August 23, 2018 - ESAB, Florence, South Carolina, has announced that it has named off-road and vehicle fabrication expert Ian Johnson an official spokesperson for its welding and cutting products. Coinciding with this announcement, ESAB will sponsor Johnson’s new off-road show, Big Tire Garage, debuting on Amazon in late August and available for streaming from services such as YouTube, Amazon Prime and Facebook.
“ESAB’s core audience has responded incredibly well to Ian’s background as a technical instructor, his off-road experience and real-deal fabrication skills,” says Steven Molenda, Director of Global Marketing Communications and Marketing Strategies, ESAB Welding & Cutting Products. “Ian has provided hundreds of hands-on demonstrations at the SEMA and FABTECH shows for the last three years. No matter what the project, Ian can break it down to the essential steps like few can. He is truly a ‘how-to’ welding, cutting and off-roading guru.”
Big Tire Garage will feature off-road heavy fabrication projects, from start to finish. “A new show will air each week until the build is done — no jumping around,” says Johnson. “Viewers can watch the shows anytime, anywhere.” The first build, starring a 1987 Jeep Comanche, evolved on social media. “I expressed an interest in a Comanche, and a guy responded saying he had one in Alabama,” says Johnson. “So, I went down and bought it. It’s probably the only rust-free Jeep Comanche I’ve ever seen. It was perfect.”
The Comanche will be built as a custom hard-core crawler: 37-inch tires, a supercharged V6 engine, 4-to-1 transfer case, 4-link suspension rear, 3-link front suspension, custom paint job and 3 inches cut from the top. By using alternative delivery methods such as YouTube and Facebook, Johnson is able to add live links featuring specific how-to information and parts of the show so that viewers can click directly to areas of interest.
“I am proud to be embarking on digital content creation with ESAB as an official sponsor,” says Johnson. “I have been involved with ESAB since the introduction of Rebel™ in 2015, so having the Big Tire Garage full of ESAB, Victor®, Thermal Dynamics® and Tweco® products is perfect for someone who does what I do, whether that’s for a living or for fun.”
