If it’s fall in the Midwest and trucks are your thing, then the Indy 4-Wheel Jamboree is the place for you. For 3 days in late September Indy is the epicenter of the off road world. With over 4000 trucks on display, there is something for everyone, from monster trucks to rock crawlers and everything in between. We were just down there for the weekend and had a great time, even though we were “working”. Here is a recap of our six days on the road.
Wednesday, September 17th “Headin’ South”
We met at the shop, loaded up our gear and hit the road. Special thanks to Gwen Allen for letting us borrow her 2006 Harley edition F-350 for transportation and display purposes. This is a sweet rig that we tricked out with a 4” BDS four link kit and 35” Pro-Comp X-Terrains. We were all very impressed with how well this truck rode. Anyway, we left the shop and made a beeline for Coldwater, MI, home of BDS Suspension. We picked up some parts, tires and other display items before we mounted up again for the rest of drive. Upon arrival in Indy, we checked into our hotel and began to settle in for the night. Everything had gone smoothly thus far, which meant we were due for trouble. And trouble arrived when Kris pulled back the sheets on his bed only to find a pair of underwear staring at him. He quickly disposed of them in the proper receptacle (that’s right, Rick’s pillowcase!!!). Unfortunately, Rick sniffed them out real quick and gently escorted them to the garbage can. Fun over. Lights out.
Thursday, Sept. 18th “Set Up Day”
We were up bright and early Thursday morning, ready to stake out our territory at the fairgrounds for the weekend. We grabbed some breakfast and drove over to the vendor area. BDS was kind enough to share their booth with us and we spend most of the day setting up. Our buddies from Extreme Off Road Parts (EORP) were set up right behind us, helping us represent the 231. After set up is was off to dinner and then back to hotel. It was in the hotel parking lot that we witnessed the first signs of “Indy Jambo Fun”, a Tug-O-War broke out between a couple big trucks. So we grabbed a few cold ones and enjoyed the free show before calling it a night.
Friday, Sept. 19th “Welcome to the Show”
Once again we jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn, grabbed some grub and made our way to the fairgrounds. The show opened to the public at 9:00, but things didn’t start to pick up till noon. The afternoon went by fast as we passed out countless stickers, bottle openers and business cards. Soon it was time to close up shop and head to dinner. We met up with our buddies from BDS at Lonestar Steakhouse, where we threw some peanut shells on the floor and ate countless pounds of beef. From there it was back to hotel parking lot for more late night, big truck fun.
Saturday, Sept. 20th “The Big Day”
Saturday is always the biggest and busiest day of the show and this year was no exception. Once again we were at our booth, ready for action by 9:00. The day went by fast as we continued with the passing out of swag, shaking hands and kissing babies (it’s an election year you know?). Late in the afternoon, the clouds rolled in and brought some serious rain. Most of the other vendors packed up and left for the day, but we stuck it out and were even rewarded by making a few sales. We finished out the day by heading over to the 4 Wheel Parts “open house”. They had a real nice crowd there rockin’ out with the live band and watching some rock crawling.
Sunday, Sept 21st “Winding Down”
Once again, we were back at it bright and early (see the pattern here?) doing our thing. There were not as many customers in the vendor area, so we did some networking with the other vendors. Kris took his camera and made is way around the fairgrounds, snapping hundreds of pictures along the way. However a minor “memory card problem” prevents us from showing you the bulk of these pictures. He says he has lots of pictures from the ’07 show, but ’08, not so much…he might just get fired for this. Back on track here…at 6 PM we started to tear everything down and exited the show for the final time around 8. A short drive took us to Joe’s Crab Shack were met up with EORP gang. Back to the hotel…trucks…beer…etc…bed.
Monday, Sept 22nd “Headin’ North”
We woke up early, as usual, relieved to know that we didn’t have to shake any more hands or kiss any more babies. A quick breakfast, then back in the truck. Next stop Coldwater, MI. We dropped some stuff off at BDS headquarters, before pointing ourselves toward Grand Rapids. In G.R. we met up with our raffle winner, Eric Speers. He is the proud new owner of a Hi-Lift Jack and a NW 4x4 T-Shirt…congrats Eric, hope you enjoy them both! Eventually we rolled back into TC around 5 PM, exhausted but excited about getting our name out there and meeting some great people.
We were pretty busy at our booth the whole weekend, so we didn't get much opportunity to walk around and check out all the rigs. We did however see enough to know that the trend toward diesels and diesel performance is getting stronger…stacks were abundant and the black smoke was flowing freely. We also noticed that the “average Joe” seems to be putting more time, effort and money into his suspension and steering set-ups. We, for one, are glad to see this. “Hackjob” steering set-ups are fun to look at and joke about, but they are just downright dangerous.
All in all it was a great 6 days, but it sure is nice to be home.
