Featured Build: NightmareJK

This week we chat with Dakota Moore who is definitely not a cop, runs Beat Not Babied, and gets first-hand experience on what it was like to be a part-time TV personality with the famous NightmareJK on History Channel’s Truck Night In America.

what got you into jeeps or the off-road world?

I got started in the wheeling game when I was pretty young. My dad and all his buddies were into off-roading as long as I can remember. My dad had a 77 Scout that he took my family out in, and after that had a 93 Toyota pickup. This year was my 11th year at EJS and it was my dads 24th year.

So it’s been in my blood since I can remember.

what’s been the biggest changes over time to your rig?

I bought NightmareJK stock in October 2012 and over the course of 6 1/2 years I’ve done almost everything you can do to a JK. The biggest change was in 2016 when I did the one ton/coil over swap.

That was a nightmare in itself because the shop who did most of the work tried to steal from me. Luckily I got it out of there and it was taken care of by another shop. Having the Dana 60s gave me a lot more confidence on the trails that I didn’t have with the Rubicon 44s.

what was it like being on Truck Night In America?

Over the summer in 2017 there was a casting call for a TV show that hadn’t been named yet. This TV show was an off-road competition pinning you and your rig against other rigs from all over the country. I applied and went through the interview process.

Low and behold, I was selected!

A transport truck came to my house and picked up my Jeep, as well as my buddy Matt’s Jeep, who was selected for a different episode. It felt pretty cool to have everything paid for- flights, hotels, and food. So when I got there I just kept telling myself “It’s a free vacation, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t win. Just don’t break anything!”

The actual filming was a blast, although it was a lot of sitting around. The hosts were really cool and were generally interested in us and our vehicles. I still keep in touch with Bender and Abe.

what’s the next step for your build?

As for now, NightmareJK is officially sold. It’s new home is going to be in Roswell, NM. My next plan is to buy an older rock crawler. Something that I don’t care about the body; that I can really beat on.

But I’ll still be in the Jeep game too. I plan on buying a Gladiator in the near future and building that up too. But this will be my wife’s daily driver, so nothing too crazy. Nothing will change with the events that I go to. I’ll still go to King of the Hammers and Easter Jeep Safari every year, and also SEMA when I can make it out.

where are your favorite places to wheel?

My favorite places to wheel are Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Moab, because of the scenery. There’s a place in NM near Socorro called Gordy’s that is pretty gnarly, so I’m looking forward to picking up a beater so I don’t have to worry about trashing the body on NightmareJK. I’m also looking forward to getting back up to Carnage Canyon in Colorado, which is the hardest trail I’ve been on.