Hello from Oregon! Metal-tech 4x4

Ok a ways away from NC, but we do have a number of friends in your area. We sure do appricate David doing everything to set us up as a supporting vendor of the board here too.

My name is Mark Hawley and I own Metal-tech 4x4. I started this company back in 2000 in my garage here in Oregon. We are now 5 full time employees strong and just moved into our dream building with 8500 square feet. We focus on high quality manufacturing and stocking similar kind in the products we offer to our customers. (ICON, Radflo, Total Chaos, Walker Evans, Rigid Industries, etc.) Lots of companies talk about customer service, we try less talk and more doing. We are known for spending what ever time is needed to help support a person with questions long before they ever purchase anything. We draw on our experience as a Toyota only company to help our customers get set up with the best possible set up for the investment that it is. We work directly with Toyota, both our FJC and the new 5 gen 4Runner came direct from Toyota. Our relationship with them has opened quite a few doors for our small company.

MT in the South.
Since we started Metal-tech 4x4 has grassroots supported off road events all over the US. We have been supporting the Southern Toyota Land Cruiser Associations, Great Smokey Mt. Trail Ride almost since it first started. This event has been in Tellico OHV park up to the point the park was closed, now its been held at a great new privet park called Golden Mt. in TN. http://www.stlca.org/gsmtr/ Even as a company all the way out on the West Coast we have supported the Save Tellico, and the efforts by the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association. We hope to wheel Tellico again one day!

Thank you Mark





More background on me and where MT came from:

Metal-tech 4x4 was a way to keep from going crazy working in a cubical for a major corporation. When I got out of collage I did the suit and tie thing, but it was not what I wanted. I went off and worked with at risk kids in a boot camp for boys for a few years and loved working with them. My girlfriend, now wife was finishing her post grad work in San Diego so I would work a 7 day shift, then fly to So Cal and spend 7 days with her. I always wanted to learn how to machine metal so I started taking a bunch of industrial manufacturing classes in SD. Soon I went at full time once again in school and loved learning how to design and develop new things. I got a job in a small CNC machine shop why I was taking the manufacturing engineering classes. I soon was working as a machinist for a company that specialized in bicycles, Down Hill and BMX, racing more exact. I took over their marketing and R&D side and loved the combination. Design new things and figure out how to make them. When my wife and I wanted to start a family we knew So Cal was not where we wanted them to grow up (sorry So Cal, love to visit) So we moved back to Oregon where I grew up and I got the responsible corporate job for the family. I have always had an FJ40 Land Cruiser, and when I wanted a custom roll cage for it no one would make it the way I wanted. At the time no one offered any cage for the FJ40 other than the same old box guys were using in the 70's. I bought a bender, learned how to use it and made the cage the way I wanted. I took $300 in tubing and drew up a simple business plan, then started making more cages. Guys on Pirate 4x4 loved it and soon I was shipping them all over the US. In fact cage #1 commercially sold went to Arkansas, and still in the original truck by the original owner. (He even floped on his side once)

Still working my cooperate job gave me the flexibly to give MT what it needed with out MT having to support my family. Of course I worked 7-4 at my corporate gig, then went home saw my wife and kids, then went into the shop and worked to 1-2AM every day, and all day on weekends. I took vacation days from the other job to play catch up on orders etc. for MT. MT's marketing budget was what ever my bonus was for the first few yrs. I moved into my first commercial location since I was ordering so much steel the steel guys stopped delivering to my house. I bought a forklift, what I called my first employee at the time. (the forklift was named Butch) Things got so busy that with the new commercial location I could work though the night. (no noise issues) But I realized I had to make the call of going full time with MT or sell it off. I was not seeing my family and knew that needed to change.

I quite my corporate gig in 2005, scared the heck out of my wife, and went full time with MT. My wife was happy to see me more so that was a good trade off. I hired Travis or LT as he is known, and he soon became a part owner in MT. (Part owner = no have to pay) The two of us took it from there. In the past three years MT has grown almost 2x each year. We needed to move to our third (fourth if you count my first garage!) location two years ago but stuck it out in the smaller space. I like the company being in the black and owning all our inventory and equipment so I play it safe. But it seams every few years we have to stick out neck out and make the next jump. We did so three months ago making the commitment for the new larger building. The new space has let us buy and install a CNC plasma table and the sheet racking needed to feed it. Our fab area is now 6x bigger and inventory and where house area is 3x bigger. We now have dedicated service bay and proto development area too. (In the old shop if a truck was on the lift we lost almost half the shop to that!) And for the first time we have real offices, w/ environmental controls! (big for us, it does get hot in the summer here)

We enjoy what we do at Metal-tech 4x4. We know we get to do what we do because of our customers. All of my employees know this and is part of the drive to provide service. Our company motto is: Do the right thing. This motto simplifies questions real fast. It is not always the lest expensive way to go but in the long run its the best way to go. I always say "I am not going back to the cubicle, they will never take me alive!"

Mark

Welcome! Do you guys have options on your front or rear bumpers to accommodate a body lift and not leave a gap between the bumper and body?

Speedrye wrote:

Welcome! Do you guys have options on your front or rear bumpers to accommodate a body lift and not leave a gap between the bumper and body?

We do not. That is always a challenge for those who go the body lift route. Simply raising a bumper made for a non body lift truck, also creates the problem of it not fitting the frame lines or protecting the lower part of the truck off road. This is a real issue for our IFS rigs, as all the IFS gear is just hanging down still. Most (speaking FJ40's and FZJ80 Land Cruisers) end up with a custom fab bumper to eliminate the gap, if that is the desired need. With IFS trucks since most do just a 1" to 1.5" body lift, will use a filler material for the gap off the body lines at the gap. Like a rubber lip seal to help close the look a bit. This allows the use of much less expensive already available and proven bumpers, vrs. the one off route.

Mark

You guys make really nice stuff. I really wanna see some of those rails up close. Thanks for such a nice product fellows.

Awesome to hear the MT story! Thanks for sharing Mark!!

Great to hear the American Dream is still alive!

I will be talking to you soon about some TC's and rear springs.

Great story Mark! I have a MT front bumper and rock rails. What types of rear bumpers do you offer? Your site didn't really didn't showcase any that would match my rig.