake. Jake, you know I was thinking, before we wrap this, this whole thing up, I want to, I want to get you to tell a story. So Jake and I kind of crossed paths in life, like literally, because I live in Franklin, tennessee, now Jake lives in Knoxville, tennessee, and we grew up in the opposite of that and where we both live is about a mile from where the other one grew up. So like we literally kind of crossed about 20 years ago and but so Jake grew up in in Franklin and the in the Nashville area.

Speaker 9: 2:45:03

You want my YMCA summer camp story, where I got staff. No, no, I want the time I found a human skull.

Speaker 1: 2:45:10

No, I want the. I want the possum story, I want the George Jones story for those that don't know that, that the possum had a, had a Land Cruiser, had an LX470 that he famously, in George Jones fashion, totaled out. But shortly before that accident, I believe Jake was one of the last people to interact with.

Speaker 9: 2:45:35

Yeah, I've had some jobs before before I was self-employed, um, when I was 16 to 18 timeframe, it was not a big deal to have a 90 day job, you know, sure, and then go on to the next place, chuck E Cheese definitely still one of the favorite places I've ever worked. But to the George Jones story. Uh, george Jones um, used to come through the drive-thru where I worked at arby's and to. So I'm 16 years old at this point. I had a miata, but we won't get into that.

Speaker 9: 2:46:15

Yeah, um, which the first place I ever took that off-roading was where the Nissan North American headquarters is, which is where I would also take my first Toyota off-roading, anyways, so, george, would come and get Arby's five for $5. You used to be able to get five roast beef sandwiches like with all the meat on it not where there's less meat, the buns smaller now for $5. But, yes, george Jones, his 100, 100 series. May he rest in peace, and the 100 series as well. He, uh, yard, sailed it, um off of a bridge on highway 96. The neighborhood that he lived in, I believe, was called dallas downs that's correct, is that?

Speaker 9: 2:46:59

right, yeah, uh, and it was. You know, red brick, white column, veranda, you know kind of place, um, but I guess he had a couple too many road sodas one day and just off this bridge, um, but that was back when 96 was two lanes, I'm sure it's like six now. Yeah, because, yeah, between there and Triune, but yeah, right into a creek.

Speaker 1: 2:47:29

Yes, so, yeah. So George famously totaled that truck. I think there's an Arby's sack in the picture in the newspaper article of that total truck where Jake had sold him some sandwiches right before the accident. So there's your Nashville trivia. If you don't know who George Jones or the possum is, then and you used to, I'm sorry, you used to be able.

Speaker 9: 2:48:02

Do you ever go out on Old Natchez Trace?

Speaker 1: 2:48:05

Yes, there used to be a rope swing out there.

Speaker 6: 2:48:08

There is still In 2004,.

Speaker 9: 2:48:11

I would sink my Tacoma about yea far from the headliner in that river In the Harpeth.

Speaker 1: 2:48:19

There you go, alright.

Speaker 9: 2:48:20

Folks, we are going to wrap this whole show up River and the Harpeth.

Speaker 1: 2:48:22

There you go, and the rest is history.

Speaker 1: 2:48:24

Well, folks, we are going to wrap this whole show up, with Jake and I reliving childhood stories here, I know this has been a long episode and if you have listened this far, I appreciate it and I hope you've really enjoyed it. If you've listened to this, my goal for this was for you to get several different perspectives on the event and the people and what makes it all work and hopefully, if you're into Toyotas or into off-roading, say, hey, I want to go check that out, I want to come hang out with those people.

Speaker 9: 2:49:00

Yeah, you can hang around with people that wear cool Toyota shirts.

Speaker 1: 2:49:04

Cool Toyota shirts or cool Overland Weekly shirts that you can find on overlandweeklycom. So alright, thanks again, jake. We are going to wrap this one up. See you, bye, bye, bye.