Not long ago, I was invited to attend the SEMA Spring Expo in Atlanta. The organization that runs this show, also known as the Specialty Equipment Market Association, supports and promotes aftermarket companies that make and sell parts to modify cars and trucks. It represents an industry that transacts between four and five billion dollars each year, and it's growing.
The Spring Expo is a more focused version of SEMA's biggest event, simply known as the SEMA show, held annually in Las Vegas. That megashow takes up five gigantic convention halls, where wheels, superchargers, tow straps, lifts, dress-up kits, and anything else you can imagine is offered. It's a spectacular display of toys and eye candy all in one place. The problem is that it takes several days to walk the entire thing. Don't get us wrong--for those three or four days, there's nowhere else on the planet we'd rather be, but having something more focused, more in line with other truck-loving autophiles, seemed in order.
Happy to say, SEMA felt the same way and responded a few years ago by starting the Spring Expo. If the SEMA show in Las Vegas is everything from A to Z, the Spring Expo only wants to be J through R. In the last few years, it's been held in the Midwest at the Indianapolis Convention Center, but this year, to make it easier for those companies in the South to participate, SEMA went to Atlanta.
One highlight was getting a chance to speak with Ivan "Ironman" Stewart during one of our hours on the air with Motor Trend Radio (check our Web site for times and stations). Not only does he have an impressive racing past, he started and continues to build the ProTruck Racing Series, an off-road racing circuit that mirrors the NASCAR template in that all the vehicles are kept similar. However, the best thing about his series is that it's still relatively affordable for anyone who gets bitten by the racing bug. Ivan is even looking to partner with dealerships that'll be able to sell and finance a ProTruck vehicle right off the lot. It's easy to be impressed with Stewart's continued enthusiasm for a sport he dominated for many years as well as the humility he exudes when speaking about giving everyone an opportunity to go dirt racing at a fraction of the cost of other motorsport.
In addition to speaking to a racing legend, another high point of the weekend (as I suspect it would be for anyone) was walking through aisle upon aisle of new products. Here's a partial list of the things that caught our eye:
• A new company called OffRoad Logic makes high-quality roof-rack systems, mostly for Jeeps. The roof racks look solid, and the company seems to have done its homework. It doesn't hurt that the designers have a background in aerospace. So new it doesn't have a Web site yet.
• We've seen a few airbag jacks in the past, but this new one looks built to last. The Titan exhaust air jack works by using your own exhaust to inflate a heavy-duty bag to lift your vehicle. You can choose from two-, three-, and four-ton models.
www.airjackusa.com
• It's always nice to come across a privateer who takes a good idea and runs with it. The Talegator mounts on the back of a tailgate and offers two butt-shaped detents where people can sit, plus a few cupholders.
www.thetalegator.com
• American Force introduced a heavy-duty adaptor to turn your eight-lug rims into 10-lug monsters, giving you a huge choice of wheel types and designs. Rims come in regular offsets and dualie configurations.
www.americanforcewheels.com
• A big name in automotive lighting, Hella Industries' sophisticated rim-mounted tire-pressure and temperature-monitoring system allows you to keep track of up to 10 tires at a time--you can set up a dualie and trailer with this single system.
www.hellausa.com
• On the towing front, Robin Industries offers a special camo paint scheme on any of its trailering accessories. Robin uses a computer-controlled film process that spreads an image over water and "dips" the parts for the camouflage style.
www.robin-aftermarket.com
• Not quite as cool-looking but still impressive, Alcoa unveiled its Dura-Bright technology, which impregnates the surface of a wheel to repel and resist brake dust, dirt, and grime.
www.alcoa.com
• The last product didn't really catch our eye until we heard what it could do. Although it looks like a simple battery charger, Xtreme Charge can monitor and adjust its own power, in pulse waves, to meet the need of the battery, whatever the varying voltage requirements.
www.xtremecharge.com
If nothing else, this should get you thinking about what your next truck upgrade will be. In the meantime, we'll keep our eyes open for the next big thing.