A Passion for Customer Service Drives Red Desert Off-Road
Utah-based Red Desert Off-Road specializes in custom Jeep and truck builds and quality off-road accessories. Visitors may stop in for an upgrade, but they stay for the expert advice and friendly service.
It only took one visit to St. George, Utah, for Dennis Nash to fall in love with the community’s friendly residents, breathtaking red-rock terrain, and miraculous lack of humidity. As a longtime OHV enthusiast seeking a place to open an automotive restyling shop, Nash didn’t hesitate. “I was sold,” he says. “My family and I packed up everything and moved from Tampa, Florida to Utah.”
When deals to buy an established shop kept falling through, Nash made the hard decision to build his own business from the ground up. Though that wasn’t the original plan, he says “it was actually the best thing that could have happened—because here we are now.”
Red Desert Off-Road/LINE-X of Southern Utah was born in 2015, differentiating itself by offering an array of bolt-on aftermarket accessories and the area’s only LINE-X Protective Coatings franchise.
“I didn’t really know how hard it would be to move, know a very limited amount of people, and open up a half-million-dollar shop, which was hugely risky looking back,” says Nash, who worked 80- to 100-hour weeks when the shop first opened.
Red Desert Off-Road quickly built a loyal customer base, thanks to St. George’s growing population and heightened demand for Jeep, truck, and side-by-side vehicles. The town is conveniently situated amid the sprawling dunes and rocky expanses of Sand Hallow State Park, a haven for OHV enthusiasts.
However, the shop’s prime location wasn’t the only thing that attracted a following.
Nash became known for his special brand of friendly customer service, something he says competing shops in the area lacked at the time. Case in point: Customers who walk into Red Desert Off-Road will likely be greeted personally by Nash, who is dedicated in handling all of the shop’s sales. Visitors also meet Nash’s 120-pound golden retriever, Goose.
“All my customers end up becoming friends,” he says. “There’s no cold and businesslike: ‘Here’s your estimate. We need 10% down.’ It’s not like that. It’s very family-oriented. My kids are usually running around – you might trip over some of their toys. It may not be super professional sometimes, but in that is a little secret sauce.”
An Expert’s Opinion
Nash takes pride in only selling clients “what they need, when they need it,” even if it costs him substantial profits. “I may not get all of the margins and the money at once, but I do in the long haul, and customers appreciate that,” he says.
Those sacrifices have paid off, bringing Red Desert Off-Road plenty of return business. Additionally, when the coronavirus fueled a boom in St. George’s off-road industry, Nash saw his customer base grow beyond the typical, affluent over-50 crowd. “At least for me, [the pandemic] really brought in new people who wanted to be outdoors because they had no choice. They were cooped up in the house,” he says.
Sales of Jeeps, RVs, and campers were on the rise, meaning new vehicle owners needed accessory upgrades, from suspension systems and wheels and tires to winches and bumpers.
They also needed a hands-on business owner willing to educate them on the dos and don’ts of aftermarket add-ons.
Nash was ready to supply customers with his favorite tried-and-true products: Synergy, Rock Krawler, and ICON suspension systems; BAK Industries truck bed covers; Truck Gear By LINE-X tonneau covers, floor liners, and drop steps; JM Rigging Supply, Bubba Rope, and MaxTrax recovery equipment; Poison Spyder bumpers; and iDRIVE USA throttle controllers.
Red Desert Off-Road particularly favors Rage 4th off-road bumpers, a USA-based brand created by multi-time champion off-road racer, Jason Scherer. In fact, Nash says Rage 4th bumpers are the best for a Jeep Wrangler JK or JL when flat-towing behind a camper. He also touts Yokohama tires as a great buy for their affordability and performance, as well as Method Trail Series wheels, which are built with extra ribbing – ideal for airing down off-road without wearing down the tire bead.
Nash also loves Artec Industries, a fellow Utah brand that specializes in heavy-duty off-road parts for Jeeps and Trucks. He also recommends Heretic Studio lighting accessories, and Yukon gears and axles for those building an off-road-ready rig. “If it’s not Yukon, it’s Nitro,” he says. “And if it’s neither one of those, I don’t install it.”
Rooted in LINE-X
One of the product lines Nash supports passionately is LINE-X Protective Coatings, which made up the majority of Red Desert Off-Road’s business in the beginning and helped it gain exposure. “It gave me legitimacy as a national brand right away and exposed people to my new shop and all the other things I could do,” he says. “Then, we progressed from mainly doing a lot of protective coatings, bed liners, and small accessories to completely reversing the business to do more driveline suspension, wheels, tires, and fabrication.”
Nash also has a personal connection to LINE-X: Prior to moving to St. George, he worked as the company’s accessories manager in Huntsville, Alabama. While there, he helped launch the Truck Gear by LINE-X brand and even designed the Duck Commander truck for reality TV’s “Duck Dynasty.”
However, a desire to work on his own projects led Nash to leave after just one year. “Not that I wanted the limelight, but I wanted to build freely and do my own thing,” he explains.
Two current vehicle builds Nash is excited about are a makeover of his personal 2008 Jeep Wrangler JK and a 1975 Ford F-100 for Clayton Banks (younger brother of Gale Banks, the president-founder of Banks Power).
The JK, which was transformed from a four-door to a two-door, will have a 6.2 LS motor and shaved 14-bolt axles that the shop built in-house with the help of Artec Industries. The vehicle, set to be on display at SEMA 2021 in Las Vegas, will also sport an autism awareness-themed exterior in 3-D LINE-X.
The ’75 F-100 will have 37-inch Yokohama Tires, Method Wheels, and retro-looking glass-covered LED headlights from Lifetime LED. Nash and his team sprayed the whole cab with LINE-X, and the finished exterior is all black and bronze.
Looking Ahead
When it comes to upcoming market trends, the release of the 2021 Ford Bronco early next year is a big one for Red Desert Off-Road. The shop will be one of the first to outfit the vehicle with a complete lineup of accessories.
“The Bronco is going to blow things up like the JK did,” Nash says. “There hasn’t been a real competitor to Jeep. Toyota tried it a long time ago with the FJ Cruiser and failed. But now Ford has stepped up and that’s going to be formidable. So whenever there’s competition, there’s innovation.”
Since Jeep’s Wrangler V8-powered Rubicon 392 will also be released in 2021, Nash expects it to go head-to-head with the Bronco for the next decade. He also predicts the release of a true production-ready Tesla truck, as well as a viable electric Jeep. “It’ll be fought off by a lot of off-roaders – but it’s coming and there’s no stopping that train,” Nash says.
As far as trends go, Nash recommends keeping an eye out for smartphone-controlled suspension systems and LED lights with a vintage appearance (like the glass-covered headlights the shop installed on Banks’ F-100). Overlanding will continue to be a popular sport, he says, making rooftop tents a hot commodity.
Now Hiring
In 2021, Nash plans to expand his staff, which currently encompasses two technicians, a full-time LINE-X sprayer, and a part-time fabricator. While he enjoys connecting with customers, mentors in the aftermarket industry have advised him to hand over the reigns to ensure the growth of the company.
“Being the face of the business—the one-man show who does all the ordering and all the sales up front—it restricts me as much as anything else. The next move is to hire someone for the front, and that’s super scary for me,” he says.
Nash is seeking a like-minded individual who shares the responsibility he feels when installing something as vital to a customer’s safety as a suspension system. “We can’t afford to have that fail,” he says. “Mistakes happen everywhere, and I try to just mitigate that as much as possible at my shop. But they still happen, and the key to that is to own it, learn from it, and move on from it. And do whatever it takes to make it right with that customer.”
While hiring new employees is one of the shop’s greatest struggles, Nash hopes someone will come along organically in the coming year. If you know anyone in the St. George area who has a knack for customer service and an appreciation for the off-road, there’s no doubt that Nash (and Goose) want to hear from you.
Red Desert Off Road/LINE-X of Southern Utah
4012 S River Rd #3C, St. George, UT 84790
(435) 627-6888
reddesertoffroad.com
