Ride-in-Style Podcast: Episode 29 Tom Sylvester of Dirtnerds Offroad
- 00:00 – Introduction and Guest Welcome
- 01:02 – The Origin of Dirt Nerds
- 01:33 – Dirt Nerds Business Overview
- 02:38 – Automotive Journey
- 05:20 – Dirt Nerds’ Market and Services
- 10:35 – Challenges in the Automotive Industry
- 12:45 – Dream Off-Road Vehicles
- 17:20 – Choosing the Right Tires and Lift Kits
- 19:07 – Discussing Business Philosophy and Competition
- 20:51 – Retail vs. Dealership Work
- 23:08 – Custom Fabrication and Unique Builds
- 24:23 – SEMA Show and Industry Involvement
- 29:57 – Future Plans and Industry Trends
Building an Off-Road Community: A Conversation with Tom Sylvester of Dirt Nerds Off-Road
When you meet Tom Sylvester, founder of Dirt Nerds Offroad, you quickly realize he’s more than just another shop owner. He’s a gearhead, a community builder, and a storyteller whose passion for off-roading has grown into a full-fledged brand. Recently, Tom sat down with Jesse Stoddard and Josh Poulson on the Ride-in-Style Podcast to share how Dirt Nerds came to life, what sets his team apart, and where the off-road scene is headed.
From Garage Projects to a Thriving Shop
The story of Dirt Nerds started in the most authentic way possible—friends wrenching on their rigs in a garage. Tom had been working on cars since his teenage years, and his driveway quickly became the go-to spot whenever someone in his circle bought a new lift kit or needed help with a project. What began as side jobs for friends of friends turned into something much bigger.
Today, Dirt Nerds Off-Road is both a shop and a brand. Based in Northern Virginia, the company does everything from routine maintenance to custom fabrication for Jeeps, Toyotas, trucks, and more. With five team members (and plans to add more), the shop is growing quickly—proof of just how strong the off-road community is on the East Coast.
The Origin of the “Dirt Nerds”
The name wasn’t born in a marketing meeting. It was a joke among friends. “We were all four-wheeling together, and someone just called us a bunch of nerds,” Tom recalled. “That’s when someone said, ‘Does that make us the Dirt Nerds?’ It stuck, and we built a whole business around it.”
That down-to-earth authenticity runs through everything Dirt Nerds does. It’s not just a shop; it’s a community. Their Dirt Drive podcast, T-shirts, events, and social presence all reinforce that identity and bring people together around a shared love of off-roading.
A Different Approach to Business
In a crowded market with multiple specialty shops nearby, Tom knew Dirt Nerds had to stand out. His philosophy is simple but powerful: don’t oversell.
“I don’t need to take your money—your vehicle will take the money for us,” Tom said. In an industry where upselling is often the norm, this approach builds trust. Customers come back because they know they’ll get straightforward answers, fair advice, and quality work.
That honesty extends to how Tom and his crew handle second opinions. Instead of turning every visit into a long list of “must-do” repairs, they focus on what truly matters now while helping customers plan for the future. It’s a refreshing model that’s earning them loyalty in a competitive industry.
Off-Roading as a Lifestyle
For Tom, off-roading isn’t just about business—it’s a lifestyle. Whether it’s a 600-mile endurance rally, a weekend camping trip, or a cars-and-coffee morning, he’s out there living the culture he serves. His own Jeep Wrangler JK, complete with a 4.5-inch lift and big plans for 37s, isn’t a showroom piece. It’s a family rig, a rally vehicle, and a rolling testbed for the kind of builds Dirt Nerds delivers.
Interestingly, he admits that while Jeeps are his specialty, they’re also “America’s most reliably unreliable vehicle.” But that’s exactly why he and his team have so much work—and so much fun.
Looking Ahead: Growth and Innovation
Dirt Nerds isn’t slowing down. Tom has his sights set on bigger projects, more custom fabrication, and deeper involvement in the industry. The shop recently expanded into a larger space, giving them room to push further into one-off builds and potentially enter vehicles into SEMA’s prestigious Pro Cup Challenge.
At the same time, Tom is passionate about giving back to the off-road community and advocating for the industry. Whether it’s through the Dirt Drive podcast, supporting SEMA initiatives, or simply helping enthusiasts enjoy their vehicles safely and responsibly, he’s carving out a role as both builder and leader.
The Bigger Picture
What makes Tom Sylvester stand out isn’t just his mechanical expertise or business savvy. It’s the sense of community and transparency he brings to everything he does. Dirt Nerds Off-Road isn’t just a shop where you bolt on parts—it’s a hub where people can learn, share, and feel like they’re part of something bigger.
For Tom, that’s the real payoff. “Off-roading is accessible,” he explained. “You don’t need a race car or a trailer. You can hop in your Jeep, go explore the woods, and come home happy. That’s what makes it so exciting—it’s for everyone.”
Connect with Dirt Nerds Off-Road
If you want to follow Tom and the Dirt Nerds crew, head to dirtnerdsoffroad.com. There you’ll find links to their shop, their Dirt Drive podcast, and their social channels. Whether you’re a hardcore rock crawler, a weekend overlander, or just a fan of well-built machines, you’ll feel right at home.
Read The Transcript
Jesse Stoddard: Welcome to another episode of the Ride and Style podcast. We’ve got a great guest today, Tom Sylvester of Dirt Nerds Off-Road. Uh, Tom, how are you doing today?
Tom Sylvester: Good, good. Thanks for having me on.
Josh Poulson: Dirt
Jesse Stoddard: Awesome.
Josh Poulson: nerds. I love it. So, who came up with the name
Tom Sylvester: Uh, so years ago, before we even had the business and the shop and everything, we were all four-wheeling together and, uh, collectively we’re a bunch of nerds, like, you know, whether it’s Star Wars or Cars or whatever. And uh someone just referred to us as a bunch of nerds and we were like, “Does that make us the dirt nerds?” And it just kind of stuck and we’ve been the we’ve had that name since. We’ve built a whole business around it.
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Jesse Stoddard: All right.
Josh Poulson: So tell us a little bit about your business. How so how did the business start and what all you guys did into
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. So we we’re kind of multifaceted to a degree where like we have the brand, the Durn’s off-road brand. Sorry about the noise.
Josh Poulson: No,
Tom Sylvester: I
Josh Poulson: you
Tom Sylvester: am at
Josh Poulson: hit
Tom Sylvester: the shop.
Josh Poulson: me.
Tom Sylvester: Um, but we also have like an off-road specialty shop to go with the the brand and the social media side of things. Um, so we do everything from oil changes to custom fabrication. Um, Jeeps, Toyotas, trucks, all that. Uh, my background, I’ve been working on cars since I was a teenager. And in that group of friends, we, you know, like, oh, got bought a new lift kit. It was always at my house in my garage. And started building friends of friends Jeeps. and it just very quickly uh exploded into a a side business which became my my full-time job pretty quick. So,
Josh Poulson: and how many people you have working.
Tom Sylvester: uh there’s five of us here now. Um planning on hiring a sixth and probably a seventh by the end of the year.
Josh Poulson: Nice.
Tom Sylvester: So, growing pretty rapidly.
Jesse Stoddard: And how did you first get into automotive in general? Like just you personally, how did you even get started?
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Um, as a kid, I just always had model cars as a kid. Um, I grew up about two miles from Englishtown Raceway Park in New Jersey. Um, so my my dad had a friend who who drag raced. So I would do cruise nights and things like that as as a as a teenager. And it just kind of love at first sight, which we joke like, you know, my dad doesn’t really isn’t handy. And I became the kid that, you know, was taking my bicycle apart. And my first car was a project car before I even had a driver’s license. I convinced my parents to let me buy a car. Um, had no idea how to fix it. But it’s just been kind of an ongoing thing since since I was a young kid. Always tinkering with RC cars, model cars, whatever it was.
Josh Poulson: Wow. So, so how much do time do you guys spend like going out to races and stuff?
Tom Sylvester: Uh, if you ask my wife, too much too much time.
Tom Sylvester: Um, we actually just this past weekend, we just did a off-road um like endurance rally. So, it was 600 miles off-road in 24 hours or less straight through, no stopping. Um, so fairly often. Um, you know, I still I try and get out to as many events as I can. the e like we’re on the east coast. We’re based out of uh Northern Virginia, DC suburbs, and the the off-road stuff is really growing on the east coast here.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Um I’m actually headed to Pennsylvania in two days for an Ultra Four race just to go up and spectate with friends and and hang out with some people. Um so, so I still still get into it pretty often and you know, cars and coffees on a Sunday morning kind of thing.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. Does a lot of your business come from I mean does that drum up business for you or is it just a it’s just a hobby and
Tom Sylvester: little bit of both. Um, mostly hobby. Um, we do we we do the events to just kind of grow the brand.
Tom Sylvester: Um, the shop stays pretty busy and that kind of has allowed us to also expand in the business side of it, but we have a we have a pretty pretty stout off-road market here in uh in in Virginia, which is surprising to a lot of people.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. Appalachia, right?
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. It’s like where we are, we’re we’re about 10 minutes from Doul’s airport. So, if you drive four hours, you can be in West Virginia, Pennsylvania. There’s 2500 miles of fire roads in the GW National Forest. Like, there’s so much off-roading around here. Um, and there’s there’s a huge huge market for it.
Jesse Stoddard: So, you guys have you guys have a couple things going on. You have Dirt Nerds Motors. Uh you have your podcast also. Uh
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: uh Dirt Drive podcast I think it’s called, right?
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: And um and then uh uh Dirt Nerds Off-Road, which is more of the community. Is that correct?
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yep. So, yeah, the the dirt nerds off-road, it’s a officially a separate business. Um, but you know, that’s that’s kind of what we focus on, hosting the events, doing the um the t-shirt sales and the the podcast and all the social media stuff falls under that. And then and then we have the shop just kind of the shop officially started as like an all-around shop, you know, being a car guy. I’m not just Jeeps. Um, so
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: like some of the first projects I did were like there was a 70 Chevel we did some rust repair on. You know, we’ve built some motors. We’ve done a lot of variety, but the just because I do so much off-roading, it’s just kind of what I turn the business of focus to.
Jesse Stoddard: Got
Tom Sylvester: So,
Jesse Stoddard: it.
Josh Poulson: But Jeeps, is that is Jeeps your specialty though?
Tom Sylvester: um yeah. Yeah, we we we have a running joke um on the podcast and as a group, we’re the anti- Jeep Jeep Club.
Tom Sylvester: Um we all own Jeeps, we all hate Jeeps. Uh they’re America’s most reliably unreliable vehicle. Um,
Josh Poulson: Yep.
Tom Sylvester: so yeah, just being a Jeep guy, like we we specialize in them. Um, but we we don’t we don’t discriminate. We’re off-road guys is what we like to say.
Josh Poulson: Gotcha.
Tom Sylvester: Um, Jeep Jeep is just the Swiss Army knife of Swiss Army knife of off-roading. So,
Josh Poulson: So, what about all the UTV stuff? Are you guys doing all that or not yet?
Tom Sylvester: I’ve dabbled in it. We don’t have as much of a demand for it. Um, they’re not street legal in Virginia yet.
Josh Poulson: Okay,
Tom Sylvester: So, I think that that kind of holds a lot of people
Josh Poulson: it’s
Tom Sylvester: back.
Josh Poulson: coming. It’s coming east.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Oh, it definitely. I mean, West Virginia, right? Like I live on the West Virginia border, so like if I go across the Harbor’s Ferry, they’re they’re buzzing around all over the place.
Tom Sylvester: Um the race we just did in West Virginia, people were driving side by sides on the highways and whatnot. So, it’s it’s definitely coming. I’m excited to see what what it does. U because I mean, you’re investing as much into a sidebyside as you are a Jeep these days.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: So,
Jesse Stoddard: And we’re talking about like lift kits, uh, wheels and tires, accessories,
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: suspension. What What kind
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: What kind of stuff do you guys do?
Tom Sylvester: Literally all of it. Um I’ve got the two Jeep I’ve got two Jeeps in for repair and we’re starting a gear job this afternoon. So, and I’ve got a Blazer getting an LS put in it. So, we’re doing we we do a little bit of everything.
Jesse Stoddard: Uh
Josh Poulson: That’s
Jesse Stoddard: light, lighting, electrical,
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: all that.
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Light bars, bumpers, winches. We’ve done interior, you know, we uh the the Catskin seat covers.
Josh Poulson: Mhm.
Tom Sylvester: Um, you know, I’ve got we do a fair bit of restoration. Um, we’re kind of one of the few few shops that’ll work on on CJs and older cars. Um, so I’ve got I’ve got a painter that we work with that that does all of our paint work. Um, got I’ve got a CJ7 that he just finished painting parked in my garage at home that’s got to get in the shop and get finished. So,
Josh Poulson: So, what
Tom Sylvester: we
Josh Poulson: would you
Tom Sylvester: stay
Josh Poulson: rather
Tom Sylvester: busy.
Josh Poulson: do if a guy comes to you and he’s got it’s
Tom Sylvester: me.
Josh Poulson: like it’s like rusted and everything? Would you rather do the body work and paint it or put just cover it with diamond plate?
Tom Sylvester: Uh, me personally, um,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: I like I like the fit and finish. I come from a body shop background. I did I worked at a car museum for a while, so like I’m a shiny paint guy.
Tom Sylvester: I also respect the painters work where, you know, you don’t want to spend $10,000 on a paint job and wreck it in the woods. Um, we’ve we’ve started doing some more wrap work uh just to from that sense where it’s, you know, if you’re going to beat it up anyway, spend half the money and and wrap it, then it’s an easy touchup. Um, but yeah, I like I like my stuff to be to be finished. We’re not a we’re not a fill it with foam and cover it.
Josh Poulson: Yeah,
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: I hear you. How much uh are you doing a lot more overlanding like the tents and everything these days or is
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: it just is it not caught up yet? Because I mean it’s coming too, right?
Tom Sylvester: Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, I would say the the majority of our customer base does light off-roading, overlanding on the weekends. Um, you know, the hardcore rock crawling stuff is a pretty pretty niche market. Um,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: you know, all of our friends, we all have young kids, we’re all family’s growing, so the overlanding things a lot easier with kids. The wives will actually come on those trips as opposed to us bouncing off of rocks and things. So,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: but yeah, it’s it’s it’s been an interesting switch for sure, you know, where it’s gone from just doing lift kits to now, you know, dual battery setups and we’re pulling back seats out of things and roof racks and all that kind of stuff. So,
Josh Poulson: Yeah, it’s a neverchanging market. So, will your wife
Tom Sylvester: yeah.
Josh Poulson: actually stay in the tent above a Jeep?
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah, she does. She’s told me many times she would rather do that than than go on the rock rock crawling trips.
Josh Poulson: Well, there you
Tom Sylvester: So
Josh Poulson: go.
Tom Sylvester: yeah. Yeah, she she likes the outdoors as much as anybody.
Jesse Stoddard: Um, I was going to ask you too, what’s what are some of the challenges you’ve faced in the indust in in the industry and in this business?
Jesse Stoddard: I’m curious to hear about the challenges.
Tom Sylvester: Um I mean a lot of it is just being a new business owner, right? You know, never I’ve never done it before until I started the shop. So it’s just figuring out a lot of a lot of stuff on my own. Um the the growing cost to to get into modern vehicles is is a little bit tough. Um you know from the diag software and things like that that that adds up pretty quick. Um you know when I was in school it was it was a lot it seemed a lot simpler um than than it is these days. You know there’s five different subscriptions you need. You got to have this for security gateway whatever it is. Um, and then I would say the current challenge is probably hiring, but that’s probably a different podcast.
Jesse Stoddard: Huh?
Josh Poulson: Oh, listen. Are you looking for technicians or office or what?
Tom Sylvester: Mostly technicians. Thankfully, I’ve got it’s myself and a good buddy of mine who, you know, I can trust with with keys and and bank accounts and things like that.
Tom Sylvester: So, our office staff is is pretty solid. It’s just it’s just finding people to spin the wrenches and show up to work.
Josh Poulson: Yeah, it’s definitely
Jesse Stoddard: Uh
Josh Poulson: a challenge industrywide. Go ahead, Jesse.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: uh looking back, what would you tell your younger self just getting into this thing?
Tom Sylvester: Oh man. Um be more patient. Um, I would I’m I’m a pretty 110% kind of guy, you know, foot down. I’ll figure it out later. Um, I’ve I’ve learned some hard lessons that I think younger me, if I younger me had taken some time and and learned how to do it and pay more attention in school, I probably would be uh would wouldn’t have had to learn those lessons the hard way. So, so yeah, I would say just just slow down a little bit and take notes.
Josh Poulson: Oh yeah. Well, I So if if you could just choose any vehicle, price is no option.
Tom Sylvester: Oh boy.
Josh Poulson: What would you choose for you?
Josh Poulson: But then what would you choose for me? Okay. And let’s say we’re going to go not racing. All right. But something that would stay with it, but two different vehicles. So, I want to know it’s top two.
Tom Sylvester: Okay. Are we talking off road or
Josh Poulson: Yeah. I want to I
Tom Sylvester: Okay.
Josh Poulson: want to go off-road, but I also want to be able to take it to a show. I I’m not It’s
Tom Sylvester: Sure.
Josh Poulson: not going to be my everyday driver. I want, you know, I’ll have a I’ll
Tom Sylvester: Okay.
Josh Poulson: have a I got to have something with a heated steering wheel anyway because I’m a sissy. But,
Tom Sylvester: Okay.
Josh Poulson: um, but off-roading, what would you choose for you and for me? What are we driving?
Tom Sylvester: Uh I personally am going to keep my Jeep Wrangler. I have a a 2016 JK.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Um
Josh Poulson: So,
Tom Sylvester: I
Josh Poulson: JK four-door
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Josh Poulson: JKU.
Tom Sylvester: four-door.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Josh Poulson: JKU.
Tom Sylvester: Um for somebody that likes
Josh Poulson: Wait, wait.
Tom Sylvester: comfort,
Josh Poulson: What? What? What? How much of a lift you got on it?
Tom Sylvester: uh it’s a 4 and a half inch lift. It
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: It’s got 35s. I just ordered the 37s this morning for it because
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: I I
Josh Poulson: 37s
Tom Sylvester: lost a couple
Josh Poulson: on
Tom Sylvester: tires.
Josh Poulson: what? 18s.
Tom Sylvester: Uh 17s.
Josh Poulson: 17s. Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Uh stock motor, stock trans. Um,
Josh Poulson: Sahara
Tom Sylvester: you know, it can,
Josh Poulson: Sport Ruby.
Tom Sylvester: uh, it’s a sport. It’s a sport, but it’s got upgraded axles, 48
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: gears, e- lockers. Um, you know, it does everything I want it to without
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: being undrivable.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Uh, you know, I can still do 80 on the highway. I can go up and down trails at whatever speed I feel comfortable. I can load the family in it and enough gear to go camping for the weekend.
Josh Poulson: Are
Tom Sylvester: So,
Josh Poulson: you a fifth wheel delete or a fifth wheel? Got to have it.
Tom Sylvester: uh, so I was a fifth wheel got to have it guy. We did a Moab trip last year and I caught the bumper on a rock ledge and the bumper stayed in Moab in a dumpster and the fifth wheel is now in the back seat when I need it.
Josh Poulson: Okay. Gotcha. So
Tom Sylvester: So,
Josh Poulson: now for you. So is delete on accident.
Tom Sylvester: yeah. But I also very much enjoyed how it drove and and handled without the bumper and the weight. So
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: I carry the spare for the harder trails when I know I might need it, but daily
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: driving there’s no spare on it.
Josh Poulson: No spare. Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Josh Poulson: And so on yours, do you, by the way, do you have heated seats in that thing?
Tom Sylvester: Uh I don’t I know it’s an option. I don’t have them.
Josh Poulson: Okay. Well, okay. I would have to have it on mine, so make sure you put it on mine. Um,
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Josh Poulson: and yeah. Uh, so, uh, JKU, how what about lighting? What’s what’s the lighting going to be? You are you a
Tom Sylvester: Um,
Josh Poulson: big into got to have crazy lights or not so much?
Tom Sylvester: it today I’m I’m adding lights. Ask me next week, maybe not.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: Um, no, I mean, I I’ve kind of developed the Jeep to do these off-road rallies that we’ve been doing. This is the second one we did. Um, and there’s a lot of overnight driving and the woods in West Virginia get really dark.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Uh, so I do I do have a couple auxiliary lights. Um, they’re all white and right now I’m looking at adding some that will have yellow for dust and snow and then white uh for, you know, daytime or more clean clean air essentially. Um
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: the yellow doesn’t reflect as much off the dust and the snow as we found out the hard way over the weekend and caught a little snowstorm at 3 in the morning and it’s uh it’s like you’re driving through through the the warp speed in Star Wars.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. Oh my gosh. I can only imagine. All
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: right. So, what what am I driving and it can’t be a Jeep?
Tom Sylvester: So, if you’re if you’re into the bougie stuff, but you don’t want to get stuck in the mud hole,
Josh Poulson: Yes.
Tom Sylvester: I am a proponent of the like 4Erunner or Land Cruiser uh
Josh Poulson: New Land
Tom Sylvester: route,
Josh Poulson: Cruiser or old Land Cruiser?
Tom Sylvester: the new one.
Tom Sylvester: I mean,
Josh Poulson: The
Tom Sylvester: the old
Josh Poulson: new
Tom Sylvester: ones
Josh Poulson: one.
Tom Sylvester: are great. Yeah. If if
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: if if you like comfort but classics,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: you can’t go
Josh Poulson: I’m remember I’m probably going to swing through Starbucks on my way to
Tom Sylvester: Sure.
Josh Poulson: the trail.
Tom Sylvester: I mean, an an 80 series Land Cruiser is still probably one of the best all-purpose vehicles you can get. Um, you know, in 95 they were super luxurious. Now they’re a little
Josh Poulson: Not
Tom Sylvester: dated.
Josh Poulson: so
Tom Sylvester: U, but the new Land Cruiser is is awesome. U, I would I would highly consider one. Uh,
Josh Poulson: Okay. Or what are you put What are you We’ve done a What few of are you them. putting on
Tom Sylvester: okay.
Josh Poulson: them?
Tom Sylvester: Uh, probably go mild 35s.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: I think I think
Josh Poulson: Was that
Tom Sylvester: with
Josh Poulson: a
Tom Sylvester: those
Josh Poulson: two? Is that a two two inch? Two and a half.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. If that um I
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: think you can you can do a leveling kit and fit 35s the right offset these days.
Josh Poulson: They did well
Tom Sylvester: U
Josh Poulson: on that. They did well
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: on Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Um yeah. I mean and that’s like the nice thing about those are those off those TRD packages are pretty much ready to go. You know, as good as the Rubicon is off-road, the, you know, you’re you’re still limiting some of your capabilities from a Jeep standpoint with the Rubicon by not lifting it more and getting some more articulation and travel out of it. Um, but for for the the overland crowd, those those, you know, the rear locker, good good sturdy suspension, dependable drivetrain, can’t beat it.
Josh Poulson: and I could still have my J Jesse. I could still have my tech stitch diamond leather,
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: heated seats, and heated steering wheel. I probably have to go up a few trim levels, but if I got the new 4Runner, I saw the new 4Runner lift came out.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: Uh, a couple people got that now. So, okay. I And then I got a 10-in screen that I could put a
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: bunch of stuff. Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: I was
Josh Poulson: So,
Tom Sylvester: say if you want to get real bougie, you can just go with the new GX. Just get the new
Josh Poulson: well,
Tom Sylvester: Lexus.
Josh Poulson: listen, my wife
Tom Sylvester: It’s the same thing.
Josh Poulson: should be hearing this and that’s what she wants. She wants she wants matte then she wants me to put matte PPF on clear matte PPF on the whole thing to matt out the that sand one.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: And so, let’s just keep that on the low down because Lexus
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: comes with a price tag for sure. Yeah.
Josh Poulson: But it’s sweet. It’s sweet. Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: Lift that thing with some 18s and maybe some black rhinos or something.
Tom Sylvester: Oh yeah.
Josh Poulson: And Oh, beautiful. Beautiful. Go ahead, Jesse.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah. Tom, about your a little bit more about your business, too. Like what what sets you guys apart? I know there there’s must be some competition. Do you have any? What makes you guys different?
Tom Sylvester: Uh we actually again with the like I was talking about the market, we have a ton of competition. There’s about five shops within 50 miles of us.
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Uh and we’re all we’re all busy, which is the craziest thing to me. But um you know we we try and take a philosophy that I don’t need to take your money, your vehicle will take the money for us. So
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: you know we we do our best to not upsell. Uh which I know it sounds weird for a shop.
Tom Sylvester: Um but there’s essentially plenty of work at any given time on a Jeep, especially if you do off-road. you know, trying to keep keep it maintained costs enough money. You know, we don’t we don’t need to make it harder. So, I
Jesse Stoddard: people.
Tom Sylvester: would say that’s probably the one thing we do differently than most places.
Jesse Stoddard: So people actually uh respect that because they know that you’re you’re being fair and you’re just you’re not trying to
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: constantly because I bet everybody else is trying to constantly turn it into a bigger project.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. And you know, we we’ve been the shop that’s given the second opinion, and it’s like, yeah, you know, we could go in and do all these bushings now, but we’re really only working on the front end. You don’t necessarily need to do the rear end if it’s not in your budget. Um, you know, but be aware that these bushings are wearing out. You’re probably going to have to do them at some point.
Tom Sylvester: And like, you know, that is I find by telling people they don’t need it, they end up buying it. So,
Josh Poulson: and
Tom Sylvester: you know,
Josh Poulson: and you only need like 10 customers with Jeeps that because they all continue to break. So you just
Tom Sylvester: Exactly. Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: So, I I don’t know if this is a dumb question or not. Are you just working mostly direct to the to the car, you know, the retail side, or do you work with dealerships, or do you ever do anything else like, you know, where where does the business come from?
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. I mean, we are, I would say, 90% retail. Um,
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: we do a little bit of fleet stuff with some construction companies that have trucks and they’re leveling it and tires and, you know, just kind of helps offset some of the costs. Uh, we have I have plans to work with dealers. Um, it’s kind of a weird market around here um with the groups that own the dealerships.
Tom Sylvester: Some of them won’t won’t do anything from a modified standpoint. They don’t want to touch it. Um, and they’ll they’ll refer work out to us. Um, it’s it it’s it’s a weird it’s a weird relationship with dealers when we do have to compete with them to some degree. Um, and a lot of them either don’t know how to handle it or are scared of the aftermarket stuff.
Jesse Stoddard: Yes.
Josh Poulson: Yeah, it just it t you’re right, it takes uh it takes education and knowing
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: what they can and can’t do. But uh you know, you all I I respect the fact that you have your niche, right? You have your you have your lane and so I I you guys even do you guys even you guys get into the mechanical work then? So you guys will repair engines, replace engines, all the all the mechanical stuff for all. So it’s kind of like a one-stop shop for if if we got a truck or Jeep or you take off road, I can have you do it all.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, you know, we we’ve done everything from the 36 cam shaft rocker jobs and and a lot of the times, you know, it is people that we’ve we have the relationship with. You we
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: put their lift kit on and now their check engine lights on and they call us and bring it in. There are certain things we’ll will kind of defer to either the dealership
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: or another shop just from a time standpoint. Um, you know, being tied up with the accessory work makes it hard when you know you get a tow in, right? you know, it’s a, yeah, it’s a good customer, but hey, I’m booked for the next three weeks. I don’t know when I can look at your check engine light. Um,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: so we’ve built some good relationships with other local shops that aren’t necessarily taking the work from us. They’re just helping us when we’re when we’re full.
Josh Poulson: And do you like to do custom fabrication or
Tom Sylvester: Oh,
Josh Poulson: do you
Tom Sylvester: yeah.
Josh Poulson: kind of Okay, so that that is really nice when you’re like, “Okay, we want this customized.” So you guys weld
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: and do everything.
Tom Sylvester: Yep. Yeah. We have we have a CNC plasma table. I’ve got a
Josh Poulson: Oh
Tom Sylvester: mill lathe. Um, we can do a lot. Um, I’ve over the last couple years I’ve been teaching myself CAD. So,
Josh Poulson: yeah.
Tom Sylvester: that’s that’s been a a learning curve, but a good skill to have for a lot of the flat parts. Um, you know, we’ve built good relationship with companies. We’ve got a a YJ that we’re doing an overlanding build that’s getting uh it’s actually going to get JK Rubicon axles under the YJ and it’s going to be a custom radius arm suspension and working with um with Rock Crawler suspension for some of their joints and just kind of piecing things together and doing a fully oneoff suspension for it.
Josh Poulson: Wow, that’s impressive.
Josh Poulson: So, yeah, I mean, if you got all the equipment there, I mean, it’s kind of nice
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: being a one-stop shop for these guys. That’s important.
Tom Sylvester: Yep. Yeah. Because like I said, the the dealers locally have expressed to customers of ours like, “Oh, you’re on you’re on 40s with an axle swap. Like, I’m not I’m not touching that. Like, you’re out of warranty now. Like, good luck. See you.”
Josh Poulson: Yeah, it’s
Jesse Stoddard: And
Josh Poulson: crazy.
Jesse Stoddard: Tom, are you uh are you guys SEMA I think you’re SEMA Pro members, aren’t you? That’s how
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: I think that’s how you on the list and and we and we reached out on LinkedIn and all that. So,
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: are you um uh are you involved in that at all or do you guys go to SEMA and what what’s your thoughts on
Tom Sylvester: Yep.
Jesse Stoddard: that?
Tom Sylvester: Um, so I as a kid I I followed the SEMA show and it was like a life goal to get to SEMA.
Tom Sylvester: So I went for the first time in 2021, right? Look at the wall. Yeah, 21. Um, which was a lot of fun. That was our first like officially our second year in business, but our first year that we were like in the shop and and really moving and it was it was good to actually meet the people I was talking to and it was like it was pretty validating to be like, “Oh, wait. I am a legitimate business.” Like this is
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: this like I’m actually
Josh Poulson: Not
Tom Sylvester: doing
Josh Poulson: just
Tom Sylvester: this.
Josh Poulson: a not just a fan.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah, exactly. Um, and that first year, um, the the Pro Cup was that was the first time I’ve been exposed to that. And like, you know, I knew I knew resiling existed. You know, you’ve seen the cars on the lots. I’ve I’ve worked on them. I’ve replaced the lift kits from those trucks that have rusted out after 5 years.
Tom Sylvester: You know, we’ve we’ve dealt with it before. Um, so I got really interested in that from a business standpoint. It was like, you know, that’s that’s something I would like to do. You know, we we’re growing a brand. we’re kind of we’re having some sort of rec brand recognition. If I can build what I think is a good Jeep and sell that to somebody and have that outlet, you know, that’s a that’s a a huge thing. That’s kind of been a good resource to learn how some of that works and get some ideas. You know, I follow that that that Pro Cup every year. Um, so I’m hoping we we just moved into a new space last summer that gives us a lot more room to do some of the custom work. I’m hoping I can develop some of those ideas and start putting some of that stuff actually out there and see how it does.
Josh Poulson: Yeah, Jesse actually even builds the his his marketing agency built the semapcc.com if anybody’s listening
Tom Sylvester: Oh,
Josh Poulson: to go
Tom Sylvester: nice.
Josh Poulson: out there
Tom Sylvester: Okay.
Josh Poulson: and uh do we have the Land Cruiser on there Jesse updated yet that
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah,
Josh Poulson: we that
Jesse Stoddard: I
Josh Poulson: Kevin
Jesse Stoddard: think so.
Josh Poulson: built? So anyway, dude. Oh, that talk about Land Cruisers. Kevin McGawan out in uh Auto Trim styling in St. Louis did this awesome overlanding package on a Land Cruiser. Just
Tom Sylvester: Is
Josh Poulson: looks
Tom Sylvester: that
Josh Poulson: so
Tom Sylvester: the the
Josh Poulson: retro.
Tom Sylvester: white one? Was
Josh Poulson: Uh
Tom Sylvester: that the
Josh Poulson: it
Tom Sylvester: white one
Josh Poulson: was actually
Tom Sylvester: ARB
Josh Poulson: green
Tom Sylvester: had?
Josh Poulson: with like a
Tom Sylvester: Okay.
Josh Poulson: gold stripe down there and had the wheels and uh and everything.
Tom Sylvester: Let’s check
Josh Poulson: So
Tom Sylvester: that out.
Josh Poulson: yeah, it’s it’s pretty sweet. The
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah,
Josh Poulson: white
Jesse Stoddard: we
Josh Poulson: one was a Bronco.
Tom Sylvester: There was there I know there was a white Land Cruiser at SEMA this year.
Tom Sylvester: We didn’t I
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Tom Sylvester: didn’t get out to it this year. Um, we did the PRI show this year with the podcast.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Um, which was which was awesome because that just being a gearhead that that show is ridiculous. Like that’s
Josh Poulson: Oh.
Tom Sylvester: a as great as SEMA is that that that show is just it’s mind-blowing the the money that’s out there.
Josh Poulson: Oh, yeah. No, you know, a fun fact. I just got a report yesterday that the SEMA show is on it’s on pace uh to outdo last year. not still a little bit behind on 2019, but the PRI shows way on pace. CEMA owns PRI now.
Tom Sylvester: Right.
Josh Poulson: Uh but uh yeah, it’s way above uh where it’s been in the past. So I mean just PRI’s taking off. It’s awesome.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even though the whole organization of SEMA, I feel like, has done a lot in the last year or so.
Tom Sylvester: Um, we’re being we’re 45 minutes from DC.
Josh Poulson: Mhm.
Tom Sylvester: So, um, the other host of the dirt drive, Tim, and I were just in DC last week, um, doing some of the lobbying against the
Josh Poulson: Good.
Tom Sylvester: EV mandates and things with the the DC office. So, so it’s they’re a great group of people to work with. Um, you know, they’re they’re they’re working their butts off to help us do what we do. So, try and return the favor little by little
Josh Poulson: That’s great. Thank you.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah. Is it uh something you would ever uh get some entry into? You would, you know, you might put a vehicle in there at some point. the the Pro Cup challenge.
Tom Sylvester: that it’s it’s on the list. It’s on the to-do list right now. There’s the internal struggle between build a race car and and do business things. So
Josh Poulson: and
Tom Sylvester: the
Josh Poulson: keep
Tom Sylvester: uh
Josh Poulson: and keep wife happy.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. And usually race car and wife happy don’t go very very well together.
Josh Poulson: Not
Tom Sylvester: Uh
Josh Poulson: unless she’s erasing it. So,
Tom Sylvester: yeah. Yeah. I’m kind of leaning towards the if the restyling stuff takes off, I can afford to build the race car. So maybe I’ll try that first. Uh but yeah, it’s it’s on the list. Um I have I have some ideas. I don’t I don’t know how well I’ll execute them yet, but we’ll get there.
Jesse Stoddard: Very
Josh Poulson: That’s awesome.
Jesse Stoddard: cool.
Josh Poulson: Well, thank you for supporting SEMA Pro and SEMA and all you’re doing there and DC and uh and everybody check out check them out. Dirt nerds. I love the name Jess. I love
Tom Sylvester: Thank
Josh Poulson: the
Tom Sylvester: you.
Josh Poulson: name Dirt
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: Nerds. And
Jesse Stoddard: Um
Josh Poulson: you guys are very successful on your podcast. I mean, 300
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: some episodes, man.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: That’s a lot of episodes.
Tom Sylvester: It’s it’s it’s a grind. We have yet to miss a week. Um, it just started out as drunk campfire conversations and people like, “Oh, you guys need microphones. This would be a great podcast.” Like, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” And we we tried it and it’s it’s taken off pretty pretty well in
Josh Poulson: Jesse
Tom Sylvester: the last
Josh Poulson: would
Tom Sylvester: year
Josh Poulson: never
Tom Sylvester: or
Josh Poulson: put
Tom Sylvester: so.
Josh Poulson: up with me for 300 episodes. He would never be he would retire me at 100. So,
Tom Sylvester: It’s not that
Jesse Stoddard: pasture.
Tom Sylvester: bad.
Jesse Stoddard: Um Tom, just a couple more questions. What are you What are you most looking forward to doing? What excites you about the business? Like what what are you what’s the vision and and where are you what are you excited about?
Tom Sylvester: Uh, I I love the evolution and the growth that we we have in off-road right now.
Tom Sylvester: You know, as a kid being I was I was big into BMWs. still am, but like BMWs and and tuning and road racing were like my thing in high school. And like, you know, yeah, there’s a lot of technology there, but that market is just go as fast as you can around a track, you know, whatever you can do to build your car to do that is great. Off-roading, you can do anything. you know, it’s whether it’s racing, whether it’s camping for the weekend, whether it’s your daily driver, it’s there’s so many more things you can do in the off-road side of it. Um, and that’s kind of always been my my draw to it. And it’s it’s so accessible, right? It’s you can do it for free. Track days are expensive. A truck and a trailer is expensive. You know, I can get in my Jeep. I don’t have to trailer it somewhere. I can go out and drive around in the woods for free and go home and everybody’s happy.
Tom Sylvester: Uh, so you know that this this side of the industry has just grown so much in the last five years and being being kind of in the middle of it and being part of it is is exciting and I’m excited to see where it goes. You know, it’s we’ve got a lot of great technology that’s happened. You know, it went from stiff springs to double or dual rate springs, triple rate springs. The coilover technologies through the roof. Bypass shocks are, you know, now standard. like it’s it’s stuff that you wouldn’t have expected to be on a on an old truck 20 years ago. So,
Jesse Stoddard: That’s great. Josh, any other questions?
Josh Poulson: Man, I I I wish I knew. I just Jesse, I don’t even know that Jeep that well. I mean, I I’m not I’m not the biggest overall Jeep guy, right? Uh but I it just blows me away. I have such respect for guys like Tom that they just start talking about all these parts that I know I can get I can talk intelligently enough but I don’t know all the details.
Josh Poulson: So I’m just very impressed when somebody walks in and they say I got a CJ and it’s this and Tom can go, “Oh, I know what your problem is. You need to do this this and here’s three options.” I mean I just find that so impressive. So, you know, kudos to you for learning and understanding and really perfecting
Tom Sylvester: Thank
Josh Poulson: your
Tom Sylvester: you.
Josh Poulson: craft and, you know, being a source because I think that’s what it is. If I owned a Jeep, I just want to be able to somebody tell me transparently without trying to rake me over the coals. What What can I do? What are my options? And then let me make the decision. And like Tom said, a lot of times I’m we’re going to go with stuff that he’s not trying to sell me, but because he’s talking transparently. So, so keep up the awesome work on that. That’s that’s great. We need more like more like you in the industry.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah, you know, I’m my knees don’t tell me this, but I I had to remind myself I’m still pretty young.
Tom Sylvester: Um,
Josh Poulson: Yeah, you are. Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: so it’s, you know, I I I would like to see the industry kind of shift to that a little bit. you
Josh Poulson: Yep.
Tom Sylvester: know, there’s there’s there’s a space for it right now with car prices the way they are and everything else. It’s independent shops have the ability to to kind of reset everything. You know, we don’t we don’t have to put sway bar links on every car. You know, it’s one of the
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: guys that works for me used to work at a tire shop and that was like their sale point was, hey, sway bar are cheap, they’re easy, they’re good margin, and everybody buys them. So, just tell them they need sway bars. And every
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: car that came in for a tire rotation got sold sway bar links. And it’s like, we don’t need to do that. There’s there’s things you actually need.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: So,
Josh Poulson: That’s cool.
Jesse Stoddard: Well, thank you, Tom. Uh, how can people find out more about you and your company? Um, feel free to give yourself a little plug here. What
Tom Sylvester: yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: websites and how how do people get find your podcast and all that?
Tom Sylvester: Um, we’re all over social. Um, one of our normal complaints is we have too many socials, but um, dirt nerds offroad.com will bring you to any of them. Um, we are the dirt drive on
Jesse Stoddard: Awesome.
Tom Sylvester: Instagram and Facebook. We are dirt nerds motors on Instagram and Facebook. Um, I don’t think I don’t think we have a Twitter or Tik Tok anymore. Uh but yeah, podcast is on all podcast channels, Spotify, uh Apple, uh iHeart podcast, all that stuff. Um all, like I said, all of it’s accessible through dirt offroad.com. You know, the YouTube, all of it’s on there.
Josh Poulson: That’s great. Well, thanks again for being on and appreciate you and maybe we’ll uh be able to meet at SEMA or PRI
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: or some
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. We will be at SEMA this year. That’s a That’s a done deal. Was looking at flights the other day. So,
Josh Poulson: Well, look me up. I usually around the pro uh pro booth or
Tom Sylvester: yeah.
Josh Poulson: being roped into something with them.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Yeah. We’ll we’ll we’ll definitely we’ll definitely link up.
Jesse Stoddard: All right. Thank you so much, Tom. We appreciate your time today. It’s been great.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Tom Sylvester: Yeah. Again, thanks for having me. Uh it’s great to meet you guys virtually and we’ll uh hopefully do it again sometime.
Josh Poulson: Yeah, we’ll let you know once we’ll shoot you an email once the once it gets edited and everything like that and you can that way you can post it as well.
Tom Sylvester: Cool, perfect.
Josh Poulson: Oh awesome. All right, Jesse. Thanks buddy.
Jesse Stoddard: Thanks guys. Have
Josh Poulson: You
Jesse Stoddard: a good rest
Tom Sylvester: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: guys.
Jesse Stoddard: day.
Tom Sylvester: YouTube.
Josh Poulson: Yep. Bye.
