1. Tell us your full name?
Robbie Lee Rea

2. Where and when were you born?
LaPorte, Indiana in the year 1977

3. Do you have any brother’s or sister’s?
I have one older brother, Robert

4. Are you married or single?
Married to my wonderful wife Cathy for 8 years

5. Any kids?
Two boys, Aiden (5) and Jacen (3)

6. Where do you live now?
I live in South Bend, IN but I own property in Rolling Prairie, IN and going to build within the next year.

7. Where do you work?
I’m a Union Carpenter so I work all over. I’ve worked on projects like Norte Dame, the new South Bend Fire station, BlueChip Casino, and all kinds of project across Indiana and Michigan.

8. What do you do there?
I do just about everything from metal and wood framing, drywall, grid ceilings, etc. The Union has trained me very well so that I am prepared to do a large scope of work.

9. Do you have a Nickname that you like to go by?
I have two nicknames, Sparky and Puss-N-Puss (also PussPuss)

10. If so, how did you get this Nickname?
I got the nickname Sparky when I hooked up a power supply backwards on a customer’s computer when he was standing right behind me. Sparks flew and was followed by a plum of black smoke. My buddy Shawn distracted the guy while I fanned the smoke away.
I got the nickname Puss-N-Puss from my friend Rodger. It is his deceased cat’s name and he started calling me it one day. He started marking all my tools with it when he would borrow one or find one laying around. People on other jobs would ask, “Why do you have Puss-N-Puss on your hammer?”

11. How many years have you been into the sport of offroading?
Ever since I can remember I have loved everything off road. I had a 4 wheeler when I was under the age of 16, I remember building Bigfoot models when I was younger yet. I didn’t have my first 4 wheel drive vehicle till I was 17. I had a 2 wheel drive S10 that I took off road all the time before that. Does that count?

12. Who, or what first got you interested in the sport?
I remember riding around with my Dad’s FJ40 Land Cruiser and Uncle Buddy’s in his rusted out Datsun in my Papaw’s back 40. I remember being amazed that we could climb hills in trucks.

13. Are you involved in any off-road club’s? If so, what is the name of your club?
I’m involved with ZookiMelt for the past few years.

14. What kinds of 4x4's do you own?
1988.5 Samurai, 1991 Samurai, 1994 4door SideKick, and my daily driver, Ford F350 SuperDuty. I also have a old tintop for parts.

15. Tell us about your Suzuki?
My main Samurai is the 88.5. It has a Rocky Road JPEater SPOA (stock YJ springs) with 33” Goodyear MTRs, 6.x t-case gears, Lockrite in the rear, Mega-Mount T-case arm, Torque Barz. I also have a Rock4x cage to put in it also. I rolled it pretty good during ZM06.

16. How long have you had it?
My Dad passed away in 2003, it was his truck.

17. Does it have a Nickname?
Not currently.

18. How often do you get to wheel?
Not often enough. I haven’t wheeled since last ZM.

19. Whats the best modification you made to your rig so far?
The tires and t-case gears made a big difference.

20. What's the worst?
I put to much into it all at once. I installed the lift, tires, locker, t-case gears all at once. I wished I would have spaced it out some more.

21. Bolt on Mods, or make it yourself?
So far it has been bolt on but I want to keep the truck that was my Dad’s so it’s time to get creative.

22. What’s your level of mechanical skills?
I know my way around a vehicle. I have done engine swaps and tear downs before. I need to get more practice in welding.

23. How do you like your trails, Scenic drive, I like a little challenge, or show me the pain!
I like them all. I enjoy trail riding but riding around with Troy and Tom you get interested in rocks real fast.

24. What’s the scariest moment you’ve ever had off-roading?
Probably after I rolled my Samurai and seen the damage to it. I did not have a cage in it and if I would have had a passenger they probably would have gotten hurt or worse. I was only going up a six foot hill that I had gone up plenty of times before. I vowed to never go out again without a cage.

25. What was the funniest?
Night run at ZM06 with Adam. We were going down a “waterfall” of rocks when his front diff got hung up. I got out and started jumping up and down to dislodge it. Adam got out of the drivers seat and started jumping on the Sami at the same time. The truck broke loose and started going down the hill. Adam had somehow jumped on the truck and was holding onto the steering wheel riding it down the hill. The headlights made a silhouette of the truck and Adam (wearing a cowboy had) bouncing down the hill. He had managed to jump in the seat and hit the brakes. After a quick everything is OK we both laughed out butts off.

26. What have you learned from the sport that you can apply to your everyday life?
Sometime you just have to sit back and roll with it.

27. What other outdoor activities do you enjoy?
I enjoy Disc Golf but haven’t had time to do it in a long time.

28. If you could sit down and talk to anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?
My Dad, he left us when he was only 51.

29. Books on tape, or sit down and read?
Actually, I enjoy reading books on my Pocket PC. I can fit hundreds of books on it and it takes up less space than a book. Plus it is backlit so I can read in poor lighting conditions (like when putting the kids to bed).

30. DVD at home or Theater?
Action movies definitely at the theater but comedy and chick flicks, at home.

31. What is on your MP3, or in your CD player right now?
I have a 80 gig Ipod so there is a lot on it. I have been listening to a lot of System of a Down and Big & Rich lately. My tastes vary from old country (Dolly, Kenney Rodgers) to alternative.

32. Radio, CD’s or "Trail Music" when your wheeling?
No music, just the sweet sound of a 1.3 humming along.

33. When you're not off-roading, or working, how do you like to spend your time?
I spend as much time with my kids as possible but there are times when you have to just go hang out with friends.

34. If I gave you a free ticket to visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
After seeing pictures of Eion’s parents place in New Zealand, I want to go there. I always wanted to check out the Pyramids also.

35. What did you want to be most as a kid?
I wanted to be an architect for the longest time. I also wanted to be an actor.

36. If you could learn to speak any language that you do not already know, what would it be?
I think it would have to be Spanish. It would help me a great deal in my future career.

37. What is your best time of the day, morning, noon, or night?
If I don’t get going first thing in the morning, what ever plans I had for the day are shot. If I come home from work and sit down and relax, it’s over.

38. What’s your most embarrassing moment (so far?)
I was bad mouthing a safety director for a general contractor I was working for at a Journeyman upgrade class to Alan, my training director. After I went on a rant about the CO2 levels in an auditorium we were working on Alan said, “Robbie, I would like you to meet Wendel, their safety director” who was standing right next to me the whole time.

39. Have you ever met anyone famous, and if so, who?
I have met a few politicians but the one that stands out the most is Evan Bayh. He is a straight shooter that tells you like it is and I think he is actually concerned about your views and opinions.

40. Tell me a little known fact about yourself.
I’m a big Star Wars fan, I am the City Rep for South Bend on the www.fanforce.net forums.

41. If you could give any piece of advice to a future off-roader, what would it be?
Take your time building up your rig and think everything through before you buy something. But above all else have fun and respect the environment.

Thank you Robbie, and you are now off the Hot Seat!