Transcript
Speaker: What the heck's up Denny's? So this week's episode was a lot of fun to record. I really enjoyed sitting down with my friend Corey, AKA SkateFoz on Instagram. If you have a Forester Wilderness Edition and you're thinking about taking it off road, we kind of go over a lot of stuff that might help you make the best decision if you're planning on modifying it for off road use. We actually got into a lot of, you know, life discussions further on in the episode. So if that's of interest to you, you can stick around and listen to it. If not, you can turn the episode off once it stops being about Subarus. But I really enjoyed this. It felt like Corey was somebody that I've known for a long time, even though we just met. So you'll probably hear my enthusiasm come through the recording. If you want more Subaru content to binge in podcast form, check out the SubianU podcast. It's available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, pretty much everywhere. My friend Raph over there has been killing it for years. It's got a ton of episodes that you can binge, but let's go ahead and jump into this episode.
Speaker: good to meet you, man. I know we've chatted a little bit on Instagram. It's good to put a face to the name. Same me here, dude. yeah Looking forward to talking. Can you tell everybody who you are and how they can find you online? So my name's Corey. On Instagram, I go by SkateFoz or SK8Foz. That changed about a month ago. I used to be Subi Rupert.
Speaker: I think that was a little too on the nose. And that was like the first attempt at like a handle. I was like, all right, it's time to update this. Wait, let me ask you about that real quick. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's funny you say that because I remember hearing that or seeing that name. Okay, I didn't even realize that was you or I look at so much stuff, I lose track of everything and everyone. I work so much. um What was that all about? can you tell me about that? I didn't even know this whole car culture Instagram thing existed until I got the the Subaru last year. So when I got into it and I was like, oh, let me create an Instagram for my car. you know, creativity is not my strong suit. So trying to come up with something, I was like, something that has to do with Subaru. and And like, we used to have a dog named Roo. So my daughter was like, oh, why don't you name it Roo? And I was like, oh, that's too on the nose. And then so I was like, like, soupy Rupert, let's do Rupert. And then I was like, oh, Rupert Murdoch. So I initially came out the gate with like, soupy Rupert Murdoch. And I was like, that's ti actually too that's too long. So then I changed it to soupy Rupert. Yeah, just talking to buddies and like kind of, you know, meeting more people.
Speaker: And they were like, yeah, I thought that was kind of lame. was like, dude, don't call me out. Yeah, yeah i was like, don't call me out. But I knew it. I had to change you could have at least told me sooner, bro. Right. sk and then that initially brought me to like this sk8 which is like the you know old school skater stuff and i grew up skateboarding so i was like dude sk8 boss skate boss i love it like that's what i'm doing what kind of subaru do you have so it's a 2024 subaru forester wilderness Heck yeah, it's a good looking car, man. And it's, ah what's the, what do they call that paint code? Is it just like black or does Subaru have some fancy name that they put on it?
Speaker: It's like black crystal silica, something like that. i forget. Okay. i I love that color, man. I mean, I love all colors pretty much, but. I've always loved black cars.
Speaker: And then, until I started off-roading it. And then I was like, dude, don't know. All the dust. Dude, that inri is. Pinstripes. Does your Subaru's engine bay look like crap? Mine definitely does or did. I recently, in the last couple of years, purchased a full set of engine bay caps for ah my daily driver and then I purchased some other ones for my Forester from Melee Design Firm. They have full sets or you can buy just the oil cap if you want to just dress that up. But they're billet aluminum. They're small batch. So again, not every broccoli head with a WRX is going to have these. and they look pretty sick. I'm using the Wrinkle Red powder coat, but they have them in all sorts of other colors that you can choose from. And if you use code DIRTSUBIES at checkout, you'll get 10% off pretty much anything in the store.
Speaker: And that would really help us out to continue making these episodes for you. And it would help out a small business. Mele Design Firm is the epitome of a small business. Mitch over there is absolutely grinding and crushing it. And I can't say thank you enough for his willingness to sponsor what we're doing over here. So go check that out and let's get back into this freaking heater of an episode.
Speaker: This was my first brand new car. Dude, I had to like come to terms with like, you know what, you got this to like tear it up and like go in the dirt. So like, just just accept it.
Speaker: Once I got out there and started off-roading, like, you know, I grew up a thrasher, dude. And like the whole like adrenaline junkie stuff kicks in. And then you have to remember like, gotta drive this bitch home. Yeah, dude. it's It's tough.
Speaker: It's tough. I kind of grew up the same way, you know, just started skateboarding at a young age. And, and, you know, there's that whole, you know, if you're reading like Thrasher or Big Brother magazine as a kid, it's like everything is so heavy metal. And it's, it's like you, you kind of are always just trying to push everything to the ultimate max. And I feel like, dude, the same thing, like that whole mindset sort of carried into like my snowboarding and a car modification and, and then off-roading. It's like,
Speaker: bro i'm not gonna buy so buy a you know eighty thousand dollar jk jeep i'm gonna buy a four thousand dollar piece of junk that's 25 years old and flop the thing on its roof bro like we're not playing out here and that and that's where my mind is at now it's like yeah okay this is supposed to be my daily and like you know now i want to get something that i could just thrash and you know go out there and tear it up and it not be a big deal Let me ask you about the skateboarding stuff just because like that's something that i kind of grew up with. Do you still skate at all?
Speaker: I try. So I got a back injury. So I have to take it super easy. um But I still get out there. i have a nine-year-old daughter. So I you know take her to the skate park and she'll get down on her rollerblades. She tries to skateboard. Yeah.
Speaker: And that, again, it's the struggle. It's you get out there and you just, that that instinct kicks in to just, you see something that you're like, oh, I bet I could do this. But you're like, I shouldn't do it. Because even though I'm like, I'll still try it, but then I pay for it the next day, you know? Absolutely. Yeah, the the back injury thing.
Speaker: I fractured my spine as a kid. I don't really know how it happened. I grew up like well below the poverty line. So like doctors, what's that? you know? Right. And so i didn't even find out about it. Wait, so you don't know how you broke your back?
Speaker: No, because I just um was one of two things. It was either a bicycle accident or jumping off a roof. um But I just remember ah because I was like, oh, yeah, I'm six. I got a BMX bike. Of course, I can do some sick jumps. and I do remember. Yeah, one time specifically, I landed directly on my back.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it happened, but it could be. either one either way like when i was older i went in for some uh bone scans and some other stuff because then i i crushed some vertebrae up in my neck and while they were doing all that they were like oh were were you in a car accident or something or did you used to be a gymnast i was like no they were like bro you your back is mangled and i was like so i feel that dude like everything now it's like oh and i fractured it again yeah But it's sayss a wild.
Speaker: Yeah, it but it's rough, man, because there's days where, you know, actually getting in the gym, I think, was the biggest thing for me. Changed my life, and I feel better now than I did in my 20s. Did you have a fracture? or um what What was kind of your situation?
Speaker: So, like, basically, L5-S1 compression, like, radiculopathy. I don't know. i forget all the, you know, technical terms and stuff. yeah But, yeah, what happened was...
Speaker: When I was 31, heaviest I had ever been in my entire life. Like, cause I had just finished doing the whole college thing, you know? And like, so got kind of dormant in my life. And, and, uh, my buddy started building all these dirt jumps. Uh, he moved out into the desert. It's the dirt jumps in there every time.
Speaker: Yeah. And so he was like, you know, come out. So I went out, I bought a BMX bike and I was like, I'm getting back into it. Went out there and like, you know, threw some shovels, built some little jumps and it was cool. Then it got serious because he rented a backhoe.
Speaker: And then so these little jumps got a lot bigger. And then ah so I went out there to check it out. And the night before it had rained. So the the dirt was real soft.
Speaker: And, yeah you know, you had to pedal really hard to get over these jumps. But throughout the day, it was a sunny day. So the the dirt was drying up. It was like my last run before I took off.
Speaker: The dirt had kind of dried up, but I was still pedaling really hard. Over cleared the jump, tossed my bike away. and you know how you typically tuck and roll and you just kind go out of it? yeah This time, no, dude, I just landed.
Speaker: legs straight like that and so hyper extended my knee and just totally compressed my spine and oh dude i had a similar injury on a snowboard it was up at timberline lodge which is like a that they actually filmed a scene from that movie the shining up there isn't that tahoe No, no, it's ah Mount Hood. inhood Yeah. Yeah. yeah You go up there for a summer session, you know, you're looking at the just the lip of this booter is two stories high and you have to straight line it, no speed check. And you better wax real good because the snow is sticky. that slushy. Yeah. No, dude, I have never straight line to jump so fast and I still knuckled.
Speaker: So all, you know all that, uh, momentum just straight down and, rock. I think my great, great grandkids probably felt that. Cause I remember, I remember I hit so hard, it rattled my balls and I was like, dude, that hurt. So I sympathize with you, brother. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, and and it's crazy because I grew up, you know, like I said, skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX racing, mountain biking, all this stuff, and came out relatively unskaved, you know, like dislocated the shoulder, couple concussions, that kind of stuff, but like no broken bones, nothing.
Speaker: until you know i was 30 and yeah that's when it finally caught up to me after i hadn't done it in a while and but miss it dude i miss all that stuff and say i'm sure you know it's like it becomes it's not just a hobby it becomes like a lifestyle and you know all that stuff so i mean i still identify it you know grew up listening to like skate punk music and like still like I'm 40 years old and and still listen to the same music from it when I was, you know, same dude. Oh, could you try flip? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Heck yeah. Okay. Sick. So you really did skate because when we were kids, if you could try flip, you were basically a God dude. no yeah Yeah. That was the gold standard. Yeah. Yeah, just like tail whip on on BMX back in that in that era is the same type of thing. But now it's like you go to any parking lot of any skate park and it's like some eight-year-old kid, you know, Trey Flip knows, man. Absolutely ridiculous. Like the what it's become, like watching the Olympics and stuff and they're throwing like, I don't know, sixteen twenty s whatever it was. And i was just like, dude.
Speaker: they dude they got to be using performance enhancing drugs like i think that pro skaters today there's no way you're jumping down el toro multiple times if you're not using some kind of like peptides or steroids or something like whatever you guys are taking i'm at that point where i need it yeah hey like it's all about money at this point like yeah it's worth it Right. Yeah. I, uh, I've resisted the, the urge to take any kind of anything, but when I go to the gym and I see 16 year old kids, they're on SARMs and you know in three months, they're twice my size. i'm like, what am I doing? Yeah, dude, it's tough. I knew some dudes that went down that path and it's tempting, but I don't know. It's just, it's such a risk.
Speaker: Oh, dude, 100%. Yeah, because there's a difference between like use and abuse, and you can't really do it under good guidance of a doctor. Okay, sorry, man. I took this on a long tangent, but we're homies now. Let me ask you about just your mods. Let's jump right into that because I feel like that's the thing everybody always wants to know about. know you got a lift on it. know got tires.
Speaker: um And I know it's always hard off the dome to remember everything you spent money on on a car. Bro, I got a spreadsheet. Yeah. I got to spread G for everything. Yeah.
Speaker: So did you, I know you've got a lift kit and I think you have aftermarket tires on it now. Yeah. So I got a couple questions. What, what do you have on it and what was kind of the progression? Did you just start doing this stuff out of the gate or was there, did you start driving the car and realize I need more clearance and I need better tires or how did that whole thing kind of pan out for you?
Speaker: Are you currently in the market for a lift kit for your Subaru? Or have you put a crappy Amazon or eBay lift kit on it and realized maybe you shouldn't have done that? Well, if you're in the market for that or skid plates, ditch light brackets, molly panels, any kind of other off-road Subaru stuff, make sure that you check out today's sponsor. Anderson Design and Fabrication. They are offering you guys a 5% off deal. If you use code DIRTSUBIES at checkout, all you got to do is go to their website, awdadventure.com.
Speaker: Use that code DIRTSUBIES when you check out and you will get 5% off. And I can't speak highly enough of their stuff. You guys know that I've been running their products for over 10 years at this point and have just absolutely beat the crap out of them. I've got their lift kit on my Forester currently and I will probably never use another lift kit brand ever. Their stuff is just solid. So it means a lot to me the fact that Patrick was willing to do me a favor and sponsor the podcast and giving you guys a way to make purchasing quality lift kit more affordable. So go over there, get whatever you need, use that code and make sure in the notes section you tell him thank you because he doesn't need to discount any of his products.
Speaker: He's literally killing it. But again, it's just a favor that he's doing for us. And I really appreciate Patrick. Yeah, do. I love it because um I'll be the first to admit like this is all new to me.
Speaker: I've always i was always the person that could appreciate a nice car and like, you know, give me a fast car. I'm driving fast. Give me an off road or I'm gonna go off road.
Speaker: But I don't know anything about it. And then so again, when I got the Subaru, I had no idea people were modifying these things until I kind of started doing some more research and found the Instagram. It was just like, wow.
Speaker: Before that, um two weeks after I got the car, i was like, all right, cool. It's a wilderness. It's supposed to go off road. Well, there's an off road park like 20 minutes away called the Rauer Flats.
Speaker: No idea what this place was, like the capability. I didn't even know. So I was just like, called up a buddy. i was like, you want to go with me? He's like, yeah, let's take the kids. I was like, cool. Throw the kids in the back and let's head up there.
Speaker: Yeah, dude. Uh, this is before the lift and everything and is just this long climb wrong, long, rocky climb. And it's like what Subaru's hate dude. And it's a one way trail.
Speaker: So you've got people coming down as you're going up. It's 90 degrees out. I got the the AC blowing. we're We're climbing and i'm I'm hearing my back bumper just scraping. At some point, the AC stops blowing out cold a hair and it starts blowing hot air. And I'm like, oh, something's wrong with my AC.
Speaker: I had no idea what I was doing. But we make it like halfway up this hill and i was like, think we should probably turn around. The kids are all like, I want to go home. So like me and my buddy were like, all right, let's call it.
Speaker: That's when I started doing a little more research. Like, all right, what do I need to do to make this thing more capable? And, you know, jumped on Facebook and like joined all the Subaru groups there. And people were like, First thing you need to do is get skid plates.
Speaker: Yes, dude. Yes. At least they steered you right. The Facebook groups are the worst. it it It's the wild west out there. Yeah. What should I put on here? yeah I don't know. You're gay. It's like, ah That's exactly what it's like, though, dude.
Speaker: yeah it is sorry i interrupted yeah yeah you're gonna ruin your mpg yeah yeah dude if i was worried about mpg i'd be driving a prius you dork but yeah so i threw a first thing i did was i got the primitive transmission skid plate because i heard that's like the first thing you want to cover with these expensive ass transmission cbt's yeah yeah so i did that um That was kind of the the first mod I did. i threw the rain guards on there just because I thought they looked cool.
Speaker: The rain guards are the jam, dude. Let's not skip over that. Those things are sick. they're They're practical, but I live in SoCal, so so i mean rain is you know few and far between here. But when it is rain, I'm like, i I could crack my window and I'm not going to get wet. Yeah, dude. Whatever. mean Um, but then straight from there, it was the lift, you know, like after that first experience, it was like, all right, I need to do something. Did a bunch of research and, and, you know, I saw the, the usual, you know, ADF, big ups to them for sponsoring you, by the way. And, uh, you know, rally tech, all that stuff.
Speaker: But I, I landed on Subi lift dogs. Um, it was just something, not a lot of people around here were running, but I was seeing the folks out in Australia, like,
Speaker: they They swear by it, dude. And so i was like, I'm going to that a try. And it was actually, so that was that was kind of on my mind. And then the tariff thing happened.
Speaker: So it was like panic buy, let me buy. Because it it was actually cheaper than than a lot of the other things by know maybe like $100, $200, something like that. When our exchange rate helps with that a little bit, depending on what the market's doing. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, but I mean, you know, i did the two inch lift with the two inch um multi-link drop and yeah so um and it came out like 650 bucks or something like that and so i was just like yeah kind of like rushed to do it before the whole tariff thing happened i think recently i looked and it was like 800 and something bucks and i was like bro that's crazy yeah yeah yeah their stuff is good man like i always tell people that live over in that part of the world like yeah buy those they're good lift kits
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, so here's my thought process on that. Like, you I saw people doing the, you know, race works and the what's the other one the flat out and all that and so initially that grabs your attention like yeah it's but when you don't know anything you're like is that what i need to do to get a lift and everything and then my thought process at least was you know this is a wilderness it's supposed to have off-road tuned suspension let me throw a spacer on there and run it until i need to replace the suspension and then maybe i'll consider something else
Speaker: Well, just in the last year since I installed the lift kit, I've learned so much about it all. And I'm like, yeah, I don't think I need the you know full coilovers. and I'm so glad that that's the route you took because I have so many conversations with people where they're like, I know this is right for some people, but this is not what I needed. And it didn't do anything extra for me. And it cost me another three grand. Yeah. yeah And you got to do all the maintenance and everything. in And you got to tune them.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. And if you know about all that stuff and like, I know a couple dudes out here that are running that stuff and, and I'm so grateful for the community out here. I've met so many awesome people just through this whole, you know, Instagram Subaru thing. Um, and I've learned so much from them all. They're all willing to share knowledge and stuff. So at some point I want to give them all shout outs, but absolutely. do Yeah, dude. Hit them right now. Hit it right now, dude. Yeah. So actually, um,
Speaker: Wild before this, Kevin, high energy, knowledgeable dude. He's actually installed my lip for me. Okay, shit. And he also did my, what's it called? The hitch on on the back. Yeah, and he I know he's running the flat out. And so um I've learned a lot about about that system from him and like why it's right for him, why it's not right for me.
Speaker: And then we got Domo Garages, Ken. Okay. It's so funny because both of them have black forest or wildernesses, Ken and Kevin. It's so funny because on the whole Instagram thing, you don't see too many black or out there forest or wildernesses.
Speaker: and Not yet. yeah here Out here in SoCal, there's six of us, dude, just out here in SoCal. So it's crazy. But yeah, so we got Ken, Ken, who goes by Domo Garages on on Instagram.
Speaker: We've got Dave Adams, who goes by Dave Adams. Eternal666BPN. Oh, I just became aware of that guy, I think. Yeah, super cool dudes. And they're all in the 626 Subie Squad.
Speaker: Okay. This little group. They get together and off-road. And I'm not part of that group, but I join them. And we all... are on group chats and talk shit to each other online. It's amazing.
Speaker: I love it. I just jumped in on, uh, have you heard of the, the dirty ruse? I have their group out of Vegas, but they just started the SoCal chapter.
Speaker: Okay. So, um yeah, I've been hanging out with them. Foz runner. That's another Kevin out back living. That's Josh, Kobe, Mohawk, Daniel out track, Michael,
Speaker: And then the originators was K-Dot, which is Kenny, and Subisu, the Subaru, which is Mark, out in Vegas. And that group is awesome. These dudes are partiers. They love to party. But they also they are they do volunteer work.
Speaker: Yeah, last month we were out in Vegas, and we went to the Desert Wildlife Preserve. and did some erosion management out there and just stacking rocks and stuff. heck yeah You know, just do our part. Yeah, that's tight.
Speaker: Yeah, we started the SoCal chapter out here and we want to start doing the same thing, look for opportunities to volunteer and just get together and camp and run some trails.
Speaker: Dude, I love finding excuses to get outside in the rig. Right? Give me any reason. Let's go. Yeah, yeah. Hey, so I took you on that little tangent, but let me, i got a couple questions.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. To your tires. And then I want to get into um like some of your other mods and then. I'd like to ask you a little bit about like if there were any major like roadblocks or maybe if there were if there was something about modifying the forester that you know turned out to be kind of challenging that if you had to do over or something like that or somebody else that's watching you that wants to do what you're doing stuff that they might want to know but yeah lay it on us man great questions dude great questions always off the dome so it's usually unorganized but I
Speaker: and you know what i did run into challenges and okay i spent money that i like regretted spending money luckily it was only one thing okay well let's see if we could save some people bro yeah yeah yeah so all right tires we'll talk about tires i went with the when i did the lift i did the falcon wild peak at4w's good choice dude it was it was honestly like you know, i think between like three or four different tires that, you know, everyone talks about and, you know, the KO threes, the, the Falcon wild peaks, the, um, mile star just came into the conversation not too long ago, but, um,
Speaker: You know, I was just seeing that the the Falcons are a little bit lighter. They're kind of designed for the small CUVs. So I was like, I'm going to go with that, dude. Like, just try it out. Sounds like it's exactly what I need.
Speaker: don't really have anything to compare it to except the, you know, the stock Geolanders that came with it. Yeah. Which were so tiny, by the way. That was my biggest gripe with the car was like, it's just these tires are just ridiculously small.
Speaker: Are they like a 225 or something from yeah something like that? Yeah. do I think it was 225, 60. Yeah. That, that's not a lot of sidewall and that, that car has headroom for a little bit extra.
Speaker: exactly i did the 235 65 i know some people are running the 245s um i don't know if i'm gonna go up that that much and there's a happy medium working fine yeah there's a happy medium where there is there's like a matrix of like benefit and oh crap now my engine can't do anything so i think yeah yeah i'm happy with it i'm happy yeah and it looks good dude thank you i appreciate it oh absolutely I did the Rally Tech Extreme front skid plate.
Speaker: Okay. what's What's the Extreme? can you It's just bigger bigger and thicker. Oh, gotcha. One of them was like 316ths versus the quarter inch. yeah um I think it has more side protection. Okay.
Speaker: okay Yeah, so it was I love it. Yeah, 316ths is the way to go, man. Just spend the extra, what is it, 50 bucks, whatever. Just run it, dude. It's worth all the money.
Speaker: I agree. And so those were those were the the mods that I like started out with. Then came, i bought the Thule cargo box or whatever you want to call it. but It was like the Motion 3 XL.
Speaker: It was $1,200 with the gloss finish because I thought it looked awesome. It matches? so Yeah, it matches. I was like, you know, on that that whole like I want to look fancy type stuff.
Speaker: It was, yeah I mean, that's a pretty big skybox, right? Am I? It is dude. Okay. And that's, I had no idea. like I just, i went into the shop and I was like, well, I want to put as much stuff as possible in it.
Speaker: So I've never bought one of these. So I bought the biggest one possible. Cause I was like, you know, when we go camping, I'll throw everything up there. So me and my daughter could sleep in the back and yeah, it was cool.
Speaker: Well, I live in a condo and the carport has this huge beam across the top. Oh, dude. Before I got my lift, the Thule worked fine. Like I could pull in and out. I did the whole, what's it called? The pulley system where I could raise it off of my car and everything.
Speaker: Once I lifted my car, dude, I could no longer put it on in the carport and back out. So I would have to back my car out, drop it off the lift.
Speaker: lift it up and put it on top of my car and with this back injury dude i was like yeah this isn't gonna work i'm not yeah yeah single time that's such a bad position to be in with a with a back injury man no thank you yeah well you you don't know what you don't know you know and so it's it's not like you made a bad decision you just you know you just wanted to do something um was there any other issues with that or was it just kind of your situation in the condo that made it kind of a no-go It was just the situation with the condo. I mean, as far as size, I probably would have went with a medium instead of the XL. Um, cause there was like front overhang and there wasn't any issues with like opening the back hatch. It was still open fine, but then you had to like, just move it more forward. So there was some overhang.
Speaker: Uh, but really that was the only issue. It was like me personally. And I didn't think through the entire process of like the mods I wanted to do. But that's where I kind of like learn like, okay, let's not go crazy and just throw things on this thing just because it looks cool or like you think you'll need it. Like yeah actually use it and then figure out what we need as we use it.
Speaker: And so that's kind of the approach I've taken now. i love that. Yeah. So like when I got my ditch lights, it was because the the guys were like, let's do a night run.
Speaker: And I was like, I want to go, but I don't have any lights. So let's buy some lights. And so I went with the Nash Fabco. Nice. Ditch light brackets. Their stuff is sick.
Speaker: I like it. It's super low pro so that then you know they don't sit up real high. i think it just looks pretty clean. Yeah. Yeah. And then for the lights, I just went Oxbeam, dude, because I was like, I go to bed by 9.30 p.m. So, like, how many night runs am I going to do realistically? Their stuff is good, man. I know it's, like, knockoff stuff, supposedly, but, dude, I run a lot of their a lot of their stuff, so I can't hate it. It works, man. That's the thing for me. like I'm going use it a couple times a year. like
Speaker: it works. If it takes crap at some point, another $150 to replace. I can do that you know how many times before I buy you know something more expensive. Yeah. And that's such a good thing for people to hear because, yeah, there are things where you don't want to skimp. You know, your lift kit, you're only doing that once.
Speaker: Don't be stupid. But there's a lot of other stuff where it's like, you know, yeah. yeah actually be somewhat intentional with what you're spending money on because yeah you need that backup money because we're beating up subarus they cost money yeah which brings me to my next mod was oh let's go gauge three dude oh how you did it right Well, and this comes from watching other people's successes and failures, dude. So like going back to my buddy Kevin Wild before this, he's got a 2022 Forrester Wilderness that he just had to completely replace the transmission.
Speaker: Gnarly job. And like I said, dude's super knowledgeable. He was able to, you know, source the transmission and do it himself. Someone like me, who I think I own like probably...
Speaker: five tools in my whole arsenal. It's like a thousand dollar job. Yeah. And I've already had warranty issues, dude. And yeah I on that night run that I that I was talking about.
Speaker: You know, there was a bunch of puddles up in Big Bear that we went splashing through. Ended up shorting out my radiator motor or something like that. Wait, what Yeah, it was this big old hassle that, like, I don't know.
Speaker: So this is the thing, right? We went through some puddles, and all of a sudden like my car lit up like Christmas tree. We all got around to see, like, what's going on My buddy was like, oh, just replace the fuse. Like, you'll be fine.
Speaker: Well, sure enough, that worked, right? Until the next day where it happened again. and I was like, oh, let me just replace the fuse again. Well, the next day was a Monday and I had to drive two hours away for a meeting. And on the way back, I'm in the middle of downtown LA on the 110 freeway.
Speaker: My car starts overheating. There's no shoulder to pull off on or anything. So, you know, finally, finally get to a safe space and, you know, I got the roadside assistance. So it kind of, you know, Subaru hooked me up with that and towed me over to the dealership.
Speaker: And yeah, they hit me with like, oh, it's going to cost $2,000 to fix. And I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what, what's going on? What's wrong? Like, that give me a breakdown of what's going on.
Speaker: And they're like, oh, you shorted out your, your radiator motor, Yeah, radiator fan motor, something like that. Oh, dude. Okay, okay, that makes sense.
Speaker: Yeah, so then I was like, okay, we'll... I started messaging my buddies on Instagram and they're like, dude, a new assembly is only like 250 bucks. Like why are they charging you $2,000?
Speaker: the deal I don't know. until I asked the dealership, like, can you give me a breakdown? And they finally did. And it was like, you know, $700 uh, uh, labor. and then 1300 was, they were double charging me. So they were charging for the, the radiator assembly.
Speaker: a radiator fan assembly, and then each individual component of the radiator fan assembly. And so I was like, no, that's that's not right. And so I called them out on it and they're like, oh, that was our mistake.
Speaker: So what we're going to do instead is we're just going to replace both of your radiator fan motors. And it's going to be $1,000. And like everyone's like, why are they doing it like this? That's crazy. So Bro. Again, i don't know I don't know about cars. So I'm like talking to buddies who are like, no, don't do it. like Get it out of there.
Speaker: So at that point, I called corporate, you know Subaru of America, like help me out. And they're like, this isn't warranty. And I was like, yeah, I figured. I was driving through puddles. But...
Speaker: Like, look at this situation where- This is crazy. Yeah, they're trying to charge me two Gs to to fix this. That should be like a $300 part. And they were like, oh yeah, you're right. They're like, here, just pay the $1,000, have them fix it.
Speaker: We'll reimburse you $500. So you'll be out of pocket 500 bucks. And was like, right, I can live with that. like That was my dumb ass fault for driving through these, you know, really deep puddles and going fast and whatever, but- I'm so glad you brought that up too, because that's another thing that I see is like, I see people, they'll, they'll get their first Subaru. And it's like, the moment they get it, they're like, this is a, this is a Subaru. It must be meant for rally.
Speaker: and it's yeah And I've seen so many people nuke like mass airflow sensors or get hydro lock or in your case, like the the fans eat up a bunch of water and then malfunction. And dude, man, if you don't have to go fast through water, don't do it. Yeah. And this is the amazing thing of, you know, learning and everything is like, luckily it wasn't something like the hydro lock and, you know, 500 bucks. I learned a lesson.
Speaker: Well, I avoid puddles like the plate, but it's just not worth it to me. Anytime I have to do a water crossing, always let my car do its thing for a second. Let the rotors cool down, let the fans cool down so they're not running.
Speaker: Then I'll go to do something stupid. yeah Is that kind of the only crazy situation you've had off-road? Yeah, I think that's probably the the craziest situation. I'm trying to think if any of my buddies got into any situations. Not really. I think we all kind of ran into some issues with going through the puddles that time, just the electrical components, but nothing real really major.
Speaker: How deep was that water, just just out of curiosity? But it it was nighttime, so it was hard to capture. I think it was, yeah I mean, it wasn't like over the headlights or anything. Like, I think it was like mid...
Speaker: mid-wheel, like, right around the the hub. okay But, you know, at first we were kind of blasting through it, and then some were a lot muddier than others, so, like, you get bogged down in it. yeah I'm figuring it out as I go, dude. Like, there's no manual on, like, how to drive your Subaru off-road, I'm just like,
Speaker: I'm doing what I think is fun and like, yeah but then I'm kind of learning, okay, it's still a Subaru, dude. So like, yeah yeah it has limits and you just learned a limit. What do you think are some of, you know, aside from like the water stuff, what are some of the areas where people might want to manage their expectations with taking these things off road?
Speaker: So like you mentioned that the hill climbs for sure, like I I've seen, and especially, uh, if you're carrying extra weight, you know, if you have the, uh, the tire or the tire carrier heavy bumpers yeah yeah or if you're running the the rooftop tents like it all just add weight which the cvt hates and you're gonna have trouble going going uphill with that so i think that's definitely a a limitation you need to put a lift on it like i felt so much more confident and once i got that lift it was like oh dude this is amazing like
Speaker: I didn't have to slow down and kind of crawl through stuff. i was just. Yeah. yeah It's not the first time in my life where I found out that two inches makes a big difference. du and you know Yeah, it's so I think the skid plates for me, that's been the biggest ah like shift in my off road driving. ah But, you know, I didn't start with skid plates. I started with the lift. But yeah, 100 percent. It's like yeah an extra two inches of of ground clearance. That makes a huge difference.
Speaker: you know a lot of the trails that we're taking these on i mean if you're taking a rock bouncer out an additional two inches of lift who cares but on subarus you need the diff clearance that's where our cars shine bro i mean and even if we're just doing you know forest roads and stuff like it just if you hit a rut or whatever it just gives you so much more ability to kind of just float over it you know you don't even need to be doing the crazy off-roading to need lift if you're just getting out there to find a campsite you know it still helps with that and it doesn't affect the the on-road performance either that was something that like you know i i was thinking about was like you know it's still a daily i'm driving my daughter around luckily i work from home so it's not like i drive around a crazy amount but um i mean on road it's still fantastic
Speaker: Yeah, that's that's something that I see a lot of people say, like, oh you're going to ruin the drivability of the car. And should you take a lifted Forester to the track? No. but But I mean, that's one of the things where people are so quick to say, oh, I got to get these coilover so it still handles good on the road. It's like, dude, unless your suspension is already clapped.
Speaker: it's really not gonna you're probably not gonna notice it except for you can see over the top other cars yeah yeah exactly and i'm not even running um a sway bar on the front of mine and i still think it's right like yeah zipping through the canyons and everything just fine without like not noticing a ton of body roll or anything dude and the and the the other thing that's funny is um One of my first cars was a Subaru. I got into these things, I don't know, almost two decades ago.
Speaker: And I got so spoiled because it wasn't until I ended up, I bought like a little Infiniti, like G20, which is like a Nissan based Infiniti, like a little Nissan.
Speaker: think it's like a Sentra or something. It's a SR20 in it. So it's a zippy little car, but I had no idea how much better, these like big Subarus handled than even that little, you know, G20 and, uh, just the way they're engineered, everything about it makes sense. And so people, you know, they're, they're hesitant. They're like, Oh, I don't want to modify it and make, you know, turn it into a problem. right But dude, these cars are so good, bro.
Speaker: see a bunch of people talking about like, you don't know better than the Subaru engineers and blah, blah, blah. And it's like, all right, then don't do it to yours. But like, yeah, it it works. And I know a lot of people feel the same way. I'm so glad.
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, go ahead. No, you go ahead, man. I was just going to say, like in general, I'm so happy I found Subaru, dude, because it was never really on the radar. they My first car was a 92 Chevy Astro Band. Oh, dude, sick.
Speaker: Yeah, I used to smoke the tires on it, like just hold the brake and hit the gas until that thing starts spinning. it We used to drive it up to the mountain because I lived 40 minutes from Mountain High, which is like our local. oh yeah dude absolutely yeah yeah so i mean we used to mob it up there throw out the center uh seat i put that as a couch in my bedroom when i was a teenager and just stack as many boards and people as we could in there and just yeah it out um but when we were going up there i would see super who's all the time it was just you know i grew up poor so it was like I'm making it work with the van. You and i come from similar scenarios. Dude, it's so crazy.
Speaker: Wait, how were you, bro? Oh, we grew up on Section 8, dude. Yeah, okay, okay. I should have grown up on Section 8, but we never took money from the government. But, oh, dude. you feel exactly what what I'm talking about. Yeah, man. So it was just you don't pick and choose. You take what can and make it work. Yeah, and you learn how to hustle because you can be you can be content with nothing while you're making it happen, bro. Yeah. okay yeah sorry i got you off on a crazy tangent there you were talking about the Chevy Astro in your first cars yeah your first cars and you found Subaru sorry oh yeah yeah yeah but so you know i would see Subarus going up to the mountain all the time but it was just never really on my radar it's like something i would get and then um after that i was driving a think it was a 98 jeep grand cherokee laredo
Speaker: Because again, we were snowboarding all the time. And once the the Jeep got, or sorry, the van got stolen. So that was gone. Was that when you were living in? Palmdale? Yeah, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. so So the van was gone. And I had to get by buy something that was going to get me up to the mountain. So I got this this Jeep that was four-wheel drive. i think it was a V8.
Speaker: Yeah, that has the... 5.7 or it's got some big V8. Yeah, I think it was 5.2 or 6.2 something. 5.2 actually sounds close. I don't, I should know this stuff because I own a Jeep, but here I am. I think you had a full-time transfer case though, right? it's Always in four-wheel drive?
Speaker: No, I don't think so because, so what I remember is, I knew nothing about four wheel drive, but I knew I had to move something to put it in four wheel drive.
Speaker: Okay. So I didn't know like you're supposed to put it in like neutral or anything. And this is before smartphones and all that head shit. So I just drive in and throw on like four high, four low. And I think that's why not too long after I got it, the transmission went out on me.
Speaker: And so I didn't have the Jeep very long. That's unfortunate. I i would love, said it was a 98? I think so in 98. I think 98 still ZJ. I think that's one of the most slept on four by fours, but continue. I wish I would have known now or, you know, knew back then. Oh yeah. Now, like I, same, I totally you you would have like, you know, babied it and like done it right. But yeah, yeah i was just a kid, you know, yeah you learn, man, you learn. and And now you're making money. You could go buy a ZJ any day you want.
Speaker: Yeah. So after, after that, it was all commuter cars. Cause it turned to, I started going to school again, again, I was like 45 miles north of LA.
Speaker: So I'd have to commute every day. That's a mission. Yeah. And then after that, it was, I started working in l LA. So I have to commute every day down there. So it was just little commuter cars, you know, and then, um, you know, once I, I,
Speaker: I got my MBA. I actually got a really good job. Sick, dude. You're an MBA material, bro. I am, dude. From the slums to the penthouse. Did you pay it off? oh Yeah. yeah did you Were you able to get the MBA paid for?
Speaker: so i paid for the MBA out of pocket. Oh, my man. I'm still paying paying my my undergrad. Because I it took out more loans than I should have for that. But it was like, i you want to give me money, dude? like I'll take it.
Speaker: But wasn't thinking through like, you got to pay this money back. With interest. With interest, yeah. So by the time I was going for my MBA, I had a little bit more business sense than that. So I paid for that out of pocket. You went to a good school then.
Speaker: No, not really. I did an online school. Like, it's really just, again, I grew up poor. So it's like, i I'm not going to go to the best school. I also did my MBA, like right when my daughter was born.
Speaker: So it was kind of like, just trying to trying to make my life better. you know, for my kid as best I could, you know, working full time while I was doing it. Same bro, dude, it's a struggle, but it is, it it was a good school because they didn't brainwash you into thinking you should just take out more student loans. So in that regard, they crushed it. And, you know, I learned enough to to get where I am now. And, you know, like I work from home, so I no longer need to really commute. occasional meetings here and there, but it's not a daily commute. So it got to the point where I was like, okay, I was driving a little Kia, Kia Forte hatchback, which is all it's just kind of cool. those are dude It was It was, and it was on like, I think eight teens with like some low profile tires and like it probably rib leather. it did. And I loved it until my parents moved up to Oregon and I tried to drive it up there. Oh, no, dude. Dude. yeaha
Speaker: My parents retired, moved out to Oregon, and I was trying to see them two times a year. and Okay. Fly out there, but it's like two G's every time to like fly and rent a car and all that stuff.
Speaker: So then was like, I'm gonna try driving. Dude, driving that little Kia 14 hours to to Oregon was not the business. Especially not with a back injury, dude. Dude, I was bottoming out. like And then during the winter, it snows up through like the pass on the border. And was like, I'm not doing this in a front wheel drive with my daughter in the back. like Absolutely yeah not. Real quick.
Speaker: Yeah, What part of Oregon? They're um kind of southern coast, like Coos Bay area. Dude, I know where Coos Bay is at. I'm in Oregon right now.
Speaker: That's yeah so kind of my jam. You're familiar with it. It's it's the dunes. The dunes are all right there. Yeah, dude. Have you been able to drive them? a Dude, I got a video on my Instagram. Let's go. you know That's where that's at? it Yeah, yeah. That's my, that's my, like, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to figure it out right now and just air down those tires and just my dad said, dude, my dad's sitting in the passenger seat. He's like a little kid, just like, hell yeah, go do it. It's awesome. Well, you knew to air down, you know, you know, more than 90% of people that hit the sand.
Speaker: So next time you come up, let me know. We'll have to, we'll have to cruise. Cause a problem. That'd be awesome. Okay. Sorry. I got you off track again, man. I'm going to do some editing.
Speaker: it' all good I forgot you have to like go back and actually make it make sense. And that's the worst part of, of doing this. I hate my voice. I hate looking at myself and I got to sit there like a little, little weeb doing a bunch of editing for a week and a half. person that Dude, I swear we're like so much in comment. Yes.
Speaker: that's i hate being on zoom meetings because like hate looking at myself on camera same and then why i don't do like better content like i don't care about content for instagram like yeah but i i you know try to make it at least look presentable and shit yeah yeah don't have the patience for this real quick can you give people uh tips if they are going to go out in the sand in a subaru Oh, dude, recovery gear for sure. So that was actually before any mods. That was the first thing I did.
Speaker: was like traction boards, a kinetic rope, um the shovel. What else? I want to touch on the the air compressor.
Speaker: Yes, air compressors, bro. Yeah, the hitch is the best, most cost-effective piece of recovery recovery equipment you can put on a Subaru. Because you don't have anywhere to really effectively recover a Subaru. But it's like, what, 200 bucks maybe to get a good hitch and you just throw a shackle block in there and you're like ready to go. Yeah.
Speaker: Well, and then I didn't even do the hitch until I was going out to Oregon. And that was like the thing that i was like, all right, if I'm going to go in the sand, like I need the hitch, dude. Because like... yeah we're we're gonna have to get yanked out and uh i went i did the oem just because like some other people are running like eco hitch or whatever and like i know you you lose like maybe an inch of like uh clearance departure angle yeah yeah yeah exactly so i was just like you know what i just want to do it the right way so let me go oem and yeah clean super clean install they look good man
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. So I was super happy with that. And then, uh, yeah, just make sure you have the the right recovery gear. Definitely go with a buddy. I'd recommend that someone that can, can yank you out if they need, and then, uh, airing down your tires.
Speaker: I know that one. and making sure you have something to put air back in there. I see that all the time in like the Facebook book groups. They're like, but if I air down my tires, then what do I do afterwards? you gets It's only 80 bucks. It's 80 bucks.
Speaker: That's all I'm asking. I'm asking for you to forfeit your, your coffee for a week. Go get a compressor. I went with the all top yeah brand. Those are fast. Yeah.
Speaker: goes on to the battery yes amazing i think it was 120 bucks it was on sale when i bought it and it i mean it's amazing i let people borrow it all the time when we're at the trails i'm like dude yeah you need to pump up your tires here yeah um definitely recommend that i know there's better ones out there i think all top just came out with like a um updated version that's like all digital and auto shut off and all that stuff but just get what works for you definitely stay away from like the cigarette lighter ones yeah you know i think thank you you're gonna be out there for hours and you're gonna blow a fuse or melt something right yeah like get something legit but you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars yeah to do it you know
Speaker: An all top or a Viere 88P, $120, maybe $90 if you go with a small Viere, dude. But the the all top stuff, it's um I don't know if you know who Fozzie in the Wild is.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he he I was interviewing him. he He's the homie, dude. I just listened to his episode like two days ago. yeah Oh, good. He's so sick. I love that guy. I randomly met him up in the Mount Hood National Forest. And I guess he is actually, you probably remember better than me, but since you just listened to that episode, but I think it's his like cousin or brother or friend or somebody owns all top.
Speaker: i Is that what it is? I didn't finish the episode, so I didn't get to that point, but I've talked to him about, cause I know he was like trying out the all top new, uh, the rooftop tent. Yeah. Yeah. So we're like talking about that a little bit, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, so he gets his hands on that stuff like before it comes out to test it. Dude. And I had no idea that All Top was owned you know by stateside person.
Speaker: And dude, they're honestly... if If you're a top level like rock crawler competitor or something, okay, get get your brand name stuff. If you're just trying to get out there, dude, their stuff is good.
Speaker: not bad at bought one of their awnings too because, okay again, it's ah you know I don't need anything crazy. like I'm just trying to get out there and enjoy it without going broke. Like said, I've got a nine-year-old daughter. Most of my money is going there. and dude i'm just It's so hard to be responsible.
Speaker: This is yeah like the struggle is because – I got into this whole car modding thing and I want to buy wheels, dude. I want to like I want to just make it look awesome. i want to put the best lights on there, everything. But it's like, OK, but in reality, like you know, my daughter wants to do theater class. She wants to go to, uh, universal studios next month. It's like, okay, there goes my wheels right there. I mean, but mods are cool, but if you can't put gas in the car, what's the point? You know? Yeah, yeah, exactly, dude. So, um, yeah, I didn't go crazy on mods, but I think going back to the, the sand dunes, um, I think, you know, just recovery gear, Aaron down,
Speaker: being with a buddy and then just doing research ahead of time. Cause that was my thing is like, I didn't want to just go out there and just, you know, go out into the dunes. Cause when I did research, I heard there's things called like widow or something, a witch's eyes.
Speaker: Oh yeah. Like at the top of the dune where it's like, almost like a bowl, you know? yeah and And like, you know, those can be like super sketchy. And so I was just like, all right, I'm not trying to like die while I'm out there. Like, yeah, yeah. in the Subaru. Let me make sure, you know, I'm doing stuff that I can actually handle.
Speaker: So like I made sure to do research of like, let's test it out first. Let's make sure we can even get through the sand. And then next time we'll go test the limits a little bit more. Yeah. Having a buddy out there, I think is, um,
Speaker: super beneficial because it's unlike any other type of off-road driving you're in the sand there's no trees what are you going to recover from even if you have a winch i've been in that position where where i had to call somebody like hey yeah i got stuck at least you had someone to call and you didn't have to call a company to come get yeah yeah for real They have those signs all over the place. Like it's like a thousand dollars just to get recovered from like, you know, the sand. It's ridiculous. That's rough.
Speaker: So, so I had mentioned that, you know, um, I was driving commuter cars and then I started working from home and then was like, I don't need a commuter car anymore. Like I kind of, And my Kia was getting up there. I think it was at like 140,000 miles. And I'm like, all right, this thing could go out. That's the end of life for a Kia, bro. Yeah, right. So it was like, I want to get something that fits the lifestyle I want to live.
Speaker: So I initially really wanted a forerunner, which I think a lot of. Forrester owners do, whether they admit it or not. We wanted a forerunner, bro. But then you're going to pay the Toyota tax on it. And the gas.
Speaker: Yeah, I learned what the Toyota tax was, and especially like when I was in the market a year and a half ago. like you know These things were going like crazy. They were coming out with the the new model and everything. so and Everybody wanted the old one.
Speaker: Yeah, and I was like, okay, if I get a 4Runner, it's going to stay stock because that's all I'm going to be able to afford. you know And really, I only like the 4Runners that were modified, that were lifted, and those just look awesome. And I know they're so capable and everything.
Speaker: Um, so I started looking at like alternatives, like, again, bring me back down to reality from what I really want to like, okay, what, what's practical for like my needs.
Speaker: And, uh, you know, so I started looking at, you know, the Honda trail sports, the, um, what else was there? I was looking at like rap bores, um, like the, I forget the, the trim, but it was like the adventure or something like that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And so then I started looking at all these YouTube videos and and the Subarus came up in all the like comparison videos.
Speaker: And originally i fell in love with the the Outback because I always dug station wagons. The weirder, the better. like I love underdogs. It's the underdog. Give me a station wagon. I was like, dude, i want the i want the station wagon. Then I found the wilderness trim and i was like, dude, that's it right there.
Speaker: And then I went and test drove them. And the first time I drove the outback i loved i was like, dude, it's got turbo. Exactly. Two, four D I T. Yeah. Like it felt good.
Speaker: The second time I test drove it, I was like, I don't know. It kind of feels like a boat And so um i was like, I just don't like it as much as I thought I did.
Speaker: And so i was like, let me try the Forester. And the sales dude is like, you're going to hate it. Like it doesn't have, it has no, yeah, there's no balls. And I'm like, honestly, like turbo is only going to get me in trouble. Like let's take the more practical route. And I test drove it, dude. And it just felt like home, dude. Like it was nice and roomy and spacious. And I was like, this is what I need right here.
Speaker: what What was it about the Forrester like um versus the Outback? I mean, I know therere technically they're a slightly different shape, but was there anything specific when you got in it? You were like, oh, this feels way better than the Outback?
Speaker: Headroom, dude. that's That's what it came down to was the headroom and the the panoramic sunroof. like It just felt open, and that's what I love. In the the Outback, I know it's longer, and I was like,
Speaker: I don't need, I'm not going to be back there really. Like, what do I care? There's more room back there. Like I want usable space and, um, you know, even sleeping back there, like, yeah, you can sleep back there, but you're kind of sleeping in a coffin, you know, like you don't have a lot of that headroom. So the forster you could sit up, um, when you're sleeping in the back, you know, relatively easy, got to kind of duck and dive, but it's, it's just more roomier than the outback.
Speaker: Yeah. i So that's what I agree with me with the Forrester. Yeah. Okay, cool. Hey, heck yeah, dude. Yeah. Uh, was there, were there supply issues? I mean, it sounds like you were able to jump right in and test drive one, but, um, did they have the one that you wanted and all the specs and everything on site or do you have to order one?
Speaker: So I didn't really care about the specs or anything. Like it was just like, I know I wanted a ah wilderness and I wanted black and, um, They did. It was back in, it was on nine eleven I remember i bought it on in 2024. That's how I remember. it's like That's gangster. Yeah, but back in 2024, and yeah, there were plenty of them. And the dealership, it's like part of the chain, so they're like, you know, if we don't have the color, we could ship one up from of our other stores and everything. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it was actually, it was like 10 Gs cheaper than the Outback I was looking at. So I was like, yeah, I mean, just all around, it just made sense. was like, I could put that 10 Gs into like doing mods. That makes sense. Retirement account, mods, anything other than, you know, a FA24 DIT engine that I am just going to get into trouble with. Because those cars are fast, bro.
Speaker: The Outback world is. Yeah, dude. they're They're faster than like ah what is it the VA WRXs. They're quick, bro. think Little monsters. It definitely had some get up and go, dude.
Speaker: What does your gas mileage look like in the car kind of as it sits? so a lot of my drive it's crazy because again i work from home my daughter's school is a mile and a half up the road the the grocery stores two miles down the road so i do a ton of super short trips and when it's that i'm looking at like nine ten miles an hour not an hour but miles per gallon but that's that's you know not typical Um, when I'm doing highway driving, I'm looking at like 23 usually 22 to 23.
Speaker: That's not bad. And in a four runner, even a stock foreigner, ah I don't know what the, you know, sticker is on those, but dude, you'd be, you're probably getting, te or something yeah, that's on a good day. Yeah. Yeah. That's if you're babying it. and Was there a specific mod or anything that you installed or did to the car that, that reduced the gas mileage or affected it specifically?
Speaker: the lift and tires for sure. and then when I was running the, the cargo box on top, you know, that affected it as well. Again, I wasn't too worried about the, the gas mileage is, you know, I got this thing to play around. And once I came to terms with like, this is like my adventure vehicle, you know, it was just kind of like,
Speaker: <unk>re We're going to take all the lumps that come with it. Yeah, I love that. yeah let's say there's somebody else that was in your position back in 2023. They've just bought this same car or a similar car.
Speaker: Let's say they got two grand. two and a half grand, whatever. What are the the biggest needle movers that if that's all they got right now to take the car and and turn it into something that can do what yours is doing?
Speaker: What are some of the first things you should tell them to her that they should prioritize? i mean, my first question is how are you going to use the car? I think that's the most important thing is, you know, you you want to build it.
Speaker: to your use you know don't throw a bunch of stuff on it that you know isn't what you need you're just gonna waste money um like a lot of these things look cool you know throwing three grand worth of lights on there and everything but ah i mean if you don't need it why spend the money you know i think um You don't want to cheap out. You don't want to go with the Amazon special for the lift or, you know, anything like that. Stick to the reputable.
Speaker: Yeah. There's reputable companies out there that have been tested and tried and true that whole thing. Go for that, you know? Yeah. Maybe a couple hundred dollars more, but you know what you're going to get. It's, it's going to prolong the, um,
Speaker: you know, longevity of your vehicle and just do, do it right. You know, you don't have to go crazy, but do it right. And you're only lying at once. It's not like tires. You can make a bad decision with tires all day. Cause they're to wear out anyways, man. Yeah, exactly. Like try them out, figure out what works for you, what doesn't, and you know, change it next time.
Speaker: yeah But I think, you know, doing the, of course the, the skid plates, the, the lift and tires are really all you need to go like fully enjoy your super everything else is just you know gravy yeah exactly and the scan gauge too if you're especially if you're in hot climates and like we're running the deserts we go to like you know dried lake beds and you know all over southern california it's basically ah just a huge desert so yeah that scan gauge i think is like the next best thing you could do
Speaker: it yeah i think um i only recently started thinking about that um i've never needed one personally for mine because i all my subarus are either ah manual transmission or have a a true automatic but man everybody now with the cbts you have to be able to look at those temperatures before it's too late because once the light comes on just go to the dealership and burn all your money in the parking lot and you know it is what it is dude 100 but i mean you can check your you can monitor your um coolant temps your oil temps your transmission fluid temperatures and in real time you know because a lot of the new subarus they don't have gauges they just have the dummy lights it's like bro you're killing me and it's almost as if you're planning this so people have to pay you to fix it dude don't don't spill their secrets but i think you hit everything on the head as far as like those are the answers i would have given literally exactly same thing so got any future mods that uh let's say two grand what's what are kind of your plans if somebody just wrote you you know two thousand five dollar you know five thousand dollar check whatever what would you go put on the car so again it's the things that that i want because it looks awesome versus like, you know, what I actually need on it.
Speaker: i don't think I need. Both are valid. You know, yeah i don't I don't hate on the look. component of it, but I need it to perform as well. yeah So like a a trail swing, dude, that that's like ah for the spare tire mount. That's something that I like go back and forth with because I know it adds the weight.
Speaker: But you know, when you put the bigger tires on, we we get a full size spare for the the wilderness. And when you put the 235 65s on, even if you deflate that spare tire and try and fit it in, the it doesn't work it lifts up. Yeah. And since when I camp, I sleep in the back, you know, it kind of affects that. Not horribly, especially because I have like ah an air mattress that i I put in there. And once you get the air mattress up, you can't tell that there's a little poke coming from the spare tire.
Speaker: um but it would be nice to get the spare tire out of there and free up that that space underneath to you know store some other things so that that's one another one is the the molly panels for the inside um dude speaking i just think it's so convenient to be able to pop off you know your fire extinguisher your shovel you know things like that but again i go back and forth because i sleep on in the inside when we go camping do i want to constrict this space even more you know and wake up and hit my shin on the sharp side of the shovel so like
Speaker: There's all these things that like, should I? But that I think the biggest thing is, dude, I want wheels. I want some Sparco Terras, the gold ones, because I just, dude, ever since I saw those, I was like, dude, that's beautiful.
Speaker: like It's classic rally design, bro. Exactly. And then with the black and and the gold, like it just, it's beautiful. Yeah. So I've been fighting that fight for a while now, like just kind of checking Facebook marketplace every day. Like maybe some will pop up eventually for a good price. and Yeah, I tell people all the time, man, like the majority of the stuff I own, I mean, I've spent a ton of money with ADF and with Primitive.
Speaker: and you know all the other companies that that i run but as far as like wheels i i don't think i have a single set of wheels i've ever paid full price for man if you keep your eyes open and you don't get that money burning a hole in your pocket it something will pop up you know yeah yeah and that's i've seen some sparkos come up one time but it was just at such a bad time dude where like money had to go somewhere else and like yeah everyone was sending them to because all my buddies know like i've been looking like keep an eye for sc gold sparkos dude and like so as soon as they came on the market my my inbox was flooded and i was just like well i can't right now guys yeah that that's the mark of a matured individual that knows that short-term pain for long-term gain is the way to go man yeah Yeah, but in it's ah purely an aesthetic thing, you know, because and it looks good with the wheels that come on it. They're not horrible wheels. You know, they look good.
Speaker: um It's just one of those things that I really want. I think it would just bring out so much more personality in the car, you know. Dude, and there's nothing like walking out to your car and it gives you that little like pep in your step. be like i see Oh, dude. this is I mean, i I already get that. So like, you know, all those little things like, you know, put some I've never been one to put stickers on a car decals or anything like that.
Speaker: But I did the eccentric design, the the fender hashes. Oh, yeah. Because I told you, we have six other black forest or wildernesses out here. So was like, I got to do something that kind of differentiates mine. You know, and I think ah throwing the gold wheels on top of that would just like like throw some gold Dayton's on it. Dude, that's totally my jam. Okay. thanks speaking I'm a little white boy, but dude, like I grew up in like in the 90s and yeah totally just like West Coast culture. and
Speaker: Did you ever see that video? of It was like, I don't remember. it's It was the homeless dude where he's, you remember MTV Cribs? Yeah, yeah. So somebody filmed this like goofy video that was making fun of MTV Cribs where they rolled up to like a homeless camp under a bridge. He's got like some cinder blocks and he's like, now I'm about to show you my ride. And he's got this fucking shopping cart and he's and he's showing the shopping cart that's like spray painted gold. He goes, gold motherfucking Dayton. Dude, I'm dead. and I haven't seen that, but that's like how feel about throwing those gold sparkles on it, dude.
Speaker: It's just like, those my datings.
Speaker: liked that series like i haven't seen that but that that's like how i feel about throwing those cold sparkos on it you i'm gonna those are my day You ever thought about a torque locker? You ever run into any issues where you think um one of those may have been helpful for you?
Speaker: You know, that's, a those are one of those things that like, I definitely see the benefit. um Because it's a $35,000 car that I still need to daily. Like, am I gonna, am I gonna run it that hard where like a torque locker is necessary?
Speaker: Not yet. You know, maybe, maybe later down the line, but yeah yeah, I think right now it's just balancing that functionality of like daily driving and off-roading.
Speaker: Um, I haven't gotten to a point where I wasn't able to clear an obstacle. Okay. And I've seen some of my buddies hit some, some limitations, but it was more about weight than, um, anything else. and And they're all running in the wildernesses as well.
Speaker: So I think, you know, we have the relatively lower gearing and and all that. Yes. Worked out fine, dude. And like, okay when i when i hit that limitation, like we'll see.
Speaker: Yeah, that's the way to approach it because they are they do what they're supposed to do and they work, but it might not be something that you need. So then it's like, okay, well, that was $400 and three hours of labor that I didn't need to invest. So you got any cheat codes for car camping in that in that vehicle? Are there like any any tips or specific accessories or items that you've purchased where you're like oh, this absolutely changed the car camping game for me?
Speaker: I'm glad you asked that. I'm still figuring that out right now. Like I've only had this like a year and you know four months and I've camped in it probably four times.
Speaker: um Before that, I would always do tent camping. So this is my first kind of car camping. one of the big things was ah getting these mesh nets that go over the door frame so that you could roll down the windows and not get bugs Condensation, bugs. Yeah, bro. Game changer. And then during the winter, so I run a, I have ah a power bank. It's not like a huge jackery or something. It's like this little Chinese like model. Yeah, but it works.
Speaker: But I run a fan off of it. So you can keep this little, i think it was like $10 on Amazon for this little fan that kicks just enough to like keep the air moving when you can't roll down the windows. okay And that was game changing.
Speaker: um Let's see. Tell me about the mattress. Oh, so the mattress, a buddy of mine actually was getting rid of his Haytrip. It's a Haytrip air mattress. I got a Haytrip little rollout mattress. Yeah, dude. dude Yeah. And it fits perfectly in the in the Forester. It's comfortable. It doesn't lose air. That's the biggest thing.
Speaker: So I initially had some like cheap, you know, air mattress from Amazon. And the first time me and my daughter went camping, you know, woke up with it deflated. My back was aching. And i was just like, oh, I don't know if I'll ever do this again. Yeah. And then so when my buddy was selling this, hey, trip, he was like, yeah, dude, like, give me 40 bucks and yours. And that has been absolutely game changing because if I can sleep in comfort, you know, and totally be comfortable.
Speaker: Okay. Yeah. So that, and then there's a couple different ways to configure the back seats to make sure, because you know you get that like dead space between the front seats and the back seats when you lay them down. When they're folded down, yeah. Yeah, so I take off the headrest of the front seat, move it all the way forward, lay it back, then put the back seats down, and it basically creates space. that's crazy. Yeah, dude, it sits, so the back seat, sits right on top of the the backrest for the front seat never thought to do that it gives it that stability and then you also like if you have you know your stuff up on the front seat you could easily access and grab it yeah yeah yeah you guys carry guns out there you guys carry guns when you go doing the doing the thing so so you have to okay you know like i feel like it's a necessity um me too and actually i Yeah, you absolutely have to. I actually need to get a new one. And I'm more worried about the two-legged predators than anything else, Same.
Speaker: want say this on the and all this stuff just just for the record all of these uh cordless hole punchers were tragically lost in a boating accident yeah just so everybody knows you know i actually i never got into podcasts until you came along wait i wanted to learn you know and so that's why i appreciate that you you bring on people that like have things to contribute and you bring it out of them and even if it's not technical knowledge it's like
Speaker: you know, what mistakes did you make that other people shouldn't make? Or, you know, what what did you learn from your camping setup? Or whatever it is, it's like those little nuggets that you could take away and be like, oh, dude, I never thought of that.
Speaker: It's so funny. Yeah, dude man. Thank you. That's like the best compliment I could get. But I've been binging your your shit for like the last, I don't know, three months. Oh, thanks, man. That's so sick. I'm so glad you agreed to come on. Are you nervous, by the way? How do you feel about this?
Speaker: uh i think the the biggest thing i was nervous about was just like again i don't have the technical knowledge and i was like yeah i don't know how much value i'm gonna give anybody but i was excited to talk to you as a person like i was just like because i know you know we're into the same music that the shit you put on your instagram when you put music it's the same stuff i listen to you know when you told me you When you skateboard, snowboard. yeah And so like my buddies that I grew up with them, I told them, Hey, I'm doing a podcast. And they're like, what are you going talk about? And I'm like, this guy is one of us. And they're like, dude, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. it's so funny. Cause like, you know, i' I might, if you, all you had to go on was like my Instagram stories, you'd think I was like a Satan worshiper. People say like, Oh, you're my voice of reason. And like, you know, just super like, you know, practical person yeah and all good. My parents are hippies, like just love and positivity and all that stuff. But like you so you've see my music and you're like, it's either gangster rap or or hardcore death core. yeah Like I said, punk, skate punk, like all of that stuff I grew up on. Okay. Sickest death core album. What are you putting on? If you can only put one death core album in the CD player, assuming we still have them.
Speaker: So this might be kind of played out at this point. Who cares? I'm really into Lorna Shore. Oh, dude, their stuff is sick, bro. Will Ramos has like a one of a kind voice.
Speaker: Like, yeah, anatomically, nobody even with all the training could do what he does. Dude, and I'm just amazed by it. like Even if like the musicality isn't at that the same place as other bands or like it's not you know one of the original bands, like I just think it's so beautiful the way they do it. Well, Chelsea Grin back yeah in the early days, Suicide Silence, they came and like pushed the genre into something that was...
Speaker: You know, a little bit more just something that people were listening to a little more wide widely. Yeah. And then things kind of started to get more orchestral and people plan to click tracks and stuff like that.
Speaker: But Lorna Shore, bro, like everybody hates on that style of deathcore, but they're the ones who did it and put it out in a way that. everybody was copying, you know, the same, same way Mitch lucker, you know, transformed it before he passed away. Like that's what they're doing, you know? Yes. And their stuff is so good, bro. Like art what's that?
Speaker: Why can't I remember his last name? The drummer, Archie. whatever his name is i don't yeah don't even know his name his blast beats get me so stoked like you're a dude yeah it's just that shit that just oh yeah and like i bands like have heart um raised fist uh agnostic front like those are yeah those are like my go-to like hardcore bands I think I pretty much like picked your brain nonstop about car stuff. I want to ask you about life, bro. Yeah, yeah. We grew up pretty much under the same circumstances.
Speaker: ah So I feel like you kind of understand like what it takes to to hustle. But here's one i want to what I want to ask you, man. There's a lot of, you know, car mods cost money. Life costs money. Having fun costs money. And a lot of people grew up in the same circumstances that you and I did.
Speaker: And I'm super stoked to hear that like you put yourself through school while working full time. You got an MBA. You're crushing it now. What would you tell like, you know, your 20 year old self?
Speaker: It's a good question, man. I think for me, what it was, was when, when we got to around 20, you know, teens was just,
Speaker: We were hoodlums, dude. You're just making, hot yeah. You're just having fun. You're having fun. But by the time you're 20, you start to see where those paths start to take people, right? Where it was like, oh, shit, this person died. Johnny's in jail for yeah drunk driving. Yeah, this person's in jail.
Speaker: This person's an at addict. like It's kind of like, damn. they All right, what am I going to do? And like I was, I felt like my way of rebelling was kind of like, let me do the opposite of what ah like most my friends are doing or the people I grew up around.
Speaker: So let me start going to school. And honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Like there was no clear direction of, I want to be this, you know, i decided to go to school and the the approach I took was like, I'm going to go to the local community college and I'm going to do business because everything's a business you know when it comes down to it, no matter what skills or anything you're managing, like if you want to make money, it's a business.
Speaker: So let me go for business. Um, And then I was I was also ah i was actually a behavioral therapist for children with autism. Wow. Yeah. While I was going to school, it was just something I fell into, dude. like But I bet you loved it, right?
Speaker: You know what? It was amazing because I love kids. like And I've always been great. I've always been great with kids. And I had a friend who was she was a supervisor for this company.
Speaker: And she was like, have you ever thought of doing this? And I'm like, I didn't even know that existed. Like, what are you talking about? And I was like, but I, you know, I don't have a psychology degree. Like, and she was like, No, literally, you just have to be good with kids. Like, we'll teach you, you will teach you everything you need to know about the therapy part of it.
Speaker: um To do ABA therapy, but like, you just need to be like a good person and good with kids. So was like, all right, cool. Yeah, I'll do that. And so I was doing that while i was going to college.
Speaker: And after a while, it's a very, it's a taxing job, dude, like emotionally, physically, like it takes a lot out of you. But As I was going through school and becoming you know more knowledgeable in business practices, the company that I was working for actually like noticed some opportunities for them where like you know they could improve in like their you know policies and procedures manual, the way they were doing scheduling, you know that kind of stuff.
Speaker: So i was like, hey, you know, I kind of want to step away from this therapy role, but I love if you guys hired me on as like an office manager or administrative coordinator something where I could bring the things I'm learning in business school.
Speaker: That's sick. Yeah. So then I got into that. And it just kind of, you know, things evolved without necessarily having a specific direction. But like the more the harder I work, the more I really leaned into, you know, doing the right thing and trying to better myself and take advantage of every opportunity that presented itself.
Speaker: um that's kind of how i got to where i am now like none of this stuff was intentional really except yeah like yeah let me keep going let me keep trying to get better and let me keep trying to progress dude well you know what they say man you can't steer a ship that ain't moving you know right does it he doesn't keep keep going yeah yeah dude i love that man i Growing up in poverty, did you did you kind of have to overcome that mental barrier of feeling like money and like financial you know freedom or maneuverability was this like ethereal thing that only people who were born into it had access who were lucky people? Did you kind of have that the back of your head unknowingly?
Speaker: Absolutely. Dude, same. and And now it's like, even though you know by I'm not rich by any means. but Me neither. yeah but i'm surviving and like you know i i'm not worrying about can i pay rent where's my next meal coming yeah things like that you're paying your bills which is yeah but in this day and age is impressive it is i still have this like imposter syndrome you know like um yeah Am I really the right person to be, you know, giving this huge presentation in front of yeah all these people? Like, who am I to like, you know, but then you also have to like take ownership of it, you know? And like, I think you just fight those feelings because
Speaker: It's funny, I work with a ton of doctors and and senior level you know directors and executives, and it's crazy how many of them have those same exact feelings. yeah same The same, the imposter syndrome, the like, you know who am I to be doing this? And I'm like, really? I think you're like amazing. You're a doctor, you know, this stuff, but same feelings I have.
Speaker: We have so much less time than what we think. And I'm so think, you know, what's funny, the the thing that kind of broke a lot of that, like silly mindset off of me was listening to i just came across some Gary V videos.
Speaker: Do you know Gary? I know Gary V. He's the wine dude, right? Exactly. Go to garage sales and shit like that. Yeah. Hearing Gary Vee cuss at me through the screen and hearing that dude, i was kind like... A little gremlin. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Hearing him kind of say that stuff, I was like, you know what? It kind of is true. Like, nobody owes me a dime.
Speaker: Nobody's coming to to bail me out. No... if you want If you want an opportunity, like everybody's sitting there waiting for an opportunity to show up because everybody hears it's not what you know, it's who you know. And you're just waiting for those opportunities. and it's like, well, there's nothing saying you can't go make those connections with those who you know people. There's so much opportunity that people are leaving on the table, man. It's crazy. like I feel like your stories exemplify that. Like talking about how you reached out to Patrick at ADF.
Speaker: And you know like, let me take you out for lunch. And like, just these like, hey, you know, I want to reach out to someone and just kind of get to know them as a person. But you don't know what connections that's going to build for the future.
Speaker: And like, so I do this, ah I professionally coach this one dude right now at work. Sick. And, you know, I was telling him like, basically we're going over this problem that he had and he he was identifying the problem. I'm like, okay, what's the solution?
Speaker: And he's like, I don't know. And I'm like, Well, this is how we're going to like your job as a project manager. Like, yeah, part part of it is to identify the problems. But if you want to take it to the next level, let's propose a solution, dude. Like even if they don't go for the solution, like anytime you identify a problem, like try to solve that problem and i present that that potential solution.
Speaker: Because maybe nobody else has any better ideas. And they're like, you know what? That could work. Let's try it And maybe that solution totally changes the game. And now you just totally elevated yourself. like Now you're a consultant that can charge 500 bucks an hour.
Speaker: Right. like And you never know. And so like we just had that meeting this morning and it was like it's those things where you just look at how can I, you know,
Speaker: make things better? How can I solve problems? How can I make connections with people and be valuable? I think that's the the biggest thing I've tried to embody is like, how can i bring value? How can I be valuable to other people?
Speaker: And even You know, i used to be a clinic manager running like a primary care and specialty clinics for all do this. Yeah, this hospital system I work for.
Speaker: But my whole like spiel when I was doing that was like, I'm here for the staff and like the doctors, like, how can I be of service to you? You know, how can I make your life better?
Speaker: How can I make your job easier? How can I give you the tools you need to do your job even better? And I think that's like, if you take that approach in life, dude, like people will find, like see your value and you know, opportunities will open up. Well, yeah I like what you were saying when you were doing that, um, when you were working with, uh, you say it was kids with, uh, with autism.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you it's like, you said hey there's something here that i think i could help you guys do better can you make a position for me where where most people they're like there's not a job posting about this so i'm not even gonna ask no dude you gotta say i'm just gonna say hey you're gonna hire me and it's gonna you're gonna pay me this and it's gonna net you 5x what you're paying me you'd be stupid not to take this deal A thousand percent, dude. Like they created that position because I asked for it and I i presented a case.
Speaker: yeah i was like, dude, just do it. It'll be worth it This is why. and it was. And it then it led me into like, you know, my next role. Yeah. That's so sick. And it was all out of necessity, too, because I'd left that that job where I was working with the the company that did the behavioral therapy, okay going to to my current company because my ah when I found out that I was going to be a dad, it was like, okay,
Speaker: the insurance situation at my current company, they didn't cover a lot. Like I was going to be out, you know, probably like $1,200 a month to like pay for, for me and my daughter to have insurance. Okay. And then, so, um, it was like, I have to find something that has better benefits, you know? uh,
Speaker: my My daughter's mom, her brother was like a nurse director at this company. So he was a nurse director at this company and said like, dude, come here, start at the bottom, get your foot in however you can. You know your work ethic, you'll work your way up.
Speaker: And he was like, they have amazing benefits, they have pension, all that stuff. So that's what I did, dude. I started as a float, a front desk float. Literally, whenever someone would call out across make like basically all of California, they would say, here, drive two and a half hours away to cover this clinic for the day.
Speaker: you know And I'm sitting at the front desk checking people's insurance and checking them in. But within six months, dude, I was promoted to like, ah you know, the next two levels. And then within a year, I was made a manager. And then within three years, I got headhunted into this project manager role that like, again, I didn't and apply for. They came to me and they were like, you know what? You do such a great job yeah being a manager.
Speaker: Like, how would you feel about joining our team and like helping other managers learn to do what you do? I'm like, yeah, that sounds awesome, dude. Let's do it. If you approach everything, whether it's a business venture or a job, how do I help the most amount of people and how do I deliver the most help?
Speaker: And if you can figure that out, the rest of it, people will come to you begging to give you money. And that's exactly like in your situation. Come work for us. They paying you 120 over there. I got 160 with your name on it.
Speaker: Come through. We have great insurance. I'm at the point where I have to turn down opportunities because right now that this work from home situation, you know, because I get to pick up my daughter from school and the flexibility. That's priceless. Being able to be there with my daughter. That is like, worth so much more than yeah extra 10, 20k a year, whatever it is. Yeah. I'm in the same boat where it's like people ask me to do freelance contract work. like, bro, I don't have time. i don't need to. the The company that I work for currently, they were at like a fourth of the production that they're at now.
Speaker: And i think maybe their monthly budget for marketing was like 10 grand. Yeah. And I came in, I was like, bro, you guys are spending seven grand on radio ads. What the fudge are you doing with this? I was like, call the, like you guys sign these contracts. You let's get on a call with them right now.
Speaker: ah we have an emergency. We can't pay these. We're gonna need to put them on hold, whatever we got to say to get out of these. You give me three grand and I'll get you triple whatever you're getting from this crap. And here we are, you know, seven years later, their budget is the same now. And we're like, literally, we've completely cornered the market. Like, absolutely. crush Oh, dude.
Speaker: Anybody you do mostly online marketing? That's the majority of what I do. ah Yeah, or that's, I think it's the best bang for the buck. Yeah. Dude, nowadays, yeah. And I can track it. I can, because with a radio ad, it's like you put out a radio ad, you just hope somebody hears it and calls you.
Speaker: With a Google ad or a Facebook ad, I don't pay anything unless that ad gets served. You know, it doesn't just get served by the masses and then... You know, it doesn't matter how many people listen to Spotify because i only ah only paid for the ones that listened. Like, who gives a fudge? Did you go to school for marketing?
Speaker: ah No, I didn't. But I was when you were talking about business and i trying to figure out, I don't know what I want to do, but I need to go to school. That's the exact thought process I had. I went and got a business degree because I was like, I don't know what I want to do. But like you said, everything's a business. So I could work in automotive industries. I could work in action sports industries. I could work in any industry with this type of a degree, as long as I have the work ethic to back it up.
Speaker: Um, that was another funny thing as you were talking, I was like, Oh, we are the same person. yeah You got, you got smoother legs than I do, even though I shave them, but we're basically the same person, bro. I can't have the tree trunk quads. If the, if I got leg here, bro, I got to shave it. dude either Jack, do you work out a ton? Um,
Speaker: and Do I really? Well, you probably got the body dysmorphia going on. but it's that Yeah, you look jacked, especially saying that you were like 125 pounds six feet tall. Oh, was. I'm not even playing. That's not even an exaggeration. here I was literally that weight.
Speaker: it It was bad, but I was just, you know... too And I had anxiety, so I hardly ate. So I was skateboarding all the time. worst thing ever, bro. i As I got older, I figure put the pieces together. you know Like, oh, i had this happened to me when I was a kid and never remembered it until i was about 20 and was like oh i probably need some help hey when you grow up you know in in the slums and below that poverty line dude you're most likely got some some trauma there too once i once i realized it was there it's like for me it was easy to forgive the person and be like okay i'm over you know we're gonna move on with that i'm gonna let that go i don't care what anybody says dude if it wasn't for god i wouldn't be on planet earth anymore i'd be dead i'd be in prison Something like that. And so that was a big part of me being able to let go of that stuff.
Speaker: But man, life gets so much easier when you like let go of things that people have done to you or whatever, man. It's crazy though, because that's part of my story with this whole Subaru shit is, you know, when I got out of that relationship and moved to this condo and it was, you know, me and my daughter, I have my daughter 50% of the time and like just trying to start life over again. Yeah. And,
Speaker: You know, all like it totally ruined. Like i was super like had so many friends growing up and everything in my teenage years when we were doing all the crazy shit and snowboarding, you know, for all the sports, you you make ten friends and all that shit. Exactly.
Speaker: when i started going to school and gotten that super toxic relationship like all that just left and so i was like super isolated so when i i got this condo and like started to build my life again and was like you know i'm gonna get myself a nice car that you know i could go out and an adventure and and take my daughter camping and then may are like like came into this community of yeah dude and like All those people that I named earlier, like yeah they're they're really good friends at this point, dude. And like, I mean, we talk daily on Instagram, you know, sending messages and then we get together all the time and do these runs or go camping. And it's just, dude, it's it's been like a 180 turnaround for my life. And like, it's just so happy and free. And like, it' it's just, you know, and really it's because of this car and like, yeah it's nuts, dude.
Speaker: Dude, that makes me so happy because like, you know, I wouldn't have known any of that stuff about your life if you hadn't hadn't mentioned it. And, um, I'm in the same boat. Some of my, actually I'd say i just, my best friend, uh, well, you you know about this, but my, my friend the one that passed away. Yeah. He, he was my best friend. I would say pretty much would, would drop anything if I needed something and vice versa.
Speaker: That's how I met him, dude. Cars off road. It's crazy. What brings you together and like how it, you know, how it works. I got a question for you. oh yeah, let's go.
Speaker: Music. want to hear what my music are you into. I know like the death horn stuff. What Or like what are your top bands? This is going to sound a little funny, but BB King, anything that Mozart wrote or Bach, like that's my, that's that was like, to me, like ah metal is modern day classical music. Like even the modes. 100% dude.
Speaker: all the modes that are used in like a lot of deathcore stuff it's been a minute since i've looked at music theory but like it's all written in those same like all how what is it like harmonic miners and melodic miners all that stuff bro that's that's like a lot of deathcore and a lot of metal is is all that all that it's so The way I listen to music is Pandora.
Speaker: oh yeah yeah spent so many years building my Pandora yeah library that I refused to like give up on it. yeah but like When I have it on shuffle, it'll go from like classical to hardcore to punk.
Speaker: to what like it's just all oldies like it's just all over the place but i yeah always thought like the classical it's essentially metal dude that's like exactly what it is piano metal that's all it is yeah do you play guitar by chance no so my family's super musical like my dad plays the drums i have cousins that are in bands my brother played the guitar I did not get any of that fucking talent. I got short, stubby fingers and i they just don't work very quickly. yeah But I have that love for music, just like Cars.
Speaker: I love Cars. don't know shit about it. love music. don't know shit about it. Do you though? Yeah, I started playing guitar when I was about 18 or 19 just for fun. And um there's ah there's a technique in like you know neoclassical guitar playing or you know metal.
Speaker: It's called sweep picking. and you're you're basically Do you know the ah like basic functionality of how you strum a guitar? Yeah, strumming and and finger picking. Yeah.
Speaker: So sweep picking is you're essentially playing an arpeggio, which an arpeggio is just a chord broken down note by note. And hu you're basically strumming the guitar with your, you know, with your dominant hand, just one down stroke and one fluid up stroke. But as you're doing that, you're moving your, your left hand up and down.
Speaker: And it sounds exactly like how you could play a piano. Really? Because with a piano, there's only one mechanical thing that has to happen with your with your body in order to get a note.
Speaker: And so that's how they're able to get those crazy, like, you know, that, that piano sound where it's like, you just had a run of like 16 notes right there in, in you know a second and a half.
Speaker: And it, it was like one of the hardest things I ever like tried to figure out how to learn. I finally found ah an exercise that helped me break away. Like the, the picking motion of the right hand from your left hand motion. But you're so right, man. Like, uh, death chord, you know,
Speaker: metal it doesn't matter what it is a lot of it yeah it's all just modern day Bach you know it's literally what it is but dude I'm a huge fan like if I was if I was going in my car right now and somebody said you can't listen to a podcast you have to listen to music I'm probably picking like the Chelsea Grin EP or Desolation of Eden either one they both had a bunch of good jams on them a lot of the same stuff Or did you ever listen to that Bring Me the Horizon EP?
Speaker: like the first Oh, yeah. Bro, that was the most dirt, nasty, trashy deathcore on the planet. It was so good. And I mean, now i'm i'm stoked that they're paying their kids college funds now with all their money. They're very different bandwins.
Speaker: their Their EP was so good. Count Your Blessings was good. Just like just dirty MySpace era deathcore. Just trashy. like I love that stuff, bro. Dude, that's awesome. it Like August Burns Red. Did you listen them? Constellations. with i mean, I know. What was that? Messengers that came out.
Speaker: I think was Messengers their first album. um I don't remember, but Constellations the one. I'm horrible with that shit. Like remembering like timelines. and Yeah. Constellations, that album's the one that had like Mariana's Trench and all that stuff on it. ah Bro, absolute heater. And they had all just like recently, if I remember right, they'd all kind of just started playing their instruments, right? Like just a few years before that record was recorded.
Speaker: and what a slammer bro just back to back hammers like the the guitars that you know have two guitar players and like you know the harmonizing guitars on that record dude absolute just killers and then like uh the cleansing the suicide silence album oh dude were you into were you into metalcore before you got in into deathcore um like um kill switch engage and all that type of stuff like that or like have you ever heard of like nodes of brand va or no i know her i know about under nine oh yeah and as i lay dying was sick yeah yeah yeah yeah so that yeah that was kind of like my transition into like deathcore was like sick listening to that like metalcore stuff and i was like
Speaker: where's this been my whole life like it's melodic but still heavy like yeah that's beautiful and then deathcore came out and it was like this this is what i've been waiting for in my whole life yeah it yeah so awesome metalcore is a little bit more refined and actually has like you know, very clear cut elements of, of like traditional metal, but death core is just like, okay, now we're all playing seven and eight strings and we're going to like, essentially like the Brown note, make you guys poop yourself. yeah yeah When we, when we come out on stage and hit that opening note, you know, but I love it all. like
Speaker: Did you, did you ever do like hardcore dancing? No, I never did any of that stuff. Did you ever listen to like Chiodos at all? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude, when i go back and listen to it, I'm like, dang, this was actually sick. Like, this was well organized. They have parts, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. They have a lot of songs where it's like,
Speaker: again, it's classically written. It's like the opening, you know, riffs and phrasing and everything that they use never gets touched again throughout the rest of the song. Right. Like, and then they take everything through these crazy stages throughout every single song. You're like, wait, how do they end up here in this key, bro? Like, it's crazy. Revisiting some of those old bands that yeah you kind of lost track of and then hearing it with like a more mature ear. Yeah. Yeah. did you ever listen to like attack attack not really i feel like that that's like more emo midwest uh like stuff right yeah i never got too into yeah i think like uh silverstein was kind of like the closest i got to that yeah hawthorne heights but yeah now i didn't go too deep into that rabbit hole
Speaker: I hated a Attack Attack when I was younger, but ah as I got older, I'm like, oh these this was actually ah ah a hitter, dude. This is a good good record. I'll have to check it out because I haven't listened to them. I've heard like a song or something. Okay, dude, their stuff, um whatever that record was that they put out that had like Stick Stickly on it, that album is actually good. It had some heavy, heavy like verses and and breakdowns. like all this That's exciting, man. I'll have to yeah check it out. yeah Yeah, definitely go check it out. But their guitar player, ah their guitar player, I think, clean vocalist. um
Speaker: i mean Have you ever heard the band Bill Murray? no I didn't even know that was a band. So it's spelled phonetically like B-I-L-M-U-R-I. It sounds like the actor. ah Yeah. It's like, it's going to sound like the worst mix of music, but it's some of the sickest music I've heard in a long time. I should have brought this up earlier when you asked me what I like to listen to, but it's like, um would say country death core almost.
Speaker: Like, dude, I love I love those fucking. but So like all the Irish punk and stuff like blogging Molly. Yeah. Dropkick. Dropkick. Yeah. All that stuff.
Speaker: Like, and but then you got like swinging udders, which like kind of infused like the the country is shit. Yeah. yeah that sounds right up my alley dude it sounds bad but it's actually when you hear it you're like oh this is actually good and i feel happy and oh now they hired a saxophone player sick like it's so good yeah okay okay let's bring this in for a landing otherwise i'm gonna talk your ear off you're not gonna get to bed yeah for sure for sure um let me I've enjoyed it though. It's been good shit.
Speaker: Oh dude, thanks for doing this man. I know i know you were a little hesitant at first but for what it's worth you absolutely crushed it and i appreciate it. Oh absolutely and you delivered a lot of like very practical advice.
Speaker: None of this stuff needs to be technical. You offered real usable advice that the average person can grab and be like oh that makes total sense and it was all delivered in terms that me 10 years ago would have understood perfectly so thank you yeah that's i try that's like my whole jam at work is like take yeah technical or or complex like content and like make it digestible for like yes these medical assistants that like just barely graduated high school and like yeah how can you understand it so like i'm glad that that translated
Speaker: Heck yeah. um You got a YouTube channel or sponsors or anything that we can shout out here to get you some money? No, man. I wish, but okay ah just check me out on Instagram, skatefaz.
Speaker: Appreciate a follow. Follow you back. and yeah Sick. Dude, appreciate you, man. This was sick.
