Broken Gladiator Trail Repairs by Trailmater

[Medical_Bartender]

I had to un-sub from Matt, that guy is sketchy as hell and solves everything by running an XJ at WOT to the end of a rope and hoping for the best. He doesn't even take the time to properly rig his snatch strap - how hard is it to use a soft shackle instead of a tow ball?!

The video where he nearly pulled a car over one of his crew and his own dog did it for me. I noped out, the fact he was later charged and pled to several counts of insurance fraud sealed the deal.

Damn..I hadn’t heard about any of that. Will look into it. :/

Sponsored

 

[SightsOfIron]

How much would a call/repair like that cost?

 

[SightsOfIron]

I had to un-sub from Matt, that guy is sketchy as hell and solves everything by running an XJ at WOT to the end of a rope and hoping for the best. He doesn't even take the time to properly rig his snatch strap - how hard is it to use a soft shackle instead of a tow ball?!

The video where he nearly pulled a car over one of his crew and his own dog did it for me. I noped out, the fact he was later charged and pled to several counts of insurance fraud sealed the deal.

Got a link to that? Thats wild to hear!

 

[Lunentucker]

I had to un-sub from Matt, that guy is sketchy as hell and solves everything by running an XJ at WOT to the end of a rope and hoping for the best. He doesn't even take the time to properly rig his snatch strap - how hard is it to use a soft shackle instead of a tow ball?!

The video where he nearly pulled a car over one of his crew and his own dog did it for me. I noped out, the fact he was later charged and pled to several counts of insurance fraud sealed the deal.

You watched the same parasitic troll video that I did a few months back.
I think the legal/civil stuff was a few years back, and given the way that video played like something from the National Enquirer, I took with less than a grain of salt.
They have a similar about Rory, but I haven't seen and don't want to.

Matt is good to his people and great to his community. It's pretty easy to sit back Monday morning quarterback videos like these, from the comfort of all of the various camera angles.
Just keep in mind that he isn't seeing a lot of that until they throw it all together in the editing room.
His dogs run with his vehicles on the trails all the time, and they know how to stay out of the way. They love to get out there and run.

Matt's Christmas party video was insane. I think one employee got $25k cash, and others got amazing gifts. He and his crew have given back in huge ways to the Hurricane community with fundraising for the park for handicapped kids and other projects.
He gave one of employees a new Bronco a few weeks ago, and the stuff they've done for Ed is equally amazing.

Whether he did or didn't do some shady stuff in the past? I don't know and don't care. Every one of us have skeletons and every one of us have done things we'd like to redo or undo.
I look at the sum of all parts.

 

[Lunentucker]

How much would a call/repair like that cost?

I'd guess $1000 or so. They may give some discounts for providing content for the channel.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I'd guess $1000 or so. They may give some discounts for providing content for the channel.

I’d expect closer to 3k. Lots of time.

 

[Sweetums]

You watched the same parasitic troll video that I did a few months back.
I think the legal/civil stuff was a few years back, and given the way that video played like something from the National Enquirer, I took with less than a grain of salt.
They have a similar about Rory, but I haven't seen and don't want to.

Matt is good to his people and great to his community. It's pretty easy to sit back Monday morning quarterback videos like these, from the comfort of all of the various camera angles.
Just keep in mind that he isn't seeing a lot of that until they throw it all together in the editing room.
His dogs run with his vehicles on the trails all the time, and they know how to stay out of the way. They love to get out there and run.

Matt's Christmas party video was insane. I think one employee got $25k cash, and others got amazing gifts. He and his crew have given back in huge ways to the Hurricane community with fundraising for the park for handicapped kids and other projects.
He gave one of employees a new Bronco a few weeks ago, and the stuff they've done for Ed is equally amazing.

Whether he did or didn't do some shady stuff in the past? I don't know and don't care. Every one of us have skeletons and every one of us have done things we'd like to redo or undo.
I look at the sum of all parts.

I didn't watch any video about Matt's criminal charges, it made the papers here in Utah. Matt was unapologetic for the crime and pretty much said "everyone does fraud so I do too".

Camera angles aside, his recoveries are sketchy. He had a video a while ago saying the few seconds it takes to use a soft shackle are too time consuming so he loops the kinetic rope over his tow ball. He consistently demonstrates questionable judgement that puts people and property at risk.

Dogs running a long side a vehicle in 4 low crawling along is not the same at flooring it when people and animals are between the vehicles and adjacent to the strap. He doesn't have anyone watching what's going on or managing the recovery - he knows how to go WOT on a kinetic rope and that's about it.

 

[Chunky White]

I am surprised that someone is breaking welds before gears when running oversized tires. I am guessing the guy was running 40"s but don't know

 

[Dryfly24]

I didn't watch any video about Matt's criminal charges, it made the papers here in Utah. Matt was unapologetic for the crime and pretty much said "everyone does fraud so I do too".

Camera angles aside, his recoveries are sketchy. He had a video a while ago saying the few seconds it takes to use a soft shackle are too time consuming so he loops the kinetic rope over his tow ball. He consistently demonstrates questionable judgement that puts people and property at risk.

Dogs running a long side a vehicle in 4 low crawling along is not the same at flooring it when people and animals are between the vehicles and adjacent to the strap. He doesn't have anyone watching what's going on or managing the recovery - he knows how to go WOT on a kinetic rope and that's about it.

I have nothing to do with the channel, nor do I know any of the people involved but I have been a long time watcher. Those “shady” charges were settled with the State to the satisfaction of the prosecutor bringing charges against him on behalf of the insurance companies/Triple A, for filing some miscellaneous charges after the fact because sometimes these things fall into gray areas. AS I understand it, he did it usually on behalf of the customer, not so much for himself.

The info is out there if you dig enough but that’s neither here nor there as far as I’m concerned. Like I said, I’m not involved other than being a long time watcher. At any rate, he paid back the fees in question to the companies involved and made everyone whole again as far as the state is concerned.

As Lunentucker already said, he’s a well known and much loved figure in the area because he has raised thousands of dollars through volunteer work for many different charity projects.

As far as the “reckless” part goes, he says many times he does things a certain way based on the situation at the time. He has explained many times why he‘ll sometimes pull or rig a certain way and why it was safe under those particular conditions. But as with every channel on YouTube, there will always be a million other “experts“ in the comments section second guessing or criticizing the way something is done every time someone posts. That’s just the way it is.

Matt’s channel is the 600 pound gorilla. It’s a family channel and many of his employees or folks making appearances are actually relatives - wife, sons, nephews, nieces, etc. - or close friends such as the FabRats - another equally enjoyable family channel dealing with automotive fabrication. I enjoy the wholesome content.

He has also done quite a bit to bring up countless other smaller channels through Youtube appearances on his. His son, Rudy of Rudy’s Adventure and Design, now has his own and I’m really liking it.

If you watch long enough, Matt comes across as a genuinely nice person with an insane amount of talent when it comes to fabrication and problem solving. He also surrounds himself with equally talented folks. It’s pretty obvious he has done a lot for others and it shows. I wish I had a tenth of his abilities. I’d be a lot more successful than I am.

Anyway, as always, YMMV. . . .

 

[Partysub]

I seem to remember the fraud thing with Matt being something like that customers had AAA or something similar and their coverage didn't cover if you're off the pavement so he was billing the companies for on road towing so the customer didn't get stuck with the bill. He does a ton of good for southern Utah. That said, I met Matt and half his crew and Rory and his crew at the salt lake offroad expo. Rory and his crew were awesome and I talked with them for about a half hour about their rigs and trails in moab and whatnot. When I met Matt and his crew they basically blew me off after saying hi and wanted nothing to do with talking.

 

[Lunentucker]

I seem to remember the fraud thing with Matt being something like that customers had AAA or something similar and their coverage didn't cover if you're off the pavement so he was billing the companies for on road towing so the customer didn't get stuck with the bill. He does a ton of good for southern Utah. That said, I met Matt and half his crew and Rory and his crew at the salt lake offroad expo. Rory and his crew were awesome and I talked with them for about a half hour about their rigs and trails in moab and whatnot. When I met Matt and his crew they basically blew me off after saying hi and wanted nothing to do with talking.

You'd get either of those with me, or really anyone else, depending on what they had going on at that moment.

 

[Sweetums]

I seem to remember the fraud thing with Matt being something like that customers had AAA or something similar and their coverage didn't cover if you're off the pavement so he was billing the companies for on road towing so the customer didn't get stuck with the bill. He does a ton of good for southern Utah. That said, I met Matt and half his crew and Rory and his crew at the salt lake offroad expo. Rory and his crew were awesome and I talked with them for about a half hour about their rigs and trails in moab and whatnot. When I met Matt and his crew they basically blew me off after saying hi and wanted nothing to do with talking.

Based on what I read, he was long-hauling heavy equipment and containers across the state on his truck and fraudulently billing AAA for it. This was more than "let's say you were on the highway when you weren't". These were big tow bills that were fraudulently charged.

Settling the criminal charges doesn't mean anything, he pled guilty and had to agree to pay AAA back and a bunch of criminal fines to avoid going to trial. Having worked closely with various Utah courts, he's probably also under increased supervision from the state as a result of his plea deal.

 

[Partysub]

Based on what I read, he was long-hauling heavy equipment and containers across the state on his truck and fraudulently billing AAA for it. This was more than "let's say you were on the highway when you weren't". These were big tow bills that were fraudulently charged.

Settling the criminal charges doesn't mean anything, he pled guilty and had to agree to pay AAA back and a bunch of criminal fines to avoid going to trial. Having worked closely with various Utah courts, he's probably also under increased supervision from the state as a result of his plea deal.

https://www.ksl.com/article/5029557...ed-with-collecting-fraudulent-claims-from-aaa
Here's what I read.

 

[Lunentucker]

Just to keep everyone up to speed, the ongoing discussion in its current detour is not about the provider in the OP video.

 

[Testedone]

I liked that Hemi-powered Jeep

Sponsored