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.
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.
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
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.
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:
Since our last update, our mighty little Project KJ went on a diet shedding excess unibody and bulky fuel tank as the guys prep for mounting the new steering, suspension, axles and 40” tires. After stripping down the front bumper support, inner fenders and firewall, we’re making progress towards our small lift/big tires goal. The stripped unibody looks very similar to a frame rail allowing us to tie in the cage, suspension mounts, and mount a steering box up front. Our plan is to run a OE style box with hydro assist for easy turning in precarious situations offroad. Which steering box setup will best suit the build and our limited space constraints… stay tuned for more information as we figure that out.
For axles, we wanted to go with an attainable axle and show it can be built to handle some abuse. We picked up a set of JK Rubicon Dana 44s and are in the process of building them up. After cutting off the brackets, the axles received an outer sleeve and brackets were tacked in place as we figure out the suspension geometry. The JK 44s have a WMS of 65”, 3” wider than the KJ (and TJs) 62” width. This additional width will help give us additional room to mount the coil-overs, steering, and allow the 40s to turn lock-to-lock. The housing on the front D44 fits tightly between the engine and “frame” rail at full compression making it ideal for us to achieve a low center of gravity. There is a slight interference with the mechanical fan, which will be resolved by swapping to an electric unit.
In the rear, the unibody has been cut to roughly the shape we need to extend the wheelbase and clear the 40s with minimal lift. The rear corner is an important structural part of the KJ’s unibody so rather than hack it up and potentially tweak the body, we are moving to the interior as we mock up the cage to provide additional support and rigidity. We’ll have more on the cage as the guys build it into the little KJ. Stay tuned for more as the guys continue to turn this little Liberty into an ultra cool low-slung trail buggy to take on the Petersen’s 4Wheel & Off-Road Ultimate Adventure 2013.
To check out past updates from this build, head to Project KJ.
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