After Motion Tire 300 in Ridgecrest, KMR sent their shocks off to be rebuilt. At the same time ordering a new set of 3.0x18 5 tube Sway-A-Way bypasses to replace the 2.5s in the rear. The 3.0 shocks were quite a bit bigger and needed a new shock mount to get full potential. For now we moved the mounting hole up quite a bit and flipped the shocks for clearance. We have plans for an entire new rear cage at end of season.
Next on the list was the SNORE KC HiLite 250 in Jean, NV. A night race, started and ended in the dark. Even though we were plagued with flats on course and getting stuck behind broken vehicles in the canyon we came out with the win. Our new rigid lights worked great. We had a 40" roof bar and our 30" spot on bumper and 20" combo amber on the bumper. We also had some D2s.
The day we got it back home, we unloaded everything and cleaned the truck. Loaded just the truck back up on the trailer and towed it out to McQueen Prototype Designs in Los Angeles area. For the next month and a half he developed one of the best race clip and bedsides to come out for the ford rangers. Not only does it look sweet but it is functional. The front clip (not conversions just inspirations from raptor and f150 accents) fits the 85" wide trucks, qtr fenders allow air to escape, clean lines and no gaps. Mounting locations are factory based, no extra metal holds on the qtr fenders. The bedside set up uses McQueens raptor inspired bedsides with the front cut off. A new piece attaches to your cab allowing for wheel base adjustment so your tire is always centered and it cools your rear shocks. As usual clean lines and no gaps. With his mounting set up we saved lots of weight and only used a small tube from the cab to front bottom wheel well corner. The rear bedsides did not budge one bit after the Midnight Special race, even with mud getting caked on. McQueen has built a sweet race kit for the rangers. As always he offers colored gel coat.
Next thing was to get glass mounted, new front bumper and light mounts, and race prep before the 2013 SNORE & MORE Midnight Special. By the time we got the truck back we had about 3 weeks. The white D2s that were on the bumper were moved to in front of our mirrors (shined above hood but on outside of trail). We got a pair of amber D2s and mounted them on the bottom of the bumper. A pair of blue D1s were meant to go here but did not have time to make the mounts that are meant for the ambers. So we put the ambers in spot the blue lights go for the race. I could not find the original photos on my phone so I had to copy the instagram photos. In fact if you want to stay up to date with photos and videos it is better to follow me on social media (facebook, instagram, twitter, you tube) I dont post on here often.
The 2013 SNORE & MORE Midnight Special was a great race and weekend for us. Last year we lost fuel pressure just 4 miles from the start finish and lost over 4 places in the 1400 class. This year my cousin who drove a lap last year and my co pilot Sean who did this race with us last year both came down. This time my dad came to this race, along with my brother and his family and other KMR crew. We had a great feast and a great time. We hired Dezertwife Photography and Phil Kaos Photography. The service for the $100 pkg from Dezertwife was amazing. Spending hours at night to do long exposure shots, a sequence shot after race day, and the race day photos. To top it all off we came home with the win beating out the other class 7's, Karakas and I had a good battle. Also had a great battle with another v6 ranger that is in 1400 class Deaknbuilt, you can see it in our video. This win locked the 2013 SNORE class 7 championship in for us and also bumped us from 10/11 overall up to 5th overall in SNORE pro classes.
couple photos from KNH photos
here are a couple of dezertwifes you can see all them in the video at the end
After that race it was tear down the truck and all the wheels the next day so I could get to CA and get parts powder coated at Primo Powder Coating and get back in a week. That left 3 weeks to sand and prep truck for an entire new paint job and graphics. In the end we finished at 11:30pm Thursday night just 4.5 hours before we had to leave to get truck to Pomona, CA for the 2013 Off-Road Expo. The only thing we did not complete was mountng a set of D2 ambers in the head light area, because the amber ones in the bumper were getting replaced with blue flashing lights.
Once we got the powder coat back we had to remount at least 5 tires for the show and put all the rigid face plates back on. These are held on by tiny screws and the nut is in a track and it slides making it very difficult. Twice we got down to the last one for it to be not lined up or moved. Very tedious.
Getting the truck ready for paint is always my favorite job NOT!!!!!!!, this time was no different. Having one race on this new glass required sanding and fixing little chips and primer, etc. From now on new glass goes straight to paint. Needles to say the cab went the quickest.
shot the hot rod black with a ghost special effects additive and then masked and shot the gloss blue with a candy special effects additive. From shade to sun truck looks totally different. I stood inside the entire time without a mask, was not fun.
There was not enough time to pull interior sand, and mask panels and door jams for paint. We plan to finish this part of the paint at the end of the year when we do our full tear down.
then we unmasked and began assembly, including installing more powder coated parts. together it all looked amazing, we were less than a week away from the show at this time.
next was the graphics, I decided to go with white for the blue areas, and a sky blue for the black. I had order custom printed with contour cut for the big logos (mcqueen, fk, and mine) but they did not look good so I trashed last minute and had more die cuts made. I had barely enough of the blue I ordered. After ordering two different pin stripes and buying one in a store I finally decided to make my own out of my blue vinyl so it matched. I am going to be making my on graphics from now on, I am ordering a plotter and a printer. Depending on logo modifications required I am looking at three dollars a sq ft if want stickers.
the finished product on its way to the show
The 2013 Off-Road Expo was amazing! Truck looked great, had an instagram contest with my 5 photos out at my sponsors booth. Gave a way some KMR tees and hoodies. Was displayed under the KMC Wheels (Wheel Pros) tent with Bryce Menzies TT and Greene Motorsports new camburg built TT next to me. Had the beautiful Katelynn Ansari next to us in our booth entire time. With my truck n the background of all her pictures. Then MotoIQ's Justin and Kerryann were live there on Saturday and did an interview with me, an expo rep, and Bryce Menzies and Ricky Johnson. Met some great contacts and had a great time. This marked the 4th year in a row I have had the truck on display there.
tear down on Sunday
Next on the list for Keith & KMR is the 2013 SNORE & Make A Wish "Wish Ride". This year its in Primm, NV and it is seven days away, next Saturday. After that we have two weeks until the next race.
I have posted the most recent race video below.
Awesome stuff dude! Congrats on winning the race! and with it being the first of the season it defintely puts a bullseye on your back! from the other competors. hope you can keep it up! 
