Fabricating for the New and the Old

Ed Datin has owned a fabrication shop of some kind since 1994. He and his wife Patricia moved to Idaho 14 years ago. Originally into desert racers and rock crawlers, he made his way to Toyota axle swaps and by 2017 was building 12” and 16” racks for Colorados and Tacomas. In 2018, he designed and built a rack that fit overSoftopper’scanvascage,whichquicklybecameabestseller.

Datin Fab also offers a series of accessories like shock skids, molle panels, and awning brackets. Keeping up with constant vehicle model changes, Ed stays busy modifyinghisrackstofitnewTundras,Colorados,Tacomas,FrontiersandTitans. He is also looking back at older models that have become popular again and retrofitting partsforthoseenthusiasts.ThefutureofDatinFabwilllikelyincludecontributions to #vanlife as he is building small parts for Sprinters now and sees bigger builds on the horizon.

YoumayrecognizetheGladiator inthepicturesfromyourstruly. Thecleanonesarefrominstallday, July2021.

Dave Schenker & Patrick Johnston ● Delta Vehicle Systems ● Garden City

Dave Schenker and business partner Patrick Johnston met at Boise State University, both mechanical engineering students and early members of Boise State’s Venture College. They worked together in the student club Greenspeed, where they built the world's fastest vegetable oil powered vehicle and piloted it to multiple records over 200 mphattheBonnevilleSaltFlats.

In 2010, they filed for a 501c3, creating Greenspeed Research. Greenspeed’s mission is to create learning opportunities for STEM and renewable energy through hands-on learning.The high school Solar Go-Kart Challenge created opportunities for students to convert gas powered go carts to solar power and compete against each other on the Boise State campus. Patrick built a CNC machine for his senior project, which they still have in their shop now. Parts of a diesel powered trophy truck sit on a shelf to be revisitedsometimeinthefuture.TheLandspeedtruckwillberacedagainaswell.

Their ingenuity led to the start up of Versus in 2014, an engineering consulting and product design firm. They had their hands in countless projects from all over, many of which they saw from “napkin to market”. In 2018, Dave and Patrick started Delta Vehicle Systems, building out their own line of products for 80 and 100 series Land Cruisers.

They built out a shop in Garden City, giving them enough room to house two CNC machines, two lathe machines, a robot welder and a newly purchased, giant, laser cutting machine. Production can now be handled from raw material to nearly finished product,withonlypowdercoatingbeingoutsourced.

With the space in their new shop, Dave sees service and installation on the horizon for Delta Vehicle Systems as well, including top-to-bottom frame-off specialized builds, diesel conversions, and custom suspension work. They plan to expand into more models and vehicles and increase their line of universal products like a secure jerry can holder.

Daveshowedmeaproofofconceptrooftoptentmadeofaluminumthatisunlike anythingI’veseen.Inmyhour-longvisitforthisinterview,Iwasimpressedbyalotof things.Ingenuityisnotabigenoughword.ButwhatimpressedmemostwasDave andPatrick’scommitmenttotheirfamiliesandthecrewtheyhavecreatedatDelta VehicleSystemswithtwofulltimeweldersandaparttimeassembler.Itwouldbe easytogetcaughtupintheworkbutitseemsthesetwohavecreatedsomething biggerandbetter.

You can catch up with the team at Cruise Moab in April and Overland Expo PNW in July.

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