Offroad Industries is the go-to destination to customise your American pick-up

It’s hard to ignore the growing popularity of full-size American pick-up trucks on Australian roads and tracks. The numbers have grown over recent years and continue to do so with several new players in the market.

There have always been companies importing American trucks to Australia and converting them to right-hand drive, but Ateco paved the way with Ram Trucks Australia and a semi-factory operation to sell the RAM brand here. The success of RAM soon saw GMSV going down a similar route with Chevrolet trucks, Ford bringing in F-150s and we’ll soon see the Tundra here via Toyota Australia.

The volume of trucks coming into the Australian ute market has created a big demand here for accessories that will fit them, and like most things in America, the USA aftermarket for pick-up trucks is massive. Sorting through the junk from the quality equipment can be daunting, but thankfully one company has done all the hard work for Australian pick-up truck buyers and builders.

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Melbourne’s Offroad Industries (ORI) saw the need for quality components for trucks in Australia and has focused its attention on the best brands to deliver high-quality products for your USA truck build. As the importer of brands such as Addictive Desert Designs, Baja Kits, BDS Suspension, Factor 55, Fox Suspension, Titan Fuel Tanks, Bushwacker and Stealth Lighting, among the products it keeps in stock, Offroad Industries has the best gear for your pickup, ready to go.

When we say that Offroad Industries has the products in stock, we mean it. The company’s 1000m2 warehouse in Melbourne is loaded to the rafters with stock, and James and his team at ORI pride themselves on having the products here rather than having to search for them overseas and worry about shipping them to Australia.

Offroad Industries is not a workshop and it doesn’t do vehicle builds, but the team does live the pick-up truck life, working with specialised shops and fitters to create incredible truck builds. ORI’s own F-150 and soon to be unveiled Silverado 2500 are testament to the effort James goes to in selecting the best parts for a build and tailoring them to owners’ requirements.

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Kris Humphrys of Recre8 and Rambler fame has been dealing with James at ORI on a number of the company’s builds and he says, “The thing about dealing with James is that it’s not just about the products, it’s about the knowledge he has and ensuring that we get the right product for the build; and that he always has them in stock.”

James’s knowledge of the American truck accessories market comes from running ORI for the past 14 years, and during that time he has been dealing with USA brands directly, passing on what Australian owners want for their trucks to ensure he gets the best gear for his customers.

“We have been travelling to the States for 13 years and dealing directly with the guys at Addictive Desert Designs, Fox, BDS, Real Truck, and going to the SEMA Show every year for 13 years,” James says. “It’s this direct connection with the brands that allows us to get the right equipment for Australian buyers and have them in stock in our Australian warehouse.”

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As well as Rambler/Recre8, ORI supplies the best gear to other leading workshops doing American pick-up builds including Autoworks Car Care in Melbourne and Big Dog Builds in Queensland. We dropped by the Autoworks shop where owner Morgan was outfitting ORI’s new Chevrolet 2500 with a full BDS/Fox torsion-bar delete suspension, using Fox Performance Elite 2.5 DSC shocks and Method wheels wearing 37x13.5-inch Toyo tyres.

The team has done plenty of such builds and James is looking to obtain SSM (Second Stage Manufacturer) approval for this suspension, wheel and tyre combination on HD trucks. This would allow owners to have the kit fitted to their new trucks pre-registration and have it nationally approved with a three-inch lift and 37s.

Other gear going on the grey Chev includes an Addictive Desert Designs Phantom Bar, Titan Long Range Fuel Tank, Bushwacker Extend-A-Flares, and ORI electric roller shutter, bed rack and rooftop tent over the tray. More than just a bunch of brand name parts being cobbled together and fitted to a vehicle, the gear selected again comes back to ORI’s knowledge of the products and what works best together.

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The BDS suspension kits combine the right hardware with the matching springs and shocks. As a division of Fox Shocks, the BDS kits are ideally calibrated to suit the vehicle and its application. Fox shocks can be found under Baja- and Finke-winning trophy trucks and buggies, the best off-road touring rigs as well as OE applications such as Ford Ranger Raptors, F-150s and Broncos.

It is this experience that gives the suspension specialist the knowledge to produce the perfect products for your vehicle, and again James has the relationship with Fox to get the best parts for you here in Australia. The BDS kit for the Silverado HD is so extensive that it does away with the factory torsion-bar front suspension and replaces it with Fox coil-over shocks and bespoke control arms.

Offroad Industries also carries its own range of products for the trucks it supports including the aforementioned bed rack and RTT, plus roller shutters and powered drop-down side steps. When you see some of the three- and six-inch lift trucks that ORI customers are running, you see why the drop-down steps are so popular.

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The Chev will be debuting on ORI’s stand at the Melbourne 4x4 Show at the end of August, so be sure to get along to see this stunning rig. ORI will also have its well-known Fox Shocks F-150 on display at the show, showing off the extensive range of products the company carries for the Blue Oval brand, as well as for Chevy and RAM trucks.

Before embarking on your American pickup truck build, get in touch with Offroad Industries to see what they have to offer, and what makes them the go-to supplier for the best equipment and curated build packages.

Gear fitted to the F-150

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2024 Chevy Silverado 2500HD

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