Tom Yash
My name is Tom Yash and currently I am a product specialist for 4Wheel Drive Hardware’s online merchandising department. I have been employed with the company since I graduated from Ohio University in 2006. I applied to an online job posting on 4WD.com as a way to avoid my Marketing 220 homework. One week later I completed an interview and accepted a position in the sales department. Since that day I have worked as a sales agent, trainer for customer service and sales departments, a showroom employee, and finally my current position as a product specialist.
I have been a fan of 4x4s all of my life and working at 4WD hardware has increased my enthusiasm. I took my first Jeep ride at the age of four and still get excited remembering it. I was in the back of my uncle’s late 70s CJ5 that had the biggest tires I had ever seen – so big they rubbed the body when rounding corners. I still smile thinking about that first ride and how the normally uneventful ride became thrilling. We had driven three miles and never exceeded 40 miles per hour. It’s lame to say but I was definitely hooked.
It wasn’t fate but persistence that helped me land my first vehicle/Jeep. While working at a golf course and saving as much money as my burnt pockets would allow, I managed to purchase a 1976 Jeep CJ5. I still claim that it was the most unreliable vehicle Northeast Ohio had to offer... and I loved it. It broke down on 25% of its journeys. Most of the problems involved minor issues with timing, fuel delivery, and clutches. I named it “The Plastic Coffin” because it was equipped with a fiberglass body, V8 motor, and was without power brakes or power steering. Very scary, very fun, and always unreliable, my old CJ is still one of my favorite jeeps.
What I have learned both at work and on my own is that if you own one Jeep, you tend to keep purchasing them. For instance, I currently own something like 6 Jeeps and since the age of 16 I have owned 22 vehicles. Buying and selling cars is my newest and most fun hobby that shows zero signs of slowing. Instead, after three recent vehicle purchases it might be gaining ground.
By no means am I a collector or restoration specialist. I build, beat, break, and try to repair. I have wheeled as few as 8 different jeeps in the past couple of years. The vehicles with the least amount of money invested seem to be the most enjoyable. I can’t afford a high dollar rig or all new parts. I can afford couple hundred dollar Cherokees with high miles and long wheelbases that work GREAT!
So as I live, breath, and wheel, I am sure that my bank account will be small, my smile will be large, and my garage will be filled with rust and junk.
