By Jon Maib
The saying goes, "Everything is bigger in Texas". This line is used for everything from insects to houses and being a native Californian, I can tell you, everything IS bigger in Texas! For many years now, I have missed the annual trek from my home in Santa Clarita, CA to the Pomona Fairgrounds for the yearly 'Off-Road Expo'. The expo was always filled with cool trucks, buggies and vendors to check out and see the latest and greatest products and builds. It was kind of a mini SEMA.

I moved from Cali to Texas around 16 years ago now and have missed having anything like that in Texas. There is the 4 Wheel Parts 'Truck Fest' that came close here, but it is usually fairly small with a dozen or so vendors. There has been a void here in Central Texas for something big and bold that could hold its own in the great state of Texas. 2017 was the first year that the Unlimited Off-Road Expo and Show came to Texas. I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to have our Project Vulture on display for Kleinn Air Horns which gave us an opportunity to work closely with event coordinators and understand the magnitude of putting an even like this together. There are definitely some learning curves that come with any new event in a new location, but the crew at the Unlimited Off-Road Expo did a fantastic job. You can see our review from last year HERE.

Naturally, coming back to Texas means that you need to be big. And that's what the crew of the Unlimited Off-Road Show strived to do. They expanded the off road course where spectators could bring their own Jeep to drive through the many obstacles designed to let you have some fun. If you didn't want to pay the extra fee for infield parking/obstacle course at Texas Motor Speed way, you could borrow one of BFG's Jeeps and do the BFG obstacle course or, this year Tribe 16 was giving rides in rock buggies.

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The Unlimited Off-Road Show also worked to expand its vendors. It takes a lot to try and get all the top names in the industry to show up at once and this usually takes events like SEMA, Easter Jeep Safari or such, but in keeping with "everything is bigger in Texas", many large name vendors trekked to the 2nd annual show bringing show rigs, buggies and new products.


The Unlimited Off-Road Show for us, is one of those shows you don't want to miss. Where else are you going to find so many great vendors in one location for you to be able to look at their product first hand and be able to discuss your project and needs in person? I really see this type of show as a mini SEMA, but unlike SEMA, it's open to the public; you don't have to be 'in the industry' like you do to go to SEMA. One of the areas that the staff of the Unlimited Off-Road Show tried to focus on this year was more things for kids to do. They got together with our friend John Kistner of Baa Baa Black Jeep and setup the BFG kid mini course with Powerwheels! Kids had their own opportunity to do a little off-roading in their choice of vehicles. They could also get pictures taken in the Baa Baa Black Jeep cutouts. It was such a hit, the booth ran nonstop for many hours and wore out all those who had volunteered their time to ensure the kids had a great experience at the show!


I was given the opportunity to have our Project Vulture in the show again thanks to our friends over as Skyjacker, as they provided us with a spot in their booth. I knew that this was such a privilege, I wanted to ensure that Vulture looked its best and we worked to get it setup with some of the best products on the market, which included a Skyjacker 4" long arm kit. There was a ton of work to get doe to get Vulture ready for the show, but thanks to our friends over at Baertrax, we were able to get it done just in time. You can see our build process HERE.


The Unlimited Off-Road Show is an amazing event and I hope it continues to be Texas big. There are some things they still need to work out for future events to make it a perfect event, but they are well on their way in my book and I can't wait until next year's event!