Truck Features

Rum Runner

- May 01, 2012

When California flatbed hauler Ernesto Rubio turns into the Old Castle Precast prefabrication facility in the heart of Fontana’s industrial area, the security guards at the main gate wave him through as if he were a celebrity.

Creating Mayhem

- April 30, 2012

Jersey isn’t the first place one would think of being a hotbed for customizing trucks. Gangsters ripping them off and hijacking their loads? Sure. But truck dealerships ripping a new rig apart and transforming what was once ordinary into an extraordinary work of rolling artisanship and craftsmanship? Fuhgetaboutit. That is unless you're thinking pure Mayhem...

Triple One

- April 22, 2012

SRS National fleet owner and part-operator Jerry Beaudoin drives his company's calling card By Todd Dills Many big-rig customizers back their way into building a dream truck. After years of on-road hauling, all the while slowly acquiring the technical know-how to take a working tractor and turn it into a project truck, they hot-rod an old family workhorse or turning a junkyard find into a machine that gleams like new. Jerry Beaudoin, owner of the Southington, Conn.-based SRS National fleet of 10 company-owned ...

Art Therapy

- April 21, 2012

California all-star customizer Jeff Botelho’s show truck and working rig, 5150, inspired by grief of father’s passing by Todd Dills “Up until recently,” says Jeff Botelho, customizing trucks was more a highly advanced hobby than anything else for himself and crew at the Botelho’s Custom Trucks shop in Los Banos, Calif. He runs his family’s Botelho Bros. Trucking business and custom shop out of the same facility, from which the shop’s unofficial name, Tin Can Customs, comes. “My shop’s kind of like a tin ...

Road Hawg

- April 19, 2012

1989 Peterbilt 379 is the first build for big rig newcomer Juan Carlos Ibarra

Vamonos

- April 18, 2012

By Bruce W. Smith As quarry owner Lloyd Tausch rolled his big Cat 988F wheel loader toward the waiting dump trailer he subconsciously made an effort to be a little gentler depositing the ten tons of granite filling the bucket. He eased up to within a few feet of the waiting truck, rolled the bucket forward, and dropped the load perfectly. “It’s pretty much what happens whether I’m at a quarry or unloading at the jobsite,” says owner Henry “Hank” Hall, sitting ...

Purple Haze

- April 03, 2012

Driver Brent Pecarski began making modifications from the time he picked up the log-hauling truck he drives for Blaskie Trucking in Ontario By Max Kvidera Logging trucks are usually sturdy work trucks that go about their job in anonymity. Not Blaskie Trucking’s 2009 Peterbilt 388, driven by Brent Pecarski. It sports Peterbilt’s Violet Effect paint tone, which turns heads and draws camera-toting gawkers in Blaskie’s Ontario, Canada, territory. “I can haul to a pulp mill in a big city and it’s nothing out ...

Heavy Hauler

- March 16, 2012

Texan Michael Briseno never backs down from a heavy haul By Bruce W. Smith When the need for a heavy haul comes in from customers, several rigs in the Lindamood Demolition trucking fleet can answer the call. More times than not it’ll be veteran driver Michael Briseno rolling in behind the wheel of Over the Top – a bright-blue tri-axle ’06 Pete powered by a 625 Cat. The jobs are as varied as the clients, with loads being anything from big excavators and ...

Street Rod Extreme

- March 10, 2012

After four years of painstaking work, Scott Diller’s 1981 KW has a new lease on life by Max Kvidera To say Scott Diller will go to extremes to get the look he wants in his show truck is an understatement. From the time he rescued a 1981 Kenworth W900A that was destined for the junkyard until he rolled it into a Louisville, Ky., competition in 2011, nearly four years passed. Much of that time was spent bending and shaping the 30-year-old rig. The ...

Vigilante

- March 09, 2012

Note: This story originally appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Custom Rigs. by Bruce W. Smith Thirty years ago, before the young guns at Outlaw Customs were even a gleam in their dad’s eyes, the classic Mad Max movie captured the imaginations of a generation. The plot was basically an old-fashioned shoot-‘em-up western set into a futuristic dystopian world with Australia being the stomping grounds for a ruthless gang of bikers bent on taking over a world falling into utter ...

Feature Stories About Customized Trucks

We cover the coolest trucks, their awesome owners, and the people that do some of the greatest custom work in America. What you’ll find online will be some incredible stories and pictures of rigs that we’ve chosen to spotlight. If you’re looking for even more feature coverage, check out a Custom Rigs Magazine subscription – it’s only $19.95 for a 1 year subscription and that gets you 4 full issues. If you really want a deal, a 2 year subscription is only $29.95 and that gets you 8 full issues AND a FREE CustomRigs t-shirt!