Tim@snakecreek

Hello Modern Jeepers!!,

My name is Tim Martin and I've loved playing with trucks in the dirt since I was about 10 (circa 1981), soooo yeah awhile ago. The little electric toys called Stompers are what got it all started. Who remembers those? I progressed into snowmobiles and ATV's in my early teens. Waiting on the DirtWheels magazine that takes years to show up when you're 13. Then I turned 16 and yep my first car was a truck a 1985 Dodge D50 4x4 and it was close to perfect! Silver, black interior, bucket seats, rubber floor mats, 5spd and no power! Within a year it had a body lift with custom American racing wheels and larger tires. And it spent its remaining years with me covered in mud travelling the roads of Morgan county Indiana!

At this point in my life I knew nothing about mechanics, but really wanted to because right before I got the D50 my Dad told me and I quote "If you're gonna tear it up you better know how to fix it" luckily the worst that happened to it was a bent lower ball joint and tires every so often. My next vehicle was a 1979 International Scout that a buddy of mine and I named Scout Thang after a night of road tripping around our little town of Eminence, Indiana. Well to make a long story short I went to trade school for automotive technology and started out working on Cub Cadet lawn mowers, then the friend that helped name the Scout bought a race car and that set the tone for the next 20 yrs of my life. Local short track racing grew into a quest for success in professional racing. And that quest came to an end in 2014 as I found what I was looking for. I was a very, very, very small part of 3 NHRA championships with Don Shcumacher Racing. I handled the manufacturing of all the connecting rods for about 4 yrs.

So now it's 2014 I'm 43 and I'm finally ready to close the racing chapter of my life. What next? A friend had always told me that when I decided to get out of racing to give him a call. He was a service manager at a Chevrolet dealership so that's what I did. My education was for working on modern cars and trucks so I thought what the heck. Jumped in head first and loved it. Electronics, wiring, drivability and just the overall technology into today's automobiles is amazing and it just worked for me. But, yeah the but! Flat rate, warranty work, waiters, politics (yeah that's big) and not having the time to fully understand and make informed decisions on repairs really got to me. Let's face it if you work on something that's 15 yrs old and newer and you haven't diagnosed the issue successfully more than a couple of times it can leave some doubt in your mind that you're working in the right direction. Not to mention in the back of my mind I really missed working on cool stuff and feeling like I was part of something bigger.

And that leads me to September of 2016. My wife and I decided that we were going to open up a shop in the barn next to our house. I moved all my tools home, bought a lift and an open sign and here we are. Obviously a lot of other things had to transpire to make it all legit. Zoning, insurance, licenses, and countless phone calls, emails and paperwork signed. Luckily that's all behind us and we're moving forward slowly but surely.

In late 2017 I was handed a Performance & Racing Industry catalog and the little light bulb over my head turned on. I quickly got accounts set up with a couple of suspension manufactures (unfortunately not Metal Cloak yet hint hint) and 4 major wholesale distributors. Broadened my focus from general repair to include lift kits, bumper, wheels, tires and all the other fun pieces and parts that make owning a Jeep or truck fun.

So yeah, this has been the scratch to the racing itch I'd been having! And also takes me full circle back to that 13 yr old kid waiting on the DirtWheels magazine and playing with Stompers. Only bigger!!