When it comes to low-voltage electronics, Steven Lutz is the grand master. A Nissan buff he leads a band of off-roaders who don’t often get recognized. Listen is on a fascinating story told in Episode 127, you’ll learn more about some resources you didn’t know existed. Check it out on your favorite podcast platform.
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5:03 – I was a nerd
11:11– I was just as serious about that class as my teacher was teaching it
16:30 – Rather than learning foundational knowledge and then building to the top, I kind of start at the top and work my way down…
25:58 – I started building the website after a snowboarding accident
29:54 – Kirkwood was probably the single best experience of my life
35:34 – I ended up inheriting the Pathfinder, two-wheel drive basically stock everything
43:49 – getting support for pretty much anything Nissan has been historically difficult
49:09 – I need to know so I can apply the mapping methodologies to the off-road world
1:00:44 – the amount of data these images take up on disk is absolutely huge
We want to thank our sponsors Maxxis Tires and 4Low Magazine.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:47.230] – Big Rich Klein
On today’s episode of Conversations with Big Rich, we have Steven Lutz is the owner of Rugged Rocks, Off Road and Rugged Routes, which is a GPS mapping based off of the Lowrance system. And we’ll get into all that with him and his history and everything. But right now I’d like to say thank you, Steven, for coming on board and talking about your life and off road and your life in general.
[00:02:14.950] – Steven Lutz
Yeah, absolutely, Rich. I’m really glad to be on the call with you. It’s always fun to talk about this kind of thing, and I was really glad when you reached out to me. So, yeah, let’s get started.
[00:02:26.980] – Big Rich Klein
So you and I met via a phone call a couple of years ago, but we’re not that close friends. Most of the people that I have that we’ve interviewed, I’ve got a pretty good history on anyway, because we’ve been good friends, we’ve been associates over the phone. I don’t even know if we’ve actually met in person yet, but we’re going to make a change on that here pretty soon, I think. And anyway, the first question I want to ask you is where were you born and raised?
[00:02:58.270] – Steven Lutz
Yes, born and raised down here, Fontana, California, and Rancho Cucamonga. For those of you that are listening that don’t know where that is, it’s just outside of Ontario, California. Just maybe ten minutes from the Ontario Airport is the easiest way to explain. So I’m about 2 hours or so from Johnson Valley, and it’s been going to the Hammers for a long time. Mostly for the race, but we can get more into that later.
[00:03:24.660] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, and what was it like? You’re a lot younger than myself, so was it built up in that area? Ontario Raceway was never around when you were a kid, was it?
[00:03:43.060] – Steven Lutz
No, it wasn’t there. It was fairly populated when I was little, but not like it is today. I used to be able to see pretty much from my hometown all the way down to the Ontario Mills Mall, and now there’s no shot, even when I tell people that are newer to the area. Yeah, I used to be able to see the mall from here. They just fall over like there’s no way. My guys used to be all grapevines out here, just desert and grapevines, and over the years, they mow over the grapevines and they just keep building more stuff. So the 210 freeway didn’t extend through here. In fact, I did a report on that in fourth grade. Like, we had to do these news assignments and go find something that’s like latest news kind of thing. And I remember doing one of these weekly reports on this 210 freeway that was going to be extended and come through Rancho and Fontana Rialto, and it was like a big project. Right. And we didn’t see that until I was in high school.
[00:04:43.580] – Big Rich Klein
Wow. Okay. I can remember when all that was being built.
[00:04:47.770] – Steven Lutz
Yeah.
[00:04:48.700] – Big Rich Klein
Let’s talk about school back in those days. Were you studious or were you into sports? You did your own thing. What kind of kid did you grow up as?
[00:05:03.230] – Steven Lutz
I was a nerd. READ MORE
