I would like to humbly submit why I would make an excellent recipient of this awesome giveaway.
Currently I am a grad student in Mechanical Engineering. Going to grad school and doing research for a university is not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme.
As such, nearly all of the short list of mods to my truck has been accomplished either creatively or with the generous help of others.
I do not have skids of any kind (beyond the stock tin foil).
I believe that, more than most anyone, I wheel the hardest, rockiest trails with the least amount of modification to my truck. Sometimes this involves going places that in fact are not passable, and being dragged over things by the buggy I'm following. The only additional under-armor I have on my FJ is a set of Trail Gear sliders which I have abused in the largest fashion possible!
This summer I will be taking a break from the rock crawling to embark on a nearly 50-day expedition covering over 7,500 miles from far north in Canada down the Continental Divide to the Mexican border. Of course there will be a stop in the middle at the FJ Summitt in Ouray!
In preperation for this trip I had planned to purchase a T-case skid from a different vendor, but not having to do so would allow me to use the funds to help cover escalating fuel costs. This would be a MASSIVE boost for me!
Here are a few pics of my typical trail outing...
Note all the rock rash on my Trail Gear sliders...
Here you can see the massive amount of punishment my undercarraige has withstood. Smashed muffler, holes in the gas tank skid, sliders gouged to hell, exhaust crossover smashed, Tcase skid smashed, frame crossmembers bent and beaten, etc... in this pic the stock skid plates look OK, and that is because the morning this was taken I had replaced them with a new set given to me by a forum member.
Frequently, this kind of wheeling brings my Tcase dangerously close to destruction!
Based on the information you have provided and the massive success I have had with my Trail Gear sliders, I am confident the new Trail Gear Tcase skid would more than stand up to the abuse that I would put it through.
I am in a unique position to run this product through the entire spectrum of 4x4 settings - Arizona rock crawling to long distance expedition driving.
Thank you for your consideration and for this great offer to our community.
