Builder Profile: Robby Woods

“If you’re going to be exceptional at something, you’re going to have to give up everything that isn’t.” – Robby Woods

I don’t like to be late. So imagine the frustration clouding my initial joy of discovering a build(er) of this caliber just last year when Robby Woods’ Blue TRX burst on to the off-road builder scene. Turns out he has a back catalog of projects and a history I had yet to discover.

First a little of that history, and some nuggets of Robby’s philosophy that have inspired me as a new fabricator.

History

Robby tells it best: Robby Woods is an American Off-Road racer and builder. Two things run deep in RWs history, building fast cars, and racing them. In 1974, fresh out of high school, RW’s father Bobby Woods went to the Race Car Engineering Institute of California, and went on to race NASCA with legends like Dale Earnhardt in cars he and his brother built in a two car garage behind Robby’s childhood home. Towing business by day, NASCAR by night. A true blue collar family chasing a dream of speed and success.

Robby grew up in this environment, watching his dad work like a dog by day, his mom answering the phones and taking care of the household, and Bobby and his brother Homer “Buzz”  Woods building 200 mph cars  into the late nights…. This was life, it was normal. Every two to three months RW’s dad would load up the car and head east. Daytona and Talladega with the greats….win, lose or draw putting literally everything the family had on the line.

1993 – The risk of losing your life was too high and with minimal regulation in real stock cars going over 200 mph every weekend fatal wrecks were just part of the deal. Ultimately, Bobby Woods decided to hang up his helmet, and a few years later Robby Woods would pick his own up. At 8 years old the two would travel the same country keeping the same traditions alive. Chasing a national motocross circuit from one end to the other. California, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee and back home to Nevada. Towing cars, building race bikes, chasing championships. Robby won a lot of motos, but he also took a lot of chances and suffered many injuries. Robby always raced with a sense of urgency. Right now, all or nothing, checkers or wreckers.

2006 – Robby, training for the upcoming supercross season, had his wake up call crash. RW crashed in Sandy Valley Nevada, a track in the middle of nowhere, nearly a worst case scenario. Raining hard, 30-40 mile an hour winds, and flat out storming. Robby crashed over a high speed jump in the mud and compound fractured his tibia and fibula 6 inches above the ankle. This ripped the lower half of his leg off and he began bleeding profusely. Consequently from the storm, the responding ambulance was stuck in the mud. Robby screamed at the crew to “Grab the f*cking tractor” to pull it out while he sat there conscious, calm, and bleeding out. The life flight helicopter would arrive 35 minutes later and in those 35 minutes Robby knew that this was his last ride…on a bike.

2007– After a long recovery and 11 surgeries later,  Robby was back in the shop pursuing a constant passion. Building prerunner trucks and Off-Road race trucks, but he had a trophy truck dream, with a ford ranger budget. Robby and some friends went to Primm Nevada, still on crutches, to watch “Short Course Off Road” which was the current day Mickey Thompson “Stadium Trucks”. That day another big decision was made for Robby Woods. This was Motocross for trucks, both of Robby’s worlds mixed into one sport and Robby made up his mind to pursue Off-Road racing or nothing.

2008 – Robby and friends began to scrap steel from the family junkyard. Dragging in tractors, engines, cars, and anything else made of steel. These were then torn apart, crushed, and sold to build his first short course truck. Shortly after, A race hauler carrying  a homemade race truck built by Robby Woods was on the road to its first race.

2009-2015 – Robby Woods built a name for himself as a top contender in America’s premiere short course race series. Like the 2 generations before him, building exceptional race trucks in his shop, with money he earned the hard way. Lining up with legends once a month and getting the job done. Robby earned himself a reputation that precedes him, “Mr. Excitement”.  Racing every month  with that same hungry junkyard dog mentality and treating every race like it was his last shot. Robby accrued over 25 podium finishes and a highlight reel of spectacular passes, crashes, and races.  All or nothing every single time.

Current Day – Robby Woods and his team have built a world class 26,000 Sq Ft Off-Road truck facility. Robby has built a reputation as one of Off-Roads premiere truck builders. The same technology that goes into RW championship winning trucks for Johny Greaves are engineered and precisely crafted into all the components Robby and team build for a variety of off road vehicles. RW Off-Road is a unique company as they build components for many different aspects of the vehicle ranging from trophy trucks to Ford Raptors. RW builds everything from the chassis, suspension, carbon fiber bodywork, drivetrain, to the front and rear bumpers. Robby Woods Off-Road proudly builds the whole thing to an unmatched standard.

Philosophy

Back in the era when guys like Jesse James and Chip Foose were household names I really started to get excited about the concept of a fabricator and the possibility of going beyond the bolt-on world. Many years later with time to devote to metal work I now consider myself an entry-level fabricator, heck I had never picked up a TIG torch until about a year ago. While I have yet to see one of his trucks in person, Robby Gordon gave Robby Woods’ Million Dollar Diesel high regards. So as I look online for inspiration and nuggets of wisdom I am finding a few common themes that ring true, number one there are no short cuts to mastering a skilled trade. Robby’s philosophy as characterized by the opening quote is more like – No Shortcuts Next 100,000 Miles. Second many of these builders are generous with their social media, Robby Woods’ is highly motivational and down to earth. Not just the images of his amazing creations but also his words, his chief theme – work ethic.

So what is even more impressive about Robby’s work, is that he hand sculpts his own forms for the carbon fiber body work, designs and builds his own 4130 chromoly chassis, designs and builds trophy truck spec suspensions, and does some epic machine work as well. He is about to go to production on a billet Dana 80 third member of his own design, and is talking about building a big block V-12. His mastery across disciplines has allowed him to deliver cohesively designed builds of extraordinary caliber.

Ram TRX

“We started with the front suspension. Our “LTR” line of components (long-travel race) are the premier components in our lineup. Every detail that you’d see in our trophy truck, you’ll find crammed into the wheel wells of your TRX. 4130 TIG-welded, high-clearance lower control arms, billet/sheet metal uniball uprights, 4130 plate or billet race-grade upper control arms, a weld-on shock tower, and huge King shocks with every option. You’ll also come to notice a few features you don’t see everywhere else. A fully adjustable, splined 300M front sway bar, from-scratch improved geometry, and proper suspension proportions designed around the 40-inch tire.”

“While most companies are providing longer arms and fabricated components, very few of them are designed from scratch with all of the vehicle dynamics in mind. While almost anyone can make these trucks go through the bumps smoothly off-road, a very small number of them have good street manners. With our vast understanding of vehicle dynamics, like roll center, kingpin inclination, scrub radius, anti-dive, springs rates, wheel rate, and shock tuning, our trucks handle like sports cars on the road, period. Tight, nimble, agile, and reliable, while these trucks are monsters in the desert. You will not find a truck that drives better on the roads at any speed than an RW-equipped truck.”

The Million Dollar Diesel

Robby categorizes this one as “A bad idea gone worse” with an aim of hitting 200 mph the nearly 8000lbs double overdrive four-seat HD Silverado is an unconventional approach. It is a steel cab pre-runner running a 1700hp /2200 lb/ft Wagler Racing compound turbo Duramax diesel, inspired by a Cummins powered drag racing truck. As a compliment to this powerplant, the RW suspension package is capable of 24″ of front travel and 30″ in the rear. Using an A/J arm architecture up front and a reverse 4 link in the rear, with King 3.0″ coilovers, 4.5″ 5 tube bypasses, and 2.5″ bump stops all around. But wait, there is more, the package includes an RW torque management all-wheel drive system; remember that part about giving up anything that isn’t exceptional, Robby being Robby developed an exceptional solution to a shortfall that could halt an OEM.

This vehicle was Robby Woods’ debut project, and he picked up a few lessons of his own along the way. A friend provided a $400,000 loan to build the truck and he didn’t leave room for error in the initial budget, so when the money ran out he was forced to get creative, and Robby Woods Off-road was born. The whole process took 6 years, 2 to build it, 3 to pay back the loan, and then another year to finish version 2.0. Remember no short cuts, “it didn’t take six years to build, it took six years to pay for it.” The loan wasn’t his only payment, his obsession with creating this truck cost him his marriage as well. “This is all of my anger wrapped up into a vehicle.”

“Four years later I have a dream life, I got the truck done . . . I stayed the course to what was true to me and . . . its all paid off.”

“Its amazing what you can do when no one else around you is quitting.”

F-35 Raptor

“Camping is all fun and games until this guy shows up…Yes that is a removable tent rack dimple died out of 4130 tig welded plate. Yes that is a fully 4 linked, trophy truck rear housing with locking 40 spline diff, yes that is a 48 gallon cell behind the rear axle, yes that is a full race J-arm kit. Yes that is carbon fiber bodywork, yes those are 40.00 trophy truck @bfgoodrichtires yes it as @kingshocks trophy truck shocks, yes that is a side exit NASCAR style exhaust, yes it has nearly all the bed space, yes it has front and rear 300M TT style sway bars, yes it has 5.14 gears and 1480 u joints, yes it has elegant styling and looks fast sitting still.”

“The F-35 carbon bodywork is the byproduct of over 800 man-hours of labor. Although we’ve incorporated CAD design into a small part of the design process, we believe that there is a look that can’t be achieved by computers. RW and team first build the high-performance long-travel suspension, then cycle the suspension to full bump and droop. After bolting on a BF Goodrich KM3 40-inch tire at the perfect ride height, we build the wheel arches. We then pour foam into a generic shape and start shaping. After a rough shape has formed, we fiberglass and coat the foam in either bondo or clay, just like the OEM manufacturers do when they build prototype vehicles. Over the next months, we shape, sand, prime, shape, sand, prime… It’s a long, slow process, but the results show in our bodywork. The RW bodywork has a harsh, sharp, cutting-edge look when finished that a computer just can’t do for you.”

“If someone (else) tells you they make the best off road suspension in the world, call them a liar…”

Conclusion

Robby Woods and Chris Rünge have set a high bar for these builder profiles and I hope others are inspired by their work to go build something, I know I will.

TRX Titanium Edition Specs

Million Dollar Diesel Specs

F-35 Raptor Specs

IG: @robbywoods

YouTube: @robbywoods

Robby Woods