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(Jun 06)

*Cuz stock sucks." SDHQ's famous catch phrase and a mutual understanding amongst most who own anything with a "cool factor" appeal to it. It's not exactly that "stock sucks" it's just that once you've had aftermarket, it's just not the same. SDHQ in Mesa, Arizona has been custom fabricating anything BUT stock parts for over 7+ years now and is Arizona's premier off-road shop for anyone who is looking to take their vehicle to the next level. Naturally when customers started asking if they could build parts for their Side X Sides they took it as an opportunity to turn a stock utility machine into a work of dirt eat­ing, sand chucking and rock crawling piece of art. The popularity of the Yamaha Rhino, and other UTV's on the market, has been growing so fast that Ryan Marselis (owner) and the rest of the crew down at SDHQ have been working around the clock to give their Side X Side crazy customers something uniquely different. A product that will stand the test of time, along with the occasional lawn dart.

Super Duty Head Quarters (SDHQ) has taken the UTV craze by storm and has started building a couple of these machines for some pretty big names, like Jesse James (West Coast Choppers). As if one custom Rhino wasn't enough, Jesse contacted them a second time and said "I need another," how cool is that? A man who can build anything in metal, asking for a machine that was made for hauling flowers and dead animals. I sat down and talked with Ryan about his future plans with UTV development and he told me that: 'Whatever the customers want, I'm gonna' give it to them, but better." Taking the possibil­ities of what these machines can do to the next level is what it's all about, from full on race machines, to a Sand Dune crusader, if you can imagine it, SDHQ can build it.
Scott Jung of Arizona and owner of one of SDHQ's latest creation went in looking to turn his stock Rhino into something that could take on whatever he could throw at it, but still keep a clean, yet "badass," look to it. What he got as you can clearly see is a custom Rhino with the standard Rhino appeal, but performance and safety above anything from the factory. SDHQ TIG welds all of their custom 2 and 4 seat cages, in house, with metic­ulous attention to detail. While this Rhino may not have a flashy paint job or billet acces­sories plastered to anything plastic, I assure you that this rhino can hold its own in any show in shine. With 6 Baja Design HID lights throughout the car, night rides for this car are about the same as day rides, wide-open throttle! Fox's Rhino shocks work round the clock on sucking up any bump in the road that comes its way and with 26" Maxxis Bighorn tires, mounted to Outlaw wheels and OMF beadlocks, sand and rocks quickly move out of this Rhino's path. When it came to safety Scott and Ryan both agreed that with the added suspension and weight this Rhino was now pulling, it was necessary to add in a set of Crow 4point harness' all around. A set of Beard's Safety nets were also installed to keep any hands, little or big, inside the vehicle during a roll over.

Scott knew he was going to be cruising the dunes and his neigh­borhood in his new Rhino he wanted to make sure that his music was always with him. So with a cus­tom stereo system from Unique Car Audio and a very clever Dual Battery set up, with RV plug in, no matter where his Rhino takes him the good times and music keep com­ing. Just take it easy with that new Jessica Simpson CD buddy, not everyone rocks out the way you do. In the event that he's cruising his neighborhood with tunes blasting and needs to make a quick get away, Scott had a Black Rhino Performance GDI box installed along with an Edelbrock Carburetor, for some extra ponies and higher rev limit so when the grand­ma with her cane comes out and rants about his hippity hop music, he can leave her in the dust. That's what aftermarket parts are for right? Leaving old ladies in the dust.

We went out with the owner of this beautiful machine as well as its makers and this SDHQ Rhino can definitely haul the mail. There were a couple times when I encouraged Scott to "crank the wheel" at full throttle and he did, nothing but sand in the air and a smile on his face. Yes this Rhino is definitely a thing of magnificence; if you're looking for a UTV with attitude and style, look no further than the crew over at SDHQ. They can turn your Side X Side machine into whatever your little heart desires, and if you're one of those people that think "stock sucks" then you've found the right place.