Off road and right on track
Pam North
Rollinsville


	 Dave Lund always knew what he wanted.  In 9th grade he told his
counselor he'd someday have his own shop.  After his high school
graduation in 1990, he went to work for Mountain Auto Body in
Nederland, learning to weld and honing his mechanical skills.  He
built his first Jeep, totaled it in a rollover, and learned from the
experience.  In 2000, he realized his dream of his own shop by
establishing Phat Jeeps in Boulder, an enterprise he relocated to
Rollinsville five years later to take advantage of lower costs of
operation, a less harried environment, and a profusion of local
unpaved mountain roads on which to test and demonstrate his custom
off-road vehicles.  

	 The company's focus is the fabrication and customization of
off-road vehicles.  Using only the highest quality materials, Phat
Jeeps produces extreme custom roll cages, bumpers, suspension
components, complete builds, all tough and trail-tested in the most
extreme conditions, and featuring ring-mirrored, triple-compound
angles and durable hardware components.  In addition, a variety of
automotive specialties is encompassed: building hand-bent tube
chassis; "lifting" vehicles while keeping essential steering geometry
correct; installing steering upgrades, differentials, rings and
pinions, suspension components, skid plates, heavy-duty steering
components, rocker protectors, off-road beadlocks, wheels and tires,
engine and driveline components, parts and accessories; complete 4x4
service and maintenance.  Rebuilding and restoration of vehicles just
to run in a normal, everyday, useful sense is also part of their
agenda.  Two vintage American Willys Jeeps have just been completed.
One, circa 1948, was refurbished to running condition after sitting
unused in a garage for a lengthy period of time.  Another, dating back
to 1947, was stripped down to its frame and completely rebuilt to
function for ranch work.  Only four companies still stock the original
parts for the Willys Jeeps, and part of Lund's expertise is to have
the knowledge of such sources.  A 1954 military dump truck has been
given a rebuilt engine, differential and an added snowplow to turn it
into a "big monster", says Dave, that can handily plow its owner's
steep driveway.  

      Phat Jeeps upgrades, beefs up and enhances the vehicles'
original manufacturers' equipment , and it carries at least fifteen
different products to improve gearing and traction.  Besides
customizing trucks and Jeeps into "truggies" and "juggies", the
company handles a variety of tasks from the $300 mounting of winches
to $100,000 turn-key rock buggies, concentrating on making vehicles
lightweight and powerful, with a low center of gravity.  The resulting
designs have a signature look that is recognizable as its own, a style
that Lund is proud of, and deems as second in importance only to the
safety factors he incorporates into his vehicles.  Lund shares a few
tips for winter driving.  "Air pressure is crucial," he states.  "When
snow is deep, let air out of the tires to the point of squishiness to
increase traction.  Vehicles with snow plows can push snow more easily
this way.  Gearing gives better mileage, and installing a different
type of differential can improve gearing.  Headlights and fog lights
can be buffed; the re-polishing can provide better visibility."  Phat
Jeeps is versatile.  It even has fabricated the steel brackets holding
the wood beams on the new front section of B&F Mountain Market.

Contact: Phat Jeeps
275 Tolland Road
Rollinsville, CO 80474
(303) 258-1444
www.phatjeeps.com