The Sand Sports Super Show is the world’s largest Sand Sports Expo located at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Hosted by Nitto Tire, the show attracted hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees this year. Sand Sports Super Show focuses on dune and dirt sports – so you can expect to find a variety of sand toys including side by sides, UTV, motocross, motorcycle, jeeps, trucks and more!
We got a chance to interview a veteran Sand Sports exhibitor, Mike Francis of Rock Solid Off-Road. Mike founded Rock Solid in April of 1999 as a body shop that specialized in Toyota Land Cruisers. Mike was the sole owner and operator of the business. Over the years, he found that no one in the market could repair, restore, and customize these unique builds like he could. He has been digging deeper into the Land Cruiser market ever since.
Some of the first completed projects from Rock Solid were Safari Guard’s D90, Kalahari Discovery, and a Ford F350 4×4; Dave Berry’s FJ45; and Mike Francis’ own FJ40 and FJ60. Collectively, these builds have been featured at SEMA booths, on the cover of 4×4 and Sport Utility magazines, featured in Overland Journal, and on 4×4 TV on the outdoor channel.
Mike Francis has been the only representative for Rock Solid Off-Road until recently. Since 2008, RSO has added employees, expanding and acquiring more knowledge and experience to the brand.
We had a chance to chat with Mike at Sands Super Show to learn more about RSO Performance:
- What is RSO Performance all about?
- RSO Performance is focused on Custom Land Cruisers and other vintage off-road rigs.
- What brings you to Sand Sports Super Show every year?
- The people! It’s a great show for us because we are not a side by side based company.
- What is your favorite part of the off-road/sand sport community?
- What I like most about the off-road and sand sport community is the comradery and family atmosphere.
- What have you used Viair in recently?
- Yes, I have used Viair recently in a 1972 C-10 Pickup.
- Do you have any planned builds using Viair products?
- Yes, I do! I will be using Viair products in a 1948 Willys 2WD with a 241C Hemi and 1971 C-10 4WD.
Rock Solid can provide customers with anything from extreme expedition vehicle to a speedy trailblazer. The quality, attention to detail and customer satisfaction is what will continue to drive RSO to expand into a wider array of automotive performance beyond Land Cruisers and other off-road vehicles.
We look forward to seeing RSO attend the Sand Sports Super Show next year, as well as the upcoming Off-Road Expo and SEMA.
