Makayla Holstein – 2017 Ladies Offroad Garage Featured Attendee
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Makayla Holstein – 2017 Ladies Offroad Garage Featured Attendee

Makayla Holstein
Richland, WA
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Forum User Name: MakHolstein

2017 Ladies Offroad Garage Featured Attendee
I am 22 years old and a manager at Black Diamond 4x4 in Kennewick, Washington. I love working in the off-road industry because of the people I get to meet and work with. Every customer that comes in always has a unique want and need for their build which always keeps things interesting. I also get to use my knowledge that I have picked up over the years during my own wheeling and my personal builds that allow me to better help customers. If I am not at the store working then I am either at home working on my jeep or out on the trails having a blast.

How did you get involved in fabricating and working in the garage?

I always wanted to spend time with my dad and he was always working on one project or another so he started me young handing him tools and it grew from there.

What is your welding experience?

I have very limited welding experience. I have played with puddles on the bench and have helped weld together a few custom bumpers for my vehicles but I don’t have an understanding of what everything means, like how to set up the welder and what temperatures and speed you should use for different metals.  

How did you get started with welding?

I watched my dad weld all the time and when I got my first Jeep I couldn’t afford to buy an expensive front bumper for it so I asked my dad to help me build one. Now I can’t wait to build a rear tire carrier for my new Jeep using the skills I will learn at the Fab School.

What is awesome about being a woman in the garage?

Being able to take care of my own rigs and not having to depend on someone else or a shop to do it for me is a great feeling. I know that if something ever goes wrong on a trip I can usually get myself somewhere safe to work on it and save a lot of money by buying the parts and fixing it myself.

What are some projects or vehicles that you have worked on that you are most proud of?

Welding wise the project I am most proud of would be the custom front bumper my dad and I built on my Grand Cherokee but all over projects that I am most proud of that I have worked on would have to be my Jeep Tj I have now. Of course with help along the way for things like doing the gears and setting up my lockers I have had help, but a lot of the work I have done myself. I tore the dash completely apart on my own in order to send it out for hydro-dipping, I replaced the whole front axle assembly with a G2 Core 44 housing with a little help, those things are heavy, and I preparing to swap out a very tired 4.0 for an almost brand new Chevy 350. It’s always a project but it is a Jeep so I guess I will just keep wrenching and Just Empting Every Pocket.

What is the best advice you have been given for working in the garage as a woman?

Just do it. Who cares what other people enjoy yourself. You are going to get cuts, scarps, and covered in grease but that’s the fun part. If anyone else has a problem with you being “more manly then them” that is their problem you need to do what you enjoy.

What are you hoping to learn during the Ladies Offroad Garage?

I am hoping to learn more about the “why” to fabricating, so why you use this setting or why you use this machine. I am also hoping to learn more about the proper technique to welding and how to better preform. I would love to have welds that look good and hold up not just ones that will hold up.

Click here to learn more about the 2017 Ladies Offroad Garage.


Author: Makayla Holstein