This ain’t your grandfather’s sun visor…
Aftermarket sun visors are one product category that’s been just about categorically lacking in the Aussie 4WD sector thus far.
Tommy Jackson is the inventor and creator of the Wacko Industries MK-1 sun visor – a creative pursuit borne out of necessity.
“My hours spent searching for a sun visor option kept taking me back to the same and only style of sun visor on the market.
“While that option may function well, it was far from aesthetically pleasing, making the vehicle look like it was from the 70s, and would have completely clashed with the modern aggressive look I was trying to achieve,” explained Tommy.
Tommy purchased his dual cab 79 Series LandCruiser back in 2014 and has been conscientiously modifying it ever since.
With a background in farming, stone masonry, construction, management and his current work as a ROV Sub engineer, he reckoned he had the skills and vision to put together something far better than what was available at the time.
After a crash course in fibreglassing, and a year of hard work, trial and error, he eventually had the first prototype in his hands, which devastatingly delaminated after painting.
Back to the grindstone, he cut it up, salvaged the most important components and eventually had a second prototype ready – which is still mounted on his 79 Series ute today.
After initially mounting the sun visor to his own roof and those of early customers via nut inserts, he began to experiment with 3M VHB tape as a mounting option.
After extensive R&D, the new mounting pads were declared a success after showing no fatigue or vibration at speeds of up to 130km/h plus and being able to bear a static weight of 150kg upon the visor without failure.
This is an ultra high quality product with internal wiring and a seamless finish, which requires some 41 hours of labour to produce from scratch.
Originally sold at cost, with light upgrade, custom paint colour, mounting kit and free shipping – the orders were coming in thick and fast, but the margins to make the business sustainable just weren’t there.
After almost pulling the pin on the business, it became apparent that it did cost more to build these things, but that customers were prepared to pay what was required.
The current MK-1 visor with Stedi light upgrade is priced at $4100 – while they’re not cheap, they’re built bloody tough and there’s nothing else on the market quite like them.
