- May 03, 2012
by Todd Dills
Dino Guadagni is no stranger to custom vehicle work, having been reared in the family that four generations ago founded Western Distributing and Transportation Corporation as the first distributor of Coors beer. Guadagni’s father, Vieri Gaines, is a prominent NHRA Pro Stock driver and mechanic who had him and his two brothers “into cars and other stuff” from a young age.
But “I kind of took to the trucks,” says Guadagni. His first was an antique 1953 Peterbilt he ...
- May 02, 2012
Wes Malmgren used bits and pieces of trucks he’d seen through the years to design and build his personal 2004 Peterbilt and its eye-catching paint job
by James Jaillet
It’s not so much the graphics that capture the attention as it is the color combo of Wes Malmgren’s Peterbilt 379. The black and lime green flattop, an in-house build done at the Malmgren family’s company headquarters in Aurora, Utah, is the rebel amongst a fleet of more refined workhorses.
Though Malmgren’s trucking roots ...
- 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.
- April 30, 2012
Randy Stroup’s new creation, a 2005 Peterbilt 379 and matching tanker dubbed First Gear (pictured above), took home the hardware for Best of Show in the limited-mileage combo category this weekend at the first Pride & Polish show of the year in Wildwood, Fla.
The 75 Chrome Shop Show, an annual event held every year since 1998, also crowned three other Best of Show winners who, with the victory, are eligible to compete in Dallas in ...
- 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...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- April 19, 2012
1989 Peterbilt 379 is the first build for big rig newcomer Juan Carlos Ibarra
- 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 ...
- April 10, 2012
By Bruce Mallinson
After turbo boost and exhaust gas temperature gauges and learning how to use each, the next engine add-on to help extend the life of your engine is a bypass oil filter.
Bypass oil filtration has been around longer than I have, and I’ve been in the trucking industry for 44 years. Why do we not see it factory-installed on new trucks? Cost.
Manufacturers want to save money wherever possible, and bypass oil filters are not cheap. Installation requires time and ...
