Creating Content for the everyday build, Colt Clewley on Episode 328

Colt Clewley is a YouTuber and off-road enthusiast from Farmington, New Mexico. He runs the channel "Colt Builds It," creating fabrication tutorials, trail guides, and adventure content focused on making off-roading knowledge accessible to everyone.

Colt grew up in tiny Divide, Colorado, worked in the oil field for 18 years, and later transitioned to full-time content creation. He's known for his DIY approach, building vehicles with hand tools in driveways and sharing practical fabrication techniques through detailed YouTube videos on axle builds, roll cages, and suspension work.

He's competed in WE Rock events, contributed to trail maintenance across multiple states, and recently built a recovery wrecker. Colt emphasizes the importance of competition in developing driver skills and testing vehicle capabilities on challenging terrain.

A strong advocate for trail preservation, Colt collaborates with local clubs, government agencies, and other outdoor groups to keep trails open. He encourages newer off-roaders to understand that these recreation areas exist because of organized community effort and maintenance—not by accident.

Colt is launching an inaugural off-road experience trip for YouTubers and companies, building a custom buggy, and planning an East Coast off-road tour to highlight underrated trails in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.

Transcript

[00:00:05.320] - 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors—men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We explore their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active in off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:46.700] - 

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[00:01:13.760] - Big Rich Klein

My next guest grew up in a very small town in Colorado. He worked at an early age like so many of us do, got into the working in the oil fields, eventually moved up to South Dakota spent some years there wheeling as well as he did in Colorado, then moved a few years ago to Farmington, New Mexico. But now he's in the industry as a YouTuber, creating how-to videos, trail ride videos, and all the kind of things that people need to know. My guest is Colt Clewley. Hello, Colt Clewley. Am I saying that right? You are. Okay. Clewley. How are you doing? And it's so good to have you here on the podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me, Rich. This is awesome. So what's the weather been like down there? And you're in Farmington, correct?

[00:02:06.500] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, we moved down here a few years ago. It's, it's been a little spicy. It's been a little bit hotter than usual this time of year for us, but not too bad.

[00:02:17.250] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that just means your monsoons later are going to be bigger. Probably something to look forward to, right? Always. So let's, uh, let's get started on this podcast the same way I do with everybody, and that is, where were you born and raised?

[00:02:38.480] - Colt Clewley

I was born in central Colorado, um, grew up in a little town called Divide. Most people don't know it, but it's, uh, When I grew up there, it used to have one streetlight. It's upgraded now, it's got two streetlights. But, um, just lived out in the woods. Um, I actually grew up not too far from where my mom was born in Cripple Creek even, so it's kind of, kind of an interesting area. I really enjoyed it, uh, just living up there and, and exploring around. And, you know, I got— I lived near a bunch of— at the time there were single-track dirt bike trails and, uh, those, those trails. So I get off the bus at school and I jump on my old, my old dirt bike and I go rip out in the woods, and that's how I did my homework. I don't think I ever did homework.

[00:03:28.430] - Big Rich Klein

Nothing wrong with that as long as you got where you want to go, right?

[00:03:32.470] - Colt Clewley

Yeah.

[00:03:34.410] - Big Rich Klein

So Divide, Colorado, and, um, how big would you say that was at the time besides just having one stoplight?

[00:03:42.260] - Colt Clewley

Oh man, I mean, it's kind of spread out, but it was a tiny town and we didn't even have a school or anything. The, the four-way stop had basically— you had a church on one corner and a gas station slash single garage mechanic on the other corner, and then the other, the last, you know, kind of corner there was a, uh, it was a liquor store slash video movie rental store. Ah, Blockbuster with alcohol. Yeah, yeah, didn't even— wasn't even Blockbuster. Yeah, but the guy ran both sides of it, so it's kind of funny. He's like, buy, you know, rent a movie, buy a drink.

[00:04:27.940] - Big Rich Klein

Now they have movie theaters that actually do that. They're trying to get people back out of their houses. Really? Yeah, there's, there's one down in Scottsdale area where you can actually go in and order meals while you're watching movies. Oh, wow. Yeah, it's kind of crazy. So you said there was no school in town. You had to get bussed. Yep. Yeah, we were.

[00:04:54.740] - Colt Clewley

So we lived over a little, little over 4 miles outside of Divide. And then we would— I went to school in Woodland Park, so it was, I don't know, another 10, 12 miles, I guess, total from the house to school every day.

[00:05:11.180] - Big Rich Klein

So if you missed the bus, you weren't walking?

[00:05:15.460] - Colt Clewley

No, no, definitely could not walk to school. I, uh, the only times— the only times I really missed the bus though, if I did, I rode a— I would catch the short bus. Um, it would run through about, I don't know, 30 minutes later, and I could jump on it, and then I'd just be a little bit late.

[00:05:33.810] - Big Rich Klein

That was probably fun.

[00:05:35.920] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed it. I mean, I, I was one of those guys that, uh, you know, if you were nice to me, I'd be your friend. That was— that's kind of how I worked in school. I, I like— I just, you know, I don't know, I've always enjoyed people and And I like seeing people succeed. So for me, that's, that's awesome. Two of my big things in life.

[00:05:59.550] - Big Rich Klein

I didn't notice that about you, that you were open and welcoming. So where did, where do you think we first met? Was it, was it at Moab?

[00:06:13.390] - Colt Clewley

Oh, shoot, man. It's been so long.

[00:06:17.970] - Big Rich Klein

Or did you ever come to one of the early WE Rock events or anything?

[00:06:23.250] - Colt Clewley

Uh, no, I could never afford to make it out to California, um, in the early days. I did, you know, we did, um, you know, I went out to the early ARCA ones in down here in Farmington, actually. Okay. Uh, and some of those, and then, uh, that was just as a spectator because I was, I was honestly still in high school when those came out. And then, um, competed as a spotter in, in WE Rock for a little while. And then, and then kind of, you know, just, you know, I had a— so to step back, in high school is where I met my wife, my wife Shanna. Okay. And so we had our daughter, uh, right out of high school. Like, like, Shanna walked down the aisle and got her diploma pregnant with our daughter. So, uh, we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and, and that. So I didn't really have a lot of money, right? I'll just put it that way. Like, when you're raising a young family and you're young yourself, didn't have a lot of money. So I made my money, um, like kind of building vehicles and flipping them and fixing vehicles before YouTube existed.

[00:07:44.350] - Colt Clewley

I had a lot of tips and tricks that I could use to buy and flip vehicles. Now anybody can Google anything and pretty much fix whatever their problem is, but at the time it was a good moneymaker for me. And so that's kind of how I was able to build vehicles to go four-wheeling. But we didn't really get into the WE Rock, uh, until later. It'd been actually One of the things I really wanted to do, you know, when you guys— you know what I love is that you took, you took WE Rock and made it nationwide. And I don't think a lot of people in the off-road industry that have been in it, you know, anybody that's kind of got into it in the last, I would even say, decade, really don't understand that a lot of what they have right now came from that competition era. Um, you know, that the, the early 2000s competition is really what defined, in my opinion, the suspensions. Because prior to that, like, everything was just kind of, you know, even the early Wranglers, the— I mean, the early TJs, they were just, you know, if you've ever ridden in one, you remember that it's an actual Jeep, right?

[00:08:55.110] - Colt Clewley

Um, you know, they, they just— that your kidneys are still a couple miles behind you. So The, you know, everything prior to that, like suspensions were just lift kits. They weren't actual suspensions. Nobody really built something to, to actually flex and to actually work and, and go over rocks. And understanding that, you know, it was a really early time to understand even like what lockers work better and how, you know, how lockers could, could get you you know, over obstacles, you know, almost where, you know, and low center of gravities and things like that, where you had, you know, your early, you know, Chris Durham's and Jason Pauley's and Tracy Jordan's and Jesse Haynes, you know, these guys were just really redefining what, what a vehicle is capable of. And then to go into now where all these people have these awesome bolt-on suspensions that are just a whole nother level because guys like you were putting on these events where people could actually test and compete there, you know, compete and see what vehicles were capable of. And I really— I think it's a very underrated, um, thing, you know.

[00:10:09.950] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, the— it was interesting, the first couple of years of events, guys were experimenting with all sorts of things, and it was things that, that were— the extreme trail wheelers were doing were trying to do, but it was so niche that nobody really knew what was going on, not, not outside of their little group. So guys were doing like quarter elliptical and then airbag suspensions and, you know, they were, they were doing, you know, they were trying to come up with all sorts of things. Remember the revolver shackles? Oh, yeah. You know, and, and some of this stuff, you know, it in theory it was like, okay, this will work. And then, you know, you got a lot of rear steer without having a rear steer axle. Um, you know, you, you really were difficult, high, you know, putting them on the road. Um, you know, they were basically trailer queens. So, but now, you know, yeah, the stuff that, that came after that, once everybody started linking and going over to coilovers and and all that, you know, they, they really redefined what, what aftermarket was all about.

[00:11:25.720] - Colt Clewley

Oh yeah, I mean, just like you're saying, um, actually one of my buggies, you know, it was built very much, uh, Pirate 4x4. Needs more triangulation, right? Yeah. And, and, and it steer flexed so bad, like flexed. It's just you know, the whole rear end would walk, you know. So I, I mean, obviously you fix that and you learn things over the years and change stuff around. But, but yeah, it's, um, you know, one of the things I love is trying to share some of that history, um, and, and let people re— you know, because I really do think that, that, um, you know, the, the newer crowd doesn't— you know, I think some do, I think a lot do, but I think some don't really respect what it took to get to the level that it's at. Because what one of the things that we did too, which I thought was, um, you know, really, really fun, was because it's been a couple years now. The last year you guys did Goldendale, and Goldendale was one I could never make. And so finally, you know, a couple years ago, the last year you guys had your, uh, had WE Rock up there in Goldendale, we went up there and and competed and ended up, you know, obviously it was just in Sportsman, but, um, went up there and competed and, and took, took home a first place in, in the Sportsman class.

[00:12:49.250] - Colt Clewley

So I was really excited. Nice. Uh, for that, that was, that was fun. And, you know, I think, I think that it helped motivate people to know like, hey, you can still go out here and compete and just see where, where you stand. You know, you don't have to have— what I love about the way WE Rock's structured right now is that you have the pro level full comp. Like, like you said, you know, this is 100%— we are seeing what a vehicle's capable of. If you don't have portals, if you don't have rear steer, if you don't have a narrow rig and a good suspension and all these other things, you are not going to be competitive at this pro level. But We have this Sportsman level that, that is variated so well that you can still have a, you know, a comp, a comp rig and compete, but you could have a, you know, a pretty mild rig as long as you have some of the safety features required, you know, roll cage, things like that, that, that you could actually see what, you know, where your rig stacks up and where your driver skill stacks up., in that same level of vehicle.

[00:14:02.170] - Big Rich Klein

So I remember there were times that we would be putting on an event somewhere and it was just the pro classes, and I would look over into the, you know, the vehicles that were parked, spectator parking, and there would be ex-ARCA or UROC champion cars, you know, trail cars sitting there. And I'm like, how, you know, who owns that car? They now, you know, why aren't they competing? Oh, well, you know, they don't, they're not pros. They're just, you know, weekend warriors. They just want to, you know, come out and watch. And it's like, man, we got to do something to attract those people to give it a try. Because most people, most guys, you know, most guys that have a rig have some competitive nature. They just don't necessarily want to be embarrassed. Um, you know, maybe they're the big fish in their little pond and around their neighborhood, you know, their, their, their local wheeling area. And so challenging themselves can be difficult. And then there's others that are just like, yeah, let's do this, you know, I don't care what I'm driving, you know.

[00:15:14.820] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, well, I think, man, I really wish Honestly, I really wish more people would because I think that it really ups your driver skill. Oh yeah. Like, 'cause one thing I, you know, I'm, as somebody who, you know, used to spot professionally and then, you know, and wheels and loves off-roading, one of the things that's really tough for me is getting behind a group of vehicles and they're just spotting each other up every obstacle. Like you are no longer a driver, you're just a puppet. Like spotters— I actually shared this just a couple days ago— but spotters are for cone dodging and for death cliffs. Like, that's where I think spotters are, are great. And they're— and it's huge. You have to have a good spotter. Like, if you don't have a good rig, a good driver, and a good spotter in the pro level of competition, you are not going to get very far. You have to have all three of those things. But in, in, uh, just competition alone, like just in the Sportsman class, you can have a— you can have a good driver and an okay spotter, or, or an okay driver and a really good spotter and do well in the Sportsman class.

[00:16:31.490] - Colt Clewley

So, um, you know, you don't have to have both. And, and I really feel like, you know, as long as you have If you, if you want to become a better driver, you should go compete because you should just go try it because you will, you will test your rig, you will test your ability, and, and you'll be able to see, you know, it'll make you re-choose how you drive, I guess, if that makes sense. It'll make you like really reevaluate how you drive and how you pick lines and how you, how your vehicle, you know, you will know the limits of your vehicle. And I think it's so much fun. It really is. And, uh, I, you know, I would like to see more people in that, but I don't— like I said too, at the same time, you know, it's just, it's one of those things that, you know, now, you know, since, since Jeep came out with the, with the, the 4-door Wrangler, I mean, there's just a night and day difference, um, from 2007 up, the ability of these vehicles right out of the box, right? And, um, you know, it's— it— I really have to say that a lot of that came from competition.

[00:17:44.240] - Colt Clewley

It really did. And these aftermarket bolt-on suspensions came from learning from what worked and what didn't. You know, I feel like KOH falls into some of that too, where these guys are going out and racing their rigs and they're like, okay, we need to fix this, this needs to be stronger, this needs to be better, this needs to, you know, whatever. But A lot of that, you know, um, just comes through competition. And I think, I think that'd be— a lot of people should try it. A lot of people more should try it.

[00:18:11.420] - Big Rich Klein

It will teach you how to, uh, how to reevaluate the trail and the lines. Oh, 100%. I, uh, I'm always amazed when I watch guys that that, you know, they'll tell you, you'll hear them talking about, you know, what a great driver they are. Then you see them, actually see them on the trail. And, you know, instead of, instead of attacking the obstacle and trying to read the line and trying to figure out how the car will actually go up it, they go around it. You know, they, they, they widen the trail to try to get, you know, or they take the bypass and it's like that line is there because people have driven it, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:03.230] - Colt Clewley

That's always a tough thing to see.

[00:19:06.660] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. So anyway, let's get back to the early years. What, what kind of student were you? Were you a good student or were you always just looking out the window waiting to go do the next thing?

[00:19:20.210] - Colt Clewley

So I was one of those kids that, um, I don't know, I probably didn't take school serious enough. I was really good at math, um, actually, like, like I was in— they put me in algebra in 6th grade. Oh wow. Um, yeah, like I was really good at math. I was a kid that was always getting A's and, you know, A's and A pluses in math. Math just came easy to me. As far as the, the rest of school though, like I wasn't, wasn't too keen on all the other stuff. I would show up, I'd do my classes. I never was like a bad student or anything like that. I would always get, you know, decent grades. But, but I just, I wanted to get out of school and make money. I could have cared less about— I felt like school was me personally, it was one of those places that kind of just— I felt like it was holding me back, and, and I wanted to get out and, and, uh, you know, just go out and make money. Realistically, I had— I even had a job, um, you know, I always had a job to pay, pay for my dirt bike and, and, and Jeep addiction, I should say.

[00:20:38.010] - Colt Clewley

And even in high school, like in the summers, I would rent a house. My parents were different. They let— they kind of let like free range. I was like a free-range chicken. They didn't, uh, they didn't like— they loved me, they cared about me, but there were times, you know, I'd tell my dad like, hey, I want to go, I want to go explore the woods. And so he gave me his old camping backpack and I would just have him drop me off in the woods. You know, this is in Pike National Forest, which is a pretty, pretty big national forest. And I would just go hiking out in the woods with my backpack, some snacks, some fire starter, and a machete, and go hiking out in the woods, camp, you know, spend a couple days just hiking through the middle of nowhere. And, you know, you always find a road. I, I always find that interesting how people get, you know, quote unquote lost in the woods, I guess, because if you keep walking, you'll eventually find a road, um, and/or trail or something, right? And I'd at least, you know, I just keep walking and eventually come into a, you know, a trail or a road, and then I would hike that to a road and then hike up until I found housing.

[00:21:51.630] - Colt Clewley

And then I would just start knocking on doors and until somebody answered the door, and then you you know, asked if I could borrow their phone and I'd call my dad and I'd ask him what the address was. Now I'm over here and he'd come pick me up. And it's like, I don't think a lot of parents would let their kids do that. I mean, I don't even know if I'd let my kids do that growing up. Um, you know, like, there's like, I figured my dad would just think, figured it was less mouth to feed if I didn't come back.

[00:22:20.290] - Big Rich Klein

We, uh, my dad would take me, yeah, my dad would take me up and a couple friends occasionally, and we would hike Desolation Wilderness Area in the Sierras. And he'd drop us off with our backpacks, and this was at like 14 years old, and 13, 14 years old, and we'd just hike through to 80, or we'd come back out, or into Tahoe, whatever, and from Highway 50. It was, uh, you know, yeah, it was a different time, especially when I grew up. I mean, you know, you grew up a little, you know, much later, but, um, I guess in the area you were at, it was, it was more accepted by some parents because, uh, you know, there wasn't a big influx of crazies out there, maybe.

[00:23:15.730] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, I mean, it was super rural. We lived, like I said, I mean, I used to ride You know, like I said, we live 4 miles out of town, and I used to ride my dirt bike into town a lot. So, right, um, you know, I don't even think you— you know, I don't even think that town now, if you tried to do that now, I guarantee they would— you'd get arrested, you know, because you're just not— it's just— it was just a different, different time.

[00:23:40.380] - Big Rich Klein

But so as a family, did you guys— it sounded— he said it— you said your dad thought maybe it was, uh, you know, a mouth not to have to feed. How many kids? How many other kids in the family?

[00:23:55.700] - Colt Clewley

It was just me and my brother, but I guarantee we ate them out of house and home. Like, we went through a gallon of milk a day, you know. I'm not, you know, I'm not 6'5" and £300 because I didn't eat. And, um, you know, they, uh, yeah, they just You know, what was neat is, you know, my dad was in the Air Force, um, basically his whole working career. I think he gave 36 or 38 years in the Air Force. And, and, uh, you know, he did different, different, um, you know, he's an airplane mechanic for a while. He did typewriter repair before I was alive or even thought of. Um, but different things, just different mechanical things. And so even when I was a kid, I remember him coming home and he had been in the machine shop and he made his own like chromoly tie rod, tie rods for his steering and stuff. This is way before that was even a thought for most people. Um, he's just like, I'm tired of, you know, bending these tie rods, so I made this thing out of Pro Molly, you know, or whatever.

[00:25:07.320] - Colt Clewley

And, and in that same breath, he was, you know, for a couple years there, he was the president of the Rocky Mountain Hill Climb Association. So we lived right next to Pikes Peak. We— he, he did a— you know, I got tons of trophies that he had from, uh, Jeep races, from doing hill climb races and different, different, uh, you know, just different off-road things. So yeah, different, you know, part of different, um, off-road clubs and Jeep Connas and all kinds of things like that. So it was kind of embedded into me just like how fun mechanics were and then how fun it was to do mechanics outdoors. We didn't really do any street racing. He did a lot of ice racing too, but we didn't do like pavement racing. So everything we did was always like dirt, ice, snow, things like that, off-road-wise. And, um, and so that's kind of what I just— I got into with that. And then he had— so he had a lot of tools, um, you know, from being— from doing— from being a machinist. And so, like, I learned how to, you know, set up my own gears and and, you know, weld and all that stuff.

[00:26:29.270] - Colt Clewley

But he didn't really— I wouldn't say my dad would show me how to do anything. He would just be like, there's the tools, go for it. And I think it was kind of fun for him to watch me fail and learn, and, and then, you know, and fix it. You know, if I made a bad weld and I ripped a shock mount off, he'd be like, yeah, that was a pretty bad one, you should probably do better next time. And so I would like, you know, you know, he's like, you need to turn up the heat or something. That'd be about all I'd get. So then I'd, you know, you know, try to get it hotter or get a different welding rod or something like that, you know, different style welding rod, and, and, uh, and weld it back together and, and, you know, make it hold. But he'd kind of let me learn through failure. He didn't really, uh, say you should do that, you know, it wasn't like you should do this better because that's gonna, you know, that's gonna fail. I think he found it more, more fun to watch it actually fail than like— and then other things, I think you'd watch me build it and he'd be like, oh, that's kind of interesting way to do it, let's see if that works.

[00:27:33.040] - Colt Clewley

You know, I think it was kind of a curiosity for him, right? But it gave me the ability to never be scared, uh, to try anything. Like, I cut, I cut a Cherokee up and like a two-door Cherokee and turned it into basically a pickup. Um, I mean, I was probably 19 years old and just chopped this thing up and welded it back together and, and stretched the wheelbase and did all kinds of things that, you know, most 19-year-olds wouldn't even attempt. Most adults wouldn't attempt. Um, and, you know, just because I wasn't scared to tear into it. Perfect.

[00:28:15.880] - Big Rich Klein

That's the way it should be, um, you know, but we're losing that nowadays, that's for sure. When you, you said you, when you work, when you worked, what was your, uh, what was your first real job paycheck-wise, you know, set hours, that kind of thing?

[00:28:32.470] - Colt Clewley

Uh, so first job I can recall in my head was working for my uncle in Fairplay, Colorado, which is South Park. Like, if you've heard the South Park cartoon, like, that's literally— South Park's a ghost town that's attached to Fairplay. Okay. Um, I worked in, in, in Fairplay, Colorado, at his lumberyard, and it was for— man, I think I got, I don't know, $3 a day or something, and I would melt down lead and make lead weights for fishing lures. Um, so I just had a whole, uh, you know, a lead smudge pot setup thing that he had made, and I would chuck all this lead in there and melt it down. I'm breathing it all in, like, you know, I'm sure it'd be a complete lawsuit nowadays. But, and they'll make this, you know, melt down this lead and then, and then put them in pour it into these forms and then, and then make lead weights for fishing lures that he would sell. Because I, you know, he'd have me do a few other little things too, like paint the bathroom or move lumber around, you know. I was just manual, young manual labor that was really, really young.

[00:29:48.790] - Colt Clewley

I don't remember how old I was, but I was really young. Like, my dad took me out there and I'd stay at his, you know, his spare bedroom and work for the week, and then he'd bring me home on the weekend.

[00:30:01.050] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:30:01.420] - Colt Clewley

And then, uh, man, after that, I'm thinking— I'm trying to think. I worked in a— worked in another lumber yard in Woodland Park. And then, and, um, when I was in school, I also— uh, Cripple Creek turned into a gambling town. So Cripple Creek's a little mining town, and then it turned into a gambling town to kind of make money. And I would clean casinos from 2 to 8 in the morning. So I'd go to school, get out of school, hang out with my friends, and then I'd end up driving into Cripple Creek, clean casinos, and then go back to school. And I did that for a while, but I remember that was kind of the first time I realized that I needed sleep. So I did it for, I think I was doing it for like 3 days straight. And I didn't realize I was not going to bed because I was just hanging out with my friends. And then going to work and then going back to school. And like day 3, I remember I was, uh, in the casino and I started seeing shadow monsters like running across the, uh, you know, the casino floor.

[00:31:06.290] - Colt Clewley

And I'm like, oh yeah, I haven't went to sleep, like things are weird. And then, uh, yeah, so I realized then like after school I needed to like go to bed so that I could actually get up and go to work. But yeah, I was just never afraid of work. And then I got in, you know, I worked at Four Wheel Parts like really, really, really early on. I was a mechanic at Four Wheel Parts the same time, you know, of course I was really, really young in Colorado Springs, the same time Clifton Slay was a salesman at Four Wheel Parts. Okay. So yeah, it was just, um, you know, before he went to, you know, before he started Poison— went to Avalanche and started Poison Spider and all that. So, um, yeah, I just did that for a little while, and, and I thought that— I think the reason I did it is because I thought that if I got to be in the off-road community that way, I would just get more and more and more involved. And when you're actually building other people's vehicles non-stop, you realize that you're not enjoying it as much, right?

[00:32:19.070] - Colt Clewley

I got great takeoffs, like great parts, you know. That's where I got a lot of shocks and used tires and all kinds of things like that. Um, but yeah, I didn't— I just didn't enjoy even working on my own rig anymore because I was working on everybody else's. So, um, And then got into the oil field and that was probably, you know, just like I said, 'cause I was not afraid of long hours and hard work and got into the drilling side of the oil field and worked in the oil field and did that for a long time. What we call real money. That's how we raised the kids. Yeah, I mean, you know, I can't say, You know, what they pay now is a lot better than what they paid me. I remember, you know, I just made my money due to overtime. You know, they're paying floorhands now what I, you know, more than I was making as a driller. But yeah, they, you know, I, you know, it's just when you're working 12.5-hour days, anytime they needed somebody to work over, I was, you know, I'll work over. And, and, uh, but I did, you know, the cool part about that is that when I was home, um, you know, I went through different jobs in the oil field.

[00:33:42.290] - Colt Clewley

All— when I went and went to directional drilling, you didn't really have a schedule. Um, and then as a company head, I went back to it like a 2 and 2. But the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off thing was really cool because then I could come home And we'd load the kids up and we'd— our vacations were four-wheeling. So, you know, young family, we would just go for one. And I'd always have a vehicle. I'd always built something. I kind of stepped away from dirt biking once we had our daughter, um, because it's like dirt biking was fun. I had two very expensive hobbies, off-roading and and motorcycles. But motorcycles could only take me, off-roading could take my family. And so, you know, kind of put all of my focus into off-roading, and that's how we did it. Like, kids, you know, my kids have never— still to this day have never been to Disneyland or, or SeaWorld or anything like that, but they've been to the Rubicon, they've done Holy Cross, they've wheeled a good chunk of this country and seen a lot of cool things, um, you know, that, that, uh, most kids will probably never see.

[00:34:58.940] - Big Rich Klein

When you're in Colorado, um, and so you started off in Divide, you didn't live there the whole time, right?

[00:35:08.580] - Colt Clewley

Well, we lived in that kind of in that area, um, gosh, for until like 2014, I think. Okay, so yeah, we did live there quite a while. I helped put in, um, you know, help put in, uh, Carnage Canyon there outside of Buena Vista. Even helped, you know, unintentionally, because this was in the era of forums. Uh, Colorado 4x4 needed people to come up and, and work on Carnage in Boulder, and we were supposed to get the, the, like, the canyon next to it to go four-wheeling. And so we went out there, did this whole cleanup, and then basically the Forest Service, you know, gave us the shove once Once we got it all closed down for the new trail, they're just like, no, we're done. So we, you know, I learned a valuable lesson there of how, you know, the right people working with the right people and working with the right people in, um, the governing offices, um, can make a big difference on opening trails or closing trails. Um, but I helped do a lot of maintenance to get open, uh, Independence. You know, we had a trail in Salida Uh, we had two trails in Salida, Colorado called Rattler and Minesweeper.

[00:36:35.910] - Colt Clewley

Both those trails do not exist now. They are gone and probably will be gone forever. Supposedly they found a microscopic spore in Minesweeper, and, uh, but we were— yeah, yes, that's— I— they've never been able to prove it, but yes, um, that somehow only existed on that trail. Um, but, uh, the, the, you know, that was— that also allowed us to be able to move that, add in Independence down in Penrose, Colorado, which was kind of one of the first like hardcore trails. Independence was a super, super fun trail. I broke a lot of my junk down there and really got to test out, you know, the, the the ability of your rig in that trail. Now I'd say it's on the easier level of hardcore trails for sure, but at the time it was super, super tough. And, and, uh, you know, it really evolved a lot of the, I guess, the more you know, dedicated four-wheelers into, you know, okay, we need to do Dana 60s, we need to do, you know, better suspensions and, and better parts and stronger pieces. And you just find out, you know, you find— I mean, I ripped the, ripped the track bar off of my Cherokee because I was like, oh well, I need to weld that to the unibody, it can't just be bolted on, you know.

[00:38:16.270] - Colt Clewley

Ripped my whole motor mount and everything out when it peeled off. And, you know, you just learn how to make things stronger, you know, through trails. But yeah, I was, you know, able to help kind of get those trails established before we moved up to the Black Hills in South Dakota. And, um, up there it was kind of funny because I thought that I was, you know, um, they put in— they had just put in Boulder Canyon right before we moved up to the Black Hills, not too long before that, and maybe a couple years prior. And so I went in and, and, and, and I wheeled Boulder Canyon a few times, and I felt like I was a, you know, pretty decent driver, like, in the aspect of, of off-roading. And, and went up to the Black Hills, went to Dakota Territory Challenge, you know, did did a bunch of those trails, including Captain Crunch, which is extremely tough trail. And, and, uh, you know, at that time we're like, hey, I think we want to move to the Black Hills. And it was mostly because we wanted to raise— I wanted to give the kids— Colorado had been changing quite a bit, and I wanted to give my kids kind of the same, um, youth as I had.

[00:39:39.670] - Colt Clewley

And in South Dakota, you can still drive at 14. You can get your driver's license at 14 years old. And, um, so, so we moved up there and raised the kids, and, um, it really upped my off-roading ability, I would like to say, because I started wheeling with Jason Pauley and And, um, he's an extremely good driver, right? And, uh, and spending time wheeling with him and, and some of the other guys, um, you know, my, uh, learning, learning some of what, you know, his fabrication skill set. And then one of my good buddies, Pat Helgeson, who I think is the most non-famous um, high-end fabricators out there. He's built a lot of vehicles for a lot of people over the years, or a lot of even custom parts for a lot of high-end builders over the years, but nobody really knows who he is. And so he taught me a lot about different fabrication tricks and things like that, and it really just— I feel like moving up there upped my not only my driver ability but my fabrication ability as well. And just befriending, you know, people that are really good, you know, good drivers, good fabricators in the industry.

[00:41:16.480] - Big Rich Klein

And so after that time period, well, how long were you up there? And then you made— from there you went down to Farmington?

[00:41:24.830] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, yeah. So we were up there until just a couple years ago. I'd say it might be— might have been 3 years now. But yeah, yeah, we— so we raised the kids up there, and, um, you know, I got lots of old pictures and videos of them driving the buggy and, you know, the old Samurai and some of the other rigs up there. And, and, um, we, we actually homeschooled, so we converted to homeschool and homeschooled our kids, and that actually allowed us to do more family vacations. So they could still do schooling while we were traveling. So we got, you know, they got to wheel in Oregon and Washington. And, you know, like I said, we did the, you know, the Rubicon and Fordyce, and we would travel around on my days off. And that's kind of what we would do is four-wheel and vacation. Um, you know, quote-unquote kind of vacation. But, um, you know, they still had school, but we could go around and travel and, and do that, at least until they got really heavy into sports. Then we did a lot of sports traveling. Both the kids were heavy into sports.

[00:42:33.860] - Colt Clewley

But, but, um, but yeah, it was— so after, you know, so like I said, we had our, we had our daughter and our son very young. They grew up, they went off to college And, um, you know, we're like, hey, I'm kind of tired of being cold all the time because I think South Dakota still holds the record for the, like, highest temperature swings from, like, I think they went over 90 degrees in just a couple of hours. Wow. Yeah, um, which is insane. And, uh, so, you know, February is just brutal. It's, you know, negatives— like, the warmest it'll get will be like -10. And, uh, and so— and that's Fahrenheit in case you have any foreign viewers, but, uh, but, um, yeah, so, so one of the things that we enjoyed was coming down here in Wheeling and Farmington, you know. I mean, after seeing, you know, some of the early Warren and ARCA events And then, you know, that this was one of the places we'd come down and wheel too. So we'd come down here and, uh, you know, wheel. And, you know, have had some friends down here and really enjoyed— you know, I feel like Farmington is kind of the early— it's the early version of Sand Hollow, right?

[00:44:04.950] - Colt Clewley

Um, you know, it was kind of the first, like, big, big walls, big climbs, big hardcore wheeling, uh, area that still had some free-range area involved in there and some other things that, that, you know, is now, you know, obviously Sand Hollow's taking that, taking that title. But I feel like this place still has a lot, and a lot of people— I think it's— I think Farmington is super underrated for somebody that wants to actually challenge their driver skill set. And, um, so, so yeah, it was a place that I was like, I knew it was kind of a, um, what I would call a banana belt, kind of a secret little honey hole, because Colorado gets so much blue skies. And I love Colorado, um, but the taxes have just gotten, you know, they're, they're trying to chase California in that aspect. And And so we've, you know, it's like, well, we could, you know, be right there at the verge of it. And, you know, what I like is I'm 6 hours to Sand Hollow, I'm 5, you know, 5 and a half hours to Phoenix, I'm 3 hours to the center of Moab, you know, I'm an hour from, I'm an hour from, uh, you know, hitting the Alpine Loop.

[00:45:22.620] - Colt Clewley

So we can be in the mountains, we can be, you know, in some of the most iconic off-roading areas in the West in just a handful of hours. I mean, you can take, you know, day trips and do, do a lot of cool stuff. So that's it. It's kind of why we wanted to move here. And then the weather's pretty decent year-round, um, so it's not— it normally, you know, this year is kind of an exception, but it normally doesn't get crazy hot in the summer, and then it doesn't get crazy cold in the winter.

[00:45:54.930] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So what are you doing to make a living now?

[00:46:02.410] - Colt Clewley

Building, building and adventuring on YouTube. So, you know, kind of played around with it, the YouTube thing a little bit. Early in the early years before YouTube was even monetized, before you could even get paid to do it. Um, I was recording videos that, you know, because I was challenging harder trails on a leaf sprung 4Runner. And so those videos were actually doing really well. Um, I ironically, like, I mean, right out the gate I had, you know, 6,000, 20,000 view videos in early YouTube, which, um, you know, a lot of people weren't even on it at that point, so um, you know, I had good, uh, good videos there. And then, um, partnered up with, uh, when COVID hit, uh, partnered up with Bleepin' Jeep and was building, you know, building vehicles on YouTube there. And then just kind of branched off, um, and did my own thing down here. And so the last 2 and a half years now, I've had my own YouTube channel called Colt Builds It. And, you know, we do a lot of builds. Um, I have a lot of different axle builds. That was one of the things I did a lot of with 4WheelParts.

[00:47:29.690] - Colt Clewley

There's a lot of things that I did for a lot of friends and stuff too. But so I've tried to categorize different things, you know. I want to give people an experience where they can go out and be like, hey, that's a place I want to go four-wheeling, or hey, that's a place I want to explore, hey, that's something I want to do. At the same time, for the DIY or the person that wants to build, build stuff, it's like, okay, well, here's some how, you know, here's some how-tos on fabrication, here's some how-tos on, you know, like how to build a roll cage or rock sliders or four-link or three-link or, um, you know. And then like I said, with the axle builds I've created I've been trying to do, um, when I say this, people might realize it, but they're always trying to just get me to build more Dana 60s, more Dana 60s. And it's like, I've done a lot of Dana 60 stuff, and I'll probably still do some more, but I have a catalog of different— like, I've shown people how to build Rover axles and how to build Toyota axles and obviously how to build the different Dana model axles.

[00:48:28.480] - Colt Clewley

And, um, you know I'm trying to build a collection where somebody that's like, hey, I'd really like to do this, you know, but I don't really know if I can. Well, here's a video on how to build this axle, how to, how to cut it up, how to do, you know, disc brakes, how to put in gears and lockers, how to weld on trusses, how to whatever. Um, you know, I even drilled out the spindles of a Dana 60 to show people how to do that. That's not a very fun job, but I did it so that people can understand, you know, because that was one of the things we used to do, you know. Um, before there was an aftermarket. You know, now you have an aftermarket for a Dana 70 and a Dana 80, but at the time that wasn't a thing. So, you know, in the early years, so, you know, it was hard enough just to get stuff for Dana 60s. So, um, you know, I've had this focus on like trying to build so that somebody that's maybe getting new into the industry or new into the sport can say 'Hey, here's a video on how to do this.

[00:49:30.980] - Colt Clewley

I actually would like to try to do this,' you know, because I feel like, um, when we lost the magazines, the paperbacks, a lot of that, um, you know, what I love about— what I love about the magazines— I grew up with, you know, obviously, you know, when you started yours, I had yours, but all the, all the magazines and you know, old Peterson's. My dad had the old early Peterson's, and, you know, 4-wheel drive and off-road and 4-wheeler and all that. In there was always knowledge. The hardest part though, I kept all those magazines for so many years, but there was no way to categorize it. It's like, there's tons of knowledge here. If you knew where to look, you could probably do just about anything with a vehicle if if you knew where to look in each magazine. But it was hard to categorize it. So that's what I've been trying to do with my YouTube channel is categorize those sections so that if somebody wants to build this or do that, they can just click it and go, oh, okay, here's, you know, here's transmission rebuilds, here's, you know, transfer case rebuilds, here's axle, you know, and then they can go down and find the model that they have, and bam, here it is.

[00:50:48.650] - Colt Clewley

So that's been kind of my focus, is like to really help people. And I mean, even though I have a shop and a lift now, you know, I built a lot of stuff outside in the dirt. I mean, almost everything I built was outside in the dirt. And, and, uh, you know, I didn't even have a garage big enough to hold a vehicle, so just held all of my tools. It's more of a glorified shed. And, and so everything I built was outside, so I know how that is. And even one of the videos I did with my son is we built his Jeep Wrangler out in the driveway with hand tools. So, um, and people love that video. That video does really, really well, and I think that's just because it's, it's what most people are, are doing. You know, just building it outside in the driveway, right?

[00:51:42.100] - Big Rich Klein

People don't have 6,000-square-foot shops with multiple lifts and, you know, $100,000 worth of, uh, tools and toolboxes and equipment, right? Yeah, yeah.

[00:51:56.460] - Colt Clewley

So, so yeah, I mean, I try to, you know, I try to incorporate some of that as well. You know, I, I do have a vehicle lift. It is by far the cheapest vehicle lift you could come across, and it is not super great. It's a little bit sketchy, but it doesn't always grab everything. But it, um, but yeah, you know, I think, you know, I try to find— I, you know, as you get older, you want better tooling, and you've collected tools, you know. And so I buy a lot of used tools. And I always try to find, you know, I do have my particulars for certain tools, but, you know, one of the tools that I've used for— I can't even tell you how many roll cages and bumpers I've built— is like an affordable vendor. And, you know, they are made in America. You know, the only thing that's not is the, is the actual bottle jack. And I don't know if there's a bottle jack company that is in America or not. I don't think there is. It's got to be pretty pricey. But, um, but everything else is made in America and it's actually affordable.

[00:53:04.940] - Colt Clewley

And people, you know, and it's small and compact. The reason I started with one of those is because of the fact that I had a small garage and I could fit it in a corner and just put it in a shelf. And, and so I still use that today. You know, I have upgraded it to air over hydraulic, but I show people how to build cages and stuff with that because I feel like that is what, um, you know, if I have just a regular garage, that's what I'm going to be using. So, and, and it does it right, you know. We've all used the like Harbor Freight, um, tube or, um, pipe bender, and all that does is crush tubing. Like, it doesn't actually work, right? You have to do, you have to do major modifications to it, and it's still makes things a little bit sketchy. So, um, you know, but that's kind of one of the things I like doing too, is like kind of testing out tools and products and showing people like, hey, you know, I, I'm, I'm definitely not— I'm kind of an oddball in the YouTube world because I won't— I don't want to ever sell out for money.

[00:54:18.040] - Colt Clewley

I could care less. I've had some big offers from companies for money that I won't take because I don't believe in the product. And it just hasn't worked for me. So I usually tell companies when they reach out is like, hey, give me one, let me try it, and I'll tell you what I think. And I'll give them honest feedback. And then we can go forward from there. But that's usually how I like to work stuff. And, and then you know, because I really want— I think that what I love is that is in the aftermarket world, everybody can succeed. If you— if, if, if you're building a good product, it's going to do well, period. If you have something good, it's going to do well, um, or be copied. Yeah, or be copied. Yeah, um, but sometimes the copies aren't as good. True. You know, and, and And, um, you know, and vice versa, I guess it goes both ways. But I do, you know, I— everything, everything gets copied. I always— I, I try to look at that as, uh, it— when somebody copies me with something, I'm like, you know, copying is probably the best way of flattery.

[00:55:32.830] - Colt Clewley

But, um, you know, I, I do, I do try to find stuff that people can get their best bang for buck., you know, in a product or products that, you know, you know, I like one of the companies that I absolutely adore is Skyjacker. You know, they were family-owned, still been around for, you know, it's over 50 years now. They haven't sold out to China. And And, uh, you know, I think that that's one of those companies that, that, um, you know, they have a, they have a catalog. Like, they don't even— their website doesn't even show a, a third of what they have in their product listing, you know what I mean? Right. They're a great family too. The McCrae's are awesome. Yeah. And, and they've just been around long enough that they just have everything, so You know, and one of the things that they really focused on are like their new coilovers. And for me, you know, I bolted those on and out of the box, like, you know, I will say like if you have a right coilover tuner, if you have a shock tuner, you can make some crazy stuff and you can make things work insanely well.

[00:56:56.800] - Colt Clewley

But out of the box, they did their research and they did their homework and they worked with the right other manufacturers to make a really, really high-end coilover that I think out of the box bolt-on, like, you're going to be hard-pressed to beat it. And, um, for, for out of the box bolt-on, and, um, you know, that's, that's just one of those things. Like, that's why, you know, I'm like, hey, this is a really good product for people to you know, I think, you know, but that's just, you know, my motto for my channel is there's the right way, the wrong way, and the way I do it. Because there's a, you know, I don't know why people skin cats, but there's, you know, 100 different ways to skin a cat. I usually try to tell people the way that I do it because this works for me, you know, and this is why I don't do it this way because these ways didn't work for me.

[00:57:48.530] - Big Rich Klein

So Personally, where's— what's your favorite trail? Ooh. Where you just go, you know, I could, I could run this, you know, once a week for the rest of my life and just be happy.

[00:58:11.180] - Colt Clewley

Um, so, so favorite trail. Man, that's, that's a tough one, but I would—

[00:58:26.240] - Big Rich Klein

okay, give me a list of 5.

[00:58:28.940] - Colt Clewley

Okay, so for me, um, top trails, uh, top trails that I could run pretty consistently, um, number 1 would probably in that group would probably be Mount Blanca. Mount Blanc is just one of those trails that I, you know, it's an in-and-out trail mountain, but it has obstacles, it has cliffs, it has views, it has lakes, it has tree line, it has 14,000-foot peaks. It kind of like hits all the buckets of off-roading. You know, Holy Cross is definitely in that list for me. It's just one of those trails that I feel everybody should do at least once in their life. Um, you know, I think Rubicon's in that list. You know, it's there. It's not just iconic because it's a popular trail in California. I think it's iconic because it's 20, you know, over 20 miles long and You once again, you're kind of, you click off a lot of buckets. You got, you know, river crossings and mountains and all the, all the things, right? Um, you know, one that's on my list that I still haven't done is Doozy. Okay. Um, Doozy has been on my list for a long time, and, and so for me, that's a, that's a big one.

[01:00:03.050] - Colt Clewley

And then one I just actually knocked off my list, which has been the K'nik in Alaska. And that's one that had been on my list for an extremely long time. And I was able to knock that one off and learn a lot about it at the same time, because we actually ended up doing a recovery out there at the same time.

[01:00:30.060] - Big Rich Klein

So, okay. And are you doing— I see that you've got a mini recovery tow truck like some of the others have built, is that correct?

[01:00:43.960] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, so, um, you know, every time I— you know, a lot of my buddies, um, have recovery rigs, you know. I've known Rory for an extremely long time. And, um, you know, before he even had— before he even had Mater. And, um, you know, when he started doing it, I was like, yeah, there's a— there's a need and you can fill it. And, um, you know, for here in Farmington, when we moved to Farmington, I'd— I'd go— I, you know, I helped a lot of people do recoveries. I've done a lot of recoveries. Um, when you're doing a recovery without a boom I mean, I mean, how many recoveries have you done? You know, it's, it's, it's thousands, right? Um, you know, when you go out and, and, and, uh, you know, get a rig out of the trail, it's a lot of work. That boom just makes it so much— really does. Like, you can pick the rig up, you can change a tire, you can do so many things. Um, you can weld on it, you straighten things out, you know, especially when you got multiple winches. You can do so many things, it becomes a tool.

[01:01:59.160] - Colt Clewley

It's kind of like, um, lockers or rear steer, like they're great tools for off-roading. Um, it's, it's a, it's, it's just a great tool. And, and, uh, one of my buddies here in Farmington, he had, he had a, um, kind of an off-road recovery thing. And, um, but he was just doing it to pretty much get his rentals out of, of the trail. And so we talked and I was like, hey, you know, do you need help? He's like, I would love to have somebody to kind of help do this. And so I was like, you know what, um, you know, I built a Comanche last— not this last year, but the year before— for Easter Jeep. We built it in 28 days and And so when we did that, um, it just works really good. It's a good driver, good wheeler. It's kind of a good dual-purpose rig, and we camp out of it and everything. And so S10 that I built a few years prior for, um, a build challenge that we did for Onyx Off-Road, and then ultimately that that it won the build challenge, you know, I beat, you know, for, you know, building on a budget, quote unquote.

[01:03:19.260] - Colt Clewley

And, and, uh, so, so that, that S10 now, I was just like, I'm not doing anything with it because I have a Jeep that rides better, you know, drives better down the road, and realistically even kind of wheels better off-road. Um, you know, because I did coilovers on the front, things like that, and the S10's leaf sprung. It's like, why not just turn this thing into a wrecker? Because I love this truck. It's a great utilitarian truck. I use it for so many things. And so that's what we ended up doing. So I turned it into a wrecker, and it's been, you know, it's been, uh, super keen for a couple, um, recoveries as of late. I did, uh you know, a couple around here. And, and, um, yeah, just having, having that boom, having those extra winches, uh, really, really helps out. It just, it makes a difference for, for getting stuff out, and it fills, it fills a void that, that wasn't, that needed to be filled in this area.

[01:04:29.020] - Big Rich Klein

So one of the things I noticed is that the recovery vehicle videos on YouTube are exploding. I mean, people love watching that stuff.

[01:04:41.800] - Colt Clewley

Well, I mean, it makes sense because, because the reality is, um, you have a problem and you're gonna have a climax. You're gonna have to go figure that problem out, you know, and then you gotta fix it, and then you have an ending because you've gotten it. So you— as far as a, like, a story, um, you know, it's like a kind of like a movie there, you know, built in, right? Yeah, it's kind of built there for it. So yeah, it's, um, it's just one of those situations where everything kind of falls into place, and I think people like that. They know that they're gonna, you know, they can tune into it and they're gonna get all those things. They're gonna see a problem, they're gonna see you diagnose the problem, they're gonna see you, you know, struggle and, and get it out and then have a solution to that problem. So they get their, they get their, their whole story in one video.

[01:05:42.600] - Big Rich Klein

I've never, I've, I've never been a big video watcher. Um, if I go to YouTube, it's typically because I've You know, so many people now, so many companies, they don't even send a manual, you know, or anything on how to put something together. They just said, here's the link on how to do this. So that's where I end up going to either read their manuals or, you know, to find their, you know, their expert putting something together so that I don't have to do it twice. That's about what I use it for. But occasionally I'll catch some videos of people doing things, some of the recoveries and stuff. But I just, I'm just built different. I mean, we were looking at, you know, since we traveled so much for so many years, we thought, wow, we should record this and put together videos. And then it was like, you know, after the first 2 or 3 doing the video, you know, doing the videos, And then sitting down and trying to, to get it all edited, and I was like, the hell am I doing this for? You know, there's other things. It's a lot of work.

[01:06:55.120] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, yeah. I, I tell people that all the time, um, you know, because they, they just see the 30-minute video or the 40-minute video or whatever, and they think that that was, you know, it took just a few minutes to put together. And, and, uh I tell people all the time, it's like, I spent, uh, 18 years of my life in the oil field, and I can tell you I work harder doing YouTube than I did in the oil field, right? Yep. Um, you know, it's, it's a lot more work, and there's a lot more back end than people think. And, um, you know, the, the— I think the, the only difference is I just, I enjoy it more. I do enjoy I enjoy doing YouTube. I enjoy my job. I enjoy— I, you know, one of the coolest things ever is when people come up and just tell you how you changed their life. You know, it's one thing to have people tell you, hey, you really helped me build this, you helped me build that. You know, I've had some really young kids, um, come up to me and— or young adults, I should say, even— and come up to me and tell me, hey, you know, I watched your video and I decided to put these gears and lockers in this axle, or I decided to do this, or I built this transfer case, or I did this.

[01:08:06.730] - Colt Clewley

And I'm like, That is so cool. That's what I want to see. I want to see more people, um, you know, try it, you know. Just like, that's the biggest thing. I think so many people are afraid to take that step. Just, just try it, you know. Worst case scenario, it doesn't, you know, breaks. Like, that's, that's really the worst case scenario, right? Um, um, you know, that was probably the biggest thing I taught our son, and he would tear everything apart and then could never get it back together. But he learned what, what, you know, what he was capable of, um, pretty early because of that. You know, he's like, Dad, I tore this apart. Like, well, you gonna fix it? I don't know if I can. I'm like, no, it looks like you kind of broke it into pieces. Um, but, uh, you know, the, the— I don't know, I, I feel like there, there's— I don't want to see, I don't want to see, um, the history and, and the, the love of this sport get lost into this EV world of, you know, uh, just electronics and AI. And, you know, we can pretend that we went to this place or pretend that we built this or, you know, and, and stuff like that.

[01:09:25.310] - Colt Clewley

I really think that people have the ability if they're willing to just put their mind to it and try, right? But that takes dedication, and that's what I tell people all the time because I get asked all the time by people that want to, you know, do their own YouTube channel. And I'm like, you got— dude, this is like, it's— you have to feed the beast, man. It's, it's consistency. Like, you're always just— it's non-stop. It's 24/7, 365. And one of the best guys to explain that is Another buddy of mine that don't, you know, a buddy of ours, I should say, you know, Dave Chappelle, right? He'll tell you the same thing, you know, he'll, he'll straight up tell you the exact same thing. He's like, he's like, this is, you know, and he had his own business, you know, and he's been on TV, you know, he had a very successful TV show. And, and, uh, and, um, you know, it's just all, it's just a lot more work. But if you enjoy what you do, it takes some of that load of that extra work away, I should say.

[01:10:25.480] - Big Rich Klein

True. Yeah, I find that, you know, the podcast is good for me because it, you know, it takes me, you know, I sit with somebody, we talk for an hour, hour and a half, 2 hours, you know, we get— and then it takes me about the same amount of time, maybe half again as much. So if it's an hour conversa— podcast, I've probably got all done about 3 hours into it to get it out. That is so much easier than trying to edit video. And that's why I don't do video podcasts. It's just audio. Plus, I don't have the face for it. Nobody wants to look at my face. And, you know, most of the guys—

[01:11:06.830] - Colt Clewley

I'm shocked. I say that all the time. I'm like, man, I have a face for radio, but somehow people watch me do stuff on YouTube.

[01:11:14.740] - Big Rich Klein

Well, people aren't going to watch me talk. You know, that's a different thing. So, um, you know, I don't have a cool studio, you know, like, like Rogan or, you know. Oh yeah, that kind of thing, you know. And, and, you know, I don't sit and, uh, drink and smoke weed or whatever. So, you know, that's just, uh, yeah, audio's better. But it's true, consistency. One of the things that I, you know, I follow page of podcasters, you know, that people are asking, newbie, new people are asking, you know, well, what about this? What about that? And what I constantly see is everybody wants to do it, but they're like, well, you know, do I have, you know, I'm not getting 1,000 downloads, you know, off my first 4 podcasts. Well, hell no, because you got to work at getting it out there.

[01:12:10.980] - Colt Clewley

It's, it's absolutely, it's just like any business. Um, gotta grow, you know. Yep, people, that's one thing I wish, you know, that is one thing that we worked on when we homeschooled the kids that I wish public school, you know, I don't know why public school doesn't teach, um, like operating a business, balancing a checkbook, you know, how to do taxes, all these things that could make you successful in life. And, you know, running, being my own consultant in the oil field, once I moved up into consulting, I learned a lot of valuable business lessons through mistakes. Most everything I've learned is through failure, honestly, or through mistakes, I should say. I like to learn the hard way, I guess, but—

[01:13:01.330] - Big Rich Klein

You like to, or it just comes naturally? I guess, yeah, probably both. You're not out there trying to, to make mistakes. They just happen, right?

[01:13:12.360] - Colt Clewley

But, um, you know, so I— that's why I try to— that's why I love teaching, um, because, um, you know, I, I learned through having employees and, and things like that, you can tell somebody to do something and they might do it, but if you show somebody how to do something and why you do it this way versus other ways, all of a sudden, they're like, oh, okay, that's the way I want to do it. And then, and then next thing you know, like, you can build a rhythm, and then you have everybody on the same page, and things just move so much better, you know, more clockwork style. And it's just, it makes life nicer. You know, I learned that, like I said, through having people working under me, and And, you know, you can, you can yell and get mad and all those other things, but you'll never get anywhere that way. You'll just run through people. And, and, you know, so like I said, learning through, you know, you know, don't, don't hold people at a level, but teach them, and then, and then hold them to the level that you've taught them.

[01:14:25.590] - Colt Clewley

And, and they'll succeed. And you, you know, like I said, I love, I love seeing people succeed. I'm, I'm one of those people that does. I really do. I like seeing people, um, do well in life and in businesses and things like that. So it's really fun for me to help people, but I don't— I want to help people that want to actually, you know, progress, right?

[01:14:52.700] - Big Rich Klein

I guess You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Exactly.

[01:14:58.060] - Colt Clewley

Yeah, so, so yeah, that's, um, you know, it's just one of those, one of those things in life that I guess we all learn. But yeah, that's— for me, that's, um, just a crucial part of, of what the channel is about. I have, um, you know, Shannon and I have a very strong Christian faith, and so, you know, for me it's important to have um, you know, I pray about different Bible verses and I put a Bible verse in each one of my videos. Um, and when I started doing it, I started, you know, at first I was getting a lot of hate for it, and, and, um, now, you know, it's kind of the other way. I still get hate here and there, you know, but, um, you know, like I said You know, it's one thing to have these kids, you know, these kids come tell you they, they did something because you showed them, or they did this, that, and the other. But then when you have, um, adult, you know, adult men or people that are older you that are like, hey, I was having this really hard time in life, and it was, you know, you know, you shared this at the end of your video, and it just, it's been like a game changer for me now, you know.

[01:16:11.420] - Colt Clewley

And it's really, uh changed my life around, and now I look forward to the end of your videos. And it's like, that kind of stuff is just huge for me. Like, it's just a whole nother, um, you know, I, I don't know, it's hard to explain until you've had somebody do it, right?

[01:16:29.450] - Big Rich Klein

Right. It, it, it gives meaning. Um, I think 100%, I think most people want to leave this earth with some kind of legacy. Um, they may not think about it at the front, you know, in the, the front of their brain, or it may not be in the, you know, their front of their actions while they're going through life. But, you know, it— especially when you, when you start to get older, you look back on, on what you've done and you go, man, did I make a difference? And it's, I think everybody wants to make a difference and leave some kind of legacy. You know, all of us have, you know, different levels of what we've provided to society, I guess is the way to put it. But it's, all of us want to leave something, you know, or most of us. I mean, there's some, I mean, the prisons are full of ones that want to leave bad, bad legacies, right? Um, but you know, there's, there's a lot of us that, that, you know, and then there's others, you know, that will say things like, I don't care what anybody thinks or what they, you know, I'm going to do my own thing.

[01:17:50.400] - Big Rich Klein

But you know what, they are leaving a legacy and they don't, they just don't understand it, you know.

[01:17:55.220] - Colt Clewley

Um, but yeah, and I think, I mean Like, for me personally, that's one of the biggest things, um, with like trails and stuff. So when we moved to the Black Hills, you know, I was part of putting in a trail up there. So all that started because I actually lost a, a set of trails that I did a lot of work on, um, when I was younger, and there was a forest fire, took took it out, and they wouldn't reopen the trail. And I had tons of logged hours of working on this trail, and, and, uh, they wouldn't recognize me as a single person. They wanted an entity. And that's why, um, that's when I learned pretty, pretty early on that, you know, there's so many people in the off-road industry, especially in the newer groups, because there's so many people that are jumping into these newer Broncos, newer Jeeps. They're like, I don't want to be part of a 4-wheel drive club, I don't want to do this, or they just want to be part of a drinking club, not so much a 4-wheel drive club. And I'm like, you do realize that these clubs and these entities are the reason that you have these trails and the reason that you're going to be able to keep these trails.

[01:19:10.790] - Colt Clewley

And, um, you know, no different, um, you know, so like I'm a member of a lot of different clubs and a lot of different, you know, like an associate member, because some members, you know, you have to be there present, um, but like an associate member of a lot of different clubs that I believe in that are, that are keeping trails open, working with the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to keep trails. And then, um, you know, like, um, even I think the last time we hung— I don't know, we hung out at Easter Jeep, but yeah, at that, at, uh, you know, like the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. Like, that's huge for you know, recognizing people that have been huge in the industry. Um, you know, I think a lot more people should be part of that. Um, you know, vote and, and see who's gonna, you know, you know, who made a difference in your life. Um, you know, to, you know, I, I feel like I've had a better life being out in the desert and out in the woods and out, you know, um, in the mountains and all that stuff than I would have sitting in a cubicle, um, you know, typing away, crunching numbers.

[01:20:34.490] - Colt Clewley

Because that's, like I said, that's one thing that I was pretty good at.

[01:20:40.380] - Big Rich Klein

And, and it's important, um, for for the people that enjoy the outdoors to want to preserve it. You know, those people that live in the cubicles, um, you know, they don't— a lot of them don't care, or they go to their favorite national campground and or lake and that's their recreation. You know, they go to the place where it's paved and there's toilets and there's, you know, running water and electrical plug-ins, you know, current bushes you can plug into. You know, things like that, you know, organized campgrounds, KOA campground type campgrounds, you know, and that's their— and that's fine. At least they're getting out of that building and out of the city. But, you know, they— those are the, those are the people that when they visit, just visit national parks, all of a sudden look at those of us that do wheel and enjoy the outdoors differently, like, well, you don't need to do that. And so all of us that do do it need to make sure that they understand, no, we need— we do need to do it. Yes.

[01:21:57.340] - Colt Clewley

And we need to partner together. I know that there's a huge— there's still this weird— I'd say it's starting to mend better, But there is that, you know, there's still this big divide between side-by-siders and, you know, and Jeepers, and what I call, you know, Jeepers. And, and, um, you know, we need to be pushing for more side-by-side clubs, and we need to be pushing for more people to hold each other accountable and teach knowledge of why these trails are open, right? You know, growing up, and I know you're in the same boat as me, uh, you know, we had to build everything to make it good. And, you know, side by side, for a $200 a month payment, you're, you're getting, um, you're getting a $50,000 suspension, right? And, and so you didn't really have to earn it, you didn't have to build it, you didn't have to design it, you didn't have to, you know work your butt off to have enough money to build it or buy it or whatever. Um, and so some of that respect for the trails is lost with some of them. There are good— there are good side-by-side clubs out there, and there's a lot of guys even in the off-roading side, like the Jeep, you know, the Jeep or, you know, rock crawler side, that have bought side-by-sides because they're super fun.

[01:23:20.580] - Colt Clewley

Like, I, I enjoy them quite a bit. But that's one of those things that we need to work on. It's no different, one of the things that they did down here, which I thought was really good, is when this area was under the microscope for closure, is they got together with the bicycle groups and with the dirt bike groups and with the hiking groups and wanted, you know, and made it a collaborative effort to keep trails open. Like, hey, we want to keep your hiking trails where their hiking trails are, and we want to keep our four-wheeling trails where our four-wheeling trails are, and your single-track dirt bike trails where they are, and this, that, and the other, so that everybody could work together and be one unified voice of, no, we need to keep these trails open.

[01:24:17.570] - Big Rich Klein

Right. It's good to see that, those, all those groups working together, that's for sure.

[01:24:23.960] - Colt Clewley

Yeah. And it's tough sometimes, like, you know, when we, uh, there, you know, certain trails, you know, certain trails, um, we've put in, you know, you have different groups that, um, you know, when you put a trail in or when you're getting a trail approval, like, other groups have the right to come out and inspect it and check it out, this, that, and the other, and And sometimes they, you know, they don't want that. So you really have to figure out how to work with them. Usually when I see hikers, especially on trails, I'll usually offer them a water, you know, or like, you guys doing good? You need water? This, that, and the other. Because I usually carry plenty of water, right? And you'd be shocked how many times, you know, and they get— it's a different level of respect at that point. Then they're like, oh, this person's not just this you know, not a jerk driving. You know, my opinion is there's a thousand hiking trails. If you don't like my truck on the, on the four-wheel trail, maybe you should take a hiking trail because there's way more hiking trails than there are four-wheel trails, right?

[01:25:24.390] - Colt Clewley

But that's my personal opinion. But at that same time, there's a lot of people with that opinion that Jeepers are jerks. And so I try to change that opinion, um, by offering them water or offering them help. You know, and I've been part of multiple recovery missions to get hikers off of mountains as well, um, you know, over the years. Um, so that's a whole nother, a whole nother thing. Um, but you know, then they're, then all of a sudden they're really appreciative of you. Yeah.

[01:25:59.230] - Big Rich Klein

When they don't have to hike back out 30 miles because they got lost, right?

[01:26:03.900] - Colt Clewley

Yeah. Or, well, like I had one guy that fell off, uh, fell off the mountain. Like he was messed up. And, um, the day kind of got changed drastically because I was letting— Shanna was driving the trail, and, um, and, uh, my wife. And so we— I end up like, okay, look, I gotta drive now. We gotta manage this guy. And we got him and his buddies, and they were carrying him out to the, to the road, or to the road of the trail, which we were still miles up. We were way above tree line. And I took him back down and then had the, you know, got a hold of the ambulance and met the ambulance down at the, at the pay, at the parking lot. Um, but yeah, it was one of those situations where I don't know, you know, how they— if they would have made it if they had to try to drag him out of there, right? And it was just fortunate that we were up there. Like, it was one of those kind of coincidental situations. But, um, but yeah, going back to like trail stuff and things, like, I, I really hope that the, the, the newer generation as they come in, I want, you know, you know, I, I don't want them to just be about getting ducks.

[01:27:22.420] - Colt Clewley

Like, I want them to be like, hey, we need to, you know, be about actually getting trails and keeping trails and managing trails. And, uh, you know, I'd hate to see the West Coast end up like the East Coast where everything's private. Yes.

[01:27:37.270] - Big Rich Klein

So I, I just got Shelly on her little TJ, little stock 2000 TJ, um, license— custom license plates, and it says Zero Ducks, and it's Z-E-R-O-D-U-X. And it's funny because people look at that license plate and, oh, I like your, you know, I like your license plate. And I said, yeah, I kind of get annoyed when I get these little rubber ducks on the Jeep. And he goes, oh, I didn't even think about that. I looked at it as, you know, you were trying to tell everybody you had zero Fs to give. Oh, you know, zero fucks. And I'm like, oh no, no, no, that's ducks as in, you know, But you're right, I probably do have zero of those too.

[01:28:28.490] - Colt Clewley

You've dealt with enough angry drivers.

[01:28:31.830] - Big Rich Klein

We're not going to go there.

[01:28:37.970] - Colt Clewley

That's, that's one thing I tell everybody. There's always somebody complaining. I'm like, okay, so this is one thing I actually told Jason. I remember this, um So we, we create, we wheel, we competed. Like I said, now I was 20, maybe 20 years old, and early, early 2000s. And, and, um, we were competing in like the, I think they called it like a pro, like pro stock class or something. And then you had the Unlimiteds. So like Jason Pauley, Tracy Jordan, they're in the Unlimiteds. And, and then they built— that they bent the rules basically. They didn't bend them, but they read the rules to the exact amount of frame you had to have, the exact amount of this, exact amount of that, and built, built the rigs to compete in all of the classes, basically in both classes. And just destroyed everybody in both classes. And I remember being so mad, you know. And, uh, and Jason and I talked about that, you know, years ago, and he's like, yeah, it was super cool, we built, you know. And I'm like, yeah, dude, I remember hating you for that. But realistically, like, he knew the rules and they knew exactly where the lines were.

[01:30:02.470] - Colt Clewley

And that's the way all It's not just motorsports, but it's like all competitive anything. It doesn't matter that you— if you want to be in that top tier, you're gonna have to know where you can squeak on the rules, right? Um, and that's just— it doesn't matter what it is. And then that makes everybody else mad, every other person that— and realistically you get down to the brass tacks of it, the reason they're mad is because they didn't think of it themselves. Right? Exactly.

[01:30:36.200] - Big Rich Klein

That's, that's the 100% reason. I remember one time we had a front bumper rule, right? Which you could remove— the front bumper could be removable, but it had to— it couldn't be disposable, meaning that you couldn't just put it against the rock on the first obstacle damage it so it was out of the way and then continue on. So I remember one time Tracy Jordan got so mad because he was with his Rock Bug, I think it was, he was running both the Unlimited and the Pro Mod, and he'd have to have the bumper on for one, and then he could take the bumper off for the other. That was like the only thing that was the difference, the way the rig was built. And he, uh, he messed up and the bumper got wedged or something like that. And I don't remember the full thing, but I remember him taking the bumper off and throwing it down and saying, all right, tell your son he can do, you know, do whatever with this bumper because of the rules. Yeah, he was pretty mad about that, having to have that bumper on there and run Pro Mod with a 2-seat car.

[01:31:58.600] - Big Rich Klein

But, you know, it was also able to do the Unlimited and win there by, with, you know, just by taking the bumper off. So yeah. So what, what's in the future for Colt? You still going to be just working on YouTube? You got any grand plans, any big travel plans you want to do?

[01:32:18.670] - Colt Clewley

Well, I, um, I got, uh, we do have a, uh, so you're gonna be the first person in the public to actually hear about this, but we do have a little trip we're doing, um, pretty soon that is taking some, um, some other YouTubers and some other companies out, and we're going to take them out and and give them, uh, like an off-road experience. Nice. And, um, so that's one of my focuses. This is gonna be the first inaugural year. Um, everything's kind of like quiet. I don't, you know, until we get it done and filmed and everything. But, um, what I'm excited for is, is to see where it may go, you know, if it, if it does good and everything goes well, you know, being able to do that and just bring that experience to people every year, I think will be pretty cool. Um, as far as, uh, ventures go, I got a lot of cool builds on the build sheet. As for build-wise, um, I'm just— I'm working on Matt's Mini Wrecker. And a lot of people don't realize what it takes to build a buggy. I, I, you know, the YouTube world, I think that ruined— TV started it, YouTube's made it worse.

[01:33:48.980] - Colt Clewley

Um, a lot of people don't realize that most one-shot YouTube build videos are vehicles that are not really roadworthy or not really finished usable. Yeah, they're never finished, just like TV show stuff. If anybody's ever seen a TV show vehicle up close, like there's one screw holding everything on. Um, they're not actually capable of doing anything. And, you know, most buggy shops, you know, are taking— you know, it takes, takes a long time to build a buggy, you know, and they do it professionally. Um, you know, and I'm building a one-off buggy. Um, you know, nothing's— everything's custom. And, and, uh, you know, so a lot of people don't realize there's like, when's that thing gonna get done? It's like, well, it takes time, and I'm filming it, so that's even taking more time. But, uh, once I'm done with that, I got a lot of cool builds, builds on the table that some will be a lot faster to build, um, so that, you know, people can get that kind of right now feeling. But, um, yeah, I got some really cool builds coming forward. And then one of the things I'd like to do, uh, next year potentially, hopefully is, uh, I would actually like to do an East Coast, um, off-road tour, like off-road trip, right?

[01:35:11.120] - Colt Clewley

Um, I feel like, I feel like the West Coast gets a lot of, a lot of love for like great trails and things like that, and I don't think the East Coast gets as much as it deserves. Like, there is some cool stuff, there are some great, great trails, both adventure-wise and hardcore-wise. But yeah, I feel like there's a lot of, um, a lot of cool trails on the East Coast, uh, like adventure-wise and hardcore, like wheeling-wise, that are completely underrated, right? You know what, like, like, and you know, WE Rock hits a lot, you know, hits a decent amount of those, you know, um, but you know, West Virginia is just loaded with great wheeling. Yes, so is Pennsylvania. Yeah, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are two states that are just loaded with great wheeling. Um, and you know, like, I've spent a lot of time wheeling down in Kentucky and Tennessee as well, and same deal. Like, they're just— there's just ton— you know, I, I don't think people understand when you look at like WE Rock. WE Rock is 1,000 acres. Like, that is so much land. Like, you can easily— like, I have gotten lost up there some— one of the early times I was wheeling up there, I got lost.

[01:36:30.260] - Colt Clewley

I thought I was going to end up sleeping in my Samurai. Um, there's, you know, now I, I don't think I could get lost. I, you know, I've wheeled it so much. But there's so many trails out there. You can just wheel and wheel and wheel and wheel, spend a week out there and not hit everything. You know, it's, it's a lot more than people realize. Um, you know, and then if you start adding in how quick you can get to other off-road parks that have just, um, you know, one that's still on my list. I know it's not very long, but it's been on my list, and you know, I told everybody about it. Now every other YouTuber's filmed it, which kind of bums me out because none of them even knew what it was until I told them. But it is Lion's Den, um, Lion's Den in, uh, Black Mountain there has been on my to-do list for a long time. And, um, but yeah, there's just, uh, you know, so I'd like to— I'd really like to showcase some of that stuff out there. Um, you know, I think West Virginia especially has really been pushing, um, you know, they're trying to get tourism there, and with their, uh with their trail systems.

[01:37:46.860] - Colt Clewley

They just keep adding more and more trail systems. And I actually got to wheel with the governor, and they're like— I mean, he's all about it. So, um, you know, during Ultimate Adventure a few years back, and, and, um, he, he wants people to come there and experience four-wheeling. And they have, uh, both levels, from extreme to just awesome super scenic stuff.

[01:38:11.920] - Big Rich Klein

Yep. So, well, we'll have to get you out to, uh, to Escondido Draw in West Texas and, uh, check out our park there at TMTC, Texas Motorized Trails Coalition, because that's not— oh yeah, that's one of my new gigs is, uh, being the executive director for that nonprofit. And, uh, oh really, closest park to you is, uh, Escondido Draw. It's pretty cool. Pretty cool. Yeah, check it out. Yeah. Well, cool.

[01:38:40.000] - Colt Clewley

I do have a Texas list.

[01:38:41.630] - Big Rich Klein

Perfect. Well, when you do, let me know. I'm there at least once a quarter. Nice. So I want to say thank you so much for coming on and talking about your life and your interests and what you got going on. And I look forward to this trip you've got going. And when that comes out, that's definitely a video I'll watch.

[01:39:07.700] - Colt Clewley

Well, I appreciate it.

[01:39:08.890] - Big Rich Klein

All right, you, uh, you take care and thank you so much for, for coming on and being a guest.

[01:39:15.400] - Colt Clewley

Hey, thank you so much for having me. I was secretly always kind of hoping you'd, uh, ask me to come on. I'm glad eventually I was able to get— be, be on it. So that, that's really cool and I appreciate everything you've done for the off-road community. I think a lot of people, um, are unaware of I think a lot of the newer people need to be more aware of it for sure.

[01:39:37.260] - Big Rich Klein

Well, great. And I will let you know, Steve Allard out of Arizona just messaged me a few days ago and said, hey, if you don't have Colt on your list, you need to get him on your list. And I said, well, he's on my list. I just have to work down to the list. And then I thought about it. I said, no, I'm going to jump. I'm going to pop Colt up. So Steve Allard out of Arizona, one of our WE Rock competitors, said was the one that said, hey, get him on, get him going.

[01:40:04.880] - Colt Clewley

So here you are. Well, thanks, Steve. I appreciate that. Nice. I guess, I guess, I guess now I'm committed to going to Baghdad next year.

[01:40:14.690] - Big Rich Klein

Now there you go. All right. You take care and thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Okay. Bye-bye. Bye. Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message and let me know any ideas that you have, or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, Live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.