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
Judging from the forums comments and some of the phone calls we got in the last day, we may have lost some of you with our last update about the roof chop. Group consensus was to go for it and we’ve got a couple ideas on how to cleanly finish it off that we’ll address a bit later in the build. With the roof off the guys got busy working on the rest of the cage. One thing we’re still deciding on is what’s the best option for mounting a fullsize spare. We don’t want to stick it off the back like a Wrangler and we don’t want it to half-hazzardly strap it to the roof. At this point we’re looking at options to get it inside behind the rear seats so it’s easily accessible but still gives the driver a line of sight out the back window. It’s times like this we wish we didn’t have 40s.
Up front the radiator has been removed and hopefully steering will be going in first of next week. We’ve also cut out the obtrusive lower corner of the floor/firewall on each size and fill panels are going in to net us extra clearance for the tires at full stuff.
Anyways, just a quick update on the progress, let us know what you think…
If this is your first time checking in on BDS’s Project KJ build, check out the rest of the buildup to see how we’re transforming this ’05 Liberty CRD into a capable slow-slung trail rig to take on the 2013 Ultimate Adventure hosted by Petersen’s 4Wheel & Offroad Magazine. (Project KJ Build Link)
After a few weeks getting sidetracked on new product development projects, the guys down at BDS’s R&D shop found some time to continue working on Project KJ, our ’05 Liberty CRD. The biggest change, the top is gone. We did this for a few reasons; it allows us to store a full size 40″ spare tire and gear, makes the cage much more accessible so we can tie it into the rest of the unibody, and it just looks cool in my opinion. At this point its just a rough cut, we still plan to cut a bit more before closing the cab back off for a weather tight seal (hopefully).
Another challenge is the steering. Ditching the factory rack-and-pinion steering rack in favor of a traditional steering box will allow us improved clearance and will tie to our Liberty’s new JK axles. After some investigation, we went with a PSC Motorsports‘s JK steering box with cylinder assist to help turn the 40×13.50 Nitto Trail Grappler DOT tires on 17×10 B.A.D. beadlocks that we have on order. PSC got the parts right out to us and after a quick test fit it appears the steering box will mount on the unibody and steering linkage without to much struggle. The radiator will likely need to be swapped to eliminate the interference between the steering box and radiator outlet hose.
At this point the cage work is continuing, steering box is being prepped, suspension linkage is being mocked up and Fox 14” remote C/O are on order. Plenty more body mods over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for updates as Project KJ starts taking shape. Follow along and join the discussion on Facebook, YouTube, BDS Blog, LostJeeps Forum, Jeep Forum and JeepKJ Forum.
Sunshine, 80-degree temps, thousands of Jeeps and a beach to drive on. How can you not be excited about the 10th annual Jeep Beach event in Daytona Beach, Florida!?! Organized by the Mid Florida Jeep Club this annual springtime event draws thousands of Jeep owners, vendors, and media reps down for a 5-day celebration of all things Jeep and is a great opportunity to head for warmer weather climates like us northerners. BDS Reps Mike and Mike hit the road with truck and trailer for the activities and show off some of the new Jeep products.
Jeep Beach starts Wednesday April 24th with activities planned each day through Sunday April 28th.
Wednesday: kick-off party
Thursday: photo scavenger hunt and cruise-in
Friday: vendor trade show, raffle registration, and more
Saturday: Daytona Speedway day with obstacle course, show-n-shine, vendor fair, raffle prizes, and more
Sunday: Jeep Beach parade, beach photo, pool party
If you’re heading down for Jeep Beach 2013, make sure to come by and see us at the Friday or Saturday vendor shows. We’ll have great show specials and raffle items to giveaway. For more on Jeep Beach, check out http://jeepbeach.com/ and check out the BDS Facebook Page for updates from the event.
Who doesn’t love exploring the great outdoors, taking the road less traveled, the beaten path? All of us here at BDS Suspension love spending free time off-road whether its on a local trail, cruising the sand dunes, or exploring the U.P. and camping along the way.
With Earth Day just around the corner once again, its important to remember we need to do our part to help out. Finding time to clean up your local trail, getting involved with organizations like TreadLightly! and doing your part to 4wheel responsibly will help keep trails open and in great shape for generations to come.
Many ORV areas around the country are under attack, however. Government and private groups are trying to limit land access for off-road vehicles. Areas like Paragon Adventure Park in Pennsylvania and Tellico Trail System in North Carolina have been forced to close in recent years and countless others across the country had met similar opposition. Johnson Valley ORV Area, home to the hugely popular King of the Hammers race in Southern California is currently under siege from government land expansion for a nearby Marine base. Organizations like BlueRibbon Coalition help fight the battle to keep public access land open to the public for recreational use. They can use your support to help keep trails open and public land available to all. For more information on current initiative and how you can get involved this Earth Day and throughout the year, talk to your local off-road club and check out:
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