It’s been a few weeks since we checked in on Project KJ, the ’05 Liberty CRD being overhauled in BDS’s R&D shop for this year’s Ultimate Adventure (UA). When it comes to building a rig for the UA, it’s got to be capable on any terrain; mud, rocks, dirt, sand, snow, and even asphalt. Reliability is key as each day of the week long 1000+ mile adventure is filled with trails, highway time, and varying weather conditions. The rig needs to carry driver/co-driver, food, camping gear, and spare parts.
At this point the guys down in BDS’s R&D shop are making progress on the Liberty. Cage is in and they’ve been going through finish welded all the seams. 1-3/4″ x .120 wall DOM tubing was used to secure the passenger compartment and extends forward into the engine bay to reinforce the frontend integrity now that the unibody and IFS subframe have been scrapped. Front and rear coil-over mounts are being built in as we’ll as we eagerly await the arrival of our new 14″ Fox 2.5 remote C/O and Fox 2.0 bumps any day now. Our PSC JK steering box is mounted to the front “framerail” after taking the time to sleeve and plate the unibody. OE steering shaft linkage bolted right up and won’t require much further modification. We’ll have more on this in our next post/video update.
Our wheels made it in from B.A.D. Wheels made it in. They are a 17×10 with 3.5″ backspacing to get our desired stance and allow a bit more room for the suspension/steering components. They feature several cool design features for safety and rapid air deflation. For now we’re mounted them to a set of 40″ Maxxis Trepador radials to continue mocking up the rig. We’ve got a set of the brand spankin’ new 40×13.50×17 DOT approved Nitto Trail Grapplers on order with expected arrival at the first of June. We’ll have a closer look at the wheels and tires at that time.
For now enjoy a few pictures I grabbed while down at the shop today. As parts arrive we’ll see a quick transformation as this rig gets closer to being mobile again. Stay tuned for more and let us know what you think so far…
Come out and see BDS Suspension at the 11th Annual ETA Open House in Norfolk, VA on May 18th. This annual event hosted by BDS Distributor Eastern Truck & Accessories is their chance to give back to their customers while raising money for a great cause, the CF Foundation. Truck show-n-shine, charity auction, BBQ lunch, and appearances from monster truck drivers Dennis and Adam Anderson are in store for the one-day show. BDS president Steve Olmstead will be hanging out all day along with marketing rep Carter Reed so stop by to see them and take part in the event. For all the info, check out ETA’s website at ETA Open House.
This weekend kicks off the 1st of a 4 event 4Wheel Jamboree Nationals series as thousands make their way to Lima, OH for the 28th Annual Spring 4Wheel Jamboree Nationals. If you’re into lifted trucks, Monster trucks, high horsepower and off-road racing, than don’t miss the show in Lima! Family Events, hosts of the event series has the weekend jam packed with monster truck racing and freestyle competitions, tough truck racing, burnout contests, mud drags show-n-shine competition, bikini contest, dyno testing, vendor show, and the newly added King of the Hammers qualifying races.
BDS Suspension will be hanging out on the vendor area so stop by to take advantage of show specials. We’ll have show trucks, new product displays and new BDS swag available so stop by and get yours. Bring your BDS-equipped rigs by the booth so we can get photos to include in our event coverage.
For all the info on the Lima 4Wheel Jamboree, head to http://www.4wheeljamboree.com/event/257. For photos from past year’s Jamborees, check out our photos on Facebook and Picasa albums.
Beautiful weather and record numbers in Mesick, MI as more than 1200 Jeeps made it out for the 12th Annual Jeep Blessing. BDS made it out for the event and set up shop in the in the vendor corral to talk to event goers. For many this was the first chance to see the new BDS forged flex ends up close and see what other new products we have available. A big thanks goes out to Devin from Drive Train Specialists (DTS) who was nice enough to bring his bad ass BDS 6.5” Long Arm equipped JK by the booth to draw many to the booth.
The ever runs all day long with many coming to show off their Jeeps and wheel them on the obstacle course, while others came ready to shop for great deals at the event. Shawn and Jason had a blast out at the event and wanted to thanks everyone that stopped by to say hi. Despite being busy all day long, they did find the time to check out the show and snap some photos along the way. See some of the photos below and for al the rest of them, head to the Facebook photo album.
Shawn and Jason are on the road heading to Mesick, MI for the 12th Annual Jeep Blessing. This yearly event hosted by the Cadillac Jeepers brings in over 1000 Jeeps of all kinds for a 1-day event. Whether you’re looking to show your jeep, hit the trails, browse the vendor show there’s something for everyone. BDS will be out at the event showing off new Jeep parts and talking to customers, so stop by and see us. For all the event info, head to http://cadillacjeepers.com/jeep-blessing/
After more than a week on the road, BDS is back in Michigan following the 10th Annual Jeep Beach show in Daytona Beach, FL. The 4-day event boasts a number of fun events from meet-and-greets to obstacle course, vendors show and a beach cruise. If you’re a fan of the 7 grill slots then this event was the place to be with warm weather, sun shine, and lots of topless… Jeeps to see. BDS Reps Mike Maloney and Mike Rogers made the trip down to Florida to take part in the festivities, meet customers and chat about the new BDS Jeep products. Its amazing to see the transformation of this event hosted by the Mid Florida Jeep Club from a small gathering of friends to the must-see Jeep event in the Southeast. Thanks to DV8 Motorsports for bringing out one killer 6.1L Hemi powered, BDS 4.5” equipped JK to display in the booth. Following their return, Mike Rogers had this to say.
2013 Jeep Beach couldn’t have gone better. From what we were told we had record number of vendors and record number of attendees! The event that really kicked off the start of the show was at the host hotel on Friday afternoon. It was a smaller gathering of vendors and gave us more of a one-on-one meeting with the attendees. We met a ton of great customers and handed out info on our new kits.
Come Saturday morning we headed to the Daytona International Speedway where the sun shined bright all day long for the main event. BDS set up a booth in the vendor area talking to customers as they stopped by for throughout the day. Whether you’re into late model JKs, rock crawlers, cool customs or vintage Jeeps, this event had something for everyone. It is always nice to see the different Jeeps that people have built and it always makes for interesting conversations to see how far they have come and what they have planned for the future. Throughout the day Nascar teams used the track to test and tune their cars making for an awesome soundtrack. Not far from us the sounds of revving engines and the occasional metal scraping as many owners took their Jeeps out on the obstacle course that had been constructed on the speedway’s infield. With a range of obstacles to test both drivers and vehicles, it made for a great show all day long as spectators took photos and walked around the show. Its was a great turnout and we thank everyone that stopped by the booth to say hi.
Sunday morning we jumped in line with hundreds of other Jeeps for the cruise along the beach, not a bad way to wind down from an amazing weekend. Following the cruise we loaded up and hit the road in route to Michigan, making a number of stops along the way to say hi to some of our East Coast distributors. Thanks again for the hospitality and for a great week at Jeep Beach. -Mike “Big Country” Rogers
Check out some of the photos the guys took along the way, check out more at BDS Facebook Page
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