Off-roading culture brought to Doral

Mudding and Rock crawling are variations of off-roading, a hobby enjoyed by many in non-urban areas around the country. There are magazines, clubs, and shops dedicated to this sport, but when it comes to off-roading hot spots, South Florida rarely comes mind. Mainly because of the lack of mountains, the only place to go off-roading in Miami is in the Everglades. But that didn’t stop Ricardo Olavarrieta from turning his passion into a club, a shop, and an upcoming reality TV show – all in South Florida.

Olavarrieta and his friends are from Venezuela, where modifying cars is a popular hobby. So, they decided to try to do it in South Florida.

“In 2003, a bunch of friends got together to modify our own cars and felt identified by this type of hobby.” Olavarrieta said.

Olavarrieta rented a small auto shop in Kendall, just to modify his car and his friends’ cars. As the demand grew, there wasn’t enough space or mechanics to do the jobs. “It became a business because there were no good shops for this type of modification in South Florida,” Olavarrieta said.

Anything from bigger tires, lifting the cars to make them taller and adding parts to the vehicles are needed in order to prepare vehicles for off-roading.

Now, Olvarrieta owns ROCO 4X4, a modification shop specializing in suspension and drive training, located on 7448 NW 55 St, in the area of Doral.

“When you work in something you love, it can be 9:00 p.m. and you’ll want to keep working,” Olvarrieta said.

In 2004, Olavarrieta and his friends started an off-roading club called Miami Crawlers. They are no longer just a club but also an off-roading team that competes. They go to three competitions and six trips a year.

“Rock crawling in Florida is impossible so we travel around the U.S. to do it,” Olvavarrieta said.

In a trip to River Rock Park, a private, invitation-only, off-roading campground, Mariana Guerrero got over her fear and went rock crawling with Miami Crawlers on her Nissan X-terra. It was her first time as a driver.

“We took my truck and I thought, it’s mine and I’m going to drive it,” said Guerrero about losing her fear of driving through rocks and hills. “It’s pretty dangerous, trucks can flip and roll down the hill,” Guerrero added.

In order to ensure safety while rock crawling, vehicle modification is a must. On the Miami Crawlers website there are videos of vehicles that have flipped over.

“You have to know the limits of your vehicle because you and your vehicle become one when you are rock crawling,” said Daniel Rodriguez, Miami Crawler team member.

Recently, FOX contacted Olvarrieta about filming a reality TV show at ROCO 4X4. The show is called Jeep Editions and the first episode has already been filmed. On every episode of Jeep Editions, they bring in a different Jeep to modify it so it can be used for rock crawling or mudding.

“We installed full suspension, gears and axel on our friend Alex’s jeep,” said Nivardo Beaton Vice president of Miami Crawlers about the first episode. “The crew filmed 6 to 8 hours of work which will be played back fast resulting in 30 seconds of the show,” he added.

Modifying vehicles for off-roading can be expensive; the work put in to the jeep for the first episode had a $10,000 bill.

“We have a love-hate relationships with our vehicles,” Beaton said. “We love building and enjoying them but we hate the money pit we get in to by rebuilding them after we finish tearing them apart.”

All they are waiting for in order to film the second episode of Jeep Editions is for parts that are being shipped in order to modify the next jeep. In the mean time, they all share the excitement together.

“I still don’t know how we made it to T.V. and I’m so proud it was held in my best friend’s shop,” Beaton said.

For off-roading lovers, Miami Crawlers and ROCO 4x4 might be good resources to check out if you live in the South Florida area. But for those that have never rock crawled before, Beaton tells them, “It’s like being in on the scariest, fastest roller coaster and having the same adrenalin rush in less than 5 miles per hour,” Beaton.



Links to check out:

www.miamicrawlers.com

www.roco4x4.com



Photo credits:

Miami Crawlers website