Cincinnati Area Thread (Tri-State, Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana)

Buy oil then YouTube it is what I would do

 

Neighbor has his 1991 land cruiser for sale. Wife won’t let me buy it.
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...eCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=LC&clickType=listing

 

It was going to be over $400 for a rebuild, that's my reasoning.

 

How's that worked out for your truck?

 

That has been the reason I've stuck with "throw away" suspensions. Bilstein 5100's and OME.

The only time I see people getting shocks rebuilt/revalved, they either live in CA (or west coast-ish) or people ship them out to Cali/Arizona, etc.


I dont want to have to take it all out and ship it off. LOL. Thanks for asking this question.

 

You know....


Maybe we should get good at rebuilding shocks and open a shop in the midwest specifically.



There is a gap in the market, based on location. LOL. Maybe we can hook up with some killer suppliers and get discounted suspensions for ourselves. HAHAHA.


FULL LONG TRAVEL HERE I COME!

 

You would think a company, Fox especially, would have rebuild shops scattered through the country. People ride mountain and dirt bikes all over, not just the western deserts. In turn, that profits for full size vehicles as well.

Starting a 4x4 shop with a hard lean toward Toyota is/was my fallback dream plan, before this virus. Seems like Luke's shop, closer to Louisville, handles more Cruisers than anything else, but seen Tacoma and Runner on the lift.
I just don't know dick about the business side and lack certs and specific training on the mechanic side. For now.

 

I didn’t know Luke’s shop was so damn close to my house (assuming we’re talking about the same Luke). But he is very land cruiser sided. I’d love to do a tacoma shop

 

This market could definitely use a Tacoma/4Runner focused off road shop. Somewhere you could trust for experience, wisdom, reliable advice, quality OEM and aftermarket products, fair priced work and for the love of god, someone who understands the proper alignment specs and process for lifted Tacoma’s.

I’ve done most of the work on my truck myself. I had an old VW mechanic friend help with my original lift install, got some help from people on this forum and have used Tire Discounters (my friend is the GM) for my lower control arm replacement and several alignments. And out of all those experiences, I trust the work I’ve done myself (or with help from others here) and been far more satisfied with the outcome than any of the times it’s been touched by an “ASE certified” mechanic at a shop...

 

It really does helping having someone that knows our trucks well and knows what alignment specs should be, like you said, on lifter applications. I just did johnnyreds alignment this morning and got him set up nearly perfectly. The alignment part of it can suck and be time consuming and tedious. Most techs just get it done as quick as possible and ship it. On most vehicles I’m that way, but in lifted Tacoma’s/4runners I know a bit more of how they like to be set.

 

I just worry about insurance and liability aspects. I'll always lend a hand and help friends with wrenching and beer swilling, but why not make money doing something I love, other than computers!

Idk, still a pipe dream at this point. My current career path is safe for the moment, until another 4 years...

 

An air chisel made quick work for getting the intermediate shaft off. That was really about a 2 second job.

Now I have buttery smooth steering all the way around!

 

I might hit you up for my next alignment once I get the truck back on the road. I know Ed has had good luck with a guy closer to me but I don’t mind the drive and trusting someone who knows exactly what I need/want.

I totally understand that. Two of my old VW friends (both former dealership mechanics) started their own local VW/Audi shop and it turned out to be too much for them to maintain. Only lasted about two years before they closed it up and went back to work as mechanics elsewhere.

It’s always been a pipe dream of mine too. I have a business degree and have been working in the corporate world for 10+ years and as much as I hate being tied to a desk and dealing with the BS corporate politics, it would be really hard for me to walk away from consistent paychecks, benefits and job security (I work in consumer packaged goods for a major food manufacturer right now).

It would be cool as hell to do something I love for a living, but with two kids under 8, I just don’t see it being realistic for me.

I have an air hammer with a chisel attachment. That’s how I got the intermediate shaft off the rack when I removed it, but the thing is definitely rusted in place at the top (even with the two bolts removed). My new OEM replacement has arrived, so I’ll have to figure out how to get it loose at the top here before I put everything back together.

 

Running the business should be easy enough to benchmark.


Honestly, it probably wouldnt turn a profit until at least 5 years down the road, even with astute business sense. It would really be a labor of love....



Also, you'd have to convince some pretty well known industry names to use the shop, trust the shop and somehow get the name out quickly.



HOWEVER. Its one of those "started in this little garage" type businesses that with a decent group of fellas, could turn into something much bigger.



This market has a HUGE gap for ORV. For instance, one of the ideas I have for it is a "proving grounds" with different types of wheeling so you can literally adjust your suspension, test it, tune it and before you leave, try it out and make final adjustments. Also an area for testing flex. You could start a "Flex Wars" campaign and have all kinds of marketing built around that.


Could be INSANE. Although, in this area, being able to dial in/install/fab SAS jobs would be key, as thats probably the most beneficial setup for trails and crawling. Being experts at shock rebuilds and valving would just be icing on the cake, really.

 

A few points I have other views on;

It would take time and investment to see profit, that part isn't enjoyable. Have to get damn lucky to find a building with lifts already in it. And then land to have a testing area with it...

Location is a concern. The Lexington/L'ville/Cincy areas are already well covered to a point. Over this way, not at all. A few bolt on "make my Jeep ready for the mall" places, and that's it, nothing Toyota. So I'd be going in blind for sure, especially since I've only seen 4 vehicles total with bigger tires or armor locally. They probably only did it for looks anyway.

I'm the "black sheep" in our immediate area wheeling group, given I live the furthest east from everyone. But I wouldn't trust one of these local methed out fucks to work on a vehicle with me! And no way I could ask the boys to move to this shit-hole of a region to join my pipe dream. That's not fair to their families and current careers.

I forsee a lot of Jeeps coming to me, that I couldn't turn away just to keep the lights on. This area may be poorer and look like we're all homeless, but we're resourceful. Most people work on their own vehicles in their yards and garages that do what we do. I've seen Chevy engine swaps in 1st gens done in barns, tons swapped into XJs running 40s in a driveway, and lifts installed in a dude's garage that happened to have an old AF single post lift. It won't be easy to break into the market for me, but there is absolutely NOWHERE here (that I've found in 100 mile radius) that really gets involved that deeply. No one sets up gears. No one welds on sliders. No one rebuilds shocks. No one does SAS. Etc...
100 miles puts you right at Lex and Cincy, Columbus, into VA, and several populated cities in WV.







I dunno. Some days I'm all for it. Do the research for property. Get a business license. Quit my job and line up investing from a bank and never look back. Then other times, I talk myself right out of it.
Future plan is move about half way between Rush and Black Mountain, so that puts me in an okay position geographically.

I'm just burning out in IT I think...People are fucking morons and click everything

 

Typically, a bank wants to see you have CASH to cover the first year, then they will loan out money. (This is the best way, if you are planning on taking out loans.)

Buildings and lifts are cheap, in the business world. You can pick up a 2 post lift for less than $3k. Only need one right now, anyway. If that. A pole barn on a slab with some plumbing and electric would suffice. I'm guessing the group here could manage most of it, with connections. IE: my cousin is in Oxford/Hamilton/Fairfield and works in Lexington as a journeyman electrician with most of his experience being in large facilities like factories, hospitals, etc. He could handle all electrical to that building in less than a week. By himself.

Location: Your concern about location is valid, but not necessarily accurate. Nobody in the midwest rebuilds shocks or adjusts valving. Not that I know of. Especially specific to offroading. Everyone sends their shit out to the south or to Cali. I would venture to guess that a decent shop between Cincy and KY could be plotted and built for less than $200,000. That would get you a pretty decent building and a few acres to start. (the key will be finding the chunk of land that is surrounded by land that will become available within the next 5-10 years for expansion. Also consider, you will be receiving shocks that people mail in to be rebuilt, as well....if you market correctly. You also mentioned that area being "covered", yet none of them offer what we've talked about in this thread so far.




Roll Tide's vision:

A small little shop, technologically advanced and properly tooled to handle shock rebuilds. Once the customer base becomes consistent, start looking for expansion options.

With proper marketing, advertising, and UX, the company could grow quickly. At this point in time, we could either sell it for profit, or diversify offerings into SAS and other things, such as bumpers, sliders, armor and others.



Think about it this way. Jeep has Rusty's. An offroad accessory company that started out building, modding and designing parts specifically for Jeeps only. Toyota has Wheeler's Offroad. LOL.



If there arent any buyers, its time to buy a chunk of dirt and start adding in obstacles.



Once that is built, not only do you have testing grounds, but you can have events/meets as well. An entire wrench-a-thon where a group of friends could meet there with trucks and rent out the property for a weekend.

Or you could do SXS Days, Jeep Days, ATV Days...etc.

I havent even mentioned camping.


Lots of potential, lots of market gap.





I am well aware of all the insurance and legal issues that carry potential. I'm just dreaming right now. If it ever goes anywhere, we could contact the appropriate professionals then.

 

FYI...my wife is a commercial broker here in Cincinnati and NKY in Office and Industrial market...currently prices are really high per square foot. There is high demand for drive in (roll up door), high ceiling clearance, less than 6,000sqft buildings. There aren’t many. Definitely easier to find location and build rather than find a workable existing structure on a parcel.

 

I just discovered that myself, after only a 20 minute search on the web. Nothing over here available, and I have no desire to move to a concrete jungle to get the property. That is NOT my dream!

 

I’m certain that this will have limitations where you can’t run a business out of it but they are planning 4 locations around the perimeter: