Time for a little update, as many folks seem anxious for me to get my KK Off-road Armor products to market so they can enjoy the same benefits I have been.
I certainly did not intend for the calendar to read as it does and still not have my KK Off-road Armor available for purchase for those seriously interested. Since I first divulged what I was working on, which should benefit all of the KK enthusiast community, and started this thread (now with over 9,000 views), I've lost 2 extended family members through non-quick battles for their lives. I've also had some personal matters I've had to deal with too, plus pesky day-job (including some rush-trips and long hours to take care of issues on my $250M design-build project I'm co-managing). I'm not even mentioning some of the matters that come up with my other side business from time to time.
Believe me, I fully understand anyone who is frustrated that these KK Off-road Armor products aren't available yet. That was me from January 2009 until about February 2010 when I realized if the KK was
ever going to get some serious off-road armor, I was going to have to design it myself and pay to have it custom-made. Then once I started on my KK Off-road Armor projects, the street rod fabricator I was originally working with for my prototypes became very disappointing to deal with as he was dragging it out (and basically ignoring my project) for months on end. I finally had to pull the plug on him, even though he was a street-rod buddy of and lived near my dad, and start fresh with another street rod custom shop. I was without my KK, except for a few weekends at home to review progress or design more parts, for 9 months! Now, that was frustrating (especially because I had wanted to do a Colorado trip with it late last summer, but didn't get my KK back until this past Spring of 2011).
It was quite the mad rush getting the KK back together and ready for
LOST Pastafari 2011 in May, I had to focus just on that. As it was, there were a couple other things I wanted to do to it prior to the trip, but didn't get to. Given all that was going on, I decided since I was without my KK all of last summer (2010) for 9 months clear up until this past Spring, that this summer, I was definitely going to enjoy making use of it, including taking some major off-road trips. Including, I'm getting ready to take the KK and my father on a road-trip in early August.
I hope people understand. Now, for the positive aspect of what has transpired......as you can probably tell from my various posts, I'm generally pretty detailed, perform my due diligence and try to have well thought-out design considerations. That means I've been making use of this period for some serious testing of my KK Off-road Armor which will benefit everyone who buys some in the future. Some of the real-world testing I've been doing with my Off-road Armored Tan
KK include:
1. Trail tested in Moab at Pastafari 2011.
2. Trail tested around the Midwest (early July at Tuttle Creek).
3. Lightly tested in Colorado early May. Getting ready to heavily trail test it in Colorado later this summer. 
4. Tested routinely running in 100F + heat (and no cooling issues).
5. Trail tested recovery hooks on the front bumper and recovery shackles on the back.
6. Many highway trips. Only one small issue with the front wheel well liners, and that was easily remedied.
7. Many experiences with washing, cleaning and care. This experience has led me to change my plans for the finish on some fasteners just so everything will stay nice looking for as long as possible.
8. Experience changing out the front-end protective Grille Guard hoops to alter my KK's appearance.
9. Experience with mud-holes -- including checking if any concerns from how the off-road armor is configured.
In the meantime, I have been working on some background research to facilitate company operations. I've got the company formed (no, I'm not going to tell anyone yet, so please don't ask the company name
). Thus, as a result of this time where I've been putting the fully armored KK through its paces, I definitely feel the end result that I'll be selling, once I have them competitively bid and made in batches, will be improved and everyone else will benefit.
I spent enormous amounts of my own time and out-of-pocket cash to insure my KK Off-road Armor designs were repeatible. I've got good CAD drawings on every piece and have confirmation they all fit together properly for nice tight, integrated, fit on the KK (much better than other KJ bumpers I've seen). One of the benefits of my plan to competitively bid and order the KK Off-road Armor in batches is that once I have the first batch built, I won't be the proverbial bottleneck anymore. My aunt and uncle have all their warehousing space ready (that I'll be using) and are just waiting for product and to start taking and shipping orders to other KK enthusiasts. They already run a business selling merchandise on-line and shipping around the country and world. Ya'll will be relieved when I have products to sell and I'll be relieved to not be the hold-up any longer. I've got a
huge list of things I want to design and have made for my KK and look forward to attacking that list.
At least when you're getting KK off-road products from me, you'll know they're coming from a KK owner, a true KK enthusiast and one who actually takes his off-road, and someone interested in promoting the on-going use and versatility of the KK and participates in on-line forums like
LOST.
Unless some other personal matter comes up which must take precedence, I am planning that once I get back from my forthcoming Colorado trip, that in August I should be able to focus on getting some tweaks made to my CAD drawings and putting together bid packages to send to local custom steel fab shops I've worked with through the years. Also going to get some pricing from a few powder coating shops too for some options. Once I get bids in, I've got to do some number crunching and work out a few things, then I can announce pricing as the first batch is being made. I will be pushing to get this done as quickly as possible late summer. I know this isn't as soon as any of us wanted, but I am trying to keep everyone informed.
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