One might chalk it up to youth and enthusiasm overriding commonsense. However, the two East Coast off-road enthusiasts who
started Spidertrax Off-Road roughly five years ago while still in college will beg to differ. Eddie Casanueva and Tom Kingston
simply followed their passion and, as many in the off-road industry have learned over the years, when you are driven by excitement
big things can happen.
The partners met while attending the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Casanueva was working in a machine shop when his
path crossed with Kingston in 1999; Eddie was 22 and Tom just 20 years old. Kingston's background in mechanical engineering
was a perfect fit with Casanueva's innate machining skills and the two struck up a friendship that led them off the beaten
path to many off-road adventures. It wasn't long until the pair were traveling to Moab together, developing a reputation as
hardcore Suzuki Samurai guys.
Casanueva and Kingston were quick to put their mechanical talents to work solving weak links inherent to the Samurai when
pushed beyond factory design limits. The product that really put their startup company on the map was the Spidertrax Birfield
Ring. When front lockers are installed in the little Suzuki, the OE birfield joint is prone to catastrophic failure. Spidertrax
solved this with heat-treated chromoly rings that press-fit over the OEM birfield joints.
The drive from Jersey to Moab is a 42-hour adventure unto itself. The trip through the Rockies was an eye-opener; the pair
became huge fans of the area and soon planned to relocate their fledgling business. After numerous separate trips out West,
they loaded their shop into a Penske rental truck and moved to Longmont, Colo., north of Denver on the front range of the
Rockies. It was a leap of faith; according to Kingston, "We started with virtually no capital, moved to Colorado with product on pallets,
rented a shop, and immediately started working. We really didn't know what we were getting into." This capricious start would
intimidate anyone with past business experience, but Casanueva and Kingston simply forged ahead. Innovative products and an
instinct for staying ahead of market fueled the company's rapid growth.
Enthralled by the exploding competition rock crawling scene, Spidertrax expanded its business as a supplier of original products
for chassis builders, launching a product line with items such as rod ends, tabs, tubing and steering components.
According to Kingston, "The products we've done have been really well-received—like our billet wheel spacers, that were ahead
of their time. We take great pride in being a fully-functional design, manufacturing, and retail company. Being involved in
all areas of product development ensures that every product represents the highest level of engineering and quality available.
From high-end CAD design to advanced CNC prototyping, there is simply no corner cut with our products."
While still a primary source for Samurai and rock buggy builders, Spidertrax continues to deliver innovative products. The
latest is the Spider9 axle, a rugged octagonal 9-inch center section housing designed for serious off-roading and rockcrawling.
Spidertrax is growing exponentially. Team Spidertrax promotes company awareness by competing annually at the UROC ProNationals,
the UROC Supercrawl and W.E. ROCK Western ProNational.
The company's website offers unique benefits for distributors and business customers alike, and is fueling the company's rapid
growth. "We invested a lot of money in our webstore and it has become a big part of our business," comments Kingston. In addition
to providing reseller pricing, once logged on as a business account, the inventory is dynamically shown in real time, so customers
know exactly what is on the shelf. The result is a very business- and user-friendly interface for ordering direct from Spidertrax.
Youth and enthusiasm certainly are a big part of the Spidertrax success story, but there is no denying that being hands-on
enthusiasts with solid instincts and business savvy are also at play here. With Casanueva and Kingston making their mark in
the off-road industry, the future seems very bright indeed.
SOURCE
Spidertrax Inc.
7510 Hygiene Rd.
Longmont, Colo. 80503
303-772-0033
http://www.spidertrax.com/
